Please allow me to introduce myself

**skipmac** · 28-02-12, 21:39

Originally Posted by Phoenix of Hamble

Hee hee.... A US colleague asked me a few weeks back if he'd need his passport to visit Edinburgh after a meeting in London.

I told him.... "not yet"

Had a friend from London coming to FL with her children who wanted to visit Disneyland in Orlando. Since it is in Florida she wondered if her hotel was on the beach.

**skipmac** · 28-02-12, 22:17

Originally Posted by Tidewaiter2

Gottim? Good, He can Moderate the Red Diesel threads (til he gets over here and visits Les Belges)

Ah, no one has told him the bad news yet!
He still has time to clean his tanks and stock white diesel.

The red diesel thing has even made the boating forums over here. Stories of megayachts getting fined many dollars/euros for having red tinted fuel left in their tanks. What a headache. Even the states allow red diesel in your boat so what's the problem with Belgium?

So between the red diesel, Schengen restrictions, a dollar worth about Euro 0.80, various countries wanting to tax your boat, Portugal requiring special equipment and safety checks, ICC plus an endorsement for the inland waterways, 15-20% VAT on everything except the air; I'm starting to think I'm not really wanted on the continent. I can see why the Brits didn't go all the way with the EU.

**nigel1** · 28-02-12, 22:35

Originally Posted by skipmac

Well I had considered the route across the north Atlantic to the UK, maybe even stopping in Greenland and Iceland but the crew threatened mutiny so will probably do the regular US - Bermuda - Azores - ??

The question is where to go when I get there. Can't miss UK and Ireland and as long as I am in that part of Europe should drop in on a friend in Denmark. But that leaves me a long way from the Med and with the Schengen rules for us dangerous foreigners I will be running out of time. Would have to make a long, mad dash for some non EU destination to avoid running afoul of the law. I understand you can leave the boat in EU for 18 months but to reset my Schengen clock I would have to commute back and forth across the Atlantic; not fun or cheap. Grumble, grumble.

Can't you guys do something to fix this little irritation? I promise not to move in and become a freeloader if allowed to hang around more than 90 days.

Hi Skip,

A US citizen does not require a Schengen visa as far as I am aware, UK, Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands are not part of the Schengen agreement as such, Channel islands and Isle of Man are not EU, and Norway, although not EU, is signed up to the Schengen agreement, clear enough.
Think you'll need to do a bit of googling to try and get things clear, but I'm sure that a fair few of your countrymen have been through this and should be able to help

**skipmac** · 28-02-12, 22:48

Originally Posted by nigel1

Hi Skip,

A US citizen does not require a Schengen visa as far as I am aware, UK, Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands are not part of the Schengen agreement as such, Channel islands and Isle of Man are not EU, and Norway, although not EU, is signed up to the Schengen agreement, clear enough.
Think you'll need to do a bit of googling to try and get things clear, but I'm sure that a fair few of your countrymen have been through this and should be able to help

Actually correct, a visa is not required but US citizens are still restricted to 90 days out of 180 days to travel within the Schengen countries. One can apply for a visa for a longer stay in a specific country but I have heard that it is almost impossible to get an extension of the Schengen 90 day limit. One person suggested getting an extended stay visa from one country and save your 90 Schengen days for the other countries.

**Sybarite** · 29-02-12, 01:32

Originally Posted by skipmac

Excellent. Will be quite happy to make up for the shortage.

Well, don't need to come here to learn I'm wrong most of the time. I have a wife for that.

I think you'll do just fine on here...!! Welcome.

**skipmac** · 29-02-12, 03:41

Originally Posted by Sybarite

I think you'll do just fine on here...!! Welcome.

Thank you. I'm having fun already.

**Tidewaiter2** · 29-02-12, 09:36

Originally Posted by skipmac

Thank you. I'm having fun already.

But, surely, you are far too amusing and tolerant, civilised and in tune with the European zeitgeist compared to most of the Grumpy Old Men(GOM) on these Foruii to be a real American OP.

Are you sure you are not secretly a Tim Bartlett or Toad o 2TH Alien Cloning Pod, grown in the Florida Everglades, and sent to take over the Solent?

**SHUG** · 29-02-12, 13:59

Originally Posted by skipmac

Years ago I worked with a Scotsman and when he referred to his home town it came out in a way I could never quite duplicate but something like Edinbru. Took me a while to figure out where he came from..

Ahem,... the correcect pronounciation is Edinburrrugh. Now say after me.........

**reginaldon** · 29-02-12, 15:24

My first and and one of the few contacts with my North American cousins was when I was in my teens at school and the American Army Medical Corps took over one of the cotton mills in our town prior to the invasion '43/'44. I remember 5 OR 6 baseball or softball matches going on at the same town in the large park next to where I lived.
During our holidays we had fun teaching them soccer and also how to ride our drop handlebar derailleur geared sports bikes - they'd only ever seen 'sit up and beg' bikes with back pedal brakes. Very many of them were recent immigrants still speaking in broken English. Several came along to our chapel downtown and a couple visited our home - my dad was the chapel pastor.
I was asked why I was not in the army - I was 13 coming on 14 at the time!