# sailing from corpus to yucatan



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I'm planing a trip in my 40 ft sailboat hugging the coast all the way from corpus to progreso, atlantic side. Can anyone recomend some ports of call en route?


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Once you get past Brownsville, TX, IIRC, there ain't a whole lot of ports to choose from—like NONE. IMHO, you'd probably be better off going down into the caribbean and then cutting across to the Yucatan.


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## johnshasteen (Aug 9, 2002)

Having made the Galveston and Corpus to Isla Mujeres trip several times, here are my thoughts. If you hug the coastline, you'll have the wind on your nose all the way to Vera Cruz. Cut across the Gulf and you'll not only have somewhat better sailing winds, you'll cut about 400 miles off your trip.
Since you'll be puting into some Mexican ports, be sure your passport is up to date and that your boat is CG documented (state registration is worthless in Mexico.), no firearms and if you if you don't speak at least Spanglish, take a good Engslih/Spanish conversational dictionary with you.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

hi, 
yeh , i wanted to take a look down into tampico etc , may have to cross gulf. Am british , what does cg stand for?

thanks for help


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## jwreck (Jan 25, 2010)

johnshasteen said:


> Having made the Galveston and Corpus to Isla Mujeres trip several times, here are my thoughts. If you hug the coastline, you'll have the wind on your nose all the way to Vera Cruz. Cut across the Gulf and you'll not only have somewhat better sailing winds, you'll cut about 400 miles off your trip.
> Since you'll be puting into some Mexican ports, be sure your passport is up to date and that your boat is CG documented (state registration is worthless in Mexico.), no firearms and if you if you don't speak at least Spanglish, take a good Engslih/Spanish conversational dictionary with you.


Not to hijack the thread, but how long did the Galveston to Isla Mujeres trip take?


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

More importantly - who'd ever want to leave "Chick Island"?


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## jwreck (Jan 25, 2010)

smackdaddy said:


> More importantly - who'd ever want to leave "Chick Island"?


I know right!


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## johnshasteen (Aug 9, 2002)

jwreck said:


> Not to hijack the thread, but how long did the Galveston to Isla Mujeres trip take?


From the Galveston jetties, it's about 850 miles and it us just over eight days the last time


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## johnshasteen (Aug 9, 2002)

747scjb said:


> hi,
> yeh , i wanted to take a look down into tampico etc , may have to cross gulf. Am british , what does cg stand for?
> 
> thanks for help


CG is Coast Guard


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## ColoGuy (Jan 7, 2010)

smackdaddy said:


> More importantly - who'd ever want to leave "Chick Island"?


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## jwreck (Jan 25, 2010)

johnshasteen said:


> From the Galveston jetties, it's about 850 miles and it us just over eight days the last time


Thanks for the info.


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## flatracker (Aug 16, 2009)

*Corpus to Yucatan*

There are a couple of nice stopping places if you do the coast route. And at least one I would stay far away from. The good. At a little town calles La Pesca, a little over 100 miles S. of Brownsville, you can go up in the river. Is a very tiny little hole, port side, just inside the jetties, 100 yards or so past the lighthouse. Barely large enough for one boat. Plenty of water in it though. I have anchored in there, just took a couple of anchors to the shore line. Last time I was there, diesel was available, about a mile up river, but wouldn't stake my life on getting fuel there. Also a small store in town, and a bus from the light house to town is regular and cheap. Vera Cruz is one of my favorite places in Mexico. Really nice place to visit. Have plenty of fenders, as mostly concrete bulkheads to tie up to. There is a race from Galveston to VeraCruz, every other year. I wouldn't go into Tampico unless my life depended on it, and then would have to think about it. From my experience it is the dirtiest, most corrupt place on earth. Villa Hermosa is a pretty nice place, although I have never been there by boat. You need to be pretty careful in the Bay of Campeche, as there are lots of oil rigs, and a whole lot of shrimp boats working there. I have done this trip both ways, and if just wanting to take my time and explore, would go along the coast. Otherwise go straight across the gulf. There are quite a few rivers and places to anchor and explore along the coast. Be damn sure your papers are all in order, and you have all the necessary charts. If you have so much as a fish hook on board, have a Mexican fishing license. If you want to make friends and gain lots of local knowledge, take a bunch of fish hooks and line to give to the kids, and some Marlboro cigs. to give to the adults. And make an attempt to speak the language, especially gracias and por favor. 
You will find that once you get south of the border and away from the tourist areas, the real Mexico is a very, very enjoyable experience, as long as you do not act like the ugly American.


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