----- Original Message ----- From: "Zen, Emile" <zen_at_nria.com> > Would anyone who has recent experience transporting a personally-owned kayak > by car across the U.S./Canadian border care to offer some advice or caveats > to the uninitiated? > I will be driving with my family from New York City to Toronto next weekend, > > Would a pass through Canadian customs be relatively simple for a car with a > kayak, wrapped in its cover, on the rooftop, especially if it's a > Feathercraft? Or would world events and the current climate complicate my > lowly objectives? After all, I just prompted a NYC harbor police siren and > stern admonition yesterday by paddling too close to a tunnel ventilator near > Governors Island, as if the Kahuna could hold something more lethal than my > lunch, a change of clothes, its carrying cart and backpack. A couple of points: There are specific regulations in many harbors regarding how close to approach certain strategic facilities such as those tunnel ventilator structures (25 yards in their case). So if you were too close in the eyes of security forces, you were too close. We are living in interesting times and it pays to really learn what specific security rules exist in an area and adhere to them. Also to keep up with updates on these security rules, which are changing all the time. And remember that whatever the written rules, US Coast Guard and other enforcement patrols can pretty much tell you to move on from just about anywhere on the water if they sense a potential problem. We have had a US Coast Guard enforcement officer give a talk in which he said that they will be eyeing kayaks closely as we are ideal for security breaches because of our small size, relative invisibility, lack of motor noise and not likely to show up on radar. In a word, he said don't take this personally but you may be "boarded." BTW, your Kahuna can pack about a hundred pounds of deadly stuff. As for how to take the boat in to Canada, cartopped would probably be a good idea if you needed the inside-the-car room. If left in its bag on the roof, be prepared to have to open the pack to show what it is inside, but the pack looks like cargo carriers that are plentiful on the market and may not draw attention. You could also just cartop the kayak assembled. Since people cross the Canadian border with canoes and kayaks along its entire length, it is of little novelty foro border officials. > > Will the Canadian officials be laid back but the U.S. officials more > unforgiving, upon my return? That is always an individual officer thing and difficult to generalize on or predict. My most serious border delay was years ago entering Nova Scotia from the Portland ferry. It was a random pick of me and my wife and our car. And we were stuck behind latter-day hippies with grey beards in a pickup truck with home built wooden cap full of incredible junk that the Canadian officials had meticulously opened and examined. > > Will I need to present an original receipt to show proof of purchase and > ownership? This would not hurt especially on your return to the States to show that your Canadian built boat was purchased in the US. But I have also been inside a car with several Feathercrafts on the roof and some bagged ones inside and were just waved in through the border between BC and Washington State. > > Should I just forget the idea of kayaking altogether, or perhaps rent one, > both in Toronto and the Finger Lakes? Rentals are such a chancy thing in terms of availabilty, selection and safety features. Why bother if you have a perfectly good kayak to take along. ralph diaz-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jun 03 2002 - 09:50:30 PDT
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