T&T: Cruising foreign lands (was: Canadian Customs)

[Rudy and Jill Sechez]

Good Morning All-
   
  I tend to agree with Arild's philosophy- take some food with you, but try local stuff.  
   
  It's one thing to outfit with food and liquids, but it's another thing to outfit so everything ends up "just like at home".  
   
  Unless there is a specific reason to load the boat, so that you do not need to spend a dime on food where you go, why bother?  There is so much that is missed out on when this approach is used. 
   
  We constantly met "cruisers" who seem to be disenchanted with their cruising experiences.
   
  We cannot help but get the impression that a cruising approach, like this, is one reason why- they do not seem to give their visits to places a chance to fully bloom ( too busy talking on the VHF, too busy emailing people back home, too busy rushing around in their high speed dinghies, wanting to stay in their air conditioned boat, etc.)  More often than not, every cruiser we see is rushing around, but not "seeing" or "interacting".
   
  We are not advocating against these activities (and others), just suggest that people may be getting side-tracked, even unknowingly, from a more enriched cruising experience by cruising activities that are logical, but unfullfilling.
   
  Rudy and Jill Sechez
  Briney Bug- Sanford, Fl
   
  

Arild Jensen <elnav@telus.net> wrote:
  > -----Original Message-----
> Steven Dubnoff wrote:
> If I wanted good wine, I would stay in the US,



REPLY
I thought the idea of cruising was to see different places, people, and
sample whatever the local culture had on offer.
If you load up with case lots of everything you are used to back home, it
seems to me you aren't going to experience as much of the new and different
things you might otherwise find locally. If everything is going to be the
same, why cruise?

While over in Sidney, I found some Armenian brandy in a local liquor store.
I didn't even know they had a wine and spirit industry in Armenia. Turns out
they do and has been famous for it for centuries.
The brand I picked up turns out to have been a favourite of Winston
Churchill's since the time Joseph Stalin gave him a case lot at the Yalta
conference. Definitely not something you would find on the shelves in
America. 

As for pricing. Yes that can be an issue. Stocking up on the staples which
you consume a lot of over the duration of the cruise does help with the
budget. But booze isn't a staple. However its the local fresh food, and
different wines plus other assorted extra that make the difference. Its a
given that stores located conveniently close to the marina is likely to
charge more for that convenience and they are likely also counting on the
transient visitors not knowing where else to look.

However, I have also found that a bit of checking will often tell me where
the local people shop for best prices.
Incidentally Roberts's comment about pricing for booze varying from province
to province also applies even within a province.
In BC the "ICE COLD" stores do charge more for the convenience of
refrigerated product and being open late hours.
The store I found in Sidney is a mile from the marina but close to highway.
And they did have better prices than the regular liquor store. Same thing
for food stuffs.

regards
Arild
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