They have telephones on all the designated docks so they know if you didn't arrive there and make the call.
That changed, too. Story goes: some govt. number cruncher found that the regs did not require them to keep the phones there, so they removed them. The phone booth at Van Isle, for example, remains, but the "pay phone" is gone. Van Isle Marina put in an inexpensive desk phone! I haven't been back to Sidney since to find out what's there.
BION, I do not have a phone. This makes going to the physical spot necessary for me.
But, Gordon, remember, you are calling an 888 number, which could be a bunker in the middle of Alberta, and most likely is.
Every time you call, you are not talking to a local number.
I don't know if they have cameras on the docks to confirm if you are actually where you say you are, standing on dock XXX in marina ABC. I doubt it.
Unless there's something on your record.
It is a pain to have to go out of your way to check in or back in.
And other Canadian friends of mine have made note of how much easier it is to go in one direction than the other.
Les has it right and it worked for him.
May not as a Canadian.