MacGregorSailors.com

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"By the way, the drug war has spread to Cancun. Venture away from the resorts and you are asking for trouble. "
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Yes in fact the Govenor was arrested for raising a little dope hehehe about 1000 acres of it Go figure. But you'll never see those places unless you know where to look as the average Gringo doesnt get that far off the beaten path. You'd have to get a LONG ways from the resort IMHO as I read the local paper quite often even from Chicago . I always cross at Matamoros BTW and yes the drug wars are heating up . Big money invovled no doubt. It does wash up on the shores of Coz every so often so I hear and once I saw .
But if any memeber of this board ever finds themselves on Cozumel I will do all I can to make their trip truly enjoyable. From the best and the cheapest places to eat and drink and dive to . . .if its while I am there alone and its just the guys or a couple when Ms Audrey is down with me maybe I can even offer a free place to stay for a little while If a humble little home is alll you desire.

Mexico is great, especially when you are trashed... actually I've never been to Mexico without being trashed. Probably be pretty depressing if it weren't for the alcohol.

Anyway, I rarely go down there and have only had a couple of things happen. I had a couple of fake cops, or real ones, who knows? try to shake me down for making an illegal U-turn. A crowd of American Tourists gathered and the cops got cold feet and left.

The other time I was innocently crossing the street when I tripped on the curb. The bottle of tequila I had in my hand broke off and cut into my left hand. Arterial bleeding and ulner nerve damage. I was on a dark road with nobody around but when I got up I had a crowd of 40 mexicans around me. I got up and felt my right pocket for my wallet. It was gone. I had the courage of the bottle in me so I grabbed one of them by the collar and screamed at him to give back my wallet (hull there was 40 of them he was the unfortunate one to be in front of me). Well he hits me in the face and we start to brawl. Fortunately during this phase I feel my left rear pants pocket. My wallet was in the other pocket. The crowd of Mexicans had come to help me and I attacked one of them bleeding all over the poor guy. Fortunately the border was close by and I apoliqized and made it back. Ambulance took me to the hospital. Eventually I had 13 hours of microsurgery to resect my ulner nerve. To this day I have damage in muscles and nerves to my left hand.

Hey there is a lesson in there somewhere.... like only drink out of plastic bottles.

50 trips longest 14 weeks shortest 7 day most run average 17 days . . . flew 49 drove once. We own a home own 2 businesses and have stayed 2 + years in time/days . I / we have never been robbed on the street. I have been taken into custody once . Mexico is not for everyone as is anywhere you can name. Coz is by the numbers of divers The 1st or 2nd most popular dive destination in the world and the same unfortunately goes for Cruise Boat destination as well

TampaMac,

Sounds like you have a drinking problem. Uh oh, you aren't one of those drunken airline pilots, are you? I guess that I shouldn't really joke about that. Don't want to blow your cover. Another joke.

Actually my Mexico experiance happened about 22 years ago when I was in the Marine Corps.

It happened right short of the border in TJ.

It really happened. It happened because I was stupid drunk. The real point of the story is that Mexico was dangerous because I was stupid.

Going to Mexico is less safe then operating at home but not by much if you show some judgement.

Going to Coz on the 27th. DiveCoz has been a great source of information. Can't wait! Second trip to Mexico. First was to P.V. about ten years ago. Stayed in the International District away from all the usual U.S. tourists. Loved it. Great Food!

Phil

BK wrote:Can you recommend any long term trailer parking places in the Keys?

Launch at Oceanside, park at Hurricane Hole Marina 1 mile down the road.
At least that was what I used last year. Both are just as you fet to Key WEst.

One of my grade school classmates was a Marine in the late 50s. He got jailed in Tj. He said they would have to kill him before he would go back to that jail.

Wife and I lived & I worked 1985 & 86 in Mexico City. Had a big, beautiful colonial house on a hill with a view of the volcano across the city. Saw it only twice because the smog was so bad. Birds actually would fall off the branches dead because of it. Only got ripped off by the traffic cops once when I "supposedly" made some violation. A few pesos fixed that. We drove to Vera Cruz and Acapulco and around town without problem. Worked too much to do much sightseeing.

Things have changed in TJ with paying police on the spot for a fine. I live in Socal so I go there. I had a minor traffic violation of stopping to let passengers in my car in a no-stop zone. I offered in bad Spanish to pay the fine and they took me to the TJ jail. I was told it is a mandatory jail sentence to bribe a police officer. Because I used bad Spanish it was decided that the bribe was a mistake. They let me go saying to treat the police officers in TJ the same as you would in the US.
I have driven all over Mexico since the 60's seaching for surf, visiting the amazing temple ruins which are as good as Egypt's and all I can say is to take an old good running car and keep it at night in the hotel lot, not on the street. They think all gringos are rich and we are compared to the average person.

TGhis was a cut and paste to BableFish and I post it here as it came or pretty much

The Coordinator of the municipal police, Comandante Ram� Chi Alcocer, stated that there is a subsection of the traffic rules that allows for so-called "Courtesy Tickets" given as a warning only. But normally this possibility is valid only when the infraction is minor and not for a grave offense.


"For example, I have noticed that tourists arrive on Cozumel and rent some type of vehicle or other in order to get to know the island.They are unfamiliar with such things as not parking in places where this is a red curb or right next to a corner. It is in cases like this that the courtesy ticket becomes worthwhile."

"Right now if the regulations violation is for excessive speed, driving while inebriated or if he is implicated in a road accident, the visitor can no longer enjoy this right," the Commandante explained .

He specified that this courtesy ticket was created because "it cannot be forgotten that the island is a completely tourist place, where we receive 1000's of tourists daily all of whom are unfamiliar with traffic patterns and parking zones."

But fortunately and particularly in the case of tourists that come from the United states and Canada, the great majority have an excellent level of road education, he maintained.

The commandant stated that if a police officer notices a tourist has parked in a restricted area---by a store, for example-- his assignment is to notify the driver immediately and make a judgement about how long the tourist plans to stay there--a long time or just for a little while. Because it is not intended to drive away this market by applying the regulations drastically.

But, if the visitor takes a long time more than what he promised, then the ticket of infraction is given and this has to be paid completely.

However,The Commandante added, if the tourist who has commited such an infraction comes in and acknowledges his mistake, there is a good possibility that the ticket will be cancelled. And this is an attitude encouraged by top management in the police department.

If, on the other hand, the visitor comes in trying to cover up or acting in an aggressive manner, then he is not given this solution.

***That last part is the most important part and I know it to be true from my own experiences. Just be calm about the whole thing and admit you didn't understand. Of course I cannot say I didn't understand anymore, but you folks can.***