Good afternoon. After much gnashing of teeth, several phone calls to different offices, and many tears, the Syracuse CBP officer and his lovely Fish-and-Wildlife partner showed up in the worst part of the rainstorm. He wouldn't get out of the car and told me I was doing it wrong... and he was right!
We told him it wouldn't work on my phone or the monitor station inside,so we all went inside to try it again.
He was quite gruff at first, and we tried several times before he saw my mistake. We tried on the tablet and my phone and he typed some; I typed some while he watched me. Rick talked to the woman and answered her questions about the boat. Affter several re-tries, he realized that we didn't have a decal. No decal, no permit. That was supposed to be purchased well in advance of coming over, and that's why we got kicked off the system. He called someone who said, "Just put in zeros". It worked, he told me to go on line and buy one. We'll have decal in Canada cuz I just bought it on line and they mail it. Liz can photo and text it to us, buI I have the receipt. At one point, he also updated the app on my phone, so we had to start the process all over again!
By the end of the hour, we were laughing and hugging. They were both very nice and helpful, [the marina manager said she was surprised at how friendly he was this time] so thanks Officer Cobb!! We're cleared to go south.
We are staying at this dock another night. We could go trough the first lock and sit at the free town dock, but these guys have been so helpful, we have no problem sitting here. We are going to get a taxi and go to Walmart for a few fresh things and just to de-stress. Its a lovely afternoon. The rain has stopped, the sun is out.
Have a good day, everyone and relax! Hoping to find something akin to TWO BUCK CHUCK in a merlot!
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