Visiting

South Africa

By JOHN PRAGNELL, secretary of Point Yacht Club, Durban.

Yachtsmen who arrive here in-announced are sometimes astonished that they are not *iven VIP treatment and the ’reedom of South Africa.

From my experience the South \frican Department of the Interior reats visiting yachtsmen very well.

Jut, yachtsmen tend to bring prob ems with them.

One has to face the fact that many :ruising yachtsmen sailing round the vorld are doing it on a shoestring, fhere is possibly no country in the vorld where you can arrive with ittle or no money in your pocket, 10 return ticket, and be accepted for in indefinite stay.

South Africa is no exception and f one expects to be permitted to :nter the country or visit neighbour ng territories, as opposed to being confined to a port and one’s boat, )ne should have sufficient funds to jover one’s maintenance and to pay he fare back to one’s country of >rigin.

Yacht owners are surprised that i yacht is not looked on as a return icket, but strange as it may appear, nany owners cannot prove that they >wn their boats.

The few incidents that have been eported have, I think, been caused >y an unreasonable attitude by the Yachtsman himself. One has only to isk oneself what the position would >e if one arrived in one of the Aus ralasian ports under similar con litions.

Skippers should be particularly careful of crew they expect to sign iff in South Africa. Although they nay all set off friends it frequently lappens that after a long voyage the :rew wants to leave, so this should )e borne in mind.

Only if the crewman has sufficient ; unds or a return travel ticket can he skipper hope to shed respon sibility, otherwise the crewman is ied to the boat and the skipper must ake him on with him.

Another point that skippers should ?ear in mind is that if they stay in Jouth Africa for longer than a year, hey may be called on to deposit Customs duty on their boat.