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 Post subject: mexico border crossing
PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:05 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:04 pm
Posts: 9
Location: colorado
Just wondering how it is crossing the border into mexico. I'm going to drive down at the end of Nov. with two hobie 16's stacked on one trailer. I know I'll need to register car and get mex insurance, but what do they need for the boats? Any and all advice about this would be greatly appreciated!


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:30 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:10 pm
Posts: 158
Location: Folsom, CA
Get boat and trailer insurance too.... It can be real bad if you get in an accident and don't have it.

Since we usually travel a ways (a days drive at least) we'd camp or stay on USA side and be sure to be fully gassed up. We would drive through and DO NOT STOP at any of the boarder towns. We'd get in a ways and re-gas in Rosarito if going down HWY 1.

Best to travel in a caravan if you can... with CB or other radios for EZ communication.

We used to frequent Baja... but the last few years ugh.... lots of stuff on the mainland side.

These days I don't thbinbk I'd travel with out a SPOT gps device... a puch of a button and help can at least be alerted. Cheap insurance, especially if traveling alone.

Where are you planning to cross and where are you going?

Don't want to scare you Mexico is awesome, but things have really changed in the last 3-4 years....


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:14 am 
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:07 pm
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Location: Ontario, Canada
Wow... Mexico sounds rough!! Come to Canada... it's simple... once you leave your guns at home, you're pretty much free to explore our AWESOMENESS!! Boy... I was just thinking... it sure is awesome up here! :D

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:42 am 
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Location: colorado
augaug- trust me, I love Canada- for skiing, but your water will be real cold this december :D Maybe next summer if I make it through my mexico trip.

nahcaa555- Thanks for the info! I will look into boat insurance. I already have a spot for emergencies. It is me and a buddy with two boats and one car, so no caravan, but maybe we could find someone in Arizona at the border to caravan with. We are going to go at the end of November and are traveling to Puerto Vallarta. We are probably going to go through Nogales (early in the morning) and take the toll roads all they way down.

My boat is not registered up here in WA, because it doesn't need to be, will this be an issue? And also does anyone know if there is insurance that will cover a 78 hobie and trailer?

thanks, and don't worry no one is going to scare us into not going, destination is set! We just are looking for as much info as possible so we can hopefully do it right.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:37 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2005 9:15 pm
Posts: 216
Location: Sacramento, Ca
This might sound like a dumb suggestion, but make sure that your cars and trailers are in good working order. Replace or carry a spare of just about everything. Don't travel at night. I went down to San Felipe in 2008 with my old 16. I had a tire blow out on me. I didn't have a jack, or tools to change it. Luckily the group I was traveling with is smarter than I am and had everything I needed.

It did blow out in the most inopportune location, a long very narrow stretch of road with a huge crown, and no shoulder. By narrow, I mean like 16 feet wide for both lanes. I was lucky and the passenger's tire blew. If it had been the driver's side it would have been impossible to change with out being hit by oncoming traffic.

Good luck, the best sailing of my life was that trip to San Felipe. One tack for about two hours and we only turned around because it was starting to get dark.

Adam


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:52 pm 
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:07 pm
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Location: Ontario, Canada
islandcruiser wrote:
augaug- trust me, I love Canada- for skiing, but your water will be real cold this december :D Maybe next summer if I make it through my mexico trip.


Wait... you're saying the rest of the world has WATER in DECEMBER??? :shock:

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:39 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:26 pm
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Location: Harsens Island, Michigan
Seriously, the border towns are dangerous. My company won't let me travel there anymore, and 90% of my customers are there. They average like 7 murders/day in Juarez alone (near El Paso), for the past 3 years. There are major drug wars going on, and they kidnap americans for ransom.

I am a very brave traveler and wouldn't travel there any more without my Mexican citizen rep as my driver.

I am from Detroit, and this place makes downtown Detroit look like a safe place to vacation.

Good luck and be safe.

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 1:30 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
ASDASC :
I also work for a large international company with three plants in Mexico (TJ, and Monterey), we also have a travel ban on our employees traveling to Mexico, it sounds too scary to me, and I've been pretty much everywhere. Aparently something happened with some of our US employees traveling there, nobody gave us any details, but that policy has been in effect for about a year now. I'm thinking it would be the last place I would want to vacation these days, but then thats just me.
Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:06 pm 
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Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
augaug :
Off subject, (sorry).
I'm also Canadian (Toronto) first moved to Minneapolis (still too cold), then to Chicago (still too cold), Now in Florida (just right). I have a huge advantage over the natives (like my wife), who won't go in the water if it's below 85 deg. In January here the water gets down to 62-65f (Sarasota), 72f (Key West), thats like summertime to me being from up north. I'm still in my shorts running around in the winter and all the natives wear heavy winter coats, gloves, and hats, pretty funny actually. To be honest I'm a little homesick, it would be awesome to summer in Canada, and winter in Florida. Actually there's lots of Canadians here in the winter (most of them I think LOL). Canadian banking and healthcare is all available down here for the Canadian snowbirds.
Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 6:57 pm 
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Location: Ontario, Canada
fusioneng.

My parents have a house in Florida. I've been there, and have seen everything that you describe! My parents only head down for the winter, but they act like the locals, wearing the warm coats etc.

I was down at the lake today, and there was a windsurfer who was out. He said it was great. I'll be out a few more times in the next few weeks before I put the boat away for the winter. Definitely wetsuit weather!! Although, as the windsurfer and I were discussing today, the water is a lot more manageable in the fall than in the spring! Today the air temp was up to 18 C. Not bad!!

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 9:51 am 
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Location: San Diego
You will need registration or some other form of ownership papers for the car, boats, and trailer in order to register them/insure them. It would also be smart in case someone challenges ownership or if something is "borrowed".

Are you driving down Baja, taking the ferry across or are you planning to drive the mainland side?

By the way, with two boats stacked in Mexico, make sure you have two spare trailer tires, and at least one extra set of bearings/races grease and tools. The roads can be really bad in places. Also, don't forget spare boat parts, pins, shackles, wires... ...there are no dealers close.

If you are driving down Baja, stop at "Scammon's Lagoon" just south of Guerro Negro (about 8 hours from the boarder). The Gray Whales should be there. You can not launch the Hobies, but you can hire a ponga to take you close to the whales. Also, just past this, stop at San Ignacio and see the town square, old church, and oasis like river. It's a very cool trip.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:23 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:39 pm
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Location: Ingleside, TX
Just come down to Padre Island in South Texas. It is warm, windy and great sailing without too many people shooting at you. We don't even have wetsuits and sail year around here.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:18 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:04 pm
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Location: colorado
Turns out it is a piece of cake getting boats into mx. Best advice i received was the spare tires, its tough to get trailer tires in mexico. You all that said not to go need to stop listening to American media. Go hang out in LA, then go to mexico, you'll see which is more dangerous. We didn't get our heads cut off with a chainsaw like the boarder patrol agent said, and we met nothing but great people.
We just finished a 400 mile voyage from puerto vallarta to Zihuatanejo. Amazing experience. took us two months with lots of sailing, surfing and camping. Hobies are amazing boats!


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:37 am 
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Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:15 pm
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Location: Oakland, CA
Thanks for the Mexico update. I guess your good experience was partly because you weren't involved in gun-running or drugs.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 9:46 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:49 pm
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Location: dana point
San Felipe some great conditions for epic sailing!.


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