South Pacific Bound from Mexico?

[chouliha]

For years we have been suggesting to folks that are getting ready to do the Puddle Jump to leave from La Paz rather than from spots on mainland Mexico. We love PV and we are here now taking a break from French Polynesia and doing some medical stuff. I posted this note a few times over the years on the PPJ Yahoo group

Here are a few pointes to ponder.

The Con's:
1. You will miss out on the seminars in Puerto Vallarta. But with some of the seminars at PVYC it's a hassle and costly to get there from La Cruz. Linda and I have presented a number of seminars years ago both in La Cruz and the yacht club. It is darn challenging when you don't have wheels.

2.You will not be able to take advantage of Kavenga's great chart lending library. Steve and Kay(SSCA cruising hosts) have a huge number of charts they loan out for copying purposes. If I recall think PV sailing is now managing this lending library.

3. The weather is for sure much cooler in LP than PV during Feb & March

The Pro's
1. Easy departure and usually able to sail out of the box. Stop in San Jose del Cabo to check out and do a final refueling.

2. You can usually sail from La Paz to Muertos then to Frailes and onto SJC. We have sailed this route numerous times with hardly any motoring.

3. Sometimes you will have great wind immediately upon departing San Jose for reaching southwest.

4. La Paz has many marine stores that are available for your final boat part buying. The selection is 100 x's better than anywhere on the mainland Mexico. Most if not all within walking distance from the anchorage.

5.Food provisioning is just as good as anywhere on the mainland. Plus it's so much easier with major stores within walking distance.

6. Lots of service people available if you need canvas, fridge, stainless, rigging, etc. Most of these guys will come right to the boat.

7. So much easier to have items brought down from the US than on the mainland. Less customs hassles.

8. If you need to return items to the US or outside of Mexico for warranty repair from La Paz there is a process to obtain the proper paper work free of charge. It works, we have used it.

9. The islands are close by to hang out and do last minute projects.

10. You can anchor close to town unlike PV where you are a 40+ minute bus ride from La Cruz.

11. If you need to take a taxi in La Paz you can go anywhere in the centro for 50 pesos.

I am sure there are many more advantages using La Paz as a jump off point. The intent of this note is get folks thinking about another option for prep, provisioning and departure before heading to French Polynesia that may work better for them.

Good luck getting ready and safe sailing. See you folks in French Polynesia

Chuck
Jacaranda lying Mo’orea

[zeehag]

bypassing mainland mexico guarantees a stilted view of what mexico is and who the folks are and scenery and all kinds of culture, geography, climate and more.
there are more departure locales than merely la paz and puerto vallarta.
heading out from la paz is awesome if you had no intention of mexicruising.
have a great adventure and smooth sailing.

[chouliha]

I never said to bypass mainland Mexico. We love mainland Mexico and spent 7 years bouncing around. Do mainland Mexico then move back to La Paz before departing

[zeehag]

a choice.
awesome. is good for both places.
smooth sailing

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by chouliha

I never said to bypass mainland Mexico. We love mainland Mexico and spent 7 years bouncing around. Do mainland Mexico then move back to La Paz before departing

Although we didn't spend the time in Mexico that you guys have, choulia, we did exactly what you are recommending. Both times we left from Mexico for the Marquesas, we left from Cabo San Lucas, where the port Captain was. This afforded us good sailing, all the way to the Marquesas.

Ann

[robert sailor]

We left Cabo a couple of times enroute to Hawaii, great place to leave from. Choppy for the first few hours but eventually settles down. When heading to the South Pacific we left from PV...very light winds for the first few days. We chose PV because of all the cruiser parties leading up to the crossing. Go figure! Also a good place to meet other cruisers and sit in on the different seminars.

[Greg Mason]

We left from Barra de Navidad, after cruising the Mexican coast for 3 months. I would never wait for last minute boat part shopping in Mexico. That was all done at Southwind Marine in San Diego. Barra was a great place to load the freezer, can chicken, put eggs down, load beer and liquor for the Marquesas, get our exit papers, and acclimate for the tropics. Blue Water Cruising was our source for all information, charts, medical, dental needs, paperwork needs and experiences from 'doner' cruisers, long before we set sail from Canada. 19 days 20 hours for a 2 person crew on a Pedrick Cheoy Lee 41 offshore to Hiva Oa. Never be the boat waiting in port for parts.

[zeehag]

the official ports of entry are changing in mexico. within past month and half there have been effected some changes which will impact the returning of many , as specific ports of entry have been terminated as such.
do your research before planning exit or entry

[JPA Cate]

Zeehag,

If the Capitanerias are all gone, to whom does one write to find out entry ports and procedures?

Or is it changing so fast it's a moving target?

Ann

[Geoff H.]

Our boat is on the hard at Puerto Escondido getting her bottom done, a new stormsail made, among other things in prep to depart for the Marquesas from Cabo in March. Anyone else doing similar?
Any advice or info on clearing out procedures?
Any means to ‘electronically attend’ any of the PV seminars? Is there any means by which the contents are recorded or documented and shared after the fact?
What is the best means for soliciting for additional crew should we need to?
We are pretty set electronically but is there a good source for paper charts in LP or Cabo?
Thanks all!!

[zeehag]

ann.. some ports that used to be entry ports are changing. yes so fast we cannot always keep up. i posted a list in this latest i can find info page...



some interesting information regarding entry and exit mexico...
mexico requires entry into first port of entry encountered.


http://www.clubcruceros.net/pdf/BoatersGuide.pdf

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by Geoff H.

Our boat is on the hard at Puerto Escondido getting her bottom done, a new stormsail made, among other things in prep to depart for the Marquesas from Cabo in March. Anyone else doing similar?
Any advice or info on clearing out procedures?
Any means to ‘electronically attend’ any of the PV seminars? Is there any means by which the contents are recorded or documented and shared after the fact?
What is the best means for soliciting for additional crew should we need to?
We are pretty set electronically but is there a good source for paper charts in LP or Cabo?
Thanks all!!

Geoff Regarding obtaining the documents that maybe passed out from the seminars it all depends who is organizing the sessions. You may want to contact Club Cucerios and PV Yacht Club or PV sailing and see what they say. usually one cruiser offers to coordinate. The year Behan from Totem coordinated the seminars in PV many of the events were available electronically.

Regarding charts - What paper charts do you need?

Not sure what is available these days in Cabo or La Paz - I would think charts other than Mexico would be non existent.
Again contact Club Cucerios in LP maybe someone there could tell you.
Susan /Dennis Ross to be exact. If PV Sailing is still managing Kavenga's 1000's of charts as a lending library you may need to make a trip to PV. Usually someone organizes a deep discount with a copy shop(by volume) and the year we did a couple seminars in PV they did 700+ charts at one time. A mammoth effort of coordinating.

You can use this forum to look for crew.

Other option is either the Yahoo Southbound Group or the Yahoo PPJ group

Good Luck

Chuck
Jacaranda
Mo'orea FP