A Russian family living in Bermuda illegally aboard a yacht is yet to decide whether to head north into the winter seas or take the safer option of sailing south instead.

The Bondarenko family was given exceptional leave by the Department of Immigration to stay on the Island for six months while their ultimately successful application to live in Canada was processed. However, this has now expired and they have been ordered to leave the country before January 1.

The family ? Vitaly, wife Marina, and young sons Ivan and Vasily ? is far from keen to set off from St. George into the potentially treacherous winter ocean but have been left with no choice due to Mrs. Bondarenko?s deep-rooted fear of flying.

Last night, they indicated that they will leave it until the last minute whether to head directly to Nova Scotia or wait out the winter in warmer climes to the south.

In one radio interview last night Mr. Bondarenko, 57, said: ?We will certainly leave before the deadline.?

?This time of year is not the right weather to go north but we do not have a choice right now.

?We are concerned about this but we can do this. We will make it to Canada as we have a house and job there. We have friends and we want to go home.?

But he added in another interview that the final decision will have to be made after an assessment of the weather forecasts nearer to the time.

?We are not sure whether we will go to the north as there are two low pressures coming. Everything will be clearer on Saturday morning,? he explained.

As has previously reported, the Bondarenko family initially came to Bermuda because their application for Canadian residency got caught up in bureaucratic red tape.

The couple, who spent 14 years sailing the world after leaving their home in central Russia in 1991, had decided to move to Canada in July 2004 after visiting and falling in love with the country.

However, they then discovered that legal requirements meant they had to leave Canada, and make their application for residency from another country.

The long delay which ensued in processing their application hit the headlines in both countries, and the situation came under fire earlier this year from the Nova Scotia justice minister Michael Baker who called on the Canadian government to speed up the process.