Ensenada to San Diego, USA

Arriving to our welcoming committee at the Customs dock.

First touching of the USA, happy to be ashore.

The trip to San Diego was so uneventful it's not worth discussing... almost.  We left Ensenada at 12:30a.m. for a midnight sail/motor to the USA in calm seas with no winds.  Leif took the night shift, and I took the morning shift.  As we neared the border there was a military ship hanging out near the entrance to San Diego Harbor.  We had heard warnings of a submarine that was leaving the harbor that morning, so we figured it had something to do with that.  Sure enough, as we got closer, a huge black submarine came storming out, with a huge bow wave.  As it exited, it began to submerge a bit, so just the towers were above the water, and a large white water wave surrounded them.  We slowed down to let it pass in front of us and took lots of pictures.  Pretty amazing scene to welcome us.
  As we neared the police dock, there were yells of "Honcho"  lofting over the sounds of the hull passing through the water.  There to greet us were our good friends Tom and MaryEllen from Equinox, who live in San Diego.  What a wonderful way to arrive, they took our dock lines and we had hugs all around.  They came equipped with Trader Joes supplies of wine and cheese crackers for us, and a bottle of champagne and Subway sandwiches!  What a treat.  We sat and recounted our trip since we'd seen them, after getting checked into the Southwestern Yacht Club for 3 days of free dock space.  That night we had dinner at the club and slept on the boat.  Great showers and a really nice new clubhouse.  They invited us to spend a night at their home the following night, which we accepted gladly.  On our end tie was another friend's boat, El Tiburon with Sarah, Darrell and Sparky.  We had hoped to catch up with them, and, there they were! 


Tom and MaryEllen,  at SWYC!



Happy campers on the USS Midway

 

Walking the flight deck.



Submarine leaving San Diego.

   Wednesday night we got the grand tour of T&ME's home, a lovely dinner of Tamale pie, lots of wine, and the most comfortable bed in months.  It was great to be in a real home with all the amenities.  The next day we all went to tour the Midway aircraft carrier and had lunch at a great seafood restaurant next to it.  Saying good bye was difficult, but we have to move on, and they have their lives to get back in order after being our hosts for three days.  We leave Friday morning early, 4 or 5 for Dana Point Yacht Club, our next overnight stop.