By David Rasbach / The Bellingham Herald
A voyage to visit his Canadian girlfriend last weekend ended up costing a Bellingham man $1,000 for crossing the U.S. border and violating Canada’s Quarantine Act.
On Sunday, Sept. 27, Royal Canadian Mounted Police members with the ShipRider Program were paroling the marine border along the U.S.-Canada border in the Southern Gulf Island region when they spotted a Seasport cabin cruiser out of Bellingham anchored in the Crescent Beach Channel near Blackie Spit, according to a RCMP release on the incident.
The RCMP found two occupants in the boat — a 49-year-old Bellingham man and a 50-year-old woman from Surrey, B.C., according to the release.
Mounties learned that the man had left Bellingham on his boat and met his girlfriend at Elgin Park Marina in Surrey, according to the release. The man reportedly had failed to report his crossing into Canadian water and did not meet the entry requirements under current COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.
After consulting with the Canada Border Services Agency, the RCMP arrested the man under the Customs Act and seized his vessel for failing to report, the release states.
The vessel was searched, and no other criminal activity was found, and the RCMP fined the man $1,000 for violating the Quarantine Act, according to the release. He was released without further charges and had to pay the $1,000 fine before his vessel was returned. He also reportedly was required to leave Canada immediately.
The woman was taken to a nearby marina, where she got a ride back to her vehicle, the release stated, and her plan was to self isolate and get a COVID-19 test if any symptoms presented in the next 14 days.
“Boaters found illegally within Canadian waters may face severe penalties, including fines, seizure of their vessels and/or criminal charges” the release stated. “Failure to report in and other Customs Act contraventions may make foreign nationals inadmissible to Canada.”
The U.S.-Canada border has been closed to non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic since March 21. It has been extended month-by-month six times now, and is now scheduled to expire Oct. 21.
The closure extends to boaters heading in both directions.
The Bellingham man is not the first American boater to be fined. The RCMP reported two similar $1,000 fines for boaters crossing the border in July, including one for a whale-watching vessel.
The RCMP recommended travelers check the Border Services Agency’s website for information about reporting requirements for private boaters entering Canadian waters and the latest COVID-19 travel restrictions, exemptions and advice.
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