Insurance. However, irregular hours, lots of holidays and absent officials frequently screw up the process. Mazatlan is affected by only the strongest Northers, while Cabo is immune because of tall mountains. Many cruisers have behaved as though the permit gave them carte blanche to import anything they wanted into Mexico duty free. And when you’re finally on your own in Cabo, you’ll have much greater confidence in your own abilities. We would have driven right up on unlit Sacramento Reef had we not been double-checking Charlie against ChartGuide West and the Boating Guide to Mexico – because Charlie left the reef out!!! After that, just get it renewed. Guns and Drugs. The Boating Guide to Mexico, by Capts John Rains and Patricia Miller, was the most recent, and probably the best. We all know the formula: walk a couple of miles a day, swim a mile a day, eat well and drink in moderation. Staying In Touch. Also remember that different Port Captains and Immigration officials obey different sets of official and unofficial rules. Suppose you’ve checked out of Cabo, but Britany Spears hits on you in Squid Roe and wants to be your galley slave for the trip up to La Paz. While in Mexico, interact as much as possible with the locals, for they are wonderful people. When you want to leave, or if you change crew, you get to do the dance all over again. Such a mess will hold in light wind, but as soon as you go to sleep and the breeze comes up, you’ll drag right through the fleet. It’s actually easy to do. While you don’t need to apply for this permit until your initial six months is about to run out, many cruisers get them sooner because having one theoretically exempts you from having to pay duty on replacement parts for your boat. Since the rules and habits of local officials differ widely, always ask other cruisers or listen to the local net for the latest clearance procedures. In addition to getting your body into great shape, open your mind by doing a variety of activities in addition to sailing, diving, hiking, swimming and exploring. Water Temperatures. In the summertime, the Sea of Cortez is also subject to chubascos – brief storms appearing out of nowhere with winds that often blow at close to hurricane force. Cruising rarely turns out to be how first-timers imagined it. Approximate Distances in Nautical Miles: San Diego to Turtle Bay: 360 Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria: 240 Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo: 180 Cabo to Frailes: 45 Cabo to La Paz: 148 La Paz to Puerto Escondito (Loreto): 140 Puerto Escondito to Conception Bay: 105 Conception Bay to San Carlos: 80 La Paz to Mazatlan: 230 Cabo to Mazatlan: 200 Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta: 175 Cabo to Puerto Vallarta: 295 Puerto Vallarta to Manzanillo: 175 Manzanillo to Z-town: 190 Z-town to Acapulco: 115, Mexican Ports of Entry Ensenada, Baja Cabo San Lucas, Baja Cedros, Baja San Carlos, Baja Loreto, Baja Santa Rosalia, Baja Guaymas, Sonora Topolobamba, Sonora Mazatlan, Sinaloa San Blas, Nayarit Chacala, Nayarit Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Manzanillo, Guerero Zihuatanejo, Guerero Acapulco, Guerero Puerto Angel, Oaxaca Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. As a result, the Yachtsman’s Chart Book and the out-of-print Mexico ChartGuide West compilations are good deals. The keys to enjoying cruising are realizing that it takes time to adapt to an entirely new lifestyle and to sloooooow down. There is typically little wind (only land and sea breezes) on along much of the west coast including from Mazatlan to Acapulco. The hurricane season in Mexico is roughly from June 1 until October 31. This site has all the data, plus a color coded chart showing the windspeed and path, from every Mexican tropical storm and hurricane since 1949. With two locations, one just south of Playa del Carmen and the other in Bacalar Lagoon, we offer an experierience you will remember! Hey, it’s Mexico! Compare the wildly different chartlets of, say, San Juanico, in the Boating Guide, Mexico Chart Guide, and Charlie’s Charts and you’ll see what we mean. Marina Jack, Sarasota, Fla. Sarasota has consistently been rated as one of the top places to retire. Cruisers call it the “forgotten coast,” both because it’s off the beaten track that leads to the islands of the South Pacific and because coastal cruisers rarely make it further south than Mexico. I carried Charlie's, the Raines guide, and another, believe it was Cunningham There was conflicting information in all three, way points were off, some way off, and even some anchorages mis named. Cruisers’ Most Popular Spot. Captain White is an avid sailor, water sportsman and outdoors enthusiast who loves paddle boarding and mountain biking. For a more thorough picture of Mexican weather, check out Capt. Captain White has also served as captain and crew on commercial container ships on the West Coast, oil transport ships in the Gulf of Mexico, and charter boats in Hawaii. In late March or early April, you should cross from Mazatlan to La Paz, remembering that Sea of Cortez Sailing Week is usually held in late April. Have any of you found a suitable guide that includes details that sailing moms would be looking for? Where the Sun Always Shines. Visit www.sailmail.com. In either case, folks arriving by boat are invariably given a tourist card that’s good for six months. Most of these posts are about our 6 month stay in Ensenada. Winter is too cool for those who enjoy water sports and enjoy a good tan. After all, you’re better off discovering that the steering cable needs replacement at the dock in California than at 0200 off of Cedros Island when it’s blowing 30 and everyone is already seasick. A good dinghy and outboard combination is expensive, but if you take decent care of it, it should last for five years and still have good resale value. Overtime charges may be assessed for checking in after hours, so wait until they open. Add food and water, and you can enjoy a great minimalist cruise. Once obtained, this permit allows you to cruise in and out of Mexico for up to 20 years without having to leave the country. To our mind, the following is the minimum: EPIRB, Coast Guard required safety gear, liferaft, dinghy (which may be modified to serve as a liferaft), three appropriate size anchors with appropriate size rode, compass, two GPSs, VHF radio, working sails, a light air headsail, some kind of cockpit shading, one set of charts and one cruising guide. It … And we all know the results: less weight, lower blood pressure, greater endurance, wilder sex, and better general health. Give her time to ease into sailing – or let her take a plane on the long passages. Set sail for Ensenada Grande, our anchorage for the evening and a beautiful cove. If we had to guess, we’d say about 50% of the boats cruising Mexico have this kind of insurance. If you’re a couple, be more forgiving of one another than normal, for both of you have all kinds of new responsibilities and anxieties. Hurry down the coast of Baja, have a beer and a shower in Cabo, then hustle up to the islands just north of La Paz. For some cruisers, it’s their liferaft, too. They hope to have a new edition out in late October 2000. If you have one year and you want to enjoy more than Mexico, do the six-month itinerary outlined above, then sail to either French Polynesia or Hawaii for a couple of months, then to British Columbia until late fall. If you don’t have adequate experience, you should strongly consider bringing along a seasoned mentor for your virgin run from San Diego to Cabo. And don’t cross the Sea of Cortez without checking for a Norther. Anchoring etiquette requires that you treat others the way you’d like to be treated – you know, the Golden Rule. We once recorded 88° at Isla Partida during Thanksgiving. ... but you go cruising on the west coast. Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Toilet Paper. Most Annoying Wind. There are telephones just about everywhere in Mexico – but always ask questions about cost before using them because you can really get hosed – like paying $7 per minute! But when you venture off into ‘real’ Mexico, you should avoid hassles by dressing conservatively. My good chum Uncle Grand Dog and I departed Seattle on 12 September, 2016, and headed south for Mexico in my 35 foot sailboat, Lutra. Find pristine natural beauty and charming local character in these four ports of call along the Gulf of Mexico. Mexicans view time as being infinite, and even business meetings as being social occasions. They long for water they can swim in without being hypothermic in less than 15 minutes. Electronic charts offer several advantages, but a ‘hard copy’ backup of some sort is essential. If you’re crewing on a boat and the skipper hasn’t gone over all the basic and emergency systems, insist that he/she do so. Charts and Cruising Guides. Unless you’re a free-spender who likes hanging around the bright lights of tourist areas, you’ll be surprised at how little cash you need. In most conditions, the proper anchoring technique is to back down at a slow but constant speed, getting the rode to lay out in a straight line. Private sailing charters that will give you the freedom to hang out with friends and enjoy the beauty of the Caribbean in Quintana Roo. The best time to cruise is spring and late autumn. And it can get downright cold when a Norther roars down from the States. Liability insurance for Mexico is not expensive, and can be purchased in Mexico or in the States from a broker that deals with boat insurance for Mexico. To give you an economic frame of reference, the minimum daily wage in Mexico is $3 U.S. That’s daily, not hourly. Before heading south of the border, the skipper and crew should review all the boat’s emergency gear, systems, and engine controls. There’s not a significant food product you can’t find in Cabo, La Paz, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo or Acapulco. These seas are unusually dangerous because they are so steep and close together. And unless an anchorage gets extremely crowded, don’t anchor directly upwind of another boat. West Coast Sailing has long been a go-to source for dinghy sailboat parts, and is rapidly expanding it's offering of parts and accessories for many popular one-design keelboats such as the J/22, J/24, Sonar, Etchells, J/105, Melges 24, and more. Your final stop will be the Port Captain’s Office. Above all, smile and be patient – because if you rush, the official will be insulted and stall you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. West Coast Sailing is pleased to offer a range of sailing instruments and electronics, including deck compasses from TackTick and Velocitek, handheld VHF radios from Standard Horizon and iCom, tension guages from Loos & Co, plus a full range of complementary mounting brackets, accessories, and more. Want to try something really fun? Hurricanes. MexConnect is Mexico’s top English-language online magazine, providing quality information about Mexico and promoting Mexico to the world. This is a magnificent sailing area, boasting 10 islands and dozens of unique anchorages to explore, along with nearby Loreto, chock full of history, dining, and shopping opportunities. And it’s useless to practice at the dock, because it’s an entirely different experience during a storm at night at sea. While a combination of their Baja Handbook and Pacific Mexico Handbook will do the job, they also offer handbooks for Cabo and Puerto Vallarta. Most Mex vets would vote for the 140 miles of islands and isolated anchorages between La Paz and Puerto Escondido, and/or the 175 miles of fine cruising between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo. They come from cold damp cloudy places like Alaska, Canada and Washington. If your boat is not a U.S. documented vessel, you must carry registration papers and a bill of sale or other proof of ownership. March and April, when the northwesterlies really blow, is usually the worst. If the legal owner of a boat wants to leave her in Mexico while he/she returns home, the vessel must – in theory, at least – be left in the care of someone else, such as a friend or a marina. As Einstein noted, everything is relative. Sayulita. When we left Nicaragua bound for Playas del Coco in Costa Rica, no papagallos w… Mar 21, 2011. A Guide To Mexican Butcher Shops: Part I – Beef, Saving Mexico’s tarantulas: Rodrigo Orozco’s ingenious plan, Rodolfo Morales – Mexican artist (1925 – 2001), Know The Law In Mexico – Employees And Labor Law, Spanish terms for building and construction in Mexico, Puebla style apple and blueberry marmalade: Mermelada de manzana y mora azul, From New Spain to nouvelle cuisine: Pasta mexicana, All About MexConnect | Mexico’s top English-language online magazine, Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack and Veronica Gonzalez-Smith, Comments: Terms of Service and Guidelines, Mexico – calendars and schedules of holidays, fiestas and events, Mexico Maps: click on map or state names for interactive maps of states. Because you’ll make so many surf landings in Mexico, make sure your dinghy is equipped with wheels. Best Cruising Grounds. Much more than just a marina, El Cid, Mazatlan includes a small market and gold sand beaches stretching for miles in both directions. Best Sailing Wind. If your boat is in good condition, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting it. Twenty years is “temporary”? South of Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta, the air and water temperatures are pleasant all year round. Z-town wins hands down. Cancun was built for the purpose of tourism and remains a go-to spot for tourists, though veteran travelers — and those looking to avoid paying U.S. prices and being surrounded by a 24-hour party scene — have started l… You probably won’t use the wheels anywhere else, but they’re worth it for Mexico alone. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Caution: ‘Mexican eyes’ are everywhere. There was, however, one nasty hurricane in the middle of December – so you never can tell. John Rains’ MexWX. Cruiser Code of Conduct. Alas, that's the way it is. But don’t even think of pulling out your American Express platinum card – or even traveller’s checks – at some little bodega . It blows about 15 knots almost every day from about 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The above six-month itinerary is for those who prefer warmer weather and don’t mind moving smartly for brief spells. Being back in the States for a week or two is usually enough to send once reluctant cruisers scurrying back to their boats. If there was one, it would be based on the Golden Rule and the Caribbean motto: “Take only photos and leave only footprints.”. But Mexico will not prepare you for the deep-water anchoring and coral conditions of the South Pacific. Be warned also, that while GPS is very accurate, hard charts sold today are often based on data that is more than 100 years old, and are not accurate. I got a kick out of one guide that told me to look at another author's guide for detailed information. Obviously, this means that the weather will be varied as you travel, so go prepared. 4) Over-Provisioning. Nasty Weather. If you’re a woman who enjoys wearing sexy outfits or displaying breast augmentation with a skimpy bathing suit, you won’t have any problems within tourist areas or resort marinas. By the way, November is normally the best month to do the ‘Baja Bash’ back to California. If this is the case, you’ll need to fill out a ‘Certificate Maritime Letter of Permission’. If you’re caught with fishing gear – you don’t have to be fishing or have a fish onboard – without a license, you’re liable for big fines and having your boat seized. If you already have it, there’s a good chance your insurer will add a Mexico ‘rider’ for a relatively small fee. 3) Reefing Madness. Between La Paz and Puerto Escondido, there's a stretch of approximately 140 miles of islands and remote anchorages. Part 1. When a Norther is blowing 40 knots and it’s very chilly in Conception Bay, for instance, it might only be blowing 15 and be just a little cool in La Paz. Buy big and buy extra. Getting Wild and Crazy. The penalties for being caught with even a small amount of pot are severe, and Mexican courts don’t let the accused or their lawyers jive ass their way out of situations the way U.S. courts do. Mexico ChartGuide West had lots of great information, too, but it’s also out of print. Copyright © 1996–2021 MexConnect & respective authors.    ¦   ISSN #1028-9089   ¦  , https://wxp.atm.purdue.edu/hurricane/e_pacific/index.html, Doing business in Mexico: general legal, business & entry issues, Huichol religion under siege (again). The key to getting official business taken care of quickly in Mexico is to act as though you have all the time in the world. For many who cruise the West Coast, the lure of sun and tranquility in Mexico and points south is very compelling. Sailing Directions 153 West Coasts of Mexico and Central America [Nga] on Amazon.com. In addition, a chart indicating the location of all the thru-hull fittings should be posted in an obvious place. Mexico is a huge country with a coastline well over nine thousand kilometers. When it comes to Baja, Jack Williams has the Pacific Coast covered in Baja Boater’s Guide, Volume 1 – the Pacific Coast; and the Sea of Cortez coast of Baja covered in Baja Boater’s Guide, Volume II – The Sea of Cortez. In a typical year, you’ll still want to head over to Mazatlan by early December. Always try to rely on more than one source of navigational information. Hopefully you won’t ever find yourself in such conditions, but if you do, you don’t want to be trusting your life to a boat designed for lake sailing. As such, all our itineraries are based on getting south to Cabo by mid-November. And if an anchorage starts to get crowded, actively try to help newcomers find a good spot rather than pretending they don’t exist. about interesting places you visit, or letters about issues of interest to other cruisers. Every year a quiet migration down the West Coast of several dozen boats occurs. 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