Legal Aliens

We've been back in Mexico for almost 3 weeks now and it's been a whirlwind!

We managed to bring in over 250lbs worth of equipment/gear on the bus with us from Phoenix to Guaymas. Katrina and Brian, thank you again so much for receiving dozens of packages for us. I have no idea how we would have done it without you. Also a random thanks to the guy who weighed our luggage but didn't charge us extra.

We arrived at the Mexican border at 2 am. I was awoken to a Mexican official coming on to the bus, speaking quickly and then leaving. Chris and I looked at each confused. We didn't understand a word. Everybody else got off the bus…so we figured we'd follow. At Mexican customs you line up with all your luggage and press a button. RED = luggage search; GREEN = go through. I was sweating buckets and hoping with all my might the we'd get the green light. Chris and I both got the green light and were so relieved :) Our luggage had made it in successfully.

We figured that the next stop would be immigration. The bus started to drive but a few minutes later we saw Mexican convenience stores and shops. Hmmm….were we in Mexico already? At the next stop Chris confirmed with the bus driver that we were indeed in Mexico and had somehow skipped immigration. How is it possible that you can get into a foreign country without even showing any form of ID? It was so weird. Apparently you have to request to go to immigration. What? Who would ever request to go to immigration? How were we going to get our tourist visas? Our only options were to take a taxi back to border with our ridiculous luggage at 2:30 am and somehow catch another bus into Mexico or continue on our way and figure it out in Guaymas. We decided to continue on our way. The figuring it out in Guaymas part did not go so well.

We spoke to a lot of people in Guaymas and and got a lot of opinions: 

….you don't "really" need a tourist visa in Mexico as long as you keep a low profile

….just go the police and tell them you lost your visa to get a new one

….just go the airport and they'll issue you one (but they could also fine you…)

….if the navy stops you without a tourist visa, they'll fine you and impound your boat

…go back to the border and get a tourist visa

We did a lot of thinking, but all options besides going back to the border just seemed too sketchy for us. I was pretty annoyed that we'd be making the trip again because of the cost and just the principle of it,  but that was really the only option we felt comfortable with. Sooo…. 18 hours and $150 later we have our tourist visas and are legal aliens of Mexico! Yipee!

Moral of the story: If you are taking a bus into Mexico, remember to request a stop at immigration to get your tourist visa.

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Location:

San Carlos

Latitude:

27.9431

Longitude:

-111.063033333

Starship at Rest in Guaymas

Right after Clayton left San Carlos via taxi for the airport, Anne-Marie and I hauled up the anchor to take Starship to Marina Seca Guaymas. It was good to know we could still manage to operate Starship without Clayton's assistance.

The bay and city of Guaymas is very interesting, it is very industrial with the major industry being fish and shrimp processing. There is no tourism industry what so ever, since San Carlos is much nicer and just 20 miles north. The down side of the lack of tourism and the industrial nature of the town was that the bay water was disgusting. The water was brown, and the terrible smell of shrimp boats passing up wind could be smelled a quarter mile away. We heard from one cruiser in the area that a few weeks before we arrived, there was a problem at a fish processing plant and they dumped all their fish into the bay. They said you could practically walk across the bay on top of the fish and the smell was terrible.

Luckily we only spent a couple of days in the bay before being hauled out at Marina Seca Guaymas.

Note to cruisers hauling at Marina Seca Guaymas: Bring your own paper roll and painting tape to cover the travel lift slings, or you will have stripes of bottom paint up your hull!

We decided to put Starship on the hard in Marina Seca Guaymas, the least expensive dry storage yard in Mexico, to escape the summer heat and hurricanes. The restrooms and showers at the yard were surprisingly nice and well cleaned. Gabriel, the owner and manager of the yard, was very nice and helpful. He even arranged for a super long extension cord so a welder could do some work on our boat.
It took us 4 days to decommission Starship, and it was terrible! So exhausting in the 110+ deg heat and humidity, at times we felt on the brink of collapse. Boy were we glad when we got on the air conditioned bus to Phoenix!

In Phoenix we met up with Anne-Marie's best friend Katrina and boyfriend Brian. It was great to see them and go on a trip to Flag Staff and The Grand Canyon. We had lots of great meals and enjoyed driving around in her new car (nacho). P.S. Freeways are terrifying compared to sailing.

When we got back to my home town of Harrow Ontario, my Dad Herb immediately put us to work on a deck he was working on by Lake Erie. It was really nice to spend some time by the water again, but Herb was working us pretty hard. Anne-Marie really enjoyed learning about deck construction and how to use some new tools like a miter saw. After a week of grueling labor the deck was complete!

Now we are in Toronto for a couple of weeks. It is great to have a break from deck building, and to see Anne-Marie's family. We will be bouncing around between Harrow and Toronto for the next month and half until we return to Starship on October 10th. So that is us signing off until the next Mexico cruising season begins in October. Enjoy the remainder of the summer and fall!

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Location:

Guaymas

Latitude:

27.9191

Longitude:

-110.8858