This may be a slightly longer post due to subject matter.

We left Tucson on Friday morning in hopes of reaching San Carlos, Sonora by Happy Hour. Our first stop was for gas just before we got to The Line and I ended up getting a receipt for the transaction. This will play a part in this tale and is significant because I often choose not to get a receipt. There is now a stop on our side of The Line where they might explain to you that is illegal to take $10,000 or more in cash to Mexico… it is apparently desired that all transactions of any size be traceable, hence the restriction. We were ushered through the stop and set aside since we were towing the trailer so we did not have to traverse the Maze with the whole rig and we popped across The Line following a large truck and made our way to the first Red light / Green light station on the toll road (Mariposa exit).

Holding the collective breath we Green lighted and slowly began to pull away when a youngish official waved to stop. He had seen the outboard motor in the back of the truck and wanted to chat. This is a problem he explained in Spanish; we needed to pay taxes on the outboard. In crossing many times with outboards in plain view AND having once paid taxes on one that did not accompany a boat I knew that the rule was that a small boat with a motor was exempt but he seemed insistent (We discussed the issue with the young officer but he did not accede to the notion of the dinghy and motor being part of the Temporary Import Permit for Faith, nor did he understand that the two items constituted a unit and were exempt.) so I agreed to make a point of stopping at the Kilometer 21 customs office to see what was correct to do about this problem. At K-21 we got our FM-3’s stamped and made for the Aduana’s, who, in turn, sent us to the Banjercito (bank) window. Our first shot we did not have all the documents in hand so we came back after a visit to the travel trailer with more documents. When the teller looked everything over she decided we were still missing “something” (in Spanish) and sent us with a note back to the Aduana’s window. She said that we did not have the boat trailer title and when I explained that it was small boat and did not have a trailer she said we needed to go back to Nogales, Arizona and have it all inspected by the Conapesca office (the committee for Fishing). She repeated this several times and had no idea where this office might be in Nogales or what the phone number would be. It was a bit before 2:00 in the afternoon so we pointed our rig north again and joined the line at The Line only wait two hours to cross back into the U.S. of A.!!

When we finally got to the border officer he was visibly sorry to tell us that we did need agricultural inspection and we were concerned that the things we had purchased in Tucson would be confiscated. The first (young) officer to approach was clearly of a mind to thoroughly inspect and confiscate food items on the no-no list. An experienced officer joined in to explain that K-21 was the “turn around” and that we had not exceeded the distance required to make necessary a full inspection. The young officer asked if we had any proof that we had only shortly before crossed the line, say, a receipt or some such. Indeed we did!! So we were allowed to proceed. Whew!!

We hauled the trailer all over Nogales asking questions and looking for the supposed Conapesca office. This led to several interesting traffic situations but after an hour and a half we gave up and went looking for an RV park. Ending up in Amado was mildly disappointing until we discovered that RV park was one of the better ones we have stayed in. We determined that we would not take the trailer for the assault on officialdom the next day (Saturday). Entering Nogales, Arizona again we did a perfunctory search for the imaginary office and decided that no such place existed. I took a picture of the motor and dinghy in the back of the truck and we crossed The Line again going south. At the first customs station we Red lighted but the young woman looked at the documents and as soon as I said we were going to the Aduana’s at K-21 she smiled nicely and waved us on. Now at K-21 I went directly to the bank window and passed the documents (which only consisted of the Certificates of Origin for the dinghy and the motor, the TIP for Faith and, just in case, the fishing licenses we picked up in San Diego along with the camera with picture). I handed over the documents and began my explanation. It was clearly grinding to a halt again until I pressed the camera with the picture to the glass of the window and said it was a small boat, “Es en una bolsa, mire” (it’s in a bag, see). The light bulb went on for the teller and scooted off to chat with a supervisor. The supervisor asked that we move to her window (allowing the others in line to get their business done) and we told the story again. She disappeared and I saw her at the Aduana’s (Customs) window talking very animatedly. We waited and when she got back we were told to go to the Customs window. Presenting ourselves there again we turned over our documents and the young lady looked at everything and asked that we drive the boat and motor around through the Declare line at Red light / Green light.

Okay, off we go… pulling into the area an official came over and we pulled into a shaded area at his direction. I went back to the window after awhile because nothing was happening… nobody at the window… hmmm, back to the truck. Another young official came over and I handed the paperwork to her just as the official from the window popped onto the scene. The paperwork was handed over and the gal from the window sought out an elder official. He came over while listening to the explanation and looked into the back of the truck. “Are you going to use the boat and motor for fishing?” He asked. Okay, so we are on track. “Yes, we are using this for fishing some of the time.” I said. “Then quit asking so many questions; you are good to go!” he responded, “Go!” Of course, I am paraphrasing all the conversations in Spanish.

Unfortunately we did not have the trailer with us at the time!! In any case, we had paid at the RV park to stay until Monday morning so we headed north again. It took only THREE hours to get back in Arizona this time. This system is more broken than I can understand. It is not because there are so many people crossing the border at any particular time. I will save this rant for another time. When Monday came we loaded up and pointed south again. Same drill on the U.S. side and then we Green lighted at the first Customs station. We pulled through the RV lane at K-21 the young fellow assigned to us came over, glanced in the bed of the truck, and asked to gain access to the trailer. He looked at the chaos and made a retreat for the door, wishing us a good trip.

Voom, we are through all of the hassle zone and I have learned not to try so hard to do things in some perfect way… and asking too many questions. What I had wanted was a piece of paper saying that it was okay to bring the motor into the country, what I got was a verbal,

“Okay”! Good enough for cruisers.