Mexico. Go or no go?

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

It is clear that you will never have a good time in Mexico with your history, we get that message. But statistically your experiences are not typical, nor were they in a cruising yacht situation... camp grounds and a PV resort. For those who tend to stay in the anchorages at night and avoid known bad areas, the risk isn't all that great, at least so far, and to categorically deny the safety of cruising those waters is paranoid at the least.

Jim,

Would you consider my good friend who lived in Mexico for eight years as part of the cruising and boating community paranoid for not wanting to return? He was operating a yacht delivery company and charter fishing business when he was kidnapped by the locals when he appeared to be showing signs of success. He spent over 6 months in a local jail while awaiting his friends and relatives to raise the $80,000 ransom to gain his release. He was lucky to survive the ordeal. These are the sort of crimes which don't make the news. Our friend was not involved in the drug trade, he was simply enjoying himself living in what he thought was paradise... right up until they pointed a gun in his face and said come with us.

[category4jay]

Geez people lighten up. All the guy wants is a little boots-on-the-ground info from some seasoned and knowledgeable cruisers. Not a spanking and a tongue lashing. He's getting ready to start a circumnavigation and wants to do some G2 and due diligence before he shoves off. Sounds prudent to me. State the facts and leave out the personal attacks.

As far as the OP is concerned yes there has obviously been an increase in crime in Mexico. That said though the increase in crime is 99.9% (yes my opinion) related to the drug trade. Relatively speaking it is MUCH safer to cruise Mexican waters than many other areas throughout the world. In the Big Picture though I think the OP needs to seriously reflect on his tolerance for risk. Circumnavigating may not be in his best interest if he is going to be anxious, nervous, or highly concerned about his safety for a majority of his trip. If he is concerned about Mexico than he might just be flat out terrified in Indonesia or Asia or even parts of the Caribbean (Honduras).

I do commend you OP for working on your goal of shoving off and heading into the sunset. Best of Luck.

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Maybe you should just cruise to Bozeman, Montana. My car is parked in the middle of downtown on Main Street unlocked and the keys in the ignition right now.

Hope it's there when I go back out.

Why not make your post relavent to this thread and try that in Mexico...

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by category4jay

Geez people lighten up. All the guy wants is a little boots-on-the-ground info from some seasoned and knowledgeable cruisers. Not a spanking and a tongue lashing. He's getting ready to start a circumnavigation and wants to do some G2 and due diligence before he shoves off. Sounds prudent to me. State the facts and leave out the personal attacks.

As far as the OP is concerned yes there has obviously been an increase in crime in Mexico. That said though the increase in crime is 99.9% (yes my opinion) related to the drug trade. Relatively speaking it is MUCH safer to cruise Mexican waters than many other areas throughout the world. In the Big Picture though I think the OP needs to seriously reflect on his tolerance for risk. Circumnavigating may not be in his best interest if he is going to be anxious, nervous, or highly concerned about his safety for a majority of his trip. If he is concerned about Mexico than he might just be flat out terrified in Indonesia or Asia or even parts of the Caribbean (Honduras).

I do commend you OP for working on your goal of shoving off and heading into the sunset. Best of Luck.

Thanks for noticing how personal some posters are taking the subject of this conversation and making a go at bringing more civility into it.

But, this is not my first rodeo. I've been there and done those places at least once. Many others twice on a 27' sloop, solo. Mexico is the subject of this thread only because it is the first in a list of countries, some in the Caribbean with others primarily in Southeast Asia and beyond where violence graft and corruption are significant problems. Some cruisers refuse to consider the prevalence of violence, disease and corruption in planning their destinations. Imprudent. Does one sail to the Caribbean where a new mosquito borne disease has emerged, or Madagascar where the plague is spreading?

[colemj]

I guess I am not understanding - you chastise multiple people for not realizing how worldly and experienced you are, yet YOU asked this question they are responding to.

Why aren't you telling us instead, oh worldly and all-knowing one? Why do you even need to ask, and what do you care what they say?

Mark

[sailorboy1]

I don't really understand (not new), if you think it too dangerous etc. just don't go. Or if you do go and it then seems to be too dangerous, just leave. Isn't that the whole point of cruising on a boat?

I would also think that it would take a huge bride issue for 1 country to stop a bigger cruising plan.

[sloopman]

zeehag, I don't know who the hell you are or where you are BUT, I really like where your head is. Maybe we will run into each other some day down in that God forsaken land. I've been going for 15 years and the only dealings I've had to deal with was when I totaled my car on my way home (before my boat). My insurance had expired one day before and it cost me $100.00 and the policia let me go. Saved me a world of trouble. But I know, really bad corruption. SO, this guy is right. He needs to stay home.

[Arthur Garfield]

Old Snipe, Living up to your nick.
Go to Mexico,get a life,family,educated.
Perhaps then you'll be know as Old Goodwill and not attack.
"A life,a terrible thing to waste"


All the Best

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by colemj

I guess I am not understanding

Obviously. Probably because you haven't read this thread from the top. This may help you to realize this discussion was started due to recent developments in Baja. You may or may not consider these developments worthy of discussion, but for me they have sharpened my focus. Here, read it or not. Your choice. Killings Surge in Mexico State at Tip of Baja - ABC News

- you chastise multiple people for not realizing how worldly and experienced you are, yet YOU asked this question they are responding to.

No chastisement. Just enlightenment. You got the part about my asking the question right. Good on you.

Why aren't you telling us instead, oh worldly and all-knowing one? Why do you even need to ask, and what do you care what they say?

Mark

My answer, despite your sarcasm is:

Because this was to intended to draw out other viewpoints, experience and encourage discussion about what I consider significant new developments in Baja, a popular cruising destination.

[waterdog]

Yes. Mexico. It is a very dangerous place.

I recall being in Zihua at Christmas. We were planning to go ashore and have a nice dinner.

Just behind where we were anchored, there was a guy in a green baseball cap fishing. No boat. Just him swimming. Occasionally he would swing a line with a hook around his head and cast out. I don't know what would happen if he caught a fish. There was no rod. No net. No bucket to put a fish in.

The thought occurred to me that maybe he wasn't so much fishing as waiting for people to go ashore leaving their boats empty…

So we were proactive. As we went ashore, I rowed over to him. We said hello and wished him a Feliz Navidad. With great ceremony, I produced a small bottle of tequila, the bonus bottle we got with the purchase of three T-shirts in PV, minus the little sombrero that was glued to the lid. I offered it as a gift from our country to him and his country. He thanked us profusely. Wished us a merry Christmas and welcomed us to Mexico.

We went ashore. Nothing happened to our boat.

The next day there were three guys in baseball caps fishing behind our boat.

[JPA Cate]

Wrong,

You're right, well intentioned input was not what you were seeking.

Actually, I couldn't figure out what "two nearly global circumnavigations" meant, so that phrase got no response from me.

What I will say is that if you believe the violence to be presently escalating in the La Paz area, based on media reports, then stay away from there. Pretty much what I wrote at first, that if you are not comfortable with it, don't do it, whether or not you are graced by dreams to focus you.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Wrong

Obviously. Probably because you haven't read this thread from the top. This may help you to realize this discussion was started due to recent developments in Baja. You may or may not consider these developments worthy of discussion, but for me they have sharpened my focus. Here, read it or not. Your choice. Killings Surge in Mexico State at Tip of Baja - ABC News



No chastisement. Just enlightenment. You got the part about my asking the question right. Good on you.



My answer, despite your sarcasm is:

Because this was to intended to draw out other viewpoints, experience and encourage discussion about what I consider significant new developments in Baja, a popular cruising destination.

Ahem...I get it now…

Mark

[zeehag]

ok so the original poster already dissed me for saying what i said and dissed rich boren for what he said, and both of us have been in mexico loong time.
i am still here, rich went north for a while.
why is it when you all request information that you ignore those who are already in the situation about which you request info???
doesnt make sense to me.
if you know so much about it, why start a thread requesting information on the location you now diss folks for having FIRST HAND AND CURRENT info about??
hell i wouldnt have a freeking clue as to anything about mexico.
i have only been here IN MEXICO for 4 yrs.
i only camped in mexico for a year or so a few years before coming here by private boat(my own).
i am currently in mexico with a formosa 41, and have been here for 4years. i know andhave experienced the differences between mexico of last presidential regime and mexico of this current presidential regime. both are vastly different. this presidente has a truce with the cartels and la violencia is minimized. last one was at war with the narcos an dla violencia was mucho. biiiig difference. and no mas de mordida. sorry, gringos. if you wish to pay mordida, go ahead, but according to the current and the previous presidentes, mordida is a reportable offense.
y'all just be readin the WRONG news reports.
they are not at all current and not at all accurate.
but i guess a formosa 41 isnt a boat, so i dont know sh**.

and so, as i know absolutely nada--you all just stay out.
avoid at all costs.
is a beautiful place with enjoyable folks.
much nicer without those who are too afraid of everything to come here.
avoid mexico at all costs.
avoid central america at all costs. is way tooo dangerous. you will have much more fun in good old safe downtown DETROIT or CHICAGO or MANHATTAN in central park at night. fopr adventure, visit east lost angeles or compton-watts at dusk. you will fit right in.


btw--the "current happenings in baja" are resultant of hurricane odile. much of th ereported violence was erroneous, however, the usa papers will not reveal that bit of fact.
cabo and la paz and santa rosalia were greatly impacted by odile an dlost human lives due directly to the furycame. you are no tthere to monitpor accurately the current situation,. which is not nearly as dire as you report. were it so, drama loving mexican newspapers would be spewing forth this awesomeness of drama for all to read.
as yoou are a true believer in faux nooze, just stay away.
we wouldnt want yoou to lose your faith in faux noooze, under any circumstances..

[Jim Cate]

Would you consider my good friend who lived in Mexico for eight years as part of the cruising and boating community paranoid for not wanting to return? He was operating a yacht delivery company and charter fishing business when he was kidnapped by the locals when he appeared to be showing signs of success.

G'Day Ken,

Well, frankly, no, I wouldn't consider your friend to be part of the cruising community. He was an ex-pat running a business in a foreign country. IMO, this places him in a very different risk category than a transient yottie living on the hook in La Paz bay or the islands of the SOC.

His experience must have been horrible. The experience of folks cruising in MExico over the past year or two has not been horrible in that sense. I do not think the situations have much to do with each other.

YMMV.

Jim

[zeehag]

people who enter mexico to work MUST have proper credentials and papers.
illegaly working here is same as narco problems. you WILL be messed with in some way. always follow the rules.
illegally working in mexico WILL cause you problems for you and perhaps your family, if they are with you in mexico. i cannot and will not sympathise.
y'all complain so loudly about illegals in usa--consider the problems caused by illegally working in mexico--you are removing food from the plates of locals and their children.
NOT a good idea. you WILL be dealt with on one or two planes-- court--ie, placed in prison indefinitely, or dealt with by the folks whose income you prevented. pray for court and prison.
as for LEGALLY working in mexico--is still removing food from the plates of mexican families. you MUST be friendly at all times, must defer to the locals, as this is their home, not yours...treat them here as you would have them treat you in your country.

as for the alleged problems in la paz and cabo--do not forget there was a hella furycame hit there hard. south baja from north of santa rosalia to cabo was well demolished.
the news reports were padded, just as are the news reports in usa. yes there was looting IN CABO, but then there was looting in ferguson,mo this past week, as well.
i would sooner visit cabo . rodl--i have been to both places. i lived in creve coeur for 4 yrs of my life.
la paz and cabo are rebuilding.
if you choose to believe without question that which you read and hear in news, you get that which you deserve, which is fear and loathing and ignorance.
you are controlled by a govt fed institution, trusting that which is fed to you in news medium...rodlmffao-
y'all say you do not drink the kool ade--- yet you BATHE in it.,