Thinking about leaving your boat in Mexico this summer? I’ve done that myself five times. Can’t decide whether to stay aboard or fly home? Yup, I’ve done it both ways.
WHAT IF I STAY?
As we go to press in late July, the National Hurricane Center’s predictions are a mixed bag for mariners in Mexican waters. Our current ENSO-neutral cycle is expected to fade “with La Niña favored to emerge during August-October (70% chance) and persist into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2024-25 (79% chance during November-January).”
La Niña usually brings warmer sea and air temperatures – favorable to (a.) cyclonic storm formation (not great news for boaters summering over) but also (b.) better sportfishing for pelagic billfish and tuna (good news for sportfishers) However, NHC’s next update is due August 15, so check it out – https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml
Talk with your insurance agent about your Mexico coverage. Make a fresh video inventory of your boat’s contents: electronics, engines, dinghy, exterior, mast, dodger, toys, etc. Capture serial numbers or models if possible. Keep a copy at home.
PREPARE YOUR BOAT
Put your boat in a marina near one of the hurricane holes, as discussed in the previous Mexico Report. Grab a discount on a long-term berth inside, for example, Marina Costa Baja, Marina Palmira, Marina Puerto Escondido, Marina San Carlos, Marina Real, or any of the marinas in Puerto Peñasco or Banderas Bay.
Sign up for some of their in-slip maintenance services, and write down instructions specific to your boat. You might request a trusted staffer to come aboard daily to open doors, turn on fans, check your bilges, and run your generator and air conditioner or mains in neutral. Start with clean sea chests. Before departing, leave the dockmaster your keys and your emergency contacts.
Go ahead and prepare your boat for possible 75-knot winds and heavy rains in your absence, even if you’re staying.
Starting from the top, remove all sails, sail covers, extra lines and running rigging. On the fly bridge, unzip, roll up and secure vinyl windows. Windshield screens or canvas covers can be serious flail hazards in 75-knot winds, often due to a couple loose fasteners, so fix them now. If they are snugly secured in place with strong snaps or toggles, leave them on; your interior stays cooler.
Use Dyneema or non-stretch line to lash and secure stuff, even the crane in lowered position. If your boat has an adjustable Bimini, lower it and lash it down.
Remove all windage from on deck, such as seat cushions, awnings, deck chairs, ice chests, etc. Stow them in the lazarette or interior. Secure the dingy on deck with cinch-straps, or stow it in a shore locker.
LINES & FENDERS: Set up all your fenders and dock lines, including crossed spring lines. Try to position the hull equidistance between dock fingers. Rig some form of chafe protection wherever a dock line goes through a cleat or hawse. Adjust braided dock lines as needed, repositioning chafe gear too. If a storm hits, the boats will bounce a lot. Try to add at least one springy “surge protector” to your dock lines, such as a simple loop of rubber hose or an expensive coil device. (See photo.)
Fenders will try to pop up out of place, so prepare fender weights: fill four 1-gallon plastic milk jugs with wet sand and tie them below each fender so they hang 24” underwater. Extra fenders? Try securing them horizontally to the dock.
CLOSE DOWN
Leave diesel tanks full and add biocide to prevent crud from growing. A tank full of potable water is like gold after a hurricane.
Power outages are possible. Empty and clean the fridge and freezer, unplug them. Leave a dish of white vinegar inside to prevent mold. Use a wad of paper towels to keep the doors open an inch or two, and secure them open with shipping tape.
To prevent sun and heat damage to your boat’s interior, close insulated blinds and secure them in place with a dab of museum paste to prevent motion chafe. Cover the bridge instrument panels with a flat bed sheet or beach towels. To prevent mildew, wipe hard surfaces with white vinegar, and hang bags of Damp Rid, a nontoxic dehumidifying agent, in heads, closets, under sinks, etc.
For ventilation while you’re gone for months, consider leaving open a small well-screened port hole in a shower stall – just a crack. Sprinkle rock salt wherever rain water may pool.
ON THE HARD
If you opt to have your boat hauled out and parked in a dry storage yard, pay attention to which kinds of boat stands they offer. Some jack stands have adjustable hull pads built in, others don’t. Jack stands can be chained together and tensioned, to prevent them from spreading apart. Some keel shapes lend themselves to bracing with railroad ties.
A boat yard with a concrete floor is generally safer than one an asphalt floor, which can soften in summer heat and allow stands to tilt or sink. When one boat topples over, it may take its neighbors down too. See if the yard has installed a perimeter of sandbags to prevent possible flash floods from sweeping through and undermining boat stands.
YOU SUMMER ABOARD?
Pick a marina associated with a nice hotel that has Wifi, so you can spend the hottest hours in a palapa-shaded pool or surfing the web in an air-conditioned cafe.
If you’re staying aboard, now’s when air-conditioning (AC) earns its keep. If your AC is not putting out enough cool air, check the condenser, clean the drip lines, add refrigerant if necessary. Baja’s relatively dry air is faster to chill than the notoriously humid air on the mainland side of the Gulf of California and Puerto Vallarta. Boaters summering aboard in Banderas Bay recommend adding an electric dehumidifier to the list of gadgets that make life more comfortable.
Install extra oscillating fans in the galley, dining and sleeping areas. Add sun-blocking shields inside port lights, so you can keep them open for air without sun reflected up off the water. Wind scoops over deck hatches pull down welcome overnight breezes.
PREPARE THE PEOPLE
Stay informed. If a hurricane forms, every Port Captain and Navy base issues hourly updates on VHF 16 and 22. Sign up for www.Windy.com for excellent weather graphic. Or hire a weather service like OMNI at www.oceanmarinenav.com
To prevent death by boredom, plan a few interesting 1- or 2-day land excursions nearby, of course while monitoring weather reports. Picture crabs venturing a short distance out of their hidey-holes, scrambling back if danger approaches.
When a Port Captain “closes” a port due to an approaching storm, it means they won’t let boats go out, yet all vessels are allowed to enter seeking refuge. Don’t wait too long to return to safety, or big seas might slow or block your return. For example, the entrance channel to Mazatlan’s Marina District can get “closed out” way early by big surf.
Cell phones are ubiquitous in Mexico, but cell towers do blow over. Consider a satellite phone or Garmin InReach; expensive but more reliable in this situation. While you have time, fill a “ditch kit” back pack with two days clothes, passports, money, boat papers, snacks, phone and charger. Keep the dockmaster and staffers informed of your presence on the boat, also alert any dock neighbors. Keep the VHF on, and keep hand-held units charged.
As storm conditions worsen, some marinas set anchors to relieve strain on their docks. Remember to alert late comers on VHF 16 about these extra lines encumbering the fairways as they try to find an open slip.
When the dock fingers begin to sway sideways or bounce up and down, it’s time to grab your ditch kit and get ashore while you still can. Of course, your first priority is to protect the lives yourself and other people over property. Yachts are just “stuff.”
