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American Spirit II - Day 201; Drug Dog Alerts & More Information on Sea Snake We Saw Friday, July 23, 2014



Up at 6:30 AM as we had Customs, Immigration and Quarantine personnel coming to boat at 7:00.

At 7:00 AM approximately 10 Australian government officials and 2 drug dogs arrived at the fuel dock where American Spirit II, Saphir and Jazz Player were tied up. The latter 2 boats were inspected first.

At approximately 8:00 AM we were boarded by the Australian authorities. The Customs and Immigration personnel were all armed with automatic side arms. What was curious was that each gun had a coiled wire attached to the bottom of them connecting them to each officer. I guess that makes it harder to lose a gun and to have one taken away from you.

At any rate, the first order of business was to have a beautiful black dog lifted on board and then down into the main cabin. A little while later one of the Custom's officers announced to me in the cockpit that the dog had 'alerted' to THC - the main ingredient in marijuana. She asked me if I had an explanation for this and I told her that the presence of any drug was not due to any of the boat's current occupants but that it may have been the result of a previous person's presence on the boat 2 to 3 years ago. Without my knowledge and consent, of course. A $40,000 machine the size of a bowling ball bag was then brought on board and this device confirmed the presence of THC, albeit an extremely small amount. My thoughts at the time was whether or not the money I had on board was enough to bail myself out of jail. The officer than explained that their concern was not the minute presence of the drug but only if it was being imported into the country. Nothing resulted of their 'find.' Though I have my suspicions, no name will be revealed to protect the guilty.

The Quarantine people searched the boat looking for terminates, using small mirrors on extendable steel shafts to look everywhere. And they looked in the bilge, under the seat cushions, in all cabinets in the boat, etc. Plus the refrigerator and freezer compartments. New Zealand chicken; beef jerky; caviar; chicken franks; and all of our pop corn was confiscated. Before entering Australian waters we had already thrown overboard all eggs, fruit and vegetables as such items are not allowed to be brought into the country.

Buy 8:40 AM the inspections were done. These were the most thorough inspections we've had in all the countries we've visited so far.

We had dinner at the MacKay Bay Yacht Club from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, then returned to the boat. The dinner was well attended and very enjoyable.

Got on the internet at 10:15 PM; and then to bed by 11:00 PM. A long day.

Joel got an email from his step-dad Jack concerning the sea snake we saw coming into MacKay, 50 miles off shore. It was called the Faint-Banded Sea Snake and was a hundred times more venomous than a King Cobra snake, the most venomous land snake in the world. The information Jack revealed also indicated that its venom had enough potency to kill 1,800 adults. Strong stuff. Fortunately, these snakes have really small mouths and as such its hard for them to actually break the skin of a human and inject the venom.

Brian Fox




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