For those who keep, or are thinking of keeping their boats in foreign
countries, I want to share a couple of things we've learned in our
three years of "commuter cruising", keeping our boat in Mexico
off-season.
I don't know the laws elsewhere, but Mexico is very keen on collecting
Aduana (customs) tariffs on articles imported here. Despite the
wonderful NAFTA accord, that only seems to apply to mega-corporations.
A boat "in transit" is supposed to be exempt when it comes to
importing replacement parts, but in practice, conforming to the letter
of the requirements is extremely difficult. One is supposed to put
defective parts into some kind of limbo until the new ones appear,
requiring agents etc. If you are replacing something with something a
bit different, it's a nightmare.
In practice, virtually nobody does this anymore. People roll the dice,
whether flying in parts or driving them in, not declaring them and
hoping for the Green Light that means you don't get inspected. The old
saw about it being easier to appologize than ask permission comes into
play here. Despite the fact that we are doing nothing illegal-
bringing stuff in to resell would be illegal- it is always a bit
stressful coming across, because of the potential difficulty of making
explanations in a foreign language, etc.
So, the trick is, have your vehicle or baggage stuffed in a fashion
that discourages examination, like stowing stinky deckshoes on top of a
messy pile of nondescript stuff, and always act nonchalant, no matter
what happens. A medicinal amount of alchohol can help with the latter,
if you're not driving.
Just 2 centavos from people who have been lucky so far!
Anybody else have any thoughts or good ideas?
Best,
Mike
successfully in San Carlos, MX, with van full of new dinghy, solar
panels, etc. enroute to Puerto Vallarta.
s/v Arabella
www.sailinglinks.com