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Most countries document their clearance process online in some Zealand, and Australia. All other countries had no requirements have been cruising under power since 1999 and moved aboard full-
form, and noonsite.com has good information, including recent so long as he remained on board. Fiji, however, levied a bond time in 2009. In 2016 they completed a four-year trip around the

cruiser feedback. The site wasn’t as useful for Spit re, as their of approximately $500 to be refunded when customs sights the world in their Nordhavn 52, Dirona, and have since travelled the
data focused on importing pets rather than keeping them on pet on exit. We’ve heard reports that it can be dif cult to “ nd” North American east coast as far north as Newfoundland, Canada.

board. For clari cation, we contacted the of cials directly in every the appropriate customs of cials to recover the deposit on exit. They maintain a blog at mvdirona.com focused on trip highlights,
country we visited. Contact information often was on government Our Fiji agent posted the bond on our behalf and reclaimed their mechanical systems, equipment, and approaches they’ve found useful

department websites, but sometimes we had to work through funds after we’d left.along their journey. The site also includes a live map showing a real-
Barbados was the only country where we had any issues time location x on Dirona, current weather, fuel-on-hand, and fuel
other sources such as tourism of ces for the right contact.
We bought appropriate-size 2x3-foot courtesy ags for each with Spit re being aboard and another example where a paper consumption rate.
trail with an of cial was helpful. We
country we planned to visit from J&S Surplus (www.surplusinc.com).
The ags are not very durable and didn’t last more than a couple had an email from a Barbados Ministry
of Agriculture veterinary of cer stating
of months, but at under $15 each, were cost-effective for countries
for which we’d planned only short visits. For our longer stays in New we could bring Spit re into the country

Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, we bought additional ags.without formality so long as he remained
For sea freight, you need a freight-forwarder that accepts on board. On arrival, though, we were

shipments of less than a container, but will pack them into a told we needed an import permit. We
container for shipping. When we shipped out of Miami, we used produced the email and that resolved the

TransCaribe. All other times we shipped through Famous Paci c. situation. Later in our stay, two Barbadian
Normally you would work with a shipping company at the origin customs of cials sighted Spit re on boardAbove: Heading to shore in the harbor taxi at St. Helena in the
southern Atlantic Ocean. Two customs o cials (left), and the harbor
location but we usually used the target country shipper. They and came to investigate a possible illegal
would touch the shipment last, so we’d work with them if we importation. The paper trail was key tomaster (right) came out to clear us through, then we completed the
clearance with immigration at the police station ashore.
needed to retarget a shipment to a different location or make resolving that one, as well.
brought into the United Kingdom by private yacht at all,
other changes. Once we needed to transfer a pallet shipped to Conclusion
Melbourne to the Gold Coast in Australia because the shipment except from Ireland. And Ireland follows standard EU
There is no question that travel between quarantine-free procedures.
had been delayed for a month by a longshoreman strike on the
west coast of the United States and we’d left Melbourne before it countries, whether by boat or otherwise, New Zealand was the most dif cult country to enter with
brings additional complexity. Each Spit re. Despite a reputation for a dif cult clearance process,
arrived. When arranging regional transport, ensure that they are
equipped with a forklift or that forklift facilities are available at the country has its own requirements and Australia was relatively easy (in part because we were coming

destination to remove the pallet from the truck.constraints, and, in remote locations, parts from New Zealand). Traveling between two U.S. ports was
or supplies may be unavailable or dif cult unexpectedly the second-most in dif culty and overhead.

to obtain. The two-day delivery time many Spit re Around the WorldBringing a pet from the mainland to Hawaii free of quarantine
of us have become accustomed to may requires about four to ve months advance preparation, most

be closer to two months. But everything When we rst started planning the trip around the world, we spent waiting for test results.
can be obtained and ef cient logistical expected that travelling with our cat, Spit re, would limit the We only needed to formally import Spit re into Hawaii, New

solutions are available for most problems.countries we could visit. In reality, the French territory of New
Many of the techniques we covered Caledonia was the only destination that we opted not to visit Below: At anchor o Bald Cone on Stewart Island, the southernmost of

here require a bit more advanced planning, due to a minimum one-week on-shore quarantine period. Over New Zealand’s three major islands. A few days earlier we’d reached 47˚
but we are happy to invest time up front the entire four-year trip, Spit re only needed to be quarantined a 2’ South as we passed Southwest Cape, one of the ve Great Capes and

to simplify our lives later. In our around- single time, for 10 days in New Zealand.the rst of three that we’ve rounded.
the-world trip, we had surprisingly Many countries have well-documented entry procedures

few dif cult experiences with of cials, for pets, but most are oriented toward commercial air travel
and we’ve wasted relatively little time where arrival times are predictable and the travel duration is

trying to repair or source unusual parts measured in hours. When arriving by boat, travel dates depend

in remote locations. This makes the trip on weather and the trip’s duration is measured in days or weeks.
more enjoyable and less stressful, and we We sometimes had to negotiate with of cials to allow for longer

can spend more time having fun. We’ve travel windows.
nished this trip, but we’re nowhere close Travelling with Spitfire taught us about several

to done. nloopholes where some countries with stringent animal entry
requirements are more lenient with animals traveling from

About the authors: Jennifer and specific countries. For example, pets brought by yacht into
James Hamilton are authors of Waggoner Australia are quarantined for a minimum of thirty days.

companion guide Cruising the Secret But qualifying pets coming from New Zealand can enter
Coast: Unexplored Anchorages on quarantine-free, and New Zealand’s minimum quarantine

British Columbia’s Inside Passage. Theyperiod is 10 days. Another example is that pets cannot be

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