From Texas South, Down the Mexican Coast

[cherrick]

Has anyone sailed south from Texas, down the Mexican coast? What ports are along the way that will accommodate longer than 35 foot ships? Any recommendations for places to stop and loiter along the way?

If so, what's the shortest trip you can make from say Corpus Christi and back?

[bstreep]

Veracruz. There really isn't much between there and Brownsville.

[stevensc]

I found this on a Macgregor forum. Note, this was written by someone else, answering a similar question, I have never been there myself. I would like to make a trip down that coast at some time in the future, but the Bahamas & Caribbean have to come first!

Quote "If you are wanting a short trip, try La Pesca. It is about 150 miles S. of Brownsville, a very small fishing village. There are no marinas, but a good anchorage just inside the jetties, on the north side of the river. Fuel was available about a mile upstream last time I was there. Limited provisions available at a little store in town. But haven't been there for a three or four years. I think you went to Vera Cruz this past summer, and I can assure you that Vera Cruz is as good as there is down there. I love that place. Villahermosa is also pretty nice, but thats a pretty long haul. Not a lot available other than that, until basically you get to the Yucatan. There is a cruising guide available, that covers the west coast of Mexico, and the Yucatan. It is a Florida to Panama Canal guide, and it it pretty good. I will try to come up with the name of it, or find it somewhere.

Quote " Just inside the jetties, at La Pesca,a little past the lighthouse, starboard side going in, there is a little indention in the bank.
It was a dock of some kind at some point in time. Water in there is around 8' deep. You can anchor in there, and just drag your dinghy up on the beach. Actually what I did was tie to a piling on one side, and actually dinghyed the anchor to the beach on the other side. This little hole is big enough for one boat, barely. But have never seen another one in there. La Pesca is just a quiet little fishing town.There is a bus you can take into town that comes out to the light house on a pretty frequent schedule. The fuel dock is/was about a mile upstrean, starboard side. I have left all kinds of stuff out down there, and the only thing that ever goes missing is fish hooks and line. The little kids will snatch that up in a heartbeat. I usually take some just to give them, keeps them from stealing. But they use it to eat, so I never got too pissed about it. The cruising guide I was trying to think of is by a Capt. Pat Raines, and is Florida to Panama, or something like that. There is a lot of good info in it, one of the best for the Mexican coast. Don't have much knowledge of Tuxpan. Have only been in there once, but if memory serves, the river has plenty of water, and there is fuel and provisions available. Don't remember any dock facilities. Most of the fuel docks in Mexico, you have to pull up to a commercial dock, which is usually a rough concrete bulkhead. Sorry I can't be of more help. But I can certainly recommend you don't go to Tampico.

I hope that will be of interest.
Steve

[cherrick]

I was going to ask about Tampico, so that's good information.

[yeehaa]

Hi
I am now in Tampico and though I would have agreed with the previous posts on Tampico it really has cleaned up its act. The yacht facilities are almost non existant though if you were a cruiser like me you can always find somewhere to anchor or tie up. If you were heading down the coast you could break your trip with a trip to Tampico where the beach is pretty nice and then depending on your boat size and draft you could even take a scenic route towards Tuxpan by entering a channel near the entrance to Tampico and heading south into Laguna Tamagua and then head on towards the town of Tamagua but however that would be in a megregor or a shallow draft vessel. My boat is presently in Panama and am looking at maybe sailing north to Tampico.
All the best Derek