Navy Day’s Exhibit

Mexico's President to Inaugurate*

By Eduardo Rincón-Gallardo

I have always celebrated Mexico's pacifist vocation, "What better way to show it than having a soccer field as the main attribute and most prominent item in our Navy Base?

I always tell our visitors that if any country wants to go to war against Mexico, we will always be willing to cordially challenge them to a soccer game.

Well, this time we will be showing a little more of our resources, though most of the equipment coming to Vallarta is not armed but prepared mainly to deal with ecologic issues.
You may have seen the helicopters on our Navy Base's soccer field and on our docks' gardens, an M17 and a Volco Super Fire as well as two APC70 amphibian vehicles and two "Urals" personnel transport units. Other vessels will be added to these, among them a Piranha vessel, a swamp hidrofoil, a vessel for the control of oil spills and two rescue units called Nor Safe, though the name does not necessarily build on someone's confidence.

It will be an interesting week as Vallarta will host the national governors' conference (Conago), today and tomorrow, with the President as host and presiding also over the Navy Day festivities on June 1st (that day the exhibit will not be open to the public but most vessels, amphibian vehicles and helicopters will participate in a parade Vallarta has not seen before).

*Rescue unit to be inaugurated*

Another surprise is that part of the resources coming to the exhibit will stay in the bay area; these are fast vessels for search and rescue operations, they can make 180 degree turns without tipping over and can reach speeds of 33 knots an hour with a ratio of 150 miles, so they can cover 75 miles each way covering the whole of the bay area; another plus as locals, visitors and authorities from both Jalisco and Nayarit will benefit from these additions to the bay's resources.<p<
Entrance is free for all through gate 15 (the one located right by the traffic lights in front of Sam's Club), the exhibit will open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., May 25 to June 4th, see you there.