51:51.8N 03:30.6E
South of Rotterdam, 3:30 pm
Customs and immigration paper work became a part of life (and budget) in the
Caribbean.
Back in EU, we thought we were done!
Not so with the rigorous Dutch customs. This coast guard (we pass them all
the time) decided to launch a dinghy and board us.
They did not like us having traveled from/in the Caribbean or having used
delivery crew.....or maybe it was our scruffy looks after 24 hours at sea
across the Channel.
Two friendly officers went through paper work, logs and many phone calls to
check us out. It felt like Interpool!
Still, we were asked to go to land in Schweningen - just in case others had
hidden anything on board. We had extra (cutoms) crew for five hours, coast
guard escort and some hours detour. Ashore we were met with a party of
officials in still a Dutch relaxed atmosphere. Even if we personally knew
the boat was clean and laughed at the whole thing, it felt a little tense
when the dog started running around. Ray was wondering how crewing could
become a night in jail - so it felt real. Quite relieved, we could at 10pm
go into the marina. Pizza, beer and two Swedish soccer goals was a nice
reward even if we were delayed.
We sympatize with customs diligence yet thought this was a rather expensive
exercise for the Dutch taxpayers.
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