Photo: Contributed

They say love conquers all, but not according to the RCMP and border agents.

A 49-year-old man has been arrested and had his boat impounded after it was determined he crossed into Canadian waters from the United States so he could visit his 50-year-old girlfriend from Surrey.

The Canada/U.S. border remains closed to all non-essential travel during the Covid-19 crisis.

But that didn't stop a U.S man from boating all the way from Bellingham, Wash. to see his girlfriend.

The incident happened on September 27 as RCMP members along with the ShipRider program were patrolling along the US/Canada marine border in the Southern Gulf Islands region when they encountered a Seasport cabin cruiser out of Bellingham, Wash. anchored in the Crescent Beach Channel.

The two occupants of the vessel were identified as a 49-year-old U.S. man from Bellingham and a 50-year-old woman from Surrey. Investigators discovered that the man had left his home port that morning and picked up his girlfriend at Elgin Park Marina in Surrey. The man had failed to report his crossing into Canada and did not meet the entry requirements under the current quarantine restrictions.

The man has since been arrested under the Customs Act and his vessel was seized for failure to report. A search of the man's vessel confirmed that the trip was simply personal in nature and no other criminality was involved. The RCMP fined the man $1,000 for contravening the Quarantine Act and he was released without further charges. It didn't end there, however, he also had to pay an additional $1,000 for the return of his vessel and was ordered to leave Canada immediately.

The woman was taken back to the mainland at Crescent Beach Marina where she had to find her own ride back to her vehicle.