Good News Coming Out of Mexico
July 16 - San Carlos, Mexico
Terri Grossman of Marina San Carlos in
the Sea of Cortez reports that earlier this month she, as part
of the Marina Owners Association, traveled to Mexico City to
meet with President Fox and cabinet ministers about ways to make
Mexico more attractive to visiting mariners. She received some
excellent news: as of September 1, diesel prices for pleasure
boats will be lowered. This was almost certainly done to appeal
to mega motoryachts that burn fuel by the ton, but there's no
reason for cruising sailors to complain.
As for the much hoped-for change in clearing
procedures so boats would only have to check in and out of Mexico
- and not every time they changed port captain districts - it's
not a done deal yet. But the signs are promising. For in order
to make such a system really slick for visiting skippers, the
Mexican government wants to put all the necessary officials together
in one building. Fox has announced they will do this in Ensenada,
Cabo, and Cancun. This is a little like putting the cart before
the horse, but it's nonetheless encouraging.
Grossman said there is other potentially
good news, but that it will have to wait until we can speak on
the phone.
As for the Escalera Nautica, or 'nautical
stairway' along the Baja coast, on both the Pacific side and
in the Sea of Cortez, it may not be dead, but it probably should
be shot. The director of Fonatur, the tourism development agency,
told Grossman that they will soon start building some marinas.
He mentioned Santa Rosalillita on the Pacific side, which is
completely out of the way for boats headed north or south along
the Baja coast. He also mentioned Fide Paz in La Paz, which is
another complete loser of an idea. Why? With the soon-to-be-opened
Marina Baja, La Paz will suddenly have doubled its supply of
berths, so the market will be pretty saturated. Then, too, Fide
Paz will have the worst location of any of the three major marinas.
For not only is it the furthest in town and away from the islands,
it needs constant dredging to stay open. The whole Escalera Nautica
idea was a dumb one from the start, so it's comforting to know
they are being consistent.
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