We entered Mexico one year ago today. Happy anniversary to us, and Viva Mexico!
We arrived in Ensenada on October 1, 2007, so now is the time our Mexican fishing licenses and liability insurance are up for renewal, and we calendar ahead for January the renewal of our Mexican FM-3 visas and Mexican National Park permits. The last quarter of the year also signals review of our US boat insurance, and renewal of our US Coast Guard and EPRIB registrations. Since we plan to be out there sailing for at least part of this time, it’s a good idea to plan all this paperwork ahead of time.
What do we know now about cruising in Mexico, that we did not know then?
1. The available charts for Mexico are in some places off by well over a mile. We knew this before we traveled here, but it’s impressive when you finally see for yourself. Similar to the feeling you get when looking at the date your one and only, current nautical chart was surveyed for a given area…and you see that it was 1873. And you know that your electronic chart-plotter is based on the same 125 year old, 1-1/2 mile off, data.
2. It’s nice to cross reference the available-but-inaccurate nautical charts with GPS and cruising guides, even though you know one or more of these sources can be inaccurate in different ways and never match up with one another anyway.
3. We have done more overnight and multi-night trips than I expected. But they're doable and good practice for cruising the rest of the planet. Or so we've heard.
4. The weather down here, especially in the Sea of Cortez, is unpredictable. It's definitely not like the weather we got to know in the PacNW. Down here, you can see a 5mb drop in barometric pressure in an hour or 2, but nothing happens. Maybe. Or, the weather stays very nice but you get a faint ripple on the water that in 24 hours becomes a nasty chop and a high wind that drives you out of wherever you are. The best weather forecasts for the Sea of Cortez can only estimate what large weather systems might do over larger bodies of water. How those weather systems behave near shore, whether it’s on the Baja peninsula or the mainland, can vary dramatically. We’ve learned that the best thing to do is always be as fully informed as possible about the weather, and be prepared for actual conditions to be much milder, or much worse, than the predictions. There's no harm in having to bail out to a different course or destination if conditions suddenly turn on you.
5. Getting back to the fishing licenses, National Park permits, and Mexican liability insurance issued by a Mexican insurance carrier: I’ll discuss details in another post, but I’ll just say here that given how inexpensive each of these items are, balanced against the seriousness of the potential penalties for not having them, I’m surprised at the number of US and Canadian cruisers we’ve met who have been here for a year or more, who don’t have them. We'll talk more later.
6. The first several months we were cruising in Mexico, I missed all those well-sheltered, calm anchorages in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. The anchorages in Mexico are generally much more exposed to weather and swells with only a very few all-weather spots here and there. But with one year behind me now, I’ve gotten more used to the boat’s rollier motion at anchor down here; and it’s fun exploring the shore and being able to actually swim in the water for an hour or more without risking hypothermia. And have the water clear enough to see things. Plus, the birds and the sea life can’t be beat. So, these anchorages are different but shouldn't be missed. You'll remember your favorites for a very long time.
7. I've learned that once you get used to basic ways of getting around, you can be comfortable in practically any big city or small town in Mexico. I’m not saying it’s always easy or never awkward, but it seems that an average cruiser can get done about 80%-90% of everything they might need or want. The bus system is great and taxis seem to be anywhere you need one. What a country!
8. Every cruiser who has visited Mexico and moved on to other countries has advised us to spend as much time in Mexico as possible. They tell us the cruising opportunities in the Sea of Cortez and along Mexico’s Pacific mainland are some of the best in the whole world. We’ve had folks remind us that Mexico’s 10-year boat import permit is a good deal relative to the 60- or 90-day permits in many other countries; visa constraints in other countries force you to keep moving and skip some of the areas you might otherwise want to see. They say travel in Mexico is relatively cheap so if you have to go back and forth to the US or Canada to renew your personal 6-month visas, it’s doable; and if you plan to stay longer than one year and want a longer-term visa, the FM-3 is fairly straightforward to obtain. Other people have said (and we have found) easily accessible cruiser-style amenities in and around marinas and anchorages, pretty much everywhere. Potable water, ice, and food of all kinds is excellent and available practically everywhere you’re likely to travel by boat – which might not be the case in places like, for example, French Polynesia. Anchorages throughout western Mexico are plentiful relative to the US Pacific coast and Southern California, and we’ve found consistently good holding where we've been. Mexico's a good place for cruisers and we've had a good time for a year. So for once we're taking other people's advice and taking even more time to look around.
9. The past year’s weather was pretty decent for cruising the Sea. Anybody's guess as to whether the next season, 2008-2009, will be as friendly but overall the weather during the past season, 2007-2008, was good for being out on the water for longer periods and over a longer time, than perhaps previous seasons were. For example, this past year only one Tropical Storm — Julio — blew north up into the Sea; and only one Tropical Depression — Lowell — made it as far as Guaymas. In contrast 2003 saw Hurricane Marty move hundreds of miles further north. On the other hand, we are now in October and it looks like something big may be developing around Manzanillo and moving north toward Cabo San Lucas and La Paz.
What have we learned from all this?
Our limited experience with Mexican weather this past year suggest that the weather is very good for sailing south down the US Pacific Coast in August and September; and proceeding south down the outside of the Baja Peninsula in either October or November. (We chose to start moving south down the outside of Baja in November 2007 due to both the weather then and the restrictions of our insurance. But the weather – late-season tropical storms – certainly dictated our movements more than anything else.) We learned that rounding Cabo San Lucas in November and cruising the Sea of Cortez during late November and into December is fine – but then the Sea starts feeling the effects of the cold winter winds that develop in North America and blow southward. January and February seem to be the coldest and windiest months in the Sea when it’s wise to have a very sheltered anchorage, if not spend the money to be tied up at a dock. March can still be windy (it certainly was for us in March 2008; we were pinned down for a few days in each of a succession of anchorages). Boat travel gets easier in April. Things heat up quickly in May, and stay that way until about October or November. June, July and early August are the official start of hurricane season, which brings many lightning storms to the mainland. If we still had our boat out on the water during this period of hurricane season I’d prefer keeping it on the Baja side of the Sea to avoid the mainland's lightning storms. I'd watch the weather like a hawk. Bottom line: weather permitting, I’d like to try spending June and perhaps part or all of July cruising the Sea, then return to Mazatlan in mid-July or August to wait out what I would expect to be the most severe weather of the season on the Pacific side of Mexico in late September or October. But, I would always keep a close eye on the weather throughout the year, no matter where I was.
Based on last year’s weather, I would guess that it is possible – and perhaps even desirable if the circumstances are a good fit - to change our 2008 hurricane-season strategy. If we can come to a compromise with the boat insurance folks, and if the weather behaves itself, we may consider spending early hurricane season out on the water, then returning to Mazatlan for the few months of riskiest weather later in the season, instead of spending all 5 months of hurricane season – June through October – in a secured marina.
Have I mentioned how important the weather is?
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