SV Gallant Fox

Marine Services Part III - Sail Repair in La Paz

As terrific as Mazatlan is for engine work, boat canvas and stainless steel, there is a dearth of sail makers. If your main sail has experienced some...ermm...user error lately; saaay, in the form of an excessively taut outhaul that stresses the grommets along the luff and tears the sail fabric? If you're in Pacific Mexico, the best place to get your boat for the necessary repairs, is to La Paz. Once there hail Snug Harbor Sails on VHF 22 and hope they're not so busy they can't respond. It's a small shop - just Doug and Rhea there - but it's a very good one and you should make them your friends.

There we were, at anchor in La Paz harbor in December, getting ever-closer to the Christmas holidays when the town's businesses shut down. Hailed Snug Harbor, they said right on, they could squeeze us in. We unhank the main sail (in 15 knots north wind), flake (aka stuff) it into its sail bag, then the next morning early we drop it gently into the dinghy, scoot ashore, hump it out of the dink onto Marina de La Paz's dock, schlep it a block to the taxi stand, and off we go across town to Snug Harbor. Arrive at their door at 0745, well after they opened for business. They say hi, what'cha got there, we show them, they try not to laugh; yes they can fix our mistakes.

And they say: well, we can get it back to you in about a week. Which at that time was longer than we'd expected...but turned out to be much faster than we could ever leave the Necessary And Progressively More Comfortable Cruisers' Vortex Of La Paz.

Anyway, Doug and Rhea say, sail repair can be done by next Wednesday. Fine. Turned out, it was finished 4 days early, but for some reason they and we never made VHF contact, so we hail them the following Wednesday and they say where you been, your sail's been done for days, now please pick it up and put it back on yer boat. Except they were far nicer than what I write here. But we stepped lively.

Dinghy to shore. Taxi to Snug Harbor, Pick up sail, inspect, smiles and handshakes all around. Pesos exchanged for invoice. Excellent repair and reinforcement job, excellent price, fast and friendly work. Taxi back to dinghy dock. Tip the nice cabbie. Hump sail into dinghy. Scoot back to The Fox. By the time we'd got back aboard, VHF 22 was alive with hails to Snug Harbor Sails, all wanting assistance and the calls came so thick and fast Snug Harbor had to start turning away business. In December, people arrive at La Paz en masse and everyone want to get their boats ready - quickly - for a cruise. My advice? If you think you might need some sail repairs, and want them done well, get to La Paz early. And plan on making life easy for yourself and Snug Harbor Sails, and do business with them no later than 0730, weekdays.

Your results will be optimal.

m

Notes from Underway

Having serendipitously discovered Internet access where it was least expected, I can update this here blog with some words on where we've been traveling since last Christmas.

26. Dec. 2009 - Boxing Day aka St. Stevens Day. 0700, raised anchor and crossed the El Mogote sand shoals, departing La Paz. Stopped briefly at the Pemex fuel dock outside the entrance to Marina Costa Baja for diesel, gasoline & potable water. Motored in light air north and then east through San Lorenzo Channel. Breeze filled, so sailed. Eastward approach to Cerralvo Channel in late afternoon led as usual to increasing NW winds to low 20s, bi-directional chop to 3'. Rounded the peninsula and anchored at Bahia de los Muertos (23deg. 59'N/109deg.50'W) without incident as darkness fell. 60 miles traveled.

27. Dec. to 29. Dec. 2009 - Southern crossing of the Sea of Cortez. Initial destination: Isla Isabela, 90 miles S of Mazatlan. Left Bahia de los Muertos in 12kt. NW breeze at 1030, quickly increased to high-20s with NW seas to 6' at 6 seconds. Compass heading was 130 so winds and seas were off aft port quarter - relatively comfortable. Foresail (genoa) was double-reefed; double-reefed main sail was prevented to starboard. We discovered that GB's re-routing of the Sailomat self-steering wind vane's lines - now, in accordance with the manual's instructions - make the Sailomat work like a champ. All hail the wind vane!

At 0718 on 28. Dec., wind quickly dropped to SE 8 kt. or less, then as day progressed varied in direction. Seas were calm. Motorsailed. After sunset wind increased again, now E 6-20kt. with choppy, rolly seas and intermittent rain. Radar adjusted to reflect less rain and more solid objects. Used pants & fleece shirts under foul weather parkas for first time in 2 years. Booby landed on masthead, damaging wind instrument but not destroying it completely.

29. Dec. Moderate winds & seas continued. Deferred Isla Isabela due to conditions, instead made further SE, for Punta de Mita anchorage in NW entrance to Banderas Bay. Full moon rose as night fell but was soon obscured by clouds. Wind lightened, so motorsailed into Banderas Bay using radar, GPS and binoculars as charts are inaccurate by about 1-1/2 miles & therefore completely unreliable for making landfall. Anchored without incident at Punta de Mita (20deg.46'N/105deg.31'W) on 29.Dec. at 2255. 342 miles traveled.

30. Dec. 2009 - Left rolly Punta de Mita anchorage for the somewhat-less-rolly-but-more-boat-wakey anchorage of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle in NE corner of Banderas Bay. 10 miles traveled. Holiday weekend & the small power boat traffic was intense. Topped off diesel tanks the next day at Marina Riviera Nayarit's fuel dock in preparation for next leg. Woke to New Year's fireworks all along Puerto Vallarta waterfront - good show.

1. Jan. 2010 - Left La Cruz on a Friday at 1955, bound for Cabo Corrientes intending to round it at 0200, with a forecast of calm conditions at that time. While raising sail using our deck lights, a small whale came to inspect, and swam directly under The Fox at a safe depth (for him and us) of 27'. Rounded Corrientes at 0140 on 2. Jan., about 3 miles offshore with N-NW wind at 6-12, NW swell 3'-4' at 6 seconds, light drizzle. Wind remained light and variable throughout the next day, coming from all directions at 10kt. or less. Anchored at Bahia de Chamela (19deg.33'N/105deg.06'W) on 2. Jan. 2010 at 1550. 90 miles traveled.

5. Jan. 2010 - Left Chamela's town anchorage to spend a night anchored off one of its bay's islands, Isla Colorado. Winds remained light and variable but S fetch seemed to be increasing as a very distant but very strong storm in southern Mexico's Bay of Tehuantapec continued. Snorkeling, dinghy fishing and beachcombing for seashells in Chamela Bay were all suboptimal though scenery was beautiful. Anchored facing in to swell, bow & stern anchors deployed. 2.25 miles traveled.

6. Jan. 2010 - Left fetchy Isla Colorado at 1020 under overcast skies and in variable breeze less than 3 kt. At 1600 encountered a low pressure cell with sudden increase to S-SW winds 12-22, with a building S chop and heavy rain reducing visibility to about 1/2 mile. Conditions began to ease and visibility thankfully improved as The Fox entered Tenacatita Bay. We made for the innermost (N) anchorage that appeared to have the best shelter. Indeed it did. Anchored without incident among several boats we knew - 19deg.18'N/104deg.50'W. 30.5 miles traveled.

9. Jan. 2010 - Still anchored in Tenacatita's inner anchorage. First day since 26. Dec. that we've seen clear skies.

10.Jan.2010 - Raised anchor to explore some of Tenacatita Bay's other anchorages. Motored to the bay's NW entrance and dropped a lunch-hook off Playa Escolleras to snorkel the reefs of "The Aquarium." The texture of the reef and the size of the schools of fish made the visit worthwhile. Clouds returned in the afternoon with a building surf, so lacking confidence in the Escolleras anchorage for overnight, we crossed Tenacatita Bay from NW to SE for the more protected anchorage of Tamarindo - that is, protected from the somewhat unusual SE breeze and swell resulting, it is said, from the storms that persist in the Tehuantapec hundreds of miles SE of us. In Tamarindo (19deg.16'N/104deg.48'W), The Fox is fairly comfortable with bow & stern anchors deployed. Total miles traveled: 8.75.

m

Marine Services Part II - Man of Steel

One challenge of cruising and living aboard a sailboat in a hot climate, is how to secure yourself and the boat's contents from uninvited visitors* while still keeping the boat well ventilated.

* "Uninvited visitors" = your boat might one day be boarded by strangers who intend to steal items of value - or worse. You may or may not be there when they arrive.

We have never been boarded by strangers (yet), nor have we had any problems with theft (yet), in the US, Canada or Mexico. We lock our boat when we leave it, the way most folks lock their cars when they're not inside them. If we're in a cruising area that is known to have problems, we can lock ourselves in the boat at night the way other people lock the doors to their houses at night. Pretty straightforward. Except when it's hot and humid and all the ports and hatches in the boat need to stay open for any air flow there is.

Some boats solve the air-flow-versus-security problem by installing a companionway hatch with security bars mounted in a locking frame; and/or having security bars mounted in their overhead hatches. These seemed like good ideas to us, especially as we are considering travel to countries that are significantly poorer than where we've been. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there are many hungry people out there, and no matter how modest you think you and your boat appear, to some people you look like you have hundred dollar bills taped all over you. Not everyone is a bad person, but we feel it's sensible to travel as discreetly as possible and take a few precautions. Anyway, back to the security bars.

Some overhead security bars are permanently mounted; others have locks that can be opened with a key if the boat is on fire or sinking and that particular hatch is the only means of escape. Our boat has two overhead hatches. Knowing that in case of fire or sinking neither of us would have the presence of mind to locate the proper key to unlock any set of security bars, we thought that having the bars permanently mounted in just one overhead hatch would let us keep that hatch open for air flow, whether we were on the boat or not, without taking too big a risk that we would be trapped in the boat in an emergency (our boat has 4 other means of egress). Ergo, we chose the highest overhead hatch, in the salon, for the permanent security bars.

Meanwhile, we decided to keep the forward V-berth's hatch untouched, sacrificing some potential flow-through ventilation there, in favor of still being able to use its built-in escape ladder should an emergency arise. Two other means of egress, through the stern cabin's overhead hatch; and through the head into the lazarette and then up though the lazarette hatch, could be easily locked and unlocked as is, so nothing needed to be done in either location. Finally, we thought security bars mounted in a locking frame for the companionway would improve both air flow and security into and out of the cockpit. So, we were looking for a professional who could fabricate one companionway hatch and one permanently-mounted overhead hatch out of stainless steel. And make it look good.

Enter Jorge Rosete Ramirez, a genial, soft-spoken engineer who with his family owns and operates Rosete Stainless in Mazatlan. We had seen examples of Rosete's work on other boats around the El Cid marina - and there is always a boat to visit in any marina to see the work they do. Jorge Rosete is a very busy man. Mr. Rosete visited our boat, discussed our wants and needs, sketched out some designs, took a few measurements, and gave us an estimate on the spot. And so, it was a go.

Rosete himself came by with the companionway hatch for some adjustments and the final fitting, and as you can see it is a thing of beauty. Looks like it was original to the boat.

A few days later, two of Rosete's welders came by our boat with their gear to install the overhead security bars that Rosete himself had designed. Given the time of day (about 1:00 p.m.) and the speed at which they worked, I joked with them that the job was so small they were probably doing it on their lunch hour. They smiled politely and said something innocuous, but I think the job actually WAS so small they did it on their lunch hour.

Because according to Rosete's website their usual work is, for example, fabricating all the stainless steel conveyor belts for Pacifico Brewery. Oofah.

I'm guessing the marine service work they do is such a small part of their business, it doesn't show up on their site. I don't care. These guys are the best. Nautically speaking, I know that Rosete's team is used to much larger jobs than what we had asked them to do for us. For recreational sailboats or commercial shrimpers, they routinely design and fabricate bow pulpits, stern arches to hold solar panels, deck railings, machinery....if it's made out of stainless steel or aluminum, these guys can build it and make it look pretty.

In fact, proving that no job is too small for Rosete Stainless, they agreed to realign and improve the angle our aluminum emergency tiller, a job I think might have taken them all of 10 minutes to complete. If only we'd thought to give him our stainless steel martini glasses to reinforce...

Rosete stood by his original estimate of 10,000 pesos (about US $760 at the time) for all three of the security bar, companionway, and emergency tiller jobs. Given the price of metal and the excellent outcome of each project, we feel it was money well spent. So if you need some stainless steel work done when anywhere along the Pacific side of Mexico, give The Man of Steel a holler.

m

Marine Services Part I - Awesome Boat Canvas

Sometimes it's economical to hire a professional for boat canvas work. For example, certain projects are too large and complicated to be done well by one person using a small sewing machine on a boat's deck or down below at the salon table. A cockpit's spray shield, aka dodger, is one such project.

As Karen S. Lipe wrote in her "Big Book of Boat Canvas" (International Marine pub., 1988, at p. 64): "A word of caution: Designing and constructing your own dodger, Bimini, or Bimini-dodger combination will most likely require professional assistance at certain points in the process....Working with 30-gauge and 40-gauage vinyl glass on a domestic sewing machine is not easy. You can do it, but it will take a lot of patience and many more hours than it would take a professional with an industrial machine...."

I would add that when working with vinyl glass, Sunbrella and piping trim, you pretty much get one shot at doing it right - the holes made by your needle are permanent, so if you have to rip out a line of stitching and do it over you may find yourself with one heckuva porous dodger. The amount you spend on materials alone, and the risk of not getting it perfect on the first go, in my opinion justifies hiring a pro to put it all together. Also, aesthetics is a large consideration - the dodger is probably the most visible canvas item on a boat, and your boat deserves to look its best.

Our dodger, a combination of Sunbrella, vinyl glass panels, zippers and Velcro, was original to the boat and very well made, but it was almost eight years old. It had weathered snow, persistent dampness and mildew in the Pacific Northwest, and a couple years of intense heat and UV exposure as we moved south. Not to mention the occasional fecal assaults by incontinent boobies. I had regularly replaced the Velcro as it wore out, but the Sunbrella fabric underneath the Velcro was losing its integrity from all the new needle holes I had to make. The vinyl glass was intact but becoming progressively more opaque from UV exposure. I had begun to patch areas of Sunbrella along the bottom port side of the dodger where stress and late afternoon sun seemed to be causing some damage. Finally, when we were in Mazatlan this past summer, the Sunbrella fabric along the top of the dodger, where it was stretched taut and got the most UV exposure, began to pull apart. I was able to patch that area too, but the whole dodger was becoming fragile and the need for repairs was accelerating.

Clearly, it was time to replace the dodger but its size and complexity were beyond my abilities as well as my inventory of canvas tools and fabric. GB and I were interested in adding a couple of new features to the design that complicated things even more. Plus, about 11 years ago GB had unwisely insisted that I repair and redesign the dodger on our first sailboat, and the result was such a fiasco, so utterly full of fail, that I damn near killed the man and I am not lying.

So: good thing we were in Mazatlan when the dodger died. Because:

The canvas shop that had made our fine dinghy chaps back in late 2007 cheerfully accepted our request to rebuild our poor dodger in the same general design, but with a zippered opening in the center vinyl glass panel (for improved air flow into the cockpit on hot days) and with snap-on Sunbrella covers (to extend the life of the shiny new vinyl glass). Pedro Moreno and his partner Ruben of Upholstery Mazatlan (telephone 52-669-982-2760, email: [email protected]) came out to our boat, examined the dodger, and discussed what we wanted (why yes, they speak better English than we speak Spanish). They gave us a brief-but-complete handwritten estimate, took the old dodger away with them, and started work with I don't know how many people back at their shop. Pedro and Ruben came back twice to the boat to fit and fine-tune the dodger at various stages of fabrication. Upon final installation they attached the snap-on Sunbrella covers by inserting the snaps with the greatest snap-setting tool I have ever seen: this bad boy inserted snaps into multiple layers of Sunbrella like a hole punch going through a single sheet of paper, and was about as fast. I coveted this tool - that is, until I saw how much something like that costs. You definitely need to be in the canvas business to justify the expense of this beast.

Anyway we were happy to do business with Pedro and Ruben again, the new dodger looks great and we're very happy with the new features. We expect to be under the hot sun for quite some time, so if we get 6 years of use out of this new dodger before it needs replacing, we'll call it an excellent product.  Oh - and the price for this fancy new dodger of ours?  It was Pedro's original estimate of 9500 pesos - in October 2009, about $730 US. Individual results may vary of course, but if you have a challenging canvas project and happen to be in the neighborhood, consider letting the professionals at Upholstery Mazatlan handle it. It just might save your marriage.

m

One Day in El Mogote

"Woof. Is that you?"

"What?"

"That hobo smell. You reek. When was the last time you made contact with some soap?"

[Sniff. Sniff. Snniiiiiiifffff.]

"It's not me. I'm innocent."

"Well, then, what...smells...hey, wait a minute. The wind's coming in from the cockpit. What's aft of our boat?"

"Just that derelict with all the pelicans on it."

[Grabs binoculars.]

"Aww, Jeebus, the guano's two inches thick on the stern pulpit. There's a cover on the main sail but it's heaped up with guano too. I think it used to be blue. Man, that little boat must have been abandoned years ago - two pelicans have taken over the deck, and there are five cormorants roosting on the spreaders and the mast head lights. Or, what's left of the spreaders and the mast head lights."

"Hey, it's good that they all have found a place to roost. Keeps them off our boat. Meanwhile, pray for the tide to reverse, and soon. Phew."

m

Life in La Paz harbor

There are worse places to anchor than off of the city of La Paz, Baja California Sur. It is one of the places in which a cruising boat can anchor comfortably, dinghy ashore, tie up at a friendly marina's dock, and get all kinds of work and provisioning done without once having to pay for a slip in a marina. The savings, they are many.

Plus, the La Paz cruisers' community is well established with a few long-term wingnut residents colorful characters; very congenial and willing to help newcomers and transients alike with all their cruising-related needs. Come for the lively all-day chatter on VHF 22, stay for the marine hardware that you won't find again until you get to Panama. Hang around the dinghy dock at Marina de La Paz long enough, and you'll tap in to the days Imelda arrives to sell her homemade tamales and rellenos, when the nice German lady sells her down-home bratwursts and sauerkraut (hint: Saturdays, back gate), and where Les The Bread Guy has his European-style bakery. It's all just like mama used to make, and worth every peso.

Thanksgiving of '08, we anchored in La Paz harbor near their municipal dock, and in 2 days had filled our propane tank, jerry-jugged some water, did laundry, shopped for fishing tackle and marine hardware, jerry-jugged some diesel and gasoline from a nearby gas station, used the Internet in a local coffee shop, and loaded up on provisions, all by dinghy. In 48 hours we were done with our chores and outta there, back to pristine anchorages in nearby islands. It can be done that quickly in La Paz.

This winter things were a bit more complicated. We had a lot of time-consuming projects on our list, such as some minor repairs to the main sail that needed a professional's touch. We had to tweak our visas and vessel registration documents. GB had a pesky gum infection that had developed after an otherwise uneventful root canal in Mazatlan and now he needed a dentist, stat. And as long as we were waiting around for all these and other things to come to fruition, MS decided what the hey, why not take the test to get a Ham radio license? Thus it came to pass that we laid at anchor in La Paz harbor, across the sandy shoals in the spacious El Mogote anchorage, for over 2 weeks this December. Which for the likes of us is a very long time to stay in one place. But if your boat must stay put while things get done, La Paz at Christmastime is a pretty good deal. La Paz is a cruising hub and you're guaranteed to meet old friends here and make some new ones.

The Baja winter weather was how we like it - cool, generally sunny, with only the occasional brief blows of wind and chop from the north. We got to hang out with new cruising friends - including Hello World, who we'd just recently met in the flesh, and the generous folks on Two Can Play; and we got to get reacquainted with other friends, including Anna and Gary on Trumpeter, who we'd last seen all too briefly in early July up in the northern Sea. Trumpeter invited us to spend Christmas Day with them, and I'm here to tell you they are excellent hosts who know how to celebrate a holiday. They had an open-boat sort of thing going on, everyone in the anchorage welcome to join in (and there are a lot of boats in El Mogote). The festivities moved along splendidly with good conversation among folks and fine beverages all around. We eased into a classic afternoon nosh in which roast turkey figured prominently - as did boat-grown basil and Agua Verde goat cheese so mild it doubled easily for the finest mozzarella. What a nice way to spend a Christmas: thinking fondly about the loved ones who were not there, and enjoying good times with those who were.

Yes, we got a lot done and had a lot of fun while anchored at La Paz. It's a busy place in winter; and its city lights twinkle in the clear, cool night air across to El Mogote. Sea lions, dolphin and large schools of fish rush through El Mogote's strong currents and shallow depths, trying their best to dodge the diving pelicans, boobies, terns and osprey. It's understandable why cruisers linger here longer than they expect -- but we have promises we've made to ourselves, and now's the time to keep them. It's Boxing Day as I write this, and time for The Fox to move on....

m

Random Tracks

Every so often while beachcombing in the intertidal zone in firm sand, I see deep tubular holes of about 1-2 inches diameter clustered near each other, with odd slash-type tracks radiating out from them. I've seen similar holes (minus any tracks of course) while snorkeling in about 6-12 feet depths. I'd assumed the underwater holes were home to garden eels or young lobster. But on shore? Hmmm.

Peeking into the holes yielded no insight. But the residents revealed themselves soon enough. Crabs. Lots of crabs. One per hidey-hole. Fiddlers, in some areas; in other areas, I've no clue - those guys move fast when motivated and I don't know much about crab species anyway. But anyway: observe the tracks of the pointy legs of crabs. The ones in the pic up on the left go to and from the carapace of a lobster, which must have been yummy and/or entertaining to investigate.

Up away from the intertidal crab bunkers, in softer sand I find the tracks of various lizards, made during their early morning forays.

One morning on a beach in Puerto Refugio shortly after sunrise, I found a set of pelican tracks leading inland across a narrow neck of land to the opposite side of the island. I was all curious to discover where a pelican would walk instead of fly, so I followed the trail. The pelican (and I) walked up over a high sand dune, and along a trail that led into low scrub due west. The tracks never wavered. Small flocks of pelicans flew overhead, always headed north, not west. Why had this pelican walked so far in a direction different from his airborne colleagues? Broken wing? Too weak from disease or starvation to fly? Religious conviction? Soon "my" pelican's tracks joined one or two others. I began passing pelican feathers...the odd pelican bone...partial pelican skeletons...I'd walked about 1/4 mile inland (so had the pelicans) and the atmosphere was getting a little creepy. I chickened. Not wanting to blunder into some sacred pelican place, I turned tail and waddled back down to the safe, open, bone-free seashore. Some mysteries are best left unsolved.

m

Bright Colors

m

Arrived yest., 11/21, at Isla

Arrived yest., 11/21, at Isla San Francisco, 24deg. 49'N/110deg. 34'W. 54 hrs. at sea, 40 hrs. under sail in XLNT conditions - NW-NE breezes at 10-15 kt., all day, all nite. Only 4 other boats anchored here. Weather's Charlie-Charlie, place is quiet, day temps = 78F, water's a refreshing 75F. All is well. Plan = move quickly N to Agua Verde. m&g

Time for Another Fishing License Renewal in Mexico

Here we go again.

Having obtained a succession of two Mexican sportfishing licenses in the past two years, you'd think I'd be able to get a renewal online in less than two days. You'd be wrong.

This year, CONAPESCA's online application* had a few bugs that were not there last year. Namely, its "Help Page" (Hoja de Ayuda) that was the easiest part of last year's renewal process? You know; the Help Page that you get when you first enter your application information online? The one you must print out** to submit to the bank when you pay your fees? Failed to print out certain important information. Like, the applicant's registration number the form's software is supposed to assign to you. And the Reference Key number (Clave de Referencia) it's supposed to provide. And the Office Section Chain number (Cadena de la Dependencia) it's supposed to determine. And the amount of fees that must be paid in two parts. Basically, the only thing that this one-page, full-o-bugs form printed out correctly this year, was GB's name and the fact that he was seeking a permit for a full year. Gah.

I relate this tale so that if things go wrong for you in getting a sportfishing license, you can perhaps retrace how I solved my own licensing problems. Actually, GB's problems, as his is the name that is actually on the fishing license.

One thing I learned from 2008's shenanigans, was where CONAPESCA Mazatlán's office was. (Hint: it's the large, white, 6-story building on Camarón Sábalo, across the street from the Mar-Rosa RV/Trailer Park, has the CONAPESCA logo on the building's upper corner, is about a 10-minute walk from Marina El Cid.) I signed in with the guard at the desk in the lobby, told him I had "some questions about a sportfishing permit" (oh man, did I ever), and that I wanted to speak with someone at the permit department upstairs on the 5th floor. It helped that I already knew what floor CONAPESCA's permit division was on, because the guard was a recent hire and had no clue. (Or, just couldn't understand my pidgin Spanish.) Anyway, authorized to enter the building, up the elevator I went, turned right as the door opened on the 5th floor, and walked straight into CONAPESCA's unmarked permits office. The permits division is full of desks full of workers in the "open space" type of office plan. I pity the poor bureaucrats. I've been there.

Tellingly, the permits division assigned the poor fellow who deals with sportfishing permits the desk space right by the front door. So as soon as I made my business known, I was right there In His Face.

Hapless Permit Guy could not have been more courteous. I told him my problems with the online form. He showed no surprise, quickly fixed the errors, and printed out my two Help Page forms (one for each portion of the 2-part payment structure Mexico has for such permits). Because he was able to successfully and completely print out these forms I suspect CONAPESCA's internal web page is different from the one that the public accesses. But whatever. In a feeble attempt to make sure he never saw me again, Hapless Permit Guy showed me how to enter the payment information online once I'd gone home from the bank. It was exactly how I did it last year, no surprises, so I wished him a good day and off I went to Banjercito.

The bank visit was the easiest leg of this process. Banjercito took my Help Pages, took my pesos (493 and 38 respectively for a total of 531 pesos for a year's permit in late 2009), and gave me their two sets of receipts and forms with the appropriate Operation Numbers (Número de Operación on each page) and Payment Keys (Llave de Pago on each page). Things were looking up.

Until they came to a flying stop. Again.

Back at the boat I hop online, go to CONAPESCA's page to Register Payment for Rights (Registrar Pago de Derechos),*** and......get a succession of three popup windows telling me there's an error in the Web page's calendar setup. Which means I am prevented from entering any information such as my DATE of payment for payment number one; the DATE of payment for payment number two; or the DATE I wanted GB's fishing license to start.

I think at this point I might have said some bad words. I waited until the next day to return to Hapless Permit Guy. I shared my lack of results with him, he remained courteous, and entered my information on his computer. And, much to my schadenfreude, he was at first unable to get the date function to work the way we both wanted on CONAPESCA's internal Web page. Long story somewhat shorter, for Hapless Permit Guy to get the final page to print with the fishing license, I had to settle for a starting date for the year's permit that was either "today" or "tomorrow," as the software mysteriously rejected any other date. No worries - what's a day or 2 among sportfishers?

I like CONAPESCA's online form very much for its simplicity. If everything goes well it is very user-friendly. I'm just glad that CONAPESCA's bureaucrats are all so user-friendly too.

* sportfishers click on the top link - "Pesca Deportivo-Recreativa" - on this page's right-hand column.

** you click on the button marked "Imprimir Hoja de Ayuda" (Print Help Page) at the bottom of this page.

*** Registrar Pago de derechos is toward the bottom of the right hand column. Clicking on this takes you to the payment search page. You enter your registration number in the skinny gray box in the center of the page, click on the "Sportfishing" category, then click on the "Seek" button. At this point, unless you get error messages on popup windows, you can click through to the Application Search page (Busqueda de Solicitudes), and hopefully complete the application process and print your shiny new fishing license.

m