Mexico Boating Guide: Baja, Sea of Cortez, Pacific Mainland, Gulf Coast & Yucatan [Plastic Comb]

John E. Rains (Author), Pat Miller Rains (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2001

Updated 2004; 6 page insert. Comprehensive nautical guidebook to Baja, Sea of Cortez, entire mainland Pacific Mexico, plus Gulf Coast & Yucatan. Authors are active professional mariners in Mexico, both former cruisers.

Tailored for sail & power, East & West coasters, fishing, diving. Contains 116 copyrighted GPS-accurate CHARTS, many of anchorages that are too small to appear with sufficient detail on Gov charts, also DMA chart zooms updated with new marinas, breakwaters, buoys, hazards. Contains 237 PHOTOS & 19 satellite photos, WX diagrams, blank "Crew List" form.

At 1,000+ locations, the Rainses explain the safe routing & approaches by sea (3,000+ GPS positions), anchorages & dinghy landings, marinas, port clearance & agents, where to find fuel, water, provisions, boat yards & repair services, emergency contacts, good eateries, local services, cultural & eco-excursions, historical notes. Side Features: "The Paperwork Cha Cha," Specific Mexico Preparations, Weather & Routing, Hurricane Season & Summering Over, Ham & SSB Radio Nets, Eco-boating, GPS Waypoint Lists.

"Mexico Boating Guide" is an extremely valuable navigation tool, and a dream book as well.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Clear passage, navigation and anchoring instructions, plus local knowledge, make this (guidebook) succeed where so many other fail..." -- Elaine Lembo, Editor, "Cruising World Magazine" April, 2001

From the Publisher

Durable new Smyth-sewn binding prevents pages from being ripped out while this guidebook is in active daily use in the cockpit or on the bridge. New 4-color charts are much easier to read. Large 12-point type for faster legibility. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 352 pages
• Publisher: Point Loma Publications (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963847082
• ISBN-13: 978-0963847089
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,480,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for Navigation, December 17, 2006

By 

Kenneth C. Stump "Capt. Ken" (Sailing the 7 seas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mexico Boating Guide (Perfect Paperback)

When the notice "not for navigation" appears in this guide, they are not kidding! This guide has more errors than a collander has holes. For it being a second edition, there is no excuse for this. Some gps way points are hundreds of miles off and the worst proof reader should be able to pick these out. Others are just dislexic errors. In any event, I must agree this guide is not for navigation.

The clearing in for Mexico seems to still be in a state of flux. Ask 8 officials about checking in and get 10 answers. Aparently the one step checkin in Cabo has a small "fee" attached to it. I never did find the one place to go and went to individual places, just like before.

The pictures are nice and the print/format is good. All in all I would place the value of the book at somewhere around $30. But the retail price is rediculous for the errors contained there in.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Investment, July 22, 2008

By 

T. Sovil - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mexico Boating Guide (Perfect Paperback)

Highly rated by Latitude 38 magazine and The Log. A great investment with a ton of detail on the Baja and the mainland down to Manzanillo where my interests lie.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A essential library item for any cruiser going to Mexico, January 4, 2008

By 

Sam (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mexico Boating Guide (Perfect Paperback)

We spent a half a year traveling Mexico's west coast and this guide quickly became our best source for for information on destinations and anchorages. Anyone leaving without it will find themselves spending a lot of time searching for it once in Mexico and paying more for it there.

The official nautical charts for Mexico often lack detail and are off by as much as 2 miles (yes when we were in Puerto Vallarta the charts showed we were anchored up in the mountains per our GPS location). The Mexico Boating Guide picks up where the charts leave off. For instance one of our favorite anchorages, Tenacatita Bay, is barely a dent on the chart. The Mexico Boat Guide describes the following for Tenacatita Bay:

* the entrance to the bay
* what rocks to avoid while sailing through
* where the best anchorage is
* where it is good to snorkel
* where you can go across the bay to provision

Since our time in Mexico, we've sailed 20,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean and back. We wished we had a guide as good as this for the rest of our trip.