United States

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United States of America Cruising Guide

An online cruising guide for yachts sailing around the USA.

HELP! The whole USA section is lagging behind in development.

Your assistance is required to develop these pages into a useful resource. Bring out the hidden "cruising guide writer" in you and share your information here (in the true cruising spirit) for all who follow in your wake.
U.S.A
Usamap.gif
U.S.A
Click for larger, clearer view
M US Inland Wways.jpg
US Inland Waterways
Usaflag.png
Flag
Capital: Washington D.C.
World icon.png 38°53.7′N, 77°02.2′W
Language: English
Currency: US Dollar (USD)
Time Zone Atlantic coast: EST; UTC-5 (EDT; UTC-4)
Gulf Coast: CST; UTC-6 (CDT; UTC-5)
Pacific coast: PST; UTC-8 (PDT; UTC-7)
Alaska: AKST; UTC-9 (AKDT; UTC-8)
Hawaii: HAST; UTC-10
More notes about the country
Small info.png Latest News
Content - news items, etc.


Overview

Note: This World Cruising Wiki cannot hope to cover all the sailing activities and regions in the U.S.A. This Wiki does however attempt to cover the U.S. ports and areas that may be of interest to world cruisers.

The background and history about the country is best observed on Wikipedia

Cruising the region

See individual regions

Climate & Weather

North American weather ranges from tropical to arctic. It is far better, if one plans to cruise off (or in) North America, to do one's homework and find specifics about the specific area(s) that you want to see. (see each section of the Cruising Wiki)

Weather Forecasts
Current Weather Conditions

Charts

  • Chart No 13003 (Cape Sable to Cape Hatteras)
  • Chart No 11009 (Cape Hatteras to Straits of Florida)
  • Chart No 411 (Gulf of Mexico)
  • Chart No 501 (West Coast of North America)

See the various ports listed below

Chart Sources

Special Navigation Notes

All buoyage follows the IALA-B "red-right-returning" rule, so keep red, conical-topped, even-numbered "nuns" to starboard and green, cylindrical, odd-numbered "cans" to port when entering a port. The outermost buoy will be marked with the lowest number.

Often, there will be a seabuoy ("safe water buoy") just seaward of that lowest-numbered buoy that is striped red-and-white and with a two-letter label (such as "MR" for Merrimac River entrance). Navigate to it before attempting to enter the port.

When encountering buoys cruising along the coast between ports, the convention is that when sailing around the continent in a clockwise fashion, one should also keep red buoys to starboard, (to avoid isolated hazards between the buoy and the coast).

Local Radio Nets

Arrival/Departure procedures

Pursuant to 19 CFR 4.2, operators of small pleasure vessels, arriving in the United States from a foreign port or place to include any vessel which has visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise outside the territorial sea, are required to report their arrival to CBP (Customs and Border Protection) immediately (see 19 U.S.C. 1433).

The master of the vessel reports their arrival at the nearest Customs facility or such other place as the Secretary may prescribe by regulations. These reports are tracked in the Pleasure Boat Reporting System. Pursuant to 8 CFR 235.1, an application to lawfully enter the United States must be made in person to a CBP officer at a U.S. port-of-entry when the port is open for inspection.

Reporting Requirements
CBP has designated specific reporting locations within the Field Offices that are staffed during boating season for pleasure boats to report their arrival and be inspected by CBP. The master of the boat must report to CBP telephonically and be directed to the nearest Port of Entry to satisfy the face-to-face requirement, or report to the nearest designated reporting location along with the boat’s passengers for inspection.
Important: See FULL REGULATIONS on the official website.

Also visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Locations webpage. This gives all the details for the various ports of entry in the U.S.

Notes:

  • Qualifying recreational U.S. boaters returning from foreign ports may not have to go through an in-person re-entry interview under a new program launched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Local Boater Option program gives boaters in Tampa, Miami, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands the choice to register in advance with the agency, eliminating in most cases a requirement to meet with officials after every foreign visit. To enroll in the Local Boater Option, set up an appointment by calling 1-800-432-1216 or 1-800-451-0393.
  • Foreign flagged vessels are required to report their movement from one port of call, or one berth, to another. Even if a foreign flagged vessel, including those from Canada, have entered the USA legally, and cleared customs properly, THEY MUST NOTIFY US CUSTOMS - HOMELAND SECURITY if they move their vessel from one place to another. Even if the vessel is moved just from Port Everglades to Miami, for example, or even from the city of Fort Lauderdale berths on New River to Bahia Mar, the boat owners MUST notify US Customs - Homeland Security IMMEDIATELY, OR BE SUBJECT TO A $5,000.00 FINE! While it would appear, at least so far, that the enforcement of this provision is lax in some ports, a crackdown could result in some very expensive cruising for Canadians, or boat owners from other countries. It appears that this Department of Homeland Security Requirement is NOT well known among foreign cruisers.

Immigration, Visas & Customs

Immigration

The best source for information regarding visas is the US government pages - Visas

Customs

The best source for Customs & Clearing information is the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP.gov

Health & Security

Submit any health warnings/information and any security details here.

Ports & Popular Stops

US COASTAL PORTS/STOPS (BY STATE, CLOCKWISE)
NEW ENGLAND
(N-to-S)


Maine (ME)
New Hampshire (NH)
Massachusetts (MA)
Rhode Island (RI)
Connecticut (CT)
MID-ATLANTIC
(N-to-S)


New York (State-NY)
New Jersey (NJ)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Delaware (DE)
Maryland (MD)
Washington, DC
SOUTHEAST
(N-to-S)


Virginia (VA)
North Carolina (NC)
South Carolina (SC)
Georgia (GA)
Florida (FL)
GULF COAST
(E-to-W)


Alabama (AL)
Mississippi (MS)
Louisiana (LA)
Texas (TX)
PACIFIC
(S-to-N)


Hawaii (HI)
California (CA)
Oregon (OR)
Washington (State-WA)
Alaska (AK)

Also see:

External Territories

Cruiser's Friends

Submit details/contacts of cruiser's "friends" that can be contacted in advance or on arrival - who can offer information and assistance to our cruising "family".

Links to Forum discussions

List links to discussion threads on partnering forums. (see link for requirements)

External Links

Personal Notes

Personal experiences?

References & Publications

Books, Guides, etc.

Atlantic Coast:

  • MapTech "Embassy" Crusing Guides If you can only afford one, this is it. (MapTech makes NOAA's digital charts and provides a free raster chart reader based on their navigation software. They also sell paper "ChartKit" books by region.)
    • New England Coast
    • Long Island Sound to Cape May, NJ
    • Chesapeake Bay to Florida
    • Florida
  • Waterway Guides (Also good, especially for upscale marina-hopping, but fewer ports and marinas covered.)
    • Northern
    • Chesapeake Bay
    • Atlantic ICW (Intra-coastal Waterway)
    • Southern
  • plus


Gulf Coast:


Pacific:

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