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Page 46 • Latitude 38 • July, 2010
747 Aquidneck Ave.
Middletown, RI 02842
401-847-7960
Fax: 401-849-0631
sales@ab-marine.com
www.ab-marine.com
LETTERS
On the way from Ensenada to San Diego, we picked up a
boobie — blue-footed, I think — on top of the boom. Everyone
wanted to give the tired bird a ride, as you reported Patrick
Ralph did with the little black bird that landed on Profl igate
and caused so much trouble when they tried to clear into
Customs. But after we smelled the boobie's stinky excrement
the next morning, he was unceremoniously pushed overboard
with a boathook, and the boom was washed down with buckets
of water. Birds are messy hitchhikers.
Gary Scheier
Serenisea 2, Hunter 37
San Rafael
Gary — While the actions of the Customs man in Ensenada
had to be infuriating, to a certain extent they are understandable.
After all, when you clear into Mexico at whatever port,
you'd think you'd get a new crew list to refl ect who was going
to be on the boat with you from then on. But no, you spend
the rest of the season sailing around Mexico with a crew list
refl ecting people who got off the boat months before and not
the ones who are on her at the time. A little strange, no?
Mexico is a fabulous country and a fabulous place to cruise,
but their clearing procedures are still reliably inconsistent. For
example, when you clear into La Cruz or Puerto Vallarta, you
are required to visit the port captain. But when you clear into La
Paz or other places, you can do it over the radio. Or, if you're in
a marina in La Paz, the marina will do it for you. Consistently
inconsistent.
Even more peculiar, if you're clearing out of La Paz for the
United States, the port captain requires an expensive and inconvenient
health clearance for the vessel and all the crew, and
if we're not mistaken, a rat inspection, too. To our knowledge,
this is the only port that requires it, which is why nobody clears
out of La Paz for the States. If anybody has been required to
get health certifi cates from any other ports in Mexico before
heading for the States, we'd like to hear about it.
⇑⇓WE FOLLOW THE PROFLIGATE TREATY
So what I read in the June 9 'Lectronic is that, in spite of
MARPOL rules, yachts entering the U.S. at San Diego are
supposed to dispose of all of their garbage — including plastic
bags — overboard prior to entry. This is illegal and doesn't
make any sense.
Lon Bubeck
Flying Cloud Yachts
Lon — Sorry, we weren't as clear as we could and should
have been. As part of their "outreach," the very pleasant and
professional folks from Customs told Doña de Mallorca, captain
of Profl igate, that: 1) You should separate all your garbage as
follows: Anything "that is of plant or animal origin, including
food scraps, packaging materials, and any items that have
come into contact with these materials," needs to be kept in
bags separate from all other garbage. That's because the former
must be incinerated or sterilized, which costs taxpayers a lot of
money. After being inspected, normal garbage can be thrown
into normal garbage bins. What drives these folks nuts are the
really big yachts that show up in San Diego with 40 bags of
unseparated garbage. 2) It's recommended that certain foods,
including, apples, raw chicken, raw beef, and avocados — to
name just few — be thrown into the sea where it is legal to do
so under MARPOL rules, rather than being brought into San
Diego where it has to be confi scated. However, other fresh
foods — such as limes, garlic, chilies, packaged deli meats
and other stuff — can be kept.