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Trailering 31 contender from Florida to Cabo San Lucas
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Trailering 31 contender from Florida to Cabo San Lucas
I figured I would post some info about my adventure that may be useful to someone in the future. I am moving my 31 contender to Cabo San Lucas from Florida by towing it there myself. After loosing my mother to cancer in February I figured this would be a good chance to spend more time with my father helping me on the trip.
First - in planning my trip I learned that my 9"6" beam on the boat would require oversize permits for all the states that I would pass through. I found a company (Comdata.com) that handled all of that for me. They charged a fee of $175 for getting me permits in 7 states and faxing them to my house. the permits were between $5 and $20 each state. The State of Mississippi and New Mexico required a $500,000 combined liability certificate of insurance on my truck to be on file with their offices before permits were issued. I needed to get a DOT number and UCR registration to obtain permits in Texas and Arizona and Comdata.com handled the UCR registration for me at a fee of $75 + the UCR charge of $49. The DOT number was obtained by registering on-line and was free. It took hrs after finishing on-line to show up in the DOT system. Some states have roads that they do not allow permitted loads on and Comdata.com and the state agencies helped me with routing info on this issue. Some states would not issue permits to travel on holidays so I needed to change the day I planed to start my trip.
Day 1 - Traveling from Panama City, Fl to Jennings, LA we stopped about every hour to check the trailer and bearing temps with an inferred temp gun. things seemed good until about pm I had the center trailer tire on the drivers side blow out(new tires) . No real problem as I had 2 spares and changed it. We then stopped at the Atchafalaya basin welcome center. A lady working there found a tire center in Breaux Bridge, LA about 10 miles west and called them for me. They had the tire I needed and would pull one out and have it ready to change for me when I arrived there. The staff at L&L Tire center were great and had us on our way in less than 10 minutes with both of our spare tires ready again. That night we stopped in Jennings, La and had a great meal of crawfish and gumbo. The people of Louisiana were great and helpful and I thank them for that.
Day 2 - Jennings to Kerrville, TX - this day was uneventful traveling but I have some tips for anyone passing Through Houston,TX. The exit off I-10 West to I-610 North is not marked well. Knowing that I was close to the exit I still had problems as there were no signs for the major interchange until you are there. Be careful if you have to take this route. Kerrville, TX is a quiet Texas town with a great BBQ place. We ate at Buzzie's Bar-B-Q and the place not only had great food but is a local trophy hunters showroom. There were mounts all over the walls and most were quite impressive.
Just a note: I had my truck and trailer weighed on a certified scale and the boat and trailer(98 31 contender T-250 OX66 Yamaha's and triaxle aluminum trailer) with 60 gal. of Gas and 500 lbs of gear was 9910lbs. The truck and boat package was 17,520 lbs total. Truck list weight is 5860 lbs with people, luggage, cooler and fishing equipment and full tank of gas came to 7610 lbs.
the Truck is a 2005 Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0 Gas motor and a 4.10 Rear end. the trailer has new disc breaks on all 3 axles. So far the truck has been good for the job with great breaking. I am getting 8.5 to 8.7 MPG on the rig at 55 - 65 miles/hr.
Forget about the States... The trip through MX is gonna be the exciting part. I would presume he is going to run through to San Ysidro and cross there dropping towards Ensenada. I suppose one could cross at Mexicali, down to San Felipe and then to the west... But boy, once you get south of Ensenada the vados (potholes) in the road can swallow a medium sized car...
To answer some of the questions, I was routed to I-610 by the state of Texas DOT because of my Permit, I will be crossing the border in Nogales, AZ and then down to Los Mochis and take the ferry to La Paz so I don't need to drive much on Baja Roads. The roads from Nogales to Los Mochis are 4 lane and I am told better than Baja roads. Sorry about the weight problem. 17,520 lbs total and 9,610 on the trailer and boat.
My day today was not bad as the hills of west Texas were a little more than I expected. I was surprised that we still got 8.7 mpg on todays leg. Made it to Van Horn, TX tonight after changing a hub out. I saw metal particles in the grease of that hub so I changed it before I had a problem. the wind was blowing 25-35 today and it moved us around a little but not bad. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little more wind so I don't know how far we will make on the road.
West Texas has plenty of pull off areas (Rest stops, Picnic areas and Parking areas) and the locals are helpful. I found a Napa Auto Parts in Ozona,TX to replace the ones I changed in the hub. As my first time in Texas I am impressed with the people of Texas.
I have done the pre-registration for the truck and Boat importation into Mexico on-line and will give a report how that goes when I cross the border.
I will keep posting as long as I have Internet at my stops.
Down through Nogales and taking the ferry over... Hadn't thought about that. That's a nice run turning south at Tucson and heading all the way down to Hermosillo. Can't comment any farther south... Bummer. Don't take this the wrong way, but I was kind of looking forward to hearing about the trip through Baja...
Being from Texas, you are correct its hard to beat Texas people, especially the people along the route you are going. Lots of stuff to look at, too bad the bucks have dropped their racks or you would see some monsters for sure!. Be aware, I-10 towards El Paso is VERY VERY barren and fuel can be scarce when getting 8.7. Do you have gas cans with you?
The truck holds 34 gal. and I have a pump to get the 60 out of the boat if needed. It has not been a problem so far. We only made 320 miles today and are in Lordsburg, NM tonight. The wind was on our head all day and blowing. My fuel economy went down to 7.35 going into a 30+ headwind. The truck did not want to shift into the last gear because of the wind and I decided to to make it a short day.
No problems on the road but I did have to pay a road tax when I entered New Mexico. It was based on the overall weight of the truck and boat (17,500 lbs) It came to $11.62 more than the oversize load permit. they told me that anything from 12K to 26K was that amount and up from there. quick and easy as you enter the State. We also went through a Customs Check on I-10 west of Las Cruces, NM. Every car and truck had to stop at a customs check point. They asked if we were U.S. Citizens and where we came from and were heading. They did not look under my bead cover or in the boat at all. I did not see the first regular police today but the Customs vehicles were everywhere from east of El Paso, TX through New Mexico.
Sorry about no pictures. I only have SLR equipment and it was to big for my Carry-on bag on my flight to Florida so I don't have any camera for the trip. I will Post photos of the Fishing after we get to Cabo.
Sorry about no pictures. I only have SLR equipment and it was to big for my Carry-on bag on my flight to Florida so I don't have any camera for the trip. I will Post photos of the Fishing after we get to Cabo.
Stop at Walmart and pick up a $20 digital. This thread would be even more interesting with some pics of the area. I for one have never been to that part of the country and would be very interested in seeing it through your eyes. Plus, you never know when that strange animal passes by or some exciting event is going on and you will wish you had a camera to record it.
Great thread!
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"Many times life gives you the test, before you learn the lesson!"
Are you crossing in CA or TX? If TX, be VERY careful!! IF you have a fire arm, be sure and do your paperwork at the border, then keep it handy.
Keep us posted
You will not be able to get any "paperwork" that will make it legal to bring a firearm into Mexico, and don't even think about trying to smuggle one in. If you were to get caught, you would go to jail, period. In any event, you will not need one. Leave that paranoid silliness up there.
I have traveled to Mexico by boat for years and know all about the weapons deal there. I will not have any guns to deal with.
I am at a resort just north of Nogales, AZ tonight. We will be crossing the border tomorrow and then i will not be sure about Internet access for a few days.
This morning we crossed into Arizona and stopped to purchase our oversize load permit at the check station. For some reason Arizona would not issue me a permit in advance. I found out why at the permit office. The lady there was very nice but she was not sure how to issue a permit for an individual owner with his private property. They did not know what to do but worked fast to get us on our way. in the end we ended up paying $15 and signing an affidavit that we were not transporting the boat for any compensation. They could see that the truck, Trailer and boat were all registered in my name. On down the road in Arizona I was pulled over by a police officer and he asked me if i knew why he stopped me. I said no and he told me that it was because my window tint on the drivers and passenger windows was to dark. he tested it with a meter and told me that it let 27% light through and the law was 35% for Arizona. He wrote me a repair ticket and told me I had 5 days to fix it. I told him I was traveling to Mexico and he said not to worry about it then. After over 1500 miles of driving to be pulled over for this was pretty funny to us and we laughed for about the next 10 miles about it.
The real adventure starts tomorrow with our crossing the border and entering Mexico. More to follow
Are you crossing in CA or TX? If TX, be VERY careful!! IF you have a fire arm, be sure and do your paperwork at the border, then keep it handy.
Keep us posted
Dont listen to this, dont keep it handy, In Mexico you cant have a gun for protection purposes while on the go. if you are transporting a gun it has to be out of your reach, unloaded, and ammo placed apart from the gun.
Either way you cannot move a gun freely without a permit and it takes some time.
You will not be able to get any "paperwork" that will make it legal to bring a firearm into Mexico, and don't even think about trying to smuggle one in. If you were to get caught, you would go to jail, period. In any event, you will not need one. Leave that paranoid silliness up there.
Trailering 31 contender from Florida to Cabo San Lucas 
) . No real problem as I had 2 spares and changed it. We then stopped at the Atchafalaya basin welcome center. A lady working there found a tire center in Breaux Bridge, LA about 10 miles west and called them for me. They had the tire I needed and would pull one out and have it ready to change for me when I arrived there. The staff at L&L Tire center were great and had us on our way in less than 10 minutes with both of our spare tires ready again. That night we stopped in Jennings, La and had a great meal of crawfish and gumbo. The people of Louisiana were great and helpful and I thank them for that.
Can you give us the weight info?
