Canada-U.S. Border

Trucking is cheaper - than the border hassle and hiring your crews

A 36 SR should fit under the bridges on the western Erie Canal to Tonawanda. Why not just go that way?

I think that might have been the tourist in disguise they are worried about.

The reason he did not go the Erie Canal to Tonawanda was he had to be back at work in Detroit this Wed.
So returned to Wilson NY and trucked it to Tonawanda at a cost of $ 600.00 to go forty two miles.
I will get him his rebate on his tolls for canal $ 200.00 that will help a bit.
As of last night he was in Dunkirk NY on Lake Erie and be home today.

Hope you mentioned that if he was on YF all this wasted time and expense could have been avoided. What about had owner and wife simply sent captain and crew (cap's wife) on with the boat since it was supposedly a new purchase?

Had a good one today. Had a call from a American Looper today heading for the Welland Canal. He is travelling with another Looper and he is not happy with hiring a crew for the canal. He said they were thinking about switching boats to makes it look like they hired a crew. I said good luck let me no how you make out.

What are prisons like in Canada?

You really don't want to know

Based on other countries.
They're like country clubs.

You'd think a Looper wouldn't want to either. Then again you'd think a Looper wouldn't be entering the lakes in late August, would be aware he couldn't enter Canada and that he's not getting out of the lakes before next spring.

I have zero sympathy for people like that. They own boats, they can do the loop, yet they want to circumvent laws and all to save paying for a couple of crew members for a couple of days. I will add that when they started, there was no indication they'd be allowed through. Not like something changed after they entered the canals. I'm guessing they're headed west and, if so, they can't leave Chicago anytime soon anyway.

Canada is trying to control things and they have the right to set their rules and we have to follow. It only adds to the image we've earned as people unwilling to sacrifice for others and unwilling to follow rules.

There ya go, now they'll all want to go there.

What bugs me about the Illinois River closure is that the authority NEVER closes a waterway during shipping season. This decision impacted ALL those requiring goods to be delivered by barges. They can do repairs Nov to Apr like everyone else does. All this has done is raise the prices of soybeans, coal, gravel and petroleum products - b/c now they must be trucked

Actually the timing of closure benefits the shippers. July to September is generally the lowest cost time for trucking in the area and also for rail cars. Prices typically rise considerably starting in October. Also, many of the grain companies and others are using the upper Mississippi as an alternative. Typically it is about 19% more costly that the Illinois river but with tows and barges moved there in anticipation of the shut down, that may not be the case. The closure and it's timing was announced well in advance to allow shippers a chance to pursue and make alternative plans.

Also, the Illinois is more critical during the winter as it's often used since it doesn't freeze and the upper Mississippi does.

As to shipping season, there is year round shipping on the Illinois.

I think your post underestimates the planning that went into the scheduling. There is no perfect time but I don't think the time chosen was done so without a lot of consideration and consultation with the shippers.

When was the last time you locked down the Illinois in February? Those pusher boats are not equipped as icebreakers.

Wouldn't that be the case no matter when it was closed, except that the project would probably be a lot longer and a lot more expensive in winter. Having worked cleaning oil spills on NY harbor in the dead of winter you couldn't pay me enough to do this maintenance there at that time. I think the only ones inconvenienced by the timing are recreational boaters, and especially loopers like the ones in post #66. With the whole country being severely (and financially) inconvenienced I think boaters are getting a bad name for themselves with their "the rules don't apply to me" attitudes. Glad business is good right now for boat dealers, but there could be a backlash coming when boaters are labeled elitists.

That's the point is you don't want to close it when the Mississippi might not be usable and you don't want to close it when freight costs are the highest. Illinois doesn't shut down in winter, Mississippi does. I think those making the decision studied the situation carefully. I'll say the grain industry was fine with how they handled it as I read an industry article on it.

BY WHO???????????

Don't worry about the boater going west. The locks will be back open in November. I've taken boats down as late as December.

Here is a very good letter from a Canadian who just returned home from Florida on his boat.





The Honourable Bill Blair

Minister of Public Safety

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0A6

Mr. John Ossowski

Head of Customs

Canada Border Services Agency

191 Laurier Ave West

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0L8

Re: Irrational and Dangerous Custom Policy

American Pleasure Boat Transit Barred at the Welland Canal

I am writing to ask you to stop an irrational and dangerous Customs policy. Specifically the current prohibition on American pleasure boat operators transiting the Welland Canal from one U.S.A. port to another is putting Canadians and our American neighbours at increased risk of contracting the Covid 19 virus.

As you may be aware the Seaway Authority currently permits pleasure craft to travel through the Welland Canal and Canadian boaters are doing so regularly. Given the nature of the canal and locks this can be done in safety as there is no in person contact between boaters and the canal operators that would enable the transmission of the virus. According to Wikipedia 2,000 pleasure boaters a year pass through the Seaway. Many are Americans transiting the canal from U.S.A. Lake Ontario ports directly to U.S.A. Lake Erie ports or the reverse. The canal is an essential link for snowbirds and others to transit in a regular migration from the sunny south to the Great Lakes and back. It is in increased demand this year due to the bar on Americans using the Trent Canal in their travels. In past years Canada Customs and Border Protection officers have commonly cleared these boaters by phone eliminating any face to face contact with our Customs officers.

I have been travelling by boat with fellow members of the AGLCA ( America’s Great Loop Cruising Association) and other “snowbirds” and through them have become aware of the ridiculous situation created by preventing them as American pleasure boaters from transiting the canal. In order to have their vessel transit the canal they are required by Canada Customs to vacate the boat and hire a commercial Captain (and two line handlers) to operate the boat over the short transit. Canada Customs officers are now attending at the boat, to ensure that only the commercial delivery crew are on board, before allowing the boat to pass through the canal. The commercial Captain and crew may be American, Canadian or a mixture of them and pick up the boat at a New York Lake Ontario port (commonly Lewiston) and bring the boat to Buffalo (or the reverse) for the owners to retrieve the boat.

Why is this irrational, dangerous and ridiculous?

If allowed to transit the canal as usual the owner and their passengers would have NO physical contact with any other Canadians or Americans that might cause them to infect or be infected by others. Requiring them to hand the boat over to a hired commercial Captain and crew results in:

1) stops at two potentially un-necessary marinas, to take on and off the delivery crew, risking them infecting or being infected by two sets of marina staff.

2) meeting with the Captain and line handlers to instruct them in the boats operation risking them infecting or being infected by those three.

3) taking a taxi / Uber to the next port risking them infecting or being infected by the cabbie.

4) loitering around and eating at the next port while waiting for the day for their boats arrival, risking them infecting or being infected by assorted shopkeepers and waiters.

5) the delivery Captain and crew risking infecting or being infected by each other or the two Canadian Customs officers who attend to ensure their bona fides as commercial crew.

Everyone appreciates the dangerous times we live in and Canada’s precarious success at managing the Covid virus. However, the blanket application of the rule closing our border to pleasure traffic when applied to the Welland Canal is counter productive, dangerous and needs to be quickly changed. The re-opening of the Oswego Canal on August 10 is permitting a backlog of boaters to access the Welland Canal. (Most long term cruisers have boats that will not be able to use the alternative western Erie Canal due to height restrictions.) The irrational and dangerous application of this policy is generating a lot of upset among my American boating acquaintances. I worry that our irrational rules may lead to a tit for tat response. If we can stop them from transiting what is essentially an international route what is stopping them from prohibiting me as a Canadian pleasure boater from travelling from Lake Ontario through the American Seaway locks to Montreal and Ottawa?

Further, this application of the rule appears to be inconsistent with Custom’s national policy, which as set out on the Web site provides:

Transiting boaters
You may still navigate through international or Canadian waters while in transit directly from one place outside Canada to another place outside Canada, if the transit is:

• direct
• continuous/uninterrupted
• by the most reasonable route

Transiting travellers may only make non-discretionary (essential) stops along the way, including to use facilities, refuel or for essential supplies.

You must follow social distancing practices and wear a non-medical mass or face covering during these stops.

Hoping for your prompt attention to this matter.



Yours truly

Paul Bellefontaine

Information for foreign boaters
Unless you are exempt, you cannot currently enter Canadian waters (territorial sea and internal waters) or boundary waters for discretionary (non-essential) reasons. These reasons include:

• touring
• sightseeing
• pleasure fishing

Consult Entry restrictions for more information.
Transiting boaters
You may still navigate through international or Canadian waters while in transit directly from one place outside Canada to another place outside Canada, if the transit is:

• direct
• continuous/uninterrupted
• by the most reasonable route

Transiting travellers may only make non-discretionary (essential) stops along the way, including to use facilities, refuel or for essential supplies.
You must follow social distancing practices and wear a non-medical mass or face covering during these stops.
Anchoring
You may stop and anchor out of ordinary navigation, particularly if it becomes dangerous to navigate at night or if the crew must rest before safely continuing your trip.
If you anchor to spend the night, you must quarantine on your boat. If this is not possible, you may quarantine at a hotel until you are ready to resume your trip.
Consult Quarantine requirement for more information.
Reporting requirements
If at any point a transiting vessel lands on Canadian soil, anchors, moors or comes alongside another vessel in Canadian waters, or if anyone onboard disembarks in Canada, the operator must report to the CBSA. All entry restrictions apply.
The CBSA and its law enforcement partners are actively monitoring Canadian waterways. If you fail to report to the CBSA, regardless if your purpose is non-discretionary (essential) such as to refuel, you may face severe penalties. Failure to report may also affect your immigration admissibility and ability to re-enter Canada in the future