Customer Reviews

Destination Mexico: Planning a Cruise to Mexico

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was disappointing. It read like a compilation of magazine articles. The book only dealt with cruising to Baja, Mexico, and had little to say regarding mainland Mexico, west or east coast. A very basic, simple book for someone who knows next to nothing about sailing or cruising.

Destination Mexico: Planning A Cruise To Mexico is a complete and comprehensive guide to planning a Mexican vacation by sea. Practical, informative, ideal for pleasure boat excursions whether by sail or under power, everything is covered including clothing, provisioning, galley equipment, toiletries, medical aids, and recreational resources. Destination Mexico will even guide the reader through the intricacies of government paperwork, insurance, crew selection, and "buddy boats. Drawing upon their more than twenty-five years of cruising experience, Carolyn and Bob Mehaffy even provide an alphabetical listing of equipment (including electrical, mechanical and navigational gear); how to select batteries, GPS, dinghies, and other essentials; the cost of maintenance, and much more. If you are planning a cruise down to Mexico, begin with a thorough reading of Carolyn & Bob Mehaffy's Destination Mexico!

I found this book to be everything it holds itself out to be: a very comprehensive guide to the pre-planning stages of a cruise to Mexico. It is NOT a cruising guide that discusses destinations or how to approach a particular anchorage, but rather a guide to the considerations that need to be made BEFORE you depart. It discusses subjects like when to go, what to take, and what to expect. It is a very thorough book, and undoubtedly the reviewer who found it a "very basic, simple book" didn't appreciate the diligence and thoughtfulness with which the authors approached the subject matter. The authors left nothing out.

It is written for sailors, but is applicable for powerboaters (I am a powerboater). Powerboaters will readily recognize areas where they can make adjustments or disregard the material altogether. It does a particularly good job of demystifying the Mexican paperwork process...something I can tell you first hand can be difficult to understand your first time down.

The focus of the book IS Baja. However, 99% of what they say is applicable to Mainland Mexico. Baja is the kind of place where differences are magnified because of the distance between major ports.

For first time Baja cruisers and veterans alike, this book belongs on your shelf right between Gerry Cunningham's Cruising Guides and Jack Williams' Baja Boaters Guide

Boaters who want a cruise guide to Mexico, whether on power or sail, will want to include Destination Mexico as basic equipment: the authors are veterans of Mexico's waters and cover everything from government paperwork and regulations to crew selection and needed equipment.