Cross border rendezvous proves costly for U.S. man and his Surrey girlfriend because of COVID-19

A Bellingham man was hit with $2,000 in penalties after slipping into a Surrey marina to go on a boating outing with his girlfriend last weekend.

On Sunday, they were nabbed by the RCMP doing a marine patrol as they anchored in the Crescent Beach Channel near Blackie Spit off Surrey in a Seasport cabin cruiser.

The 49-year-old man left his home port and picked up his 50-year-old friend at Elgin Park Marina earlier in the day.

He was arrested and his boat was seized. He was fined $1,000 for violating the Quarantine Act and had to pay another $1,000 to get his boat back.

The woman got a ride back to her vehicle and promised to self-isolate for 14 days.

A search of the boat found no signs of any other criminal activity.

“Boaters found illegally within Canadian waters may face severe penalties, including fines, seizure of their vessels and/or criminal charges,” states an RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime news release. “Failure to report in and other Customs Act contraventions may make foreign nationals inadmissible to Canada.”

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