People and Shipping Investigation

Yesterday morning I joined Club Cruceros (I've finally learned how to spell its name.) for the princely sum of 100 pesos per year. That's got to be one of the best value membeships on the planet. Their web site is http://www.clubcruceros.org/ There is an interesting article about a Triton 28 out of Port Townsend that burned to the waterline. The happy ending shows the cruising community at its best.

While I was there I was approached by someone who turned out to be Dan Augustine, whom Arnold and I had met at the Police Jetty in San Diego. Dan and his wife Melinda are at anchor near Pachuca aboard their ketch Natasha. They expect to be in the Sea of Cortez much longer than I do.

Dan gave me an update on a young fellow who didn't know a lot about boats, purchased a neglected catamaran and was planning to sail from San Diego to the Galveston area via the Panama Canal within a few days. The boat was a bit of a mess. Two days before departure the vendor was diving to fix the propellers back on the shafts. I and others pointed out some obviously urgent repairs to be made, such as new bits of rigging, and to his credit he got those things done very quickly. Nevertheless Arnold and I did not like his chances of making the solo trip safely because he had little or no sailing experience.

The good news is that the young man is still alive. The bad news is that he discovered that the keels of both pontoons had been sheared off by some previous owner an the boat would of course not go to weather. So he is still in San Diego trying to decide on whether or not to go to the expense of getting the boat repaired. For the guy it is a tough lesson learned though he still healthy and has a future. I'm no saint, but I'm regularly shocked at the gross immorality of people who sell dangerous junk like this to the unwary.

I saw Bob at the morning kaffeeklatsch outside of The Dock restaurant and he introduced me to Robert, an ex merchant marine - engineer, I think - who had built his own large ferrocement ketch. Robert offered to lend me his 1/2" torque wrench and we arranged for me to visit his boat at anchor at the Mogote not far from Pachuca to borrow the tool for an hour or two.

I then set off to follow up on some suggestions where to get assistance in shipping in the new engine. Both visits were a disappointment.

Raphael at Seamar told me that they have imported many engines, but it was always for normal commercial resale, which meant all duties and taxes paid. He told me that they have never imported an engine tax free under a temporary import license which I have. He could offer me no services as an agent.

I then visited Hamish at Lopez Marine and once again, he has imported many items for his shop and on behalf of others but has never imported anything as large as an engine. He did make some helpful suggestions and asked me to let him know of anything interesting that I learned about my importation task, which I found interesting because Hamish is considered the go to guy in La Paz for anything to do with bringing in parts and equipment.

So neither could help me, though they both told me that the trucking company, Columbia, is safe and reliable, and that my consignment would be insured. (See http://www.bajainsider.com/baja-business/bajaimportexportservices.htm) However, he and others indicated that the shipment from San Diego would be very expensive - up to 28% of the value of the item, depending on what taxes I will have to pay. Hamish suggested that it might be cheaper for me to bring the engine down myself but I just don't know enough about the hazards of getting through the border to contemplate that.

So I think that it will be up to me, with guidance from Neil and others. I have a pretty good idea of what to do, but there must be coordination of the various elements. Hamish gave me the email address of Columbia (which has a branch here in La Paz) and I'll see how much assistance they can give me with the paperwork. Otherwise I'll have to visit Banjercito at Pichilingue, a bus ride away, for an import license. But before I can do that I must get a detail list of the items to be imported, their country of origin, etc. When I visit I will take all of my official papers, including my 10-year temporary import license and visitor's permit.

I telephoned Colin precisely at 4 PM as he had requested and he told me that the SABB head had not been ready at 3.30 when he dropped by the machine shop. I asked me to telephone him at 9 AM the next day (i.e. today).