LOL - was going to refute that, but when dealing with the border here in Toronto (I travel a lot) and if "friendly" includes "cooly courteous" it's probably true. I can often raise a smile on US Homeland Security types though, just the same. Once, after an exhausting overseas trip I had a young Canadian Border Services person look me in the eye and say "Welcome Home". Felt like I was. (NYC and area is a laugh because no matter what problem has arisen, everyone is a comedian, or at least theatrically bombastic. Great fun,usually. YMMV) Back in the 90s you'd land on the US side, find a bashed-in payphone, call a clear-in number (rarely did anyone answer) then go have dinner. Friendly folks, great hosts always. (Except Brenda the marina nazi, but that's another story) Only once did I encounter an officious official, a real mouth-breathing, crew-cut, young meathead, (nice uniform) but he stuck to the rules and was merely unpleasant, not difficult. Toronto to Wilson NY was a common weekend getaway. Alcohol was sold here in Canada via a province-run system that resembled something from the east bloc, and it was heavily taxed. Sailing was in its heyday. Squadrons of Canadians would cross the lake to Wilson Harbour, (among others) for the weekend and would be met by a shuttle from the marina to town, - a vintage 1920s firetruck, long, open thing with bench seats in the back, and a 4' diameter steering wheel, driven by a warm chatty character with massive forearms. Retired fireman maybe. Hourly runs, back and forth. Coming back, the truck was loaded full of happy, well-fed Canadians armed with heavy cardboard boxes going "clink, clink, clink" over the bumps. Great for the town I think. The truck is still there (I saw it in the firehall) but the activity is not the same - it's very quiet and the "downtown" is only semi-vital. Today clearing in is pretty seamless if a furriner chooses to give uncle Sam enough info, pays for the appropriate sticker, brings a passport. Never liked giving anyone too much data, especially a foreign government, but I had already as a "trusted traveller" and it seems to work. You register (and pay) for the year, check in by videophone on arrival, decent folks, professional. I'm not sure what would happen in the event that some minor protocol was violated. I don't think I want to find out. I can imagine that for those USCG guys, AIS is like radar is to cops. They now have a much easier time inspecting their quota of foreign vessels. ;-) BTW, my neighbour now just turns the AIS transmitter off most of the time. If I want to find him I text him, and he turns it on. Not a lot of shipping or fog around here.
Dave Message: 2 Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2016 08:49:43 -0600 From: Bill Coleman <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Stus-List AIS VHF Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Sorry about that. You Canadians are much much more friendly!. Bill Coleman?C&C 39 Erie -------- Original message -------- From: Dave S via CnC-List <[email protected]> Date: 10/27/16 13:00 (GMT-07:00) To: C&c Stus List <[email protected]> Cc: Dave S <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Stus-List AIS VHF I sail out of Whitby, Near Toronto, North shore of lake ON.? North shore is Canada, south shore is?USA, upstate NY.? For boaters on both sides, the 35nm crossing is a routine weekend cruise, probably been like this for 100 years or more. A neighbour at my marina installed an AIS transmitter and now gets regularly stopped by the US coastguard when the?US shore is approached, the AIS presumably identifying his CS36 as a foreign invader and potential threat to national security.?? I'll stay stealthy I think... ;-) Dave
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