It's been a very long time since I last blogged, a combination of long traveling days and bad weather coupled with a lack of Internet connection has meant that I haven't done it. We are now in mid-coast Maine heading across Penobscot Bay from North Haven towards Boothbay.

There has been no decent wind for over a week, we are on the motor, usually 2 of us, keeping a lookout for lobster floats. There are literally millions of them, there is no season and the fisherfolk can put them everywhere. They clog the narrow channels and often there are large numbers in deep water too. So far we have snagged 2 and chewed up another with the prop, but so far no wraps...

And then there was the fog. Pretty much all the way from Lower West Pubnico all the way across Fundy to Grand Manan and the across to Jonesport, Maine we were in fog, never more than 1/4 mile visibility, often only 1/10th. Thank God for the chart plotter and the auto-helm. The real joy was coming into Maine and dodging lobster pot floats in the fog....

And then there was the total cock-up that is US Customs and Border Patrol in Maine. Based on information on their website we went to Jonesport to clear in using our Nexus Cards. We didn't use the Small Vessel Reporting System because Jonesport was listed as a Port of Entry. My call to the number listed got an answering machine, it directed me to another number (which turned out to be in florida) and the officer there took our info and said he'd have someone call us.

An hour or so later we get a call from the Lubec, Maine port if entry telling us that they don't clear vessels in at Jonesport anymore and that we will have to come to Lubec (60 miles in the wrong direction). I allowed as how I wasn't going to do that in the fog and dark, and after multiple phone conversations they cleared us in on the phone and said they would send someone out in the morning with a Cruising Permit....

When I met the officer the next morning he gave me the permit and informed me that I must call in every time I move upon arrival at the new port. This was apparently at the discretion of the Port Director. So far it's been the source of great frustration.... Upon arrival in Bar Harbour I called the Lubec office to report my arrival and the officer on duty had no idea why I was calling Lubec, I said that this is what I was told to do (the penalty for non-compliance is apparently $5000). She later called me back with a toll-free number for the District office.

Yesterday, upon arrival at North Haven, I went in search of a pay phone (it had been removed) so then I wandered about trying to get a cell signal... I did get through (though I lost the signal twice) and the officer answering didn't know what to do with my information! She didn't have any way of entering North Haven in her system, didn't know where it was and seemed quite unsure of why I was calling.

The upshot of this mess is that the CBP clearly doesn't know what it is doing, puts out incorrect and conflicting information and appears to interpret its policies arbitrarily. My advice to Canadians who want to cruise down here, don't. It's not worth the trouble. Drive, they'll clear you in at the border, you can go anywhere you want and do anything you like and you don't have to report to anyone, plus you won't have to dodge lobster floats in the fog.