Two ferries, four bus rides, a dodgy motel and 2 flights later we have made it to Miami. On our cruising budget we have ruled out any lavish expense (this includes eating out) and as such, the 36 hour option to take us from Salt Spring Island on the west coast of Canada to Miami on the south east coast of the US was the appropriate choice for our situation.
To start our journey, Gem and I bundled into the back seat of their Honda with our suitcases taking up another seat, bursting with sailing gear and xmas goodies. Alright for dog who had the run of the boot laughing at us peculiar humans bunched together! After a short 30 minute ferry ride to Vancouver Island we even managed to squeeze in 3 Canadian Sailcraft 36 boat viewings in Sidney prior to heading to the mainland.
It all started to get a little tedious when on the bus from Vancouver to Seattle. What should have been a 2hr 40 journey ended up being a 5 hour slog through the US border control who treated us as if we were blatant terrorists. Being a Brit means that I have never been subjected to the third degree when going through passport control. Oblivious to the troubles other nationalities have, I breeze through with little questions and wonder what all the fuss is about. With the tables now turned, Dylan assures me that it is way worse at Heathrow with him using an indefinite leave to remain visa in his Canadian passport yet still subjected to a thorough dressing down every time he dares enter and exit the country. Managing to control my outrage at the treatment the border control was subjecting us to, we re-board the bus and head on to Seattle. Just as well we refused the mincemeat and sourdough starter jars that Dylan's Mum had made for us!
It all started to get a little tedious when on the bus from Vancouver to Seattle. What should have been a 2hr 40 journey ended up being a 5 hour slog through the US border control who treated us as if we were blatant terrorists. Being a Brit means that I have never been subjected to the third degree when going through passport control. Oblivious to the troubles other nationalities have, I breeze through with little questions and wonder what all the fuss is about. With the tables now turned, Dylan assures me that it is way worse at Heathrow with him using an indefinite leave to remain visa in his Canadian passport yet still subjected to a thorough dressing down every time he dares enter and exit the country. Managing to control my outrage at the treatment the border control was subjecting us to, we re-board the bus and head on to Seattle. Just as well we refused the mincemeat and sourdough starter jars that Dylan's Mum had made for us!
With our flight out of Seattle not until 7:25am the next day, we had pre-booked into a Travelodge. Upon arrival I was instantly reminded of a motel used in the murder scenes of Dexter. Apart from our room sounding like it was located in the middle of a race track, I barely slept a wink as I convinced myself the home boys playing latino music full blast at 1am were going to break into our room, going through various ways I could tackle them in self defence. OK so we did only pay $46 for the privilege of having a snooze but at the risk of sounding twice my age – I just wanted a good kip with the little hours we did have available!
With at least a week planned in Florida to complete our shortlist, I'm sure we shall be repeating that scenario a fair few more times although lesson learned – check out the neighbourhood before booking.
Next mission – buy a US sim so we don't pay through the nose when contacting brokers and get cracking on our boat hunting.
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