Maine to Mexico: Transporting Cilantro

Cilantro being lifted off the cross-country rig at Marco Crane Co.
in Tucson

Cilantro has arrived in Mexico! She left Maine by truck on November 1, wended her way around the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New England, and arrived in Tucson on November 7, the first stop on her two-part journey. We had left her at Bittersweet Landing Boatyard in South Bristol, Maine, for final decommissioning and preparation for transport, and we contracted with Journey's End Marine of Rockland, Maine, for the cross-country trucking. They did a terrific job. We had opted not to have Cilantro shrinkwrapped, because we were told that the wrap probably would not survive the trip and the driver would have to remove and dispose of the shredding cover along the way. We were content to save the money (approximately $500) and avoid contributing more plastic to landfills. On arrival in Tucson, Cilantro was in fine shape, with only minor dust and scuffing from her days on the road.

She was offloaded by crane and placed on stands in the storage yard of Marco Crane Co. in Tucson, where she remained for six weeks' time rent free. Marco Crane charged only for crane and forklift time, not for storage, so Curtis used part of these six weeks to begin installing a watermaker. (We tell ourselves -- or rather, Curtis tells Sue -- this is the *last* big refit project.)

Curtis on Cilantro in Marco Crane storage yard

Cilantro arriving at Marina Seca on hydraulic trailer

Because Cilantro's ultimate destination was Marina Seca, a dry-storage yacht facility operated by Marina San Carlos in San Carlos, Sonora, we arranged with Marina San Carlos directly to handle transport from Tucson. On December 17, Cilantro was loaded onto a large hydraulic trailer headed for San Carlos (about 400 km south of Nogales, Arizona). We were on hand to greet her arrival on the evening of December 18. Although San Carlos is only a six-hour drive for us, the boat transport took the better part of two days, due to the truck's slower travel speed (which we appreciated!) and the wait times at the U.S./Mexico border and at Mexican Customs and Immigration 21 km south of the border.

Marina San Carlos advised us on the permits and documentation needed to bring Cilantro into Mexico, and they were very helpful throughout the process. We applied for a Temporary Importation Permit online via Banjercito website (https://www.banjercito.com.mx/registroVehiculos/) for $50. This permit is good for 10 years and does not change the boat's Coast Guard documentation or hailing port. After receiving the permit by DHL delivery, we scanned and emailed it to Marina San Carlos, along with scans of Cilantro's Coast Guard documentation, our driver's licenses and passports, and a notarized Power of Attorney giving Marina San Carlos authority to bring the boat through the border on our behalf. The originals of all paperwork (not including licenses and passports) were placed in the main cabin for transport, so customs officials could enter and inspect them if necessary.

The cost to bring Cilantro from Maine to Mexico was high, but we don't really plan to make this kind of move again. Cross-country transport was about $10,000, and the trip just from Tucson to San Carlos was close to $4,000. Ouch. Fuel costs, of course, were a large portion of the total. And Curtis points out that we chose to buy a boat about as far away as possible (without leaving the country) from where we wanted to cruise her. B-O-A-T = break out another thousand, says Sue.

Marina Seca, looking north from beach in San Carlos

Several people asked us why we didn't sail Cilantro around through the Panama Canal. Time, or lack thereof, was our main excuse, because Curtis had business to attend to in Arizona, but we did consider the Canal option, as well as sailing to the Texas Gulf Coast and trucking from there. Coastal sailing along the East Coast and Gulf Coast intrigued Curtis but wasn't compelling enough for Sue. We were curious about exploring the Caribbean side of Central America, but neither of us really wanted to do it during hurricane season. The cost of sailing around was less than for overland transport, but still not insignificant. So we were already leaning hard toward overland transport. Then, Curtis read a rather negative account of one couple's experience transiting the Panama Canal -- long waits in a turgid quarantine lagoon with foul bottom and blowing dust, having to line one's boat with old tires to protect it from cement docks and other canal traffic, and the layers of paperwork, scheduling, and agents required to get you through the locks and docks. That one read pretty well convinced us not to sail around! (We have since talked to cruisers who had a fine Canal experience, so, of course, one should be a cautious consumer of online accounts.)

Next up: recommissioning Cilantro to get her ready for cruising.

"Exceso de dimensiones" indeed!