14 • Aug. 28 - Sept. 10, 2015 • The Log


Navy From page 13


The diver reportedly suffered from serious injuries to his face and a frac- tured shoulder. The SAR unit was unable to reach him v by boat. He was treated for injuries and safely brought back to shore. During two demonstrations per-


formed for The Log in the Port of Ensenada, the SAR team showed how dogs are used to save potential drown- ing victims. One demonstration was performed with a dog deployed from the shoreline; there were two potential victims, with the dog rescuing one and human member of the SAR unit saving the other.


A second demonstration featured one of the 33-foot Defenders racing to a potential drowning victim and a dog jumping into the water toward the dis- tressed human. In both cases, a dog carried with him a floatation device, with one side a grip held by the dog’s mouth. The vic- tim holds onto the floatation device on the other end as the dog pulls the dis- tressed human to shore or the SAR ves- sel. In the second demonstration, one member of the SAR unit joined the dog in the water to check the victim’s vitals and make sure he did not have any broken bones. Palacios said first responders are medically trained to tend to any situa- tion, such as providing CPR, control bleeding and stabilize one’s spine. The SAR unit responded to 57 calls


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in 2011; 28 of those calls were false alarms. There were 63 distress calls in 2012 (13 false alarms), 38 in 2013 (four false alarms) and 14 through the first few months of 2014 (two false alarms). The unit received 17 distress calls and five false alarms so far this year. Ensenada’s SAR unit, which com- municates with the U.S. Coast Guard, has 29 members, including 12 swim- mers, six coxswains and four engineers as well as a team of divers and officers. Boaters can reach the SAR unit in


distress situations on radio (VHF Ch. 16 or DSC) or by phone at 066 (the Mexican equivalent of 911) or 011-52- 646-172-4000 (if calling from the U.S.).


Paperwork Enforcement


The national government and local consulate recently announced stricter enforcement of immigration policies, meaning any one aboard a boat must have proper documentation on hand. Mexican officials are willing to work with boaters to ensure interactions are


as smooth as possible. Consulate General María de los


Remedios Gómez Arnau issued a state- ment in July informing boaters the Mexican government and Navy will increase monitoring and enforcement efforts off the Baja California coast. Ensenada port captain José Luis


Ríos Hernández said there was a time when Mexican officials were rather strict with American boaters who navi- gated south of the border without the proper paperwork. He said nowadays officials are focusing on education, advising anyone with incomplete doc- umentation of what to have filled out the next time they visit Mexican waters.


The essential documents for


American boaters to possess and have properly filled out include:


• Passport • Fishing license (if fishing) • FMM immigration form • Online Temporary Vessel Import Permit.


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A Search and Rescue Unit member arrives on shore with his canine teammate after conducting demon- strations of how the specialized Navy department responds to distress calls and helps save lives up and down the Baja California coast.


Detailed information about each


form can be found on pescadeporti- vaenmexico.sectur.gob.mx/en/. Anglers must inform the Mexican


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up enforcement is national security; however, boaters who are prepared with all the proper documentation should experience a smooth visit south of the border. The Mexican Consulate General’s office is making every effort to keep boaters informed and educated. Visit the consulate’s website at consulmex.sre.gob.mx/sandiego/. (Be sure to translate the page into English). “A lot of work is going into making it easy and safe to visit Mexico. The safe- ty piece has been covered well by the umbrella of the Mexican Navy Search and Rescue Unit. The second piece is making sure to prepare your docu- ments properly to visit Mexico,” Franke said. “It is relatively easy to do. The vessel importation document, the fish- ing license and the FMM visitor docu- ment can all be easily obtained by vis- iting californiasportfishing.org. Don’t forget that within 12 miles of Mexican soil a visitor must possess a valid pass- port and FMM.”


Photo by Parimal M. Rohit


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