New Board member saying "Hi"

[moore_rb]

I've been reading posts on this forum (and on it's "older brother") since about 2006, and I've been a regular shorefisher in Rocky Point since the 80's, but two weeks ago I finally got a new reason to start posting here more actively- check out the pictures below.

It's a 20 foot Skipjack (1977 hull) with a brand new 300hp 350 Vortec Chevy and a 1.61 ratio Volvo Penta 280 sterndrive. The boat has a long history of ocean fishing with the previous owner, including Halibut/Salmon in Sitka Alaska, and Fishing Tuna 40 miles off the coast of SoCal.

I'm not sure if it's ever been in the Sea of Cortez (the guy I bought it off of was the 2nd owner and had owned it since 1984, but he said he never dunked it in the gulf)

The boat is in fantastic condition, and she cruises happily at 30kts at 2800RPM on calm water. I do have to throw some more "money into the black hole" before I'll be ready to take her on the ocean; I've got to update the fish-finder (Please make any recommendations of units I should be looking at), and I need to replace the raw-water pump that fills the bait-bag and powers the wash-down. I also plan to have a 20 horse kicker motor on it (it already has a dropper bracket) before I take it out beyond sight of shore.

Someday I'll probaby build a stainless fishing tower for it and move all my antennas and rod holders up and out of the way.

I'll be searching through many of the existing discussions here about gettting it licensed for Mexico waters and about VHF radio usage in Mexican waters (the previous owner had a Station License, but I'm not sure whether that transfers with the boat, or if I have to fill out a new application with the FCC for myself?) and I need to master the GPS and Loran-C navigation units.

Like I said, I'll be searching the older posts for info regarding boating in mexican waters, but any info/advice/links you guys can throw my way will be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,
Robert

:boat:

 

[Stuart]

Nice boat... a classic!

You do not need to "license it" for Mexican waters for fishing in Rocky Point. Your AZ registration is fine; the Free Zone applies to boats as well as vehicles. A Mexican boat permit is no longer required. However, if you tow further south, like San Carlos, you will need to get a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for it. Costs about $50 and is good for 10 years -- basically a passport for your boat. But, if you stay north, no worries on permits of any sort. You just need Mexican fishing licenses for everyone onboard. I would recommend a Mexican on-the-water liability policy just to be on the safe side. Some marinas (not Rocky Point) require them in order to dock your boat in the marina. Fairly inexpensive - $90-$120 a year and protects you in the event you bump somebody else, spill fuel, cause damages, etc.

Don't sweat licensing the VHF radio either. It's just not necessary. The only time you may want to do this is if you have a DSC-type radio that can transmit your GPS coordinates. In Mexico, doesn't matter because there's no Coast Guard to recieve a DSC broadcast anyway.

Fish finder/sonar - likely to be your best friend when fishing the reefs, so buy the best one you can afford. Personally, I'm a Furuno guy when it comes to sounders. Probably the best ones out there. You'll need one for ocean fishing, so don't waste time or money one some little Hummingbird sounder meant for bass fishing at the lake. Any unit you consider should be capable of 500 watts RMS and both 50 and 200 khz operation to accurately scope out depths 100 ft. or greater. Any sounder is only as good as the transducer you pair it with. Airmar is probably the best name in transducers. Go with a transom mount transducer, a lot less hassle and better quality signal than a thru hull transducer. Should be fairly easy to run the transducer cabling in your boat.

Master using that GPS as soon as you can. You'll come to rely on it to find all the fishing spots. I don't know for certain, but you can probably forget using the Loran - it's outdated and I don't even know if there is any Loran triangulation in the Sea of Cortez.

There's a few things for you to chew on and get started. :razz:

 

[playaperro]

Nice boat... a classic!

You do not need to "license it" for Mexican waters for fishing in Rocky Point. Your AZ registration is fine; the Free Zone applies to boats as well as vehicles. A Mexican boat permit is no longer required. However, if you tow further south, like San Carlos, you will need to get a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for it. Costs about $50 and is good for 10 years -- basically a passport for your boat. But, if you stay north, no worries on permits of any sort. You just need Mexican fishing licenses for everyone onboard. I would recommend a Mexican on-the-water liability policy just to be on the safe side. Some marinas (not Rocky Point) require them in order to dock your boat in the marina. Fairly inexpensive - $90-$120 a year and protects you in the event you bump somebody else, spill fuel, cause damages, etc.

Don't sweat licensing the VHF radio either. It's just not necessary. The only time you may want to do this is if you have a DSC-type radio that can transmit your GPS coordinates. In Mexico, doesn't matter because there's no Coast Guard to recieve a DSC broadcast anyway.

Fish finder/sonar - likely to be your best friend when fishing the reefs, so buy the best one you can afford. Personally, I'm a Furuno guy when it comes to sounders. Probably the best ones out there. You'll need one for ocean fishing, so don't waste time or money one some little Hummingbird sounder meant for bass fishing at the lake. Any unit you consider should be capable of 500 watts RMS and both 50 and 200 khz operation to accurately scope out depths 100 ft. or greater. Any sounder is only as good as the transducer you pair it with. Airmar is probably the best name in transducers. Go with a transom mount transducer, a lot less hassle and better quality signal than a thru hull transducer. Should be fairly easy to run the transducer cabling in your boat.

Master using that GPS as soon as you can. You'll come to rely on it to find all the fishing spots. I don't know for certain, but you can probably forget using the Loran - it's outdated and I don't even know if there is any Loran triangulation in the Sea of Cortez.

There's a few things for you to chew on and get started. :razz:

Stuart Perfect day today we are getting our boat ready to go across
to the baja side...Do we need a permit. the water is nice..

 

[Stuart]

You don't need a permit. However, make sure you launch from Safe Marine and file a dispatch. Safe Marine requires you to file one. Basic info, like boat registration number, names of who is onboard, who to contact in case of emergency, heading you'll be taking, how far you're going, when you expect to be back.

That way, they know where to look for the bodies (kidding!)
Have a safe trip. I'll probably be down and heading out early tomorrow morning. Looks like there may be wind tomorrow afternoon.

 

[moore_rb]

Nice boat... a classic!


There's a few things for you to chew on and get started.

Wow, great information. Thanks Stuart!

Yeah I shopped for over a year before I found this boat. Skipjack still molds the same 23 degree hull design today as in 1973. They are solid, hand laid cloth boats with teak stringers, so this one should last another 30 years. I was also fortunate enough to pick this one up for about 60% of what equivalent boats go for in California... Skippies move fast over there when they come up for sale. Luckily for me this old guy had this one up in Prescott where there's not much use for this style of boat. As soon as I saw the awesome engine work on the re-power I said "sold"

Without a Coast Guard or other official rescue service, Do all you "Long-timers" in RP use your VHF when you're on the water and listen for each other? Do you monitor the standard channel 16?

Also, from what I read here in the forum it sounds like Safe Marina is the best place to store the boat when I'm going down for a few days... They are located on the north side of the harbor near Max's cafe and the Pinacate resort, right? Isn't the traffic kind of tight in that area? is it fairly easy to get in and out of there with the trailer?

Good advice on the sonar... I'll check out Furano. I've been looking at Lowrance units that are 800-1000 watts with max depths between 800-1000 feet. The boat currently has an old (ancient, more accurately :razz Interphase 20/20 unit on it (the graphics are like "pong" if you remember that game) and it has a transom mount transducer. This unit rarely works for more than hour before it overheats, and the button to change the depth range is busted so it's stuck on 50 feet- ok for striper fishing in Lake Pleasant, but no good for serious coastal fishing.

Ya know, I was thinking that the Loran-C is probably obsolete by now, and your statement supports my suspicions. I'm thinking about just yanking that unit, using the GPS, and maybe buying a cheapo hand-held GPS as a backup in case the mounted unit fails.

The last boat I ran in the ocean was way back in 1984 off of Huntington Beach when I was 16... I've got a lot of catching up to do with all this modern technology.

All this chatter has me rearing to leave :usa:and go catch some :fish: in :mexico:...