Needing a Captain Letter

[Big Kahuna]

Ahoy all,

I will be delivering a boat (I'm a hired Captain) from BVI very soon to Mexico. I had a computer crash several months ago and lost everything.

I'm in need of a Captains Letter. If you have on in Spanish..even better.

(a Captains Letter: a hired Captain must carry a notarize letter, in Spanish, authorizing me to have possession of that vessel, if owner is not on-board.)

Please contact me if you have one you can send me. If you need something from me, if I have it, I will send to you.

Thanks all

[HappyMdRSailor]

Gord????

[boatman61]

Why can you not contact the owner.. you have internet.
Hard drives can often be salvaged from.. go to a computer shop.. its worked for me in the past.

[Big Kahuna]

Boatman:
1st: Because a Captain usually supplies the letter to the owner and the owner get's it notarized. The reason I supply is because I don't want the owner to make a mistake that can cost me.
2nd: Most boat owner have no idea what goes into a captain letter or how it worded. Let along have it in Spanish.

As for the computer, don't you think I tried that! That's pretty common sense I would say. And..."no", they were unable to save the data. only my photos and music files.

[boatman61]

I'm aware of that.. so why don't you do a rough draft with pen and paper... then type it out as a Word Doc... send it as an attachment to the owner who fills in the appropriate blank spaces and signs it.
He then scans it and sends the Doc back.. you download and print it off..
But then I'm a freelance amateur... but it works fine for me all over.
Would send you one of mine.. but its got my Header etc..

[Cotemar]

1-10-2014

To Whom It May Concern:

Please accept this letter as authority for Captain __________ and crew of ________ Sailing to collect my yacht:
A ________ length: _______ Beam:_______ Hull ID; ___________

From La Rochelle, France and deliver to me at Newport, Rhode Island USA.



Cordially Boat owner,
________

[Southern Star]

Big Kahuna, even if you have lost your prior copies of a 'Captain's letter', surely you have a good idea of what it said. You (or preferably the owner) really should check with Mexican authorites as to what they require upon entry into their country - especially considering the issues that are currently being discussed in other threads on this site. I would put the responsibility in the owner's hands as he or she is the one who is at risk of having his/her boat impounded if the paperwork is not in order!

For your purposes, I suspect that you are probably safe so long as you can establish to their satisfaction that you have the authority to be in posession of the boat. If the Mexican authorities do not have an official form, you really should speak to a lawyer who practices in Mexico.

If you are not prepared to go to that expense, then you should try to speak to someone who has taken a boat into Mexico for the owner. If you are unable to do that, you should at least get someone to translate into Spanish the letter that you have used successfully in the past.

MY spanish is a bit rusty, but I assume in past you have has something like this (and sorry, my keyboard is set to English):

Autorizacion del Propietaro de Barco

Yo, name of registered owner, soy el propietaro registrado en country where boat is registered del velero registered name of vessel and registration number.

Yo doy Capitan your name as it appears on your passport, numero de pasaporte your passport number, your nationality, autoridad total sobre el uso de este barco, a su sola discrecion, entre las fechas de date of commencement y date of cessation of appointment, 2014.

El es mi representante a todos los efectos en relacion con mi barco.


The document should be signed and notarized (with a seal) by the owner. In my experience with legal documents in hispanic countries, they often require finger (or at least thumb) prints and should include notarized copies of your and the owner's passports.

Again, though, I really think that it would be wise to check in advance with the Mexican authorities. Good luck!

Brad