Roche Harbor Customs

[hawgwash]

I don't mean to high jack this thread but since we are all PNW boaters here... What are your feelings about the US Customs office in Roche Harbor ?

We have been treated terrible there on more then one occasion...:huh:

Never, ever had an issue with any Maritime Customs Offices.
I do know a few Canadians who have been very closely looked at in Roche but not to the extent of being "treated terrible."

Now that you have posted with your boat and personal names, you might consider avoiding Roche Harbor for a bit...lol.

 

[SR400DB]

I have only been there one time for customs. Was not the best experience I must say. Will probably avoid them next time.

 

[CougarCruiser]

Passed through customs there a couple of times. They were fine. Friday Harbor customs has always been better for us. Roche wasn't bad though.

 

[The Bill Collector]

Well, maybe I just got lucky there.... Yes, Friday Harbor phone call from the dock was fine, but in Roche when the agent came on board 2 times and was almost to the point of being rude to me & my wife.

Now, I went through Port Townsend 2 years ago and the agent was the nicest guy ever....

 

[The Bill Collector]

Never, ever had an issue with any Maritime Customs Offices.
I do know a few Canadians who have been very closely looked at in Roche but not to the extent of being "treated terrible."

Now that you have posted with your boat and personal names, you might consider avoiding Roche Harbor for a bit...lol.

Thanks Hawgwash for starting a proper thread...

 

[Gofirstclass]

We stopped in Roche on our way back from Victoria several years ago. I pulled up to the dock and went to the customs office to check in, and was told to return to the boat and stay there.

When I got back to the boat I found that the female half of the couple with us had walked down the dock to do "her business" that she didn't want to do on the boat (i.e., stink it up!)

When the customs guy came on board and found she wasn't there, he threw a conniption fit, threatening to arrest me and her too. My wife and the husband started to protest but I just told them to shut up. We let the customs guy rant on for several minutes until she came back, then he lit into her. He had her in tears within a couple of minutes. Then he got around to asking us the necessary questions, filled out our form and left.

What an AH. Next time we'll go to Friday Harbor.

 

[The Bill Collector]

They are very serious about NO ONE getting off the boat except the Captain until they have cleared you....

 

[hawgwash]

My wife and the husband started to protest but I just told them to shut up.

Lol, I like that part.
Good move.

I’m afraid as boaters, we often pay for the sins of those who went before us and there is certainly no shortage of clueless people on the water.

While there is no excuse for abuse from any authority, you should hear some of the crazy stories about boaters crossing the border in either direction. Lots of funny stuff going on between the San Juan and Gulf Islands. And just for fun, next time you are in a car, lined up at the 49th, let one of the kids out to “do their business” in the bush…

On the flip side, a long time ago, the first time I ran a newly purchased, still US registered boat from Seattle to Vancouver Harbour, the Customs guy that came down had never been on a boat, never seen the import paperwork. He was so happy to be out of the office he sat, drank coffee and asked a million questions about boats. Never moved from the settee, didn’t look anywhere. My boat could have been a fake sitting on top of a Russian sub for all he knew. After more than an hour, I walked up the dock with him and he thanked ME.

 

[NaughtyDog]

Last summer was the first time we crossed into US waters and back again. We made sure we made ourselves very familiar with the procedures and everything went very smooth. One of the basic rules though is that no passengers disembark the vessel until cleared, unless it's on fire. Lol. I did see a captain and crew getting the full shakedown at Roche though...


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[Sundancer]

I always return through Roche and have never had any problems. I always tell the crew to stay on board and I'll handle securing the vessel. When I go in, I take my specs from Sea Ray because it's a "30" footer according to the designation but the specs show that it's 29' 8"! THAT means I don't have to pay the luxury tax and they have less paperwork to do. They seem to like that and know that I've been through there a number of times. It usually goes very smooth. I've seen other folks strip the boat throwing stuff out on the dock as they tear apart every single compartment! Takes a long time to stow everything after one of those! Some laugh and some get ticked when I answer the "alcohol" question because I always have a few gallons of alcohol for the stove.