Hello...Part two

[Garry2Rs]

A couple of days after Christmas, last year, my daughter drove down to visit me in Mobile Alabama.  She works for the school board and was able to spend a week or so with me.

Okay...There are rules on both sides of the boarder.  I can only be out of Canada for six months, and can only spend six months in the States.  I was in a boat, so in March my daughter drove down again and brought me back to Canada, allowing me to comply with the regulations.

When I returned south, to start my trip home, I figured out that by stopping in Alabama, I was still a 1000 miles north of Fort Myers, where I would start traveling east, across Florida, to reach the Atlantic, and begin my trip back north toward home.

I sailed southeast across Mobile Bay, then east along the Florida panhandle.  I was still in the ICW.  The Gulf was on my right, behind a chain of sand bar islands until we reached Carrabelle.  At this point this part of the ICW ended and we had to cross the Gulf of Mexico.  There we're chioces, based on how long you were willing to be in open water.  We chose to head almost due east to a fishing port called Stieinhatchee.  

We stayed a few days waiting for a favorable wind then set out for Crystal River, and had our first major problem.

I will tell you about being rescued in the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow.

[Old Ironmaker]

Depending on how long you spend in a particular State you may not get 6 months. Florida is 6 months others are less. The other thing to check and you most likely you know a few days in Ontario may not keep your OHIP up to date when you need it. Rules and regulations change so fast here and in the US everything I know about living and staying across the border may not apply today. Depending on what health benefit provider one has things can change drastically once outside not just Canada but outside the province of ones primary residence.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[OhioFisherman]

Not sure how it works or your route down there in a smaller boat, but if you are more than 12 nautical miles off shore you are in international waters? Does the time limit rest?

[Garry2Rs]

Once we left the Great Lakes, I was never in what could be called international waters.