[Charlie]

I tried to buy a boat in Mexico. It is rather complicated but not impossible. First off is that you have to have cash. It is near impossible to finance a boat there. Second trying to find a good surveyor is very difficult too. I ended up finding one in San Carlos and can dig up his name if you want me to. He might be able to reccommend someone in La Paz. When I was in your shoes I bought two books that really helped me out 1) Inspecting the Aging Sailboat by Don Casey and 2) Surveying Fiberglass Sailboats by Henry Mustin. I'm sure that people who don't read this are going to say something but I'm not advocating that you do a survey yourself but that you pre-survey the boat to see if it is worth spending the money on a survey. That said it is probably worht your time to talk to a surveyor and ask him to do a walk thru on the boat and just give you an opinion on whether or not it is worth having a survey done. Tell the surveyor what you are looking for in the boat and what its purpose is and then ask him to look at the boat with those eyes. From there you should negotiate a price for the walk thru with the surveyor maybe have him look at a few boats that you want. Then on the surveyors reccommendation and after having the surveyor send you some emailed photos arrange to fly down and have the boat hauled at a convient time. That is -- convenient for you. Don't let the broker put a sense of urgency in you. It leads to bad decisions. Third -- Good luck. If you look long enough you'll find something. Fourth before you hire the surveyor use the books that I reccommended and look at the boat for yourself. The one I flew down and looked at wasn't so I saved myself spending the money on a survey. From there be prepared to walk away. And Fifth something I wish I had done -- but didn't -- if the boat is a bust enjoy yourself while you are there. I haven't been to La Paz in close to 20 years but it is a great town and a Mexican town (as opposed to Cabo).