Mexico

[Catalysis]

Bob and Jmolan thanks for the info on Sirius coverage.
We'll sign up for coverage.
Paul

[rcmpegasus]

I checked into the Sirius/XM weather and it uses feeds from the US National Weather Service. It appears that you will not get much if you are too far south of the border. Still get major fax type charts but the detailed real tiime stuff does not appear to be available. Wish it was, I would do it.

[Jmolan]

Bob thanks on that, I was going to ask you before I started to do searches on it.
When we get the SSB amigo net and Sonrisa net I felt we had more than enough info to go on weather wise. I found it very informative and covers all the way down to Panama and out into the Pacific. Great education on some of those discussions. They take each section of your world and cover it.
It's the big stuff you want to know about and need to watch for. All the rest is local fluff and you just deal with it. At least in the Sea of Cortez.

[TaoJones]

Richard Spindler, publisher of Latitude 38, recently flew down to La Paz to begin the return of his 65' cat Profligate to the Bay Area. In today's 'Lectronic Latitude, he gives a great report summarizing the current state of cruising in Mexico, Pacific side.

* * *

"In the third week of May we flew down to La Paz to bring Profligate back to California after her 10th season — this one a six-monther — in Mexico. As someone who has been cruising south of the border for 30 years, our opinion of Mexico just keeps getting better. There are almost no bureacratic hassles left, Mexico has all the conveniences of the U.S. — yet it can be incredibly inexpensive, and there are endless beautiful and remote areas to explore."

* * *

To read the entire report, go to:

Latitude 38 - The West's Premier Sailing & Marine Magazine

It's the story headlined "Baja, the Bash and Beyond."

TaoJones

[Cheechako]

Thanks Tao, I really enjoy reading about the Sea of Cortez, I spent a year and a half there in the mid 80's on my Rawson 30.....

[Cyndimarcus]

We too are heading to Mexico this fall. A Mexico forum would be of great interest to us. I've already added Sonrisanet to my favorites!
Cyndi

[Catalysis]

how do we get this Mexico forum moved up beyond the "other" category ?

[Compass Rose]

JMolan, thank you for starting this thread. My husband and I are heading to San Carlos July 9 to look at a sailboat we're really hoping to buy. We'll have it surveyed and do a sea trial while we're there. We just heard that the one person who shipped boats out of the marina the boat is at (I think it's the San Carlos Marina; it's the one right by the Marinaterra hotel) retired, so we're looking at other options for shipping. We live in Seattle and would likely have the boat shipped up if we buy it. We considered moving it to San Diego and shipping from there but didn't realize quite how far it is.

I'm wondering if you know anything about the marina and how good of a job they do looking after boats that are moored there. The current owners live in California and have kept the boat in San Carlos for a few years; I'm just wondering how well it's been looked after during that time (guess we'll find out when we have it surveyed!)

Lastly, any recommendations for local restaurants and/or things to do?

Thanks!
Deborah

[Sailabel]

Hi Deborah.... congratulations... I hope the boat is everything you expect. San Carlos is going to be HOT... but I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

When we've stayed in a hotel in San Carlos, we have stayed at the Best Western Hacienda Tetakawi. We found their rates to be quite a bit better than the 'resort-type' hotels there, and the rooms are nice... but if you're looking for a resort.... You'll find that San Carlos is quite 'americanized'. Good grief, even the 'stop' signs say 'stop' instead of 'alto'. Billboards are in English. But it's a nice town. The marina area appeared to be mostly sport-fishing folks.

The restaurant right in front of the RV park (and next door to the BW hotel) has excellent seafood. I believe it's family operated... good service and decent prices. Other than that, we've only eaten a a few places in Guaymas.

An option for getting a boat back to Seattle is to have it shipped via Dockwise (I believe that's the one) from LaPaz to Nanaimo. When we were there last, I believe that have a ship that leaves around December. It may be a better option than trying to 'bash' back up the coast from Cabo. That's assuming the truck transport option is out. I believe the truck shipping was previously arrange by Marina Seca San Carlos, which may be a good option for storage until you're ready to bring the new boat back home to the NW. Another option to consider is to leave it there for a while and cruise the Sea of Cortez for a bit.

I don't know anything about the marina or the care they give. Our boat is currently in dry storage (marina seca) in Guaymas.

We may be driving down from Seattle to Guaymas shortly after you... probably leaving around 7/15.

So, what kind of boat is it??

Best of luck.

Steve

[Compass Rose]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the response, and the restaurant suggestion - I've been craving seafood, so maybe we'll check that out! We got a room at the Marinaterra for a pretty good price ($90, which I thought was decent; we definitely don't care about staying at a resort).

I'm expecting the weather to be horribly hot, but I read that the average water temp in July is 89 - very nice!

My husband just found out about Dockwise and we're looking into using them to ship the boat. We definitely don't want to sail it back. From everything I've heard about that slog up the coast, it sounds like a brutal trip. It looks like Dockwise does have a boat going from La Paz to Nanaimo in December, so we were thinking if we buy the boat it would be fun to cruise in the Sea of Cortez in late November, then drop the boat off at La Paz to be shipped north. We've only chartered once in warm water (Croatia), and I know once we get the boat back to Seattle it'll be a while before we get to again, so I'm excited about that possibility.

The boat is a 1989 Island Packet 38' and looks to be in very good shape. It's been outfitted extensively for offshore cruising, which is nice. We almost bought a Tayana 42. They're beautiful boats. How do you like your Tayana? (I looked at your site - nice boat!) How long have you had it?

Thanks for the good wishes. We've had a few boats surveyed and I'm really hoping this one works out.

BTW, we're chronicling our boat search on our website, www.threesheetsnw.com, if you're interested (under the Sailboat Search Chronicles).

Cheers,
Deborah

[jackiepitts]

It seems unlikely that we will get our own forum on Mexico so I decided to post a question here.
We will be heading south with the haha in October and I am curious about any inside information regarding the tuna pen situation. There have been several boats that have been caught in them heading to Ensenada and the reports have been unclear as how far out the pens were located. It seems they are not lit at night and I am hearing that they are moved frequently. We have seen the pots at the coronados and todos santos islands and know they are hard to spot (maybe impossible at night?)
So any information on what we can expect when heading further south would be greatly appreciated.
Jackie

[Cyndimarcus]

Steve, we are planning on leaving our boat in Mexico next spring for the summer, probably Marina Seca.
Can you give me an idea of the cost?

Also, thanks for the website, it is really helpful!

[DOCRIVERS]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, so pardon me if I don't do this right.
I'm looking for information on Mexico Pacific Coast marinas. We live aboard a 65 ft CPMY, BLUE CHIPS, and plan to move to Mexico this year. The closest port to our land destination will be Acapulco, but rates at the Acapulco Club de Yates are extraordinarily amazingly stunningly high.
I hear there is another marina there called, La Marina de Acapulco. Does anyone have knowledge of this marina ? Anybody know how to contact the harbormaster there ?

Does anyone have any suggestion about any other marina within a reasonable distance from Acapulco?

Any help will be gratefully acknowledged.

BTW, Blue Chips prior to her major refit/restoration can be seen at YachtBlueChips.com .

DocRivers (Frank & Denese)
fmr@yachtbluechips.com

[TaoJones]

Welcome to the Forum, Doc - we're glad you've come aboard.

Hey, sorry about the Celtics this year, man, but nobody could have stopped Kobe and Pau and the Lake Show this year - not even with a healthy Kevin Garnett. Just sayin'.

Oh yeah, Mexican marinas - the best I can offer kinda depends on the timing of your voyage south. Are you planning to wait 'til after hurricane season to go down there? Say, ~Halloween? If so, why not look into joining the Baja Ha-Ha - Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally: Sailing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Latitude 38 has been running the Ha-Ha for about 15 years, now, so those folks will know everything worth knowing about cruising Mexico and the accommodations there.

Once the party's over in Cabo, many of the participants cross over to the mainland and head further south for the season. Some even do the Pacific puddle jump from there and cruise the South Pacific. But a few, I imagine, will be going as far down as Acapulco, so you'd have some company getting down there.

Again, welcome to the Forum. When you can find the time, why not do a post on the Meets & Greets Forum and tell us a little about yourself, your crew and your plans? Lots of friendly folks here.

TaoJones

[jcmcdowell]

We just bought a Gemini Cat in San Carlos and we were working on getting it shipped all the way back to Georgia. Or should I say, I was going to drive it back to Georgia (once in the US). We got the truck, the trailer, the wide load permits, the insurance, the escort vehicle all squared away- but frankly we are having a hard time figuring out why we would want to leave the Sea of Cortez.

We have family in Tucson, Az. How is Puerto Penasco?

We live on our boat and have a second child coming in November. Being close to Tucson and working (contract jobs) would 'appear' to make all the difference to the cruising kitty.

How is the sailing weather in August? I'm thinking about sailing the cat from San Carlos to Puerto Penasco.


JMOLAN- is your boat in the water now? I'll be there soon and will look for it in the bay.