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Formalities and Tons of Paperwork

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We have received several inquiries about formalities and what it entails when you clear out of a country and clear into a new one.  Each country is different, but I will give you a run down of clearing out of New Zealand at Marsden Cove Marina.  And then clearing into Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu.

Preparing for Departure

We splash Sugar Shack with the expert and professional team at Norsand Boatyard in the rain.  Not ideal, but not a big problem until a storm descended upon us.  We only had 9nm to go from Norsand to Marsden Cove Marina.  However, the winds kicked up to 25-33 kts with gusts up to 40kt.  The current was going against us, the rain was pounding and the wind howling. Not how we wanted to start our trip.  So, we decide to hide in a small anchorage for the night.

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful rainbow as if Mother Nature was apologizing for the terrible conditions the night before.  Made for a nice short trip to the marina where we fuel up and clear out of NZ.

New Zealand Departure 

New Zealand (NZ) requires “advance notice of departure” which is “Form C2B.”  You complete this form and send it by email to customs at yachts@customs.govt.nz at least 48 hours in advance.  We are clearing out at Marsden Cove Marina which requires the Customs official to travel so we gave them 72 hours in advance in order to schedule our departure interview.

At the interview you have to bring the following documents:

In addition, you have to go online to notify Maritime NZ (even if you are not a NZ registered boat), this is a short and simple form to complete.  They will send confirmation upon receipt.  

Once we are cleared out of the country, we remove our NZ flag, get lots of duty free diesel and gasoline, and cast off the docks.  We needed so much diesel that the counter clicked over and had to start at zero. We wore out our poor NZ flag, its a good thing we have a new one for our return. A friend of ours captured us leaving.

Notifications

We send out notifications whenever we go on passage.  The first one is Passage Guardian which is a free monitoring service.  We file a float plan and email our position (lat/long), wind speed/direction, swell, barometer, boat speed, and any other pertinent information every day while at sea.  Peter, at Passage Guardian, provides this service for free.  He tracks our movement and will notify our emergency contacts with any anomalies.  In addition, he notifies us if there is anything in our trajectory (fishing fleets, or container ships).  It is a very important service.

We also notify Viki Moore with the Pacific Rally.  She also tracks us using our AIS and ensures we have all of the necessary documentation to depart NZ and arrive Vanuatu.  She offers amazing service and I am eternally grateful for her spectacular efforts.

Gulf Harbor Radio is an SSB radio net that meets once at night.  We call in to report our position, wind/sea conditions, and get weather.  It is another free service.

Lastly, we will notify our emergency contacts and family members.  We provide our float plan and all of our important information so that they can find us in case of an emergency.

Entering Vanuatu

Formalities for Vanuatu include a lot more forms.  We have to provide them with advance notice of arrival, prior to arrival.  In addition, we are seeking special permission to clear in at Port Resolution which is NOT an official port of entry.  We will have to pay a fee to cover the officials travel.  The reason we are asking for special permission to clear into Port Resolution rather than Lenakel (official port of entry) at Tanna is because the anchorage at Lenakel is awful.  

The email with the “Inward Report” (Advance Notice of Arrival) has to include a lot of basic information (see below) and must include the Inward Report, a photo of the boat, and the bio pages of all crew passports.  This email is sent to CustomsBorder@vanuatu.gov.vu. 

  • Name of the vessel;  
  • Vessel registration;  
  • Vessel Radio Call Sign; 
  • Country of registration: 
  • Home Port:  
  • Voyage (last 3 ports);
  • Estimated date & time of arrival; 
  • Port of arrival; with approval, 
  • Estimated length of stay;  
  • Purpose of Visit: 
  • Port arrived from; 
  • Name of the master or skipper of the vessel; 
  • Name & contact of person providing data; 
  • Names of passengers on board; 
  • List of goods to be landed (if any) 
  • Crew list:  
  • Photo of your boat.  

I do all of the paper work before we leave New Zealand, since I get sea sick pretty easily. And off we go on passage.  See next post titled “6 Days at Sea.”

Mystery / Anatom Island

We originally wanted to clear into Mystery island as it is the furthest southern island in the Vanuatu Island chain.  And it just seems super cool to go to an island called Mystery Island.  However, we would have to receive permission to clear in at this island as it is not a port of entry.  In addition, we would have to time our arrival with the cruise ship schedule, which comes twice per month.  Why do you ask?

Officials have to be flown in, given housing, and food which costs a lot of money  So, if you time your arrival with the cruise ship you don’t have to pay to get the officials to Mystery Island since they will be there for the cruise ship.

It just seemed like too much trouble to leave on a good weather widow for us and arrive at the island when the cruise ship is there (which is only for 9 hours).  

So, we decided to get special clearance for Port Resolution at Tanna instead.

Change of Heart

While we were at sea, we realized that if we slowed the boat down, there was a good possibility that we could arrive the day before the cruise ship arrived.  So, I reached out to Vanuatu Customs with the hopes of being approved for this special entry.

We got approval and nearly jumped for joy.  But, it was short lived because 5 minutes later our approval was revoked.  What?  Evidently there is a large storm coming and they are re-routing the cruise ship so the officials are not going to be there.  What a huge disappointment as we had lost about a half day sailing at painfully slow speeds.

Well, onward to Port Resolution.

Arriving Vanuatu

Once we arrive, we fly our Yellow Quarantine Flag, notify the Yacht club on VHF 16 of our arrival and make arrangements to meet the officials.  When we meet the officials we have to bring the following original and signed forms (forms found here):

  • Inward Report
  • Yacht Master Certificate
  • Inter-Island Permit Application
  • Maritime Health Declaration
  • Biosecurity Passenger Card (one for each crew)
  • Exit Forms from NZ
  • Passports of all crew
  • Boat Registration

The Rocket Guide is a very valuable resource if you require additional information on clearing into Vanuatu.

Some Hiccups….

Evidently the Immigration officer was sick so he could not come which means we have to go to Lenakel to finish the process.  We have to get our inter-island cruising permit, stamps in our passports and our 90-day visas.  Not much of a big deal as we planed to take a taxi to Lenakel anyway.  We need local SIM cards, more Vatu (local cash), and some fresh produce.  Plus it will be fun to see the inner island.

One thing to note is that all attachments, for all countries, should always be labeled with your boat name, the name of the document, and date.  For example, “Sugar Shack Inward Report_May 2024”

One of the benefits of joining the Pacific Rally is having Viki verify all of the necessary documents for NZ and Vanuatu.  Usually, I am on my own to figure out what is required, who it is sent to and in what time frame.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred around the end of May.  In our last blog post I share all of the amazing donations we plan to distribute in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.