Category Archives: Rules&Regs

Coming to America, Part 2

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coming to america Part 2

notice that purty boat in the poster now!

Remember last week when we made a big ol’ announcement about the S/V Mother Jones crew coming home to Texas for the summer (aka hurricane season)? ‘Member how that update included lists about stuff we did and did not have “figured out”? And, finally, might you remember how the following info about the boat was neatly bullet-ed in the “figured out” list:

“S/V Mother Jones is staying in Isla Mujeres, in a marina, in the inner lagoon for the 90 days we’re not with her (which also happens to be 90 days of hurricane season, dun, dun, DUN)”

Well, you can just scratch that off the “figured out” list! (shocker: I did that in the old post ’cause I’m OCD like that)

After talking to some super-duper-smart people for the last week or so here in Isla and doing a TON of online research and outreach, we got to thinking seriously about other options. Namely, the option we’re leaning towards now: bringing MJ back to Texas, hauling her out* and putting her on the nicest patch of solid, “high” ground we can find along the TX coast. *Instead of hauling out, we have considered leaving her on a floating dock with 10’+ pilings – out of the way of other boats??? Suffice it to say, our jury (of two) is still out on this one.

If you’re a land-lubbing friend of ours back in ATX, you might read this update and think, “Cool, maybe I’ll get to see the boat”. Feel free to stop reading now 🙂 But, if you’re a sailor – especially one who is trying to find out what to do with your boat for hurricane season – you might be interested to know the nitty-gritty of how we arrived at our decision to change course 180 degrees from leaving our boat here in Isla to  setting sail over 700 miles of the Gulf and bringing her home.

Still reading? OK, get ready for some nitty-gritty sailor dork out time. In the spirit of continuing (my) education and paying it forward, I’m gonna use this post as an opportunity to resurrect the algebra student in me and “show my work”.

***Full disclaimer: I’m just diving into all of this stuff, learning as much as I can, as fast as we can (Hurricane Season officially started June 1st, you know, 4 days ago . . .).***

I hope to add to this list as I learn more and I hope you’ll help me correct any of my assumptions if I should know better. Afterall, we don’t know what we don’t know, right? Consider this your open invitation for solicited advice. All that being said, here’s the deal y’all:

  • We’ll be working in Austin July-October.
  • We are not planning on sailing the boat during this time.
  • Bringing the boat back to Texas would allow us to check on her easier (than in Mexico, or the Rio), would allow easier transport of the dog (yay, K is coming home, too!) and allow us to have easy access to any items we have aboard that we want in Austin.
  • While we’re not that keen on cruising the Texas coast after years of gin-clear water and almost zero regulations (Why hello there, TPWD, tax office, marinas that require insurance, etc), we aren’t quite sure what we want to do next.
  • Another thing we do know is that we will need a bottom job within the next year, requiring a haul-out.

So, considering all that, having MJ close by in Texas, totally stripped and strapped down in an affordable yard seems like the best fit for us. (as of this writing) “Great! But, isn’t Texas in the Hurricane Zone? Where will you leave MJ and what will you do to prep her? Do you have to pay taxes and register MJ in Texas? Isn’t crossing the Gulf, like, a big deal?” Wow. Those are a lot of totally great questions. It’s like you read my mind or something . . . Here goes some answer ‘splaining to those questions: Do you have to pay taxes and register MJ in Texas?

  • Yes. (arrg, Ben Franklin!; dead for 200 years, still right)
  • Even though she is documented with the US Coast Guard, we will still have to pay to register her in Texas and we have to pay a boat sales & use tax.  
  • Why do we have to pay? When we bought MJ in Florida, we were never required to pay sales tax on her or register her in any state because we left Florida – and the US – within 90 days. So, now that she is being registered in TX (a US state with sales tax) we have to pay. 
  • How much, to whom and by when? Well that depends on our bill of sale and how soon we pay it. Apparently, there is a 90 day grace registration to pay the $110 state registration, 20 working days to show taxes paid (rate is 6.25%). If we’re delinquent on any of that stuff we’d accrue penalties & interest of 5% of the tax within 30 days, 10% within 60 days + interest at a rate of 1%. Confusing? Yes. But, luckily, TPWD makes it easy to show how much you potentially owe them through this handy-dandy tax calculator. Ain’t that sweet of them?
  • I’m still not sure on where we pay our taxes – county of residence or county of the boat. So, stay tuned on that piece . . .
  • It’ll end up being around $3K, which is a lot to us. But, it’s way less than what could potentially happen if we left her unattended without easy access to check on her (Mexico, the Rio, etc) during hurricane season (and beyond?).
  • And, what about insurance? That’s a great question, too. We haven’t had it since we left The Bahamas over a year ago. We haven’t met a ton of sailors who have it outside the US. But, it seems lots of US marinas require liability and insurance in a hurricane zone does seems like a good idea, so we’ll see . . . (cue your recs here)

Should we haul out or keep her in the water? Great question! There’s a ton of debate on this. And, from what I can tell the answer is a simple, two-parter: “I dunno.” and “It depends.” Here’s what I can tell:

  • In the water: Boats do great in the water on floating docks with pilings taller than the expected surge unless another boat in your area breaks free and starts to play Smash Boat with every boat in it’s path.
  • On land (also called dry storage): Boats hauled out on solid, high ground, secured with tie downs on braces also do well. Trouble is, it can be tough to find hard, high ground at sea-level. And, boats on weak stilts, in mushy ground can topple over like dominoes or become aloft (especially cats) if they’re not strapped down properly.

BTW – I’ve attempted to examine maps of Texas for “hard, high ground” with mixed results. Exhibit A:

What fun! We’re still debating these possibilities but leaning towards hauling out because 1) I hope whatever yard we chose will be hard and high enough so boats won’t topple over 2) she’ll be ready to be worked on when we’re ready to do the bottom 3) we won’t be using her anyway 4) I think it’s cheaper than keeping her in a slip. So, now there’s just the small matter of where to put the boat:

  • We’ve “narrowed” it down to the 250 miles of Texas Coast north of Corpus, south of Galveston. Ha!
  • Because we’re not going to be using her and all towns are basically equidistant from Austin, my main concern is the safest place for the boat (as opposed to the city with the best Thai food).
  • It seems to me that the Kemah/Clear Lake area has a ton of resources for boaters, including some great marinas with floating docks. It also seems geared towards recreational boaters (not live-aboard sailors) with bigger, deeper pockets than ours. We keep hearing great things about Waterford Marina, which could be a good choice if we leave her in the water.
  • On the flip side, the Matagorda Bay area (Port A, Port Lavaca, Rockport, etc) seems a little saltier. Which is to say, I think there are more blue-collar fisherman, live-aboards and sailors down that way. I could be wrong, but I’d expect it to be cheaper than the Kemah/Clear Lake area. Plus, I really like it’s position on this crystal-ball of a map:
2013gulf

As opposed to the red of Isla Mujeres, I like that little patch of yellow south of Galveston a lot. – “Risk Maps for The 2013 Hurricane Season” courtesy of Crown Weather

In short, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover in terms of researching how (dry or wet storage) and where to store our beloved MJ while we’re away.

Because you know I love maps, below is one I created to help me visualize our options. Of course, my type-A me has organized the pins in order of most-least favored. Feel free to view the notes/send me yours if you have any corrections.


View Marinas & yards Texas in a larger map

As of now (6/7/2013), I’m particularly impressed by Freeport, Texas. I mean, look at these floodgates:

FreeportTexasBrazosRiverFloodGate72207KRudine

Image courtesy of Texas Escapes

In terms of how to prep the boat, that’s a ton of work, too. But, luckily, there are some awesome cruisers and public and private entities who have already detailed this stuff (so you and I don’t have to).Here’s some of those resources, which have been helpful to me in explaining “it’s not the wind, it’s the waves” and other stuff you need to know:

  • This great video from West Marine:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Dj5de79Jo]

We will be utilizing a combo of all of these recommendations and tips to prepare MJ for the Big (hopefully uneventful) Sleep. Some other resources I thought worth mentioning include:

  • Crown Weather’s awesome, in-depth, for-dummies (like me, not you SmartyPants) anaylsis of the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season
  • The amazing community at Women Who Sail. If you are a woman who sails or have one aboard, I recommend you join this awesome community.
  • The super helpful folks at the Texas Mariner’s Cruising Association took the time to write me back a detailed response full of local knowledge and they connected me with an awesome former cruiser. This cruiser has been super generous with his time – he even gave us his home phone and expects us to let him know when we’re coming so he can look for us coming in and show us around. ~swoon~

Pfew! Thanks for hanging in there y’all!

Believe me, if I weren’t in our (literal) boat, I’da stopped reading a looong time ago (right about after that funny pic of Eddie Murphy with my head on it).

But, I am in our (literal) boat. And, maybe you are, too. (hey! get out of our boat, stowaway!)

For searious, if you are reading this and, like me, working out hurricane season algebra, I hope one word of this is helpful to you; writing it all out sure is helpful to me. And, finally, just one more plug for solicited advice . . . if I got anything wrong or should consider something else, please don’t be shy, drop us a line in the comments section so we all can learn from you. THANK YOU!

-the girl with an amazing intact boat come November

ps. If you’re wondering, because of the header picture, if Alf and Angela Lansbury are coming back to Texas with us, I wish! For now-zies, it’s merely a pipe dream of Capt. D, who is coincidentally head of our graphic design dept, and whose motto is “if I build it, they will come”.

Clearing into Isla Mujeres, Mexico

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Clearing into Isla Mujeres, Mexico from Belize without an agent (and with a dog)

5/20/2013

S/V Mother Jones

www.SoManyBeaches.com

Prepared for www.NoonSite.com by Damon Jones

This same report is listed on Noonsite here

In a nutshell:

  • Clearing in on our own was not as hard as we thought.
  • For sailing vessels, you will need:
    • your passports
    • 6 copies of:
      • Passport(s)
      • Zarpe from previous port
      • Crew List
      • Vessel Document papers
  • For vessels with a dog:
    • proof of current rabies & parvo vaccination and internal/external parasite prevention (frontline/heartguard).
  • For vessels staying more than 2 weeks:
    • You need to acquire a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) in Cancun (take the ferry):
      • All paperwork from completed clearing in process
      • Serial numbers on your engine(s)
      • 1 color copy of your visa (you get it from the immigration department)
      • $50 USD
  • You’ll walk to several offices on the north end of the island (some possibly more than once) with your paperwork as you collect officials’ stamps and additional paperwork/receipts. This will take a few hours.
  • We were never, at any point, asked about insurance for our boat. We don’t have any currently, and it wasn’t a problem for us.
  • Total charges for everything, including our import permit and taxi/ferry fees, came to about $170USD

We had read that it was a potential massive headache to clear into Mexico without an agent (in Isla Mujeres) due to the many requirements and departments that needed to be met, but, as we like to do things ourselves (feeling of accomplishment, feeling of fuller wallet), we weren’t 100% sold on needing agent services. Luckily, upon our arrival into Isla Mujeres (on a Monday morning), we got some helpful information from the cruising community via the 8:30 (US Central) cruisers net held on VHF channel 13.

For proceeding sans agent, one fellow cruiser offered us use of a custom map with homemade step-by-step instructions on clearing in on our own. If we didn’t want to deal with all the running around, it was recommended that we check in with Chepo at Marina Paraiso for more info. He was rumored to be one of the most helpful fellows around, and his agent services were knows to be very reasonably priced.

After anchoring in the south end of the north lagoon (across from Marina Paraiso/ Marina El Milagro) we took the dinghy to Marina Paraiso and met with Chepo, who was indeed very friendly and helpful.  He gave us the rundown of the fees involved with checking in, and told us that we’d need to come into a marina slip for the day if we wanted to use his services* and he would arrange for all the officials to come to the boat (rather than going to multiple offices downtown). The added cost of the marina slip on top of the agent fee (which added nearly $80USD to what it would cost to clear in ourselves) was enough to convince us to give it a shot on our own. Chepo was very understanding and proceeded to give us some additional directions and advice on going through the process without an agent, and soon we were in a taxi and headed to town.

*Note: since we’ve been here, we’ve spoken with another captain in the anchorage who used Chepo as their agent without having to enter the marina. This was not our experience, but apparently it is possible.

Here are the stops you need to make (maps below):

  • Port Captain (on the westernmost main street, Avenida Rueda Medina, just north of the Naval Base, right next door to the white, multi-story Bahia Chac Chi hotel; enter the door on the left). Here we confirmed which offices we needed to visit (and in which order) and where they were located. Nothing else to be done here at this point.
  • Sanitation/Health Department (walk about 3 blocks north on Avenida Rueda Medina from the port captain’s office, take a right at the Senor Frog’s store (Morelos St), and walk east three blocks until the street ends. The clinic, which houses the sanitation department, will be across the street to your left).  Proceed through the main entrance, pass the reception desk and straight back to the last door on the right. The official that helped us was very professional, spoke English, and processed our paperwork very quickly. We were told that he can be particular with the formatting of some crew lists; ours are 8.5in x 11in, have all our vessel information, passport numbers, DOB, last port of call, and our signatures. We had no problems. After you fill out a form, he will request copies of the documents listed above (all but passports), keep a few and then return the rest with his stamp applied. He also gives you a health department clearance form. NOTE: the building his office is in is also a minor-emergency-type clinic. We had an abscess and the cost to see the doctor and get it opened and drained was $4 USD.
  • Immigration office (head back down the street you came up, and at Senor Frog’s, take a right and head north another block or so on Avenida Reuda Medina. Immigration is in a clearly marked building on your right).  Here they will need your passports and all your stamped copies.  After filling out the standard-issue immigration forms (one per person), you will need to pay. It was about 350 pesos per person for us (exchange rate at time of writing is about 11pesos = 1 USD).  If the immigration officials aren’t busy, they’ll take your cash, walk to the bank, get a receipt, and bring it back to you while you wait in the immigration office. If they are busy, you have to go to the bank yourself, make your payment, get a receipt and return it to the Immigration office. When you return to the immigration office with the receipt from your payment to the bank, they will complete your paper work, stamp your copies (make sure they stamp all your copies!), issue your visa, and send you on your way.
  • Port Captain’s office (you’ve already been here). This office houses the Customs, Agriculture, and Port Captain. This stop can feel a bit hectic as each office representative comes at you from the small window behind the tinted glass. We were asked several questions (in Spanish) and filled out a few forms and overall the process went smoothly. Here we were charged 455 pesos. The agriculture officer asked us if we had any fruits and veggies on board, and if you reply you do not, they will generally bypass boarding (unless you are coming from Columbia, in which case we have heard they will search your vessel with a drug dog and possibly a diver). He then handed me a form he filled out, which had a box checked that we had no animals on board. I told him we had a dog, and he asked to see the health papers for the dog and copies of our exit zarpe for Guatemala, where we last had our dog “checked out” and where we got our most recent vet documents about a month prior. After looking over the documents, he said he needed to see the dog, so as soon as we were finished with the rest of the paperwork, we all jumped in the dingy and headed to the boat. He didn’t inspect our dog other than to visually confirm that he matched the physical description of the dog listed on the paperwork, and then we returned the official to the island. We had to pick up an animal import permit from him the next day at the port captain’s office, and then we were finished with the clearing in process (humans and dog alike).
  • Getting a temporary import permit (We were told this needed to be done within three days of clearing in, but we’ve talked to folks that took a week to do it with no problems).  As far as we understand, agents are not allowed to handle this step; you must do it yourself. From Isla Mujeres, get on a ferry to Puerto Juarez (the Magana ferry dock is closer –walking distance- to the Customs office in Puerto Juarez, and it’s a bit cheaper than UltraMar at 130 pesos, round trip). From the Magana dock, go right on the road and walk for a little more than a quarter mile. The customs building (which looks a lot like the port captain’s office in Isla Mujeres) will be on the left, across the street  (on the west side of the street). Enter the building and head to the desk straight back and to the right of the restrooms. It’s got a sign that says “Banjercito” and several posters with information on fees associated with importing vehicles. Unlike several other desks, there was no line when we went. Here they will want copies of your zarpe & crew list (with all five department stamps on each of them: sanitation, immigration, port captain, agriculture and customs –make sure you have ‘em all!), passport, vessel registration, and visa.  The Banjercito clerk requested color copies of all except passport (so she could clearly make out the color stamps), which meant I needed to walk up the street to an internet café to have a few color copies made (Also, the port captain prints on the back side of the zarpe, so don’t forget to get a copy of that as well).   She also requested engine serial numbers, which I didn’t expect to need but was able to get via a phone call to the boat. Once I returned with all requested copies, I was charged $50 (specifically in US dollars, not pesos, in exact change, and with no torn or marked bills), filled out an inventory form for the boat, and we were finally done with everything!

Isla Mujeres map with notes

Isla Mujeres homemade map

Kemah, the other white meat

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I have spent the entire day dealing with the dog. Rather, I’ve spent the entire day dealing with the specifics of having a dog aboard a sailboat in one country (Guatemala) and trying to move with him (legally) to another country (Belize).

Kemah, the dog, has spent his day doing this:

photo

note: one throw pillow under each arm

He didn’t even say “thanks”. The nerve.

But, I don’t begrudge him at all for his cushion-warming. In fact, I’d love to join him and most days I do. But, not today. Today, I’m afraid we had to stick to the roles predetermined by our opposable thumbs (or lack thereof) until he learns how to, in fact, do this:

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perhaps this is why our pet import permit to Belize was lost in translation

Ya see, in the last year and a half, we’ve cruised half a dozen countries with the dog (The Bahamas, Jamaica, Columbia, Panama, Honduras and Guatemala). I’m used to my little routine: getting on Noonsite, checking the regs, then maybe doing a quick search of Cruisers Forum and/or the Cruisers Yahoo Group to see if any sailors have posted anything recently regarding check-in procedures (as they are wont to change).

Fortunately, we’ve had no issues and, generally, the import process for dogs held up to what was previously stated on the web. Furthermore, usually, no one cared at all: most didn’t ask-we volunteered K’s info; The Bahamas cared so little about what went on their forms the official listed K’s breed as “rescue dog” (okay . . .); and in Jamaica, which is the only country we’ve visited where K wasn’t allowed off the boat, the officials showed us a little island away from the anchorage where they “knew others have taken their dogs” *wink wink*.

But, it seems we are going to have no such luck importing our dog to Belize with lax regulations. I will spare you the play-by-play of the web of info I navigated, but perhaps this gem of a tangent will give you some idea of the clarity of info published by the Belizean authorities on the topic: “Obtaining a permit for these pets from BAHA is the same as is described above for obtaining a permit for ham or turkey“. umm, okay? (apparently, Belizeans love their Christmas hams . . .)

Anywho, long story short and in the spirit of paying it forward . . . here what we did to get an understanding of what will hopefully work for us (confused yet?):

  • We called the Placencia office of the Belize Agriculture Health Authority (BAHA) at (011) 501-824-4872. We spoke to a very nice official and were told that we need fill out this application to import animals and email it back to them via bahasps@btl.net or animalhealth.baha@gmail.com (we emailed both).
  • The permit process takes 3 business days to be completed (we are submitting the app from Fronteras, Rio Dulce, Guatemala and taking 3+ days to get to the coastal town of Livingston, Guatemala. So, we figured we’re getting a head start and can just follow up in Livingston before entering Belizean waters). The permit is $25 (without the additional fees for faxing in the permit app, which we are not doing because we are choosing not to track down a time machine to find a working fax machine and are instead just emailing the forms).
  • We also need a Health Certificate, dated within 7 days of expected arrival, signed by a vet (from the country you are arriving from) affirming K to be in good health with an up-to-date rabies vaccination (he has the 3-year kind and they said that’s fine). We were quoted anywhere between $30-150 for this service from several vets in the area. Only one of them indicated they would need to examine Kemah before sending us the paperwork (via the bus from Guatemala City – why? who knows). We were told by one vet the high fee was due to arranging the import permit with Belize (I am doing that on my own) and for securing a “Guatemalan export permit” for K (um, that’s never been mentioned before and Belize doesn’t need it, so, no thanks). Because we have our old Health Cert from the States with all of K’s records and info on it, we simply emailed it to the  “don’t need to see him, send me info, I’ll sign off on it for $30” vet who is located in Guatemala City and will send the papers on the bus to us tomorrow. We’re paying a middle man at another marina for the service. What could go wrong?

By the by, we have read (on the totally reliable source that is the internet) that failure to secure an import permit or have a health cert could result in a $100 fine in Belize. This penalty is not exactly nothing, but not a horrible (we’re confiscating/quarantining/euthanizing your pet) scenario either. And, before we convinced the $30 vet not to charge us the extra $120 for “preparing” K’s papers, we seriously considered saving $20 by just showing up in Belize “unprepared” and paying the $100 fine.

So, that’s that. Cross your fingers, toes and opposable thumbs that everything will work out swimmingly. And, I’ll be sure to let you know what happens upon entry to Belize.

Until then, K and I are gonna keep the cushions warm.

***Update: We cleared into Belize on Monday, April 22. We never received a Import Permit  from BAHA, and both cruisers and locals encouraged us to bypass the BAHA office, which will make an appointment to search your boat for agriculture & animals if you report having any – and they will charge you for the transport of their officers to/from your boat. The nay-sayers figured “BAHA costs money, takes time, and no one enforces anything for BAHA for boaters” (unlike port captains, who may request your boating permits). So, in short, no one ever asked about the dog, and we didn’t tell. And, while I remain *convinced* this will bite us in the end, D was the captain who checked us in and continues to espouse the philosophy of the islands: “don’t worry, be happy”. Umm, okay.***