Because of our visa status and some necessities that will be explained below, we need to personally exit Mexico (the boat can stay 10 years) at least once every six months.
We took a 10-day trip to San Francisco in January to take care of some business and collect some essential boat items. If we didn’t see you while we were there, we DID miss catching up with you but our agenda was overly full.
In the weeks before our departure we each kept a running list of items to order/collect/buy while back in the U.S. Upon our return to Puerto Vallarta, we brought back about 350 pounds of equipment and supplies in eight checked and carry-on bags, much of this included items simply not possible to obtain in Mexico. Most items were additional boat spare parts we’d left at home; either we didn’t anticipate we’d need them so soon, or didn’t think we would need them at all. Without a vehicle and being in unfamiliar areas, it is also hard to gather the wide variety of pieces and parts that a happy Voyager and crew require.
Before we left in October we obtained a “temporary import permit” that allows us to bring our parts for the boat into Mexico with a minimum of hassle. Shipping things down here is just a nightmare due to slow shipping times plus customs bureaucracy. It’s just easier, often cheaper, and much less worrisome to simply bring in the items personally by air or car (or impose upon a good friend to do so).
We actually took a bag or two full of items BACK to the states with us, such as our satellite T.V. converter boxes, as we need to change providers now that we are outside the U.S.
What did we bring down? The below is a partial list, for entertainment purposes only! (We’ve already started the NEXT list…also hoping that some friends that will be coming down in mid-March can bring us a few things!)
- Great hand-me-down clothes from our pal Josh, 4, for donation to children’s charity (single moms in Puerto Vallarta)
- Book: Sport Fish of the Pacific
- Zincs for generator engine
- Nine pounds of Molinari Italian salami
- Paper cocktail napkins
- Collapsible paddle for kayak (paddle boarding)
- Feeler gauge
- Mase generator engine manual
- Wireless router
- Plastic mirror for aft shower
- Trader Joe’s precooked wild rice
- Sailing gloves for bill
- Star finder
- LED light bulbs
- Book: Sea of Cortez Marine Invertebrates
- Red crimp connectors male and female slip tabs
- Canned roasted green chiles for Bill’s chile relleno casserole
- Mainsheet traveler (6 feet long, about 80 pounds before disassembly for airline transport)
- Nice holder and doo bags for our yellow Labrador friend Sadie on C’est La Vie
- Solar (night)light for aft rail
- 2 TB hard drive and movies
- Water maker expendables
- Refrigerator part for another friend’s boat
- Dri-Deck squares to place under dive tanks and fuel jugs on deck
- Recent New Yorker, Economist and Cooks Illustrated magazines
- Stainless radar mount frame
- Boat fabrics for covers and shade material
- Holding tank sensor
- Microfiber dish mats from Bed, Bath & Beyond, quick drying!
- Miscellaneous stainless steel hardware and fasteners including pop rivets to mount radar frame
- Veggie “green” bags (Julie believes they help!)
- Juice glasses (to replace a few broken ones)