Boats seized for lack of permit

Crandle: It is not illegal to leave your RV or boat in Mexico if it has a 10 year permit. Some of those boats have 20 year and I think there was also a 15 year permit. 100's of boat owners leave the country without their boat. Apparently some of the boat owners were never given holograms but they did have the papers. That is the fault of the boat owner. They should have asked for the hologram. I did notice that many of the boats had been stopped on the water after entering Mexico and their papers were examined without any problem. Sounds like some civil servant went "overboard:.I think this will all blow over in the coming weeks. This morning I saw at least 40 newspapers all over the world carrying the exact same story. Bad publicity is not good for tourism. Although I know that many boat owners on the West Coast do not have any permits some of the boaters were caught up in a mess and they are innocent. We should not be too quick to judge. I wonder what the posts would have looked like if it happened in an RV park in say Melaque. Rv'rs would be whining and complaining!

Moisheh

moisheh wrote:
Francesca: Being as you don't have a horse in this race why do you keep posting? Stirring the pot??

Moisheh

:S

How many times do I have to tell you that it's my hope to visit Mexico and I follow lots of Forums hoping to learn more about it???

As for YOUR "horse"- the more you attempt to push this minor incident as some kind of Big Deal, the more I wonder how much real experience you yourself have of the country. Not that inexperience should bar either one of us from participating here, of course.

It's just that responses in this thread read as if the most experienced Mexico-RVers aren't as alarmed about this as you seem to be.

We parked beside a motorhome in Ajo, AZ that had been denied entry into Mexico because of a discrepancy in the VIN number. A "6" on the vehicle had been recorded as an "8" on the title. The couple had owned this vehicle for many years and had taken it into Mexico multiple times before the error was discovered by the Aduana.

As owners it is our responsibility (and in our best interest) to ensure the numbers are written correctly. We make it a habit for both of us to check the VIN on the TIP every time.

I do not know what the importation process is for boats but I assume it is similar to entering by road. The rules are clear and it is our responsibility to understand and follow them.

If some of these vessels had been left in Mexico while the owners left the country, this is a violation of the law by itself. There is a legal way to do this but simply leaving your boat in a marina or your RV in an RV park is not the legal way to do it. No matter what we think of this rule it does not matter, it is their country and their rules.

The rules state that the papers must be filed with and available at the marina office. If they were it should not matter if the owner was aboard the boat or out for lunch when the officials arrived.

As far as the "armed marines" comment, in all the winters we have spent throughout Mexico, I cannot remember ever seeing an unarmed marine.

Francesca: Being as you don't have a horse in this race why do you keep posting? Stirring the pot??

Moisheh

moisheh wrote:
According to one boating magazine the boats will be released this week !
Moisheh

:h
No link...which boating magazine said that boats were going to be "released???

This one, which you quoted three posts back, says that no boats had been seized....?

Love the language about the Marines in that article..."Mexican Customs officials, backed by armed but very friendly marines, have suddenly began making the rounds of Mexican marinas".

Well, no wonder all those po' folks was shakin' in their Sperry Topsiders!

There are a lot of boats that are stolen from Canada and the US and are taken to points South, so maybe it is also a good thing to check on the units that have been in the marinas for some time, it is incredible how easy it is to change the apearance of a boat to wehere the owners won't even recognize them.

It will all settle down, Marines in Mexico are more trust worthy than some of the local Cops, and yes the US Coast Guard boards vesels with weapons, you never know what idiots you are going to encounter.

So to all mariners going South to Mexico

Fair winds and following seas.

navegator

Perhaps, this being Mexico, they were looking for something else on those boats?

Although I retired in 1997 after 30 years, I am pretty sure that US Coast Guard boarding teams are armed also. Usually with 9mm pistols and a backup with M16 and/or a 12 ga. shotgun. You never know if mom and pop have a load of pot or coke in their hold, and there have been a few that did. I remember the big flap back in the 1970s when they were told to be armed during boardings, jack booted storm troopers comes to mind, but I guess the boating public has gotten over it.

According to one boating magazine the boats will be released this week ! Brian: Even the Marines being there is unusual. Normally all you see are Government officials conducting a simple check of papers. That happens frequently.

Moisheh

However legitimate news sources are reporting that the marines were armed.

I know you all know this but I will say it again - in Mexico it is not at all unusual to see law enforcement and military carrying automatic rifles - it is what they do - it may seem strange to those not familiar with Mexico or those used to seeing unarmed military in the US - but in Mexico it is standard procedure for all of them to be armed.