Crossing into Canadian waters....

[boneshaker]

Was thinking what many of us did back in the day. Bob-Lo island was actually in Canada but no one ever had to go through customs. How many times we crossed over to the Canadian side of the river on a boat just having fun....Try and do that today..

[DetroitPlanner]

Boblo was a well known spot to sneak across the border. Take one boat to the island, take another boat to the other port. I can imagine it was a great way to sneak contraband as well.

[boneshaker]

yep.. and we spend billons of dollars on security for what? to keep johnny from crossing the river with some weed?bring back the days when we could cross at will.....

[mikeg19]

Ha. I never thought of that before. One of my favorite childhood memories was going to Boblo. Seemed like the boat ride took all day, but that was half the fun.

[CLAUDE G]

One thing is for sure, if Boblo was still around during 9/11, the increased border security would have put them out of business.

[ndavies]

The Customs protocol on the river is broken. When you go to Canada by boat, all you have to do is call their 1-800 customs number from a designated phone. [[there's a phone booth at the Duffy's dock that's approved.) They ask for information about the boat and the people on it. They give you a file number to give to OPP in case you're pulled over. Occassionally they will ask you to stay there while they come out to inspect the boat. If you fail to call in it's a $150 fine per person.

When you come back to the US in your boat, you're expected to drive to the ambassador bridge to report in. I don't know of anybody who has actually done that.

Once again the Canadians have a reasonable system that most boaters will gladly follow. The US has a policy that is overly stringent, nobody follows and turns everyone into lawbreakers.

[Gannon]

Gee, N, aren't they all aware of the drones patrolling the border...and that huge boat capable of breaking the sound barrier while in pursuit?!


And what of those pesky temporary forward-looking undercover radar vehicles...like the one I spotted on Belle Isle last year?


We used to run our jetskis off the Wyandotte public launch the instant the sun rose...spend the day in and around Crystal Bay and Boblo, sometimes venturing up to the city [[on the Windsor side, since back then jetskis were not allowed near Detroit, if I remember correctly)...and we'd often go to a very packed Duffy's for lunch. We'd always call in from our cell phones...it was standard practise.


Thirteen years later, I cannot imagine going onto the water only to have those buzzclamps at Homeland INsecurity come along with their bravado...



No cheers on that,
John