Mexico confiscated 380 yachts - MERGED THREADS

[zeehag]

i came in under last regime when you needed to get tip within 6 months of arrival. mine cost 65usdollars.

now you must get it when you check into first port of entry. now it costs 50 usdollars, approx.

[zeehag]

when you travel with legal paperwork and do not mouth off about how so and so said to fake paperwork,then you have nothing to concern yourself with.
if you go around mouthing off about how you get your papers on the down low and mouth off against the place in which you cruise,then you have something to concern yourself with.
i am not worried about this purge.i am 100 percent legal.
usually when a regime in mexico decides to normalize things there is a purge of old deadwoood. paperwork changes with regime.
many souls cruise and bring boats into mexico then leave. they no longer care about the paperwork and their boats,cars,etc become liabilities for the government.
if you are in this category, you should worry.
if you are legal, you should not worry.

[rebel heart]

Just an update from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle:

This morning Mike at PV-North Sails said SAT went boat to boat and asked for a vessel's TIP, documentation, and crew list (and maybe some other stuff). If you didn't have it, your vessel was "confiscated" in a very loose sense.

The marina manager here (Raffa) is having boat owners that got nabbed sign a piece of paper that he's then driving to Guadalajara, which in ten days will release the confiscation and start the process of correcting the paperwork problems.

We had just checked into the marina and furnished copies off all our current paperwork, so we're fine.

[Ocean Girl]

Anyone heard from earlier poster Tarzan?

[sww914]

I think that if the US found foreigners without the proper paperwork there'd probably be 10 Coast Guard guys with guns and 20 cops on the boat and they'd take your ass away. Then there'd be a long court hassle and a big fine, not just a chance to fix your paperwork in 10 days.

[doug mcfarland]

"I think that if the US found foreigners without the proper paperwork there'd probably be 10 Coast Guard guys with guns and 20 cops on the boat and they'd take your ass away. Then there'd be a long court hassle and a big fine, not just a chance to fix your paperwork in 10 days.
__________________
Steve
http://www.landfallvoyages.com"

I am not badmouthing mexico. I love it there.

But as regards your assertion that in the U.S. they would react like this is a bit off. In the U.S. you have to clear customs to enter with your boat and if you did your paperwork is properly filled out. This would only happen if you did not clear customs and it would never be done as a sweep.

[bobofthenorth]

Originally Posted by doug mcfarland

But as regards your assertion that in the U.S. they would react like this is a bit off. In the U.S. you have to clear customs to enter with your boat and if you did your paperwork is properly filled out. This would only happen if you did not clear customs and it would never be done as a sweep.

Spoken like one who has never had to deal with US Customs and Border Insecurity. If I really am cleared into the US after I get done with Customs then why do they travel with the Coast Guard and demand to inspect all my papers even after I show them a clearance number?

Every country has its official quirks. Given a choice I'll take Mexican officialdom any day over US officialdom.

[rebel heart]

The best part: SAT/Aduana (Mexican customs officials) went randomly through the marina and just wrote boat names down. Some they knocked on, some they didn't, and didn't bother to check with the marina to see if current info was on file there. Had all your paperwork on the boat and with the marina but stepped off for a taco? Busted.

They had to just walk the marina and not check on the anchorage because Aduana doesn't have any boats.

And even better: the local Aduana offices themselves can't actually correct the problem, so the confiscation letter, signed (by you) letter saying you're aware of the problem and are responsible for the vessel, and your TIP need to be sent to Mexico City where they will be reviewed by someone that was never planning on reviewing them.

This place is like a Benny Hill skit sometimes.

[Celestialsailor]

it surprises me that they just cannot check with the Marina office for their list, then knock on the boats that are not on the list. I guess it's a case of job security.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

it surprises me that they just cannot check with the Marina office for their list, then knock on the boats that are not on the list. I guess it's a case of job security.

It wasn't port-captained sanctioned; it was probably the same guys who X-ray luggage at the airport who hopped in the truck and went to the marina to inspect for customs violations there. Aduana are crooks. You can jump through 50 flaming hoops on your paperwork just to be met by some guy who says he doesn't care and wants your 12% duty in cash, now, and points you to an ATM.
Happens in Puerto Vallarta airport frequently; it's happen to me.

I agree completely with someone above who said Mexico is an easy place for foreign sailors. But the minute you step into the legal system everything goes batshit.

[SV THIRD DAY]

More facts for the Sky is falling folks as published today in Latidude 38's Letronic Latitude.


Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude


TIPs and Rumors About 'Seized' Boats

December 2, 2013 – The World of Paperwork in Mexico
One of the ways in which Mexico is culturally different from the United States is that for many years some laws seem to be enforced very loosely, if at all, then all of a sudden a government agency seems to go over the top with enforcement. That's what has happened recently with the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (Tax Administration Service) branch of the Mexican government. On November 26 members of its staff began checking the Temporary Import Permits of all the foreign boats in a total of 10 marinas.
In the case of marinas in San Carlos, Kirsten Grossman de Zaragoza, the general manager of Marina Seca, says 40 inspectors showed up. They were backed by 30 heavily armed guards from the Armada, apparently in case boat owners decided to resist. Similar scenes played out up and down coast. To show how determined the SAT was, Grossman reports they worked through the night until 6 a.m. — although they didn't set foot on any boats.
A Temporary Import Permit (TIP) allows foreigners to bring their boats in and out of Mexico as many times as they want without having to pay import duty. When we got ours for Profligate back in 1997, they were good for 20 years. More recently, they have been good for just 10 years. The cost is a very reasonable $50.
The easiest way to get a TIP is to apply online at www.banjercito.com.mx. It takes about 14 days to get a TIP. Meanwhile, you can use your credit card receipt as proof that you are in the process of obtaining a TIP. "I applied for three TIPs online in the last few months," reports John 'Woody' Skoriak of Sausalito. "They were sent to me almost immediately by DHL. It was a much more efficient process than U.S. Coast Guard documentation."
The other way to get a TIP is at a port that has a Banjercito, which is a Mexican military bank. This would mean places such as Ensenada, La Paz and Puerto Vallarta, but not Cabo San Lucas. But doing it online is the easiest and least time consuming.
In the past, nobody seemed to care that much about TIPS. As long as your boat didn't stay in Mexico longer than the length of your tourist visa — 180 days — and as long as you didn't leave Mexico without your boat, you theoretically didn't need one. While most marinas asked for a copy of your TIP when you checked in, lots of them didn't follow through if you didn't have it on you when you first came into the office. Now all foreign boats need them, and all marinas are insisting on seeing them before allowing any boats in.
We talked to many people who had their boats checked by officials from SAT, and all went swimmingly. Those who didn't have their TIPS on file with the marina were given five days to have one on file with the marina office. For example, four days and 22 hours into the deadline, the Wanderer and Doña de Mallorca, traveling inland, knew nothing about it. We then, while riding a bus from Guadalajara back to La Cruz, got a call from Mike Danielson of PV Sails saying the marina office needed a copy of Profligate's TIP within the next 90 minutes. Fortunately, de Mallorca knew where the document was, and Danielson took it up to the Marina Riviera Nayarit office. Once that was done, we were good.
To our knowledge, no boats on the hook were checked for current TIPs.
For whatever reason, apparently a lot of foreign boats either didn't have a TIP or didn't have one on file with the marina — the latter, in theory, being "responsible" for your boat if you leave the country without your boat. Those not in compliance with the TIP law were/are subject to fines and even seizure, although we have yet to hear of any boats being fined or seized, and we certainly don't expect any boats to be seized.
A couple of days ago we received an email from a friend of John Hards of the Beneteau 36 Pelican, currently in a marina in Nuevo Vallarta, saying Hards reported that, as of November 29, "60 boats had been seized" by "rogue officials," and that "yellow tape had been used to secure the seized boats." According to the email, "[Hards'] new TIP, validated by the military and Banjercito, had been declared invalid by the rogues." His new TIP, it was said, didn't show up on SAT's computer so, according to this letter, his boat had been 'seized', with yellow tape put around it, and Hards was not allowed to stay onboard. The friend was shocked because Hards had been cruising Mexico for 16 years, was laid back and well-known by locals, was familiar with the customs, and never had had a bad word to say about Mexico. The email ended with "have had no reply and no radio contact" with Hards, mildly implying that he might be in a wretched Mexican prison, likely never to be heard from again.
The term "rogue" is incendiary, of course, as it suggests out-of-control government officials imperiously abusing foreigners. While there may be some truth to this in cases of DWG — 'driving while gringo' — just before Christmas when officers need to buy presents for their kids, it hasn't been our experience with boats in Mexico. And we've had a boat in Mexico almost every winter for three decades now.
Fortunately, and not surprisingly to us, Hards is not in a Mexican prison. The SAT officials aren't "rogue." His boat wasn't "seized" in any common understanding of the term, or even wrapped in yellow tape. Furthermore, Hards will not have to make the long trip to Guadalajara to clear things up because the Port Captain in Nuevo Vallarta will take care of it. According to Hards' update email, the problem was that the marina Hards' boat was in didn't have his boat's TIP on file.
What is the chance of a boat being confiscated in Mexico over a TIP violation? We believe nil. There was a minor stink a number of years ago when, as we recall, the owners of about four foreign boats in Mexico were not only found to not have TIPs, but inexplicably refused to get them for their boats. As we recall, after government officials all but pleaded with these folks to come in compliance with the law, the boats — all of them old and beat up — were indeed seized. But trust us, the Mexican government wants two things: 1) Marine tourists in Mexico to be happy; 2) Marine tourists to respect and comply with Mexican law. Fortunately, it's easy to accomplish both.

- latitude / richard

[Cabofishing]

It is true. We have a boat in Cabo San Lucas that was embargoed. Inspectors from Mexico City came unannounced on Tuesday before Thanksgiving (when they know many US owners would be home) and just asked the people they could find on a boat for their papers - no other explanation and no indication of what they were looking for. Papers are routinely inspected by local people and our captain keeps a file of the papers they want to see. We do not keep the temporary importation document in that file as it is not wanted by the local authorities. It was, however on the boat. Our captain gave them the file and asked them if that was all they needed or if they needed to see anything else. They told him no, that we were all good and left. The next morning we found papers taped to the boat that it was embargoed and could not leave the slip. Our papers, including the temporary importation, are in perfect order and they had no cause to embargo the boat. We understand that this was a coordinated sneak attack on American vessels in every marina in Mexico. We have faxed the temporary importation document to Mexico City which shows we are perfectly legal but they have not responded, saying they are studying the files. This is not the way a legitimate search for unauthorized vessels would be conducted.

[zeehag]

the mexifeds get their info from the marina.yes. they even use computerized information gathering.
they also read stuff folks publish online..in cruising forums and in facebook and other places folks like to rat selves out in public. you would be surprised how many folks do that.
visas and automobiles were purged in spring. this was going to happen art some point.
every regime has a starting point. land ownership here, boats, cars,visas..all interconnected and government controlled. do not believe this is a circus nor that mexico isnt fullly computerized and cleaning up its act.i have watched mexico as universalization policies were being finessed. this is not unexpected.

last regime wanted the tip placed on a prominent window. this regime wants it in with boat papers. go figger. i have always kept mine with paperwork.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by zeehag

.
they also read stuff folks publish online..in cruising forums and in facebook and other places folks like to rat selves out in public. you would be surprised how many folks do that.

and how exactly would they know who is who since everyone uses anonymous names?

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

and how exactly would they know who is who since everyone uses anonymous names?

Ha ha ha ...

Adventures of Joli' Elle

I guess you missed the link to your Blog at the bottom of your signature line......being Anonymous on the internet is harder than you think. Just from your blog I can get your boat name and registered owners of the boat and the home address the USCG has on file for your Documentation and that doesn't even count what the folks at the NSA can do

Nov 16th:
"We now have 8 pounds of Tuna in the freezer."
Sure hope a Mexican Fishing license for all crew members was recorded as being purchased prior to catching all that Tuna.....see what I mean.

I'm not picking on you Amigo, just trying to make the point about the false Anonymity that is the internet these days. I’ve posted my entire live on our Cruising Blog and it has helped introduce us to many great people…but I also received a visit from the Mexican Navy while anchored in San Blas, Nayarit (complete with machine guns and face masks) over something I posted on my blog!

On another occasion I received an email from an insector at the FCC (yes the FCC in Washington DC) about a complaint that had been filed against me in Mexico. Seems a crazy man named Norm Goldie in San Blas had forwarded them my blog link along with complaints that I was "destroying the town of San Blas by interferring with official Port duty using my VHF radio". The fire was easily put out...but again...things I posted on a blog were being used against me and I had to explain them. This is why when I see people saying they would just slip out in the dead of night and break Mexican Law and they are very identifiable in the Mexican Cruiser Community, it makes be very nervous from personal experience and I would caution people to use a little self editing because you NEVER know what can be used against you these day in the land of Cyberspace.