Update On Mexican Boat Impoundments

[monkeybars]

I don't think a pocket full of cash works anymore with the exception of low level municipal traffic cops, and now their asking upwards of a C note for a traffic ticket. Dealing with agencies such as Aduana, immigration,customs I would not even consider offering them a mordida for fear they might arrest me for bribery, the ones I deal with on the AZ border all seem to be pretty honest everyday type of guys, and easy to deal with. I think a lot of the people on this forum making comments have really not even visited Mexico in the last thirty years.

 

[Old Skool Neil]

funny how folks with no understanding of the attempts being made here to standardize entry and importation of our boats can understand this...

While it is commendable the efforts at standardization are being made, I think a big factor contributing to make this a problem is the constantly moving standard. For the longest time the standard was mordida regardless of what may have been written law and now it seems there's a new standard in some areas but not others. Then we have reports of newer laws coming up (Captain's license) that may or may not be ignored by local enforcement - - - until when? Until they feel like enforcing it? If one port ignores it will the next, or the one after that? Who knows? Can you expect the laws and their application in Baja to apply equally in Cozumel?

So as for understanding, sure it would be great but it's hard to hit a moving target and at some point folks will have had enough.

I think a lot of the people on this forum making comments have really not even visited Mexico in the last thirty years.

I would be one to fit that model. It was about thirty years ago I was making road trips into Baja for diving south of Ensenada. My experiences then sealed the deal for me, haven't desired to return since. It was a lovely country with charming people but dealing with a non functioning government (back then) was more than I chose to bear.

 

[zeehag]

mexico has changed a lot over 30 years. the govt is attempting to standard¡ze entries for all of mexico and has been doing a great job.
now, as i see it, there was a loudmouth on another forum bragging on how he got falsified papers in the areas that were hit by inspectors. funny how the govt officials i know and sail with read that forum. omy.... could there possibly be a coincidence here. timing was correct and everything., loudmouth made many posts and was very anti mexico.
i believe there is more to this than merely making sure we are legal, which is a good practice, and i believe that when in another country, dont try to act as if it is yours. many here as visitors show no respect for this place. that is sadder than the govt having to impound boats due to improper or falsified papèrworks. which is what happened. not all those impounded boats were with proper papers...funny how most usa residents think that this is fault only of mexico.
as long as gringos are going to come here and brag about falsification of papers for visas and import, and leave their boats here as if they were garbage,there will be inspections.

 

[Benny17441]

Amen to that ZEE but the important thing is that the disinformation campaign is not going to go anywhere; knowledgeable and responsible sailors will continue to visit the country.

 

[Old Skool Neil]

knowledgeable and responsible sailors will continue to visit the country.

Well then, I guess that makes me neither.

 

[rgranger]

Are you dragging down your Balboa, or what?

That would be a long drive...

Naw! Like I said.... this is bucket list material. The Balboa is just to get me by until I can retire.

 

[RECESS]

.funny how most usa residents think that this is fault only of mexico.

I don't think most Americans are even aware of what is going on down there. I would say most U.S. citizens that are aware of it are waiting to see how the Mexican government handles it. So far it has been a mess. If the new law that is being reported is true, than it is even more of a mess. I am sure there are U.S. citizens that have attempted to circumvent Mexican laws, just as there are citizens of all countries that do. The real thing here is the way the Mexican government has handled this and the infighting that has occurred publicly does not help their reputation.

You seem to have a very negative view of U.S citizens, not really sure why this exists.

 

[zeehag]

THE PROBLEM IS NO0T HOW MEXICO HANDLES IT BUT HOW ARE THE OWNERS HANDLING THIS. the answer is that they are not, and yet they EXPECT their boats to be magically liberated just on the remote say so of whotf....
mexico is not usa.
get over it.
adapt or dont make it.
the FACT here is that less than 1/3 of owners even bothered to come here to release their own boats. how is ones boat gonna be freed if one doesnt see to it....
online in mexico doesnt cut it.. have to be here to do this.
no one seems to care about their own stuff left here. why should the country in which these boats are left??? is this place spozed to become like cali with no slip space available for all the abandoned boats????
last spring, it was the automobiles left here by gringos.
many things of value are left here until they hold no value then attempts are made to remotely, without having seen the item in many years, attempt to sell it.
lol and they wonder why it wont sell.....and they also wonder why the country in which they left their stuff becomes disturbed at this attitude....
and they wonder why they cannot just fone and release, when papers need to be seen in person. ok fun times now... folks leave their stuff and brag about participating in unlawful activities and then wonder why the place about which they are speaking becomes a little disruptive.
get reaL.
fix your own problems here. do not trust others to do it for you.
govt of mexico is actually making the release easier by adding locations at which to so release the boats impounded.

 

[RECESS]

Zeehag, it really is how Mexico handles this. It was a terrible idea from the start. I am not so sure why you are dug in so hard that you seem to think they have done nothing wrong. Had the U.S. seized boats that were completely in compliance with the law, I would have been more critical. Many of these boats should never have been forced to stay at the dock. If this event happened here, it would have been plastered all over the news. If you do not find fault with Mexico in the way they have handled this, I guess you chose to turn a blind eye toward a terrible bureaucratic blunder that caused people that were in complete compliance time and money.

 

[Winkfish]

Who says it was a blunder, or is a mess, other than those who got caught with their pants down? Everything I've read just shows that some "gringos" were not following the law, which isn't really that new, and were bragging about it. Mexico decides to do a sweep to enforce the flaunted regs, and the people with their pants down whine when they are inconvenienced and have to go in person to get their boats released.

Happens here all the time. Go around flaunting in public how you're getting around the Coast Guard regs for example, and see how fast the hammer comes down. Or where a lot of people just park willy nilly, then one day the tow trucks come out and make a sweep. Is that a mess or a blunder? Nope.

For a while here, if you were pulled over for a traffic violation and couldn't show proof of liability insurance right then, BAM! your car was immediately impounded. Now you may have had the insurance and were in compliance with the law, but couldn't put your hands on the paper at that moment. Too bad. Your car got towed, and you had to go to court to show you had the insurance at the time to get your car released. No different than what happened in Mexico.

 

[RECESS]

Who says it was a blunder, or is a mess, other than those who got caught with their pants down?

I have been following it. There have been many boats that were 100% in compliance with Mexican laws. Several that were on their boats and their boats were held for months. There has been officials in the Mexican government that have been very critical of the actions of the auditors. Yes there are people that are out of compliance, I have no sympathy for them. But there are also people that have been mistreated in the way this was handled. So much so that other branches of the Mexican government have been outspoken about it.

 

[Caboteur]

Not only in Mexico

All sorts of administrative blunders happen...
Florida enacted in December that all drivers permits and ownership documentation had to be in "de Henglitch" language. There were tens of thousands of home-owning snowbirds from Québec stranded in Florida at the time. The same holds true for Georgia. After two months of turmoil it was decided not to enforce the law and release the impounded vehicles!
This was done without prior warning, Florida Tourism and Justice departments are still fighting over it!
It seems no one State or Country has a monopoly on shortsightedness and lack of communications!
Don't get me started on the regulations for foreigners visiting the USA by boat! It seems that every "Border Protection and Homeland Security" office has it's interpretation of the rules and regulations of the reporting obligation for foreing vessels; there seems to be a new set of conflicting procedures every year and different ways to apply this region by region or office by office.
Luckily most law enforcement people in the USA are polite and helpful if you have the proper documentation!
By the way PILGRIMTEX I would never attempt to address a US civil servant in French or a Mexican one in other than my very bad Spanish: if they wish they can then revert to my language, I'm on their turf and should at least try to speak their tongue!!!
Pierre

 

[Winkfish]

So much so that other branches of the Mexican government have been outspoken about it.

One branch of government criticizing another branch or an agency or a politician? Wow! That would NEVER happen in the US!!

I'm not saying all of this was perfect, or perfectly executed. I just don't think that the entirety of the Mexican government, or Mexico itself, should be criticized as some have done.

 

[RECESS]

Took thirty seconds to find this about it.

AGACE agents not 10 feet from me are signing final documents that will make Riviera Nayarit Marina a Depositaria, which will immediately release the 53 boats that have been impounded here since late November. Apparently the Depositaria designation is merely a legal way for AGACE to get out of the legal mess and PR disaster they created for Mexico. There is no word on the fate of boats impounded in other marinas, but this is a good sign. In other news, a front page story in Reforma, Mexico's New York Times,quotes a SCT —ports and port captains —official as saying there will be no more of the audits and embargoes of foreign boats. Alas, they have no control over AGACE. See tomorrow's 'Lectronic for details.[/QOUTE]

Following the liberation of all 53 impounded boats at Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz last Thursday, we've been told that approximately 30 out of 50 boats impounded at Marina Coral in Ensenada were released a day or so later. It's a four-day Flag Day holiday in Mexico, so the exact numbers of released boats was not available.

Among the released boats is one that fled Mexico for the States in the middle of the night a while back. "Liberating" a boat that already illegally fled your country . . . that pretty much sums up this fiasco.

While more than 100 of the original 338 boats are still impounded after more than two months, the situation remains outrageous, but at least things have been picking up speed in the right direction. But the quicker Mexico can resolve this dreadful public relations blunder and begin the long road of restoring the faith with foreign boat owners, the better.

If your boat is impounded, please keep us informed,as we don't want you or your boat to be forgotten.

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2014-02-03#Story6

That is not exactly a great endorsement on the situation.

 

[RECESS]

I'm not saying all of this was perfect, or perfectly executed. I just don't think that the entirety of the Mexican government, or Mexico itself, should be criticized as some have done.

I agree. When you are traveling aboard you want to have confidence that you will be treated fairly if something comes into question. Some of these boats have been held since Thanksgiving that were in complete compliance. That gives me pause until they correct it.

 

[gettinthere]

Zeehag, it really is how Mexico handles this. It was a terrible idea from the start. I am not so sure why you are dug in so hard that you seem to think they have done nothing wrong. Had the U.S. seized boats that were completely in compliance with the law, I would have been more critical. Many of these boats should never have been forced to stay at the dock. If this event happened here, it would have been plastered all over the news. If you do not find fault with Mexico in the way they have handled this, I guess you chose to turn a blind eye toward a terrible bureaucratic blunder that caused people that were in complete compliance time and money.

Bingo

 

[Rick D]

Latest Update to Mexican Boat Impoundments...

...looks like things are beginning to sort themselves out.
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2014-02-05#Story5

 

[bobbyfingers2001]

Ok now, sailors beware…

Really, who are these whiners and cry-babies…

Who of you have EVER sailed, or flown out of the US and have NOT been stopped, boarded oryou’re your documents inspected??? Hell, I live in Florida’s Gulf Coast and have been boarded by the Coast Guard dozens of times… I get at least a document check every time I go to the Bahamas, this is normal, and incoming vessels from foreign ports get stopped here (US) whether it is by US Customs & Border Patrol, US Coast Guard, or local marine patrol (police) etc.

Most of the time it is just a document inspection, which will help find your boat if stolen. Sometimes it will be safety check or other routine inspection. If you are detained (for any reason not reasonably explained) you should contact the US Consulate office immediately to get clarification of why you (or your vessel) is being detained (it will very RARELY be “Seized”, as this takes some legal doing, and would require reasonable cause <even in Mexico>) My suggestions are to make sure you have ALL of your documents in order BEFORE you depart (even locally) as the US Coast Guard or any other Police or Military entity can request (or demand) your documentation at anytime even while operating in US Waters.

Here is a basic list of required documentation:
· Passenger manifest
· Passports for everyone aboard (Required)
· Tourist Cards (may be required)
· Notarized permission for any minor children (if both parents are not on board)
· Proof of insurance (mainly required by marina operators)
· Proof of ownership: (Original Documents, registrations, bill of sale, etc.)
· Fishing permits: (even if you don’t plan on fishing)
· Notarized Letter from owner(s) if (or for when) they are not onboard.
· Temporary Import Permit (especially if owner(s) are not accompanying vessel).
· Temporary Resident Visas (if planning extended stay).
· Visas or Tourist Cards (where applicable).
· FCC Ship’s Station License & Radio Operators License.
· Charts & Directories of Clearing Marinas: (You will need to at a minimum, call ahead to let the local authorities know of your impending arrival, boat name, size, document number, number of crew or passengers (including names), length of stay, etc.)

So in summation; be prepared and don’t freak out, and above all, enjoy the trip…