LESSONS LEARNED WHILE CRUISING Jamie & Behan Gifford
Why So Long in Mexico?
Totem doesn’t have a “forever” cruising kitty. That would be lovely. Instead we’ll happily eke our way along for as long as possible in a first round of cruising. With finite resources and a lot of wanderlust for tropical Pacific islands, then, why did we spend nearly a year and a half in Mexico?
resources, such as sailmakers and riggers, can be harder to come by. Usually, the larger ports have someone that can get a job done, but quality can be questionable. It’s a good idea to ask around before dropping your sails off with a self-proclaimed “rock-star” sailmaker.
Weather
Although there is no easy NOAA
The short answer is that Mexico
offers spectacular cruising grounds. It is safe, friendly, inexpensive, full of natural beauty, and easier to get your “cruising legs,” in terms of weather, services, and conditions, especially for cruisers who aren’t sure if they’re ready to cross an ocean. I hope that a few of our lessons learned onboard Totem can nudge a would-be cruiser into working coastwise down the Americas, or convince a globetrotter wannabe to reconsider their rhumb line for the South Pacific.
Provisioning
Contrary to popular belief, you
can drink the water in much of Mexico. Areas with scarce water resources, such as on the west coast of Baja, will make watermakers and larger tankage prized. Many marinas scattered along the inner Baja and mainland coastline offer potable water. The taste can be poor due to chlorine and minerals, so an in-line filter is recommended. Also, bottled water in sealed jugs up to five gallons is available in most towns and some smaller villages. Likewise, foodstuff and household
items are also widely available. We really didn’t need to provision as if we were heading for the moon before crossing into Mexico. Instead of stocking up on staples, most of which we could easily get in Mexico, we should have dedicated more space to favorite foods not to be found south of the border. For Totem’s crew, pesto,
48° NORTH, APRIL 2010 PAGE 42
chocolate chips, dried salami, etc. would be like heaven now. Large cities such as Puerto Vallarta offer the most variety, including box stores (like Costco and Home Depot) with familiar goods. In stretches of the Sea of Cortez or Islas Revillagigedos, there are opportunities to practice longer-term provisioning. Even though we were rarely more than few days from some kind of store, it was not always certain when the next supply truck may roll through. We chalk up the practice in selecting and storing fresh produce in warm climates as valuable training before a long ocean passage.
Marine supplies and services
A variety of quality boat services
and skilled technicians are available in a half-dozen ports: Ensenada, La Paz, San Carlos / Guaymas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. We’ve been pleasantly surprised at the range of chandlery supplies available. Often products imported from the US come with a premium, but at least they can be acquired. For boat services work, lower labor rates allow for some great bargains. We’ve seen beautiful stainless steel work, quality canvas work, and professional hull and deck paint jobs. Even in smaller towns there are great resources for fixing things from refrigeration to motors. In preparation for crossing the Pacific, we just had our alternator, windlass motor, and autopilot motor checked and repaired very reasonably. Specialized technical
weather frequency to tune into in Mexico, we are still information-rich with regard to weather data. Having an SSB transceiver and Pactor modem definitely improved our access. Nets on both ham and non-ham frequencies offer daily weather updates, including quality forecasts by dedicated amateurs. For cruisers with a Pactor modem, virtual buoy, grib file, and text based localized forecasts are easy with the use of Sailmail or Winlink. Morning VHF nets in cruiser centers often hone in on local conditions, and increased access to the internet is also making it easier to get online data as well. Still, the weather can be unpredictable at times and a cruiser should be ready for the nighttime Chubasco that blows through the anchorage.
Public safety
Mexico is safer than almost
anywhere else we’ve been, and we find the broad perception that Mexico is not safe to be frustrating and unfair. The hype that seems to exist north of the border, about drug war violence and criminal activity, may not be entirely unfounded, but it simply does not factor into the coastal cruising grounds. There are focal areas for petty theft, but they are widely known and shared among the cruising community. In those areas, simple steps such as lifting your dinghy at night, will ensure you have your dinghy in the morning. We have not heard of a single case of violence against another cruiser during our 14 months here. We don’t go looking for trouble, we aren’t flashy, and we take basic precautions.
Staying in touch
Keeping in contact with friends and family from home is simple with
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