What are some good restaurants to get to by boat on the st. clair river?

[davewindsor]

That is sad. I thought I heard people could dock on either side as long as they radio-ed their short term intentions to the respective Coast Guards or some such entity? Then radio again when exiting. Or is that old pre 9/11 history?

If you have a Nexus Pass or I-68, you phone or radio it in and you're fine. Everybody I know that owns a boat has one. If you don't have one, it's like crossing the border in a car. I wouldn't advise it. It's the same for both sides. It's not that hard to get a Nexus Pass unless someone has a criminal record or been flagged at the border for not declaring something. I went to one interview and was approved. That's it.

Also, if you want to use your CB radio to call it in, you need an offshore radio license--Canadian or US issued. You can't call the coast guard on the radio without one or you get a fine. But, it's not hard to get. I took a full day seminar and exam from the Power Boat Squadron and got it. Basically, the license requirement is there to ensure channel 16 isn't tied up with frivolous chatter in case someone's boat is sinking and needs help. You also need to know the difference between how to make a mayday call if your boat is sinking and a pan pan call if you ran out of boat gas and need a tow. Things like that. And yes, the coast guard can find boats on the water who have their radio on and give them a ticket if they don't have a license. There's a lot of boats on the water and that's why the license is required.

Does the no booze ban apply to all in Canadian waters or just non-Canadians?

It's not a ban. You just need a fridge and an electric stove burner secured onto the boat and hooked up to your inverter in your cuddy and you're fine. You also need a portapotty secured onto the boat and a pump sink. Basically, if you can't sleep overnight on the boat, you can't have booze on board. You also need to be anchored before you can drink on board. You cannot be intoxicated on a recreational boat if you are not anchored.