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.

Turtle Bay, Cedros, Bahia Blanca, San Carlos... Ensenada

The Mexican Navy once again, telling us that high winds were due!

One more stunning sunset near Cedros Island.



Leif repairing a stay mid-channel nearing Ensenada.  Guess who cranked him up?



Ah, never been so glad to see a port! 



Panchita, the dock dog in Cruiseport Marina.

 I was so excited to leave Bahia Santa Maria, after spending so long sitting listening to the wind howl and holding on for dear life as the swells rolled through and pulled us on the anchor in the opposite direction.  We headed out early on June 11, after a few others had already pulled up their anchors.  The winds were predicted to be lighter than usual, only 15-25 kts on the nose. So off we went, and as we rounded Cabo San Lazaro the winds built up and lo and behold we saw a sailboat in a place where it shouldn't be... on the rocks!  The boats ahead of us radioed the Mexican Navy and the Coast Guard as to it's whereabouts.  We were too far out to offer assistance, as it was clearly on the reef and heeled over with seas awash it's decks.  It was a 60' ketch with 3 people aboard who were rescued safely earlier that morning.  It makes you stop and think a bit, stay awake on watch, check your GPS, don't take things for granted.   The Mexican Navy stopped by to ask if we knew anything about the crew, which we didn't, so off they went.   
  We motorsailed on through the day and night, heading for Turtle Bay and our next fuel stop.  The sea temp. has been really cold, 51.8 today, and the air likewise.  Arriving at Turtle Bay around 8:00 a.m. we fueled up and left for our next stop, possibly Isla Cedros.  The seas were fairly calm this a.m. and we made good time around the island.  The Mex. Navy once again stopped by to check us out and said high winds were predicted soon.  Not what we had heard, but good to know.  Sure enough, we hit 25 kts on the nose and big seas, the worst conditions yet.  Water coming over the bow, sides and stern, not a lot of fun to be on watch.  I'm also getting really tired, as we haven't been off the boat in a long time.  In a dense fog, we arrived at Bahia Blanca at 4:30 a.m. and finally found the so called anchorage, dropped the hook and dove into bed exhausted.  We spent the day napping and relaxing a bit.  When on watches over the past week or so we take 3 hour watches so around 2.5 hours of sleep at a time... maybe.  If the boat isn't pounding into the swells, and if we aren't healed over really far.  I made banana pancakes for the crew and did minor chores on the boat.
   Next day, up early and off for San Carlos.  It started nicely with 3-5 kt winds and 2-3' swell.  Then, it built up to 20-30 kts and 6'-8' swell which were breaking once again over the boat.  We bashed our way to San Carlos, and just as we were a mile out, our engine quit.  Oh great, we were motorsailing anyway, so we used the mainsail and sailed into the anchorage, dropped anchor and worked on the problem.  We weren't sure if it was running low on fuel or clogged filters, so Leif did the filters first, then tried to bleed the injectors and nothing worked.  Bummer.  Next morning we raised the main, and sailed off our anchor into the blustery morning.  As we left we noticed that the waves were breaking just off our side.  The tide was low and the whole bay was full of great swells for surfing, but not for a sailboat. 
   Now we had to sail the entire way to Ensenada, which means tacking far out and then tacking back into shore due to the winds.  We were looking at days of sailing with no hot water for showers or warmth or extra electricity.  Our solar panels do a great job normally, but it has been overcast and very gloomy.  They aren't charging up as much as normal.  Also we're out in the shipping lanes with no engine, just what I always wanted to do.  It's freezing cold too, sea temp at one point was 48 degrees!  Where are we, Alaska?? 
  Today, Saturday, June 18, we hoped to arrive in Ensenada, yet every time I looked at the GPS, it was going backwards in time due to lack of wind and our tacking out away from land.  Not very inspiring, I'm getting depressed.  I smell awful, am sticky, cold, damp, hungry, tired and amazingly not cranky.  It is what it is as they say.  Thank heavens, we hit some wind and rounded Todo Santos inlet at noon and headed into Cruiseport Marina.  We sailed into our slip using the main and tacking back and forth in a very small area down the causeway.  Leif is the man, he can handle this boat so well, keeps his cool and gives directions calmly and quietly.  I have to hand it to him, he's done a masterful job of getting us here.  I did help of course, by driving, standing my watches every 3 hours, and doing all the cooking and cleaning.  I even figured out how to fix the GPS when it died on us mid channel in the rough seas. 
   So, after a hot shower, change of clothes, and an excellent dinner at Sano's, we're back on the boat for the evening thinking of how to fix the engine.  Leif looked up on the internet about the problem he was having, and voila!! He fixed it.  We're back in business once again.  I have to say that these last 16 days on the boat were the longest of our trip, and I'm very glad to have that piece over with.  What a difference a day makes, each day on this leg has brought a variety of challenges and amazingly we have made it here, safely, although perhaps a little lighter in weight.  Don't care to see pasta or tuna for awhile thank you.

San Jose del Cabo, Mag Bay and Bahia Santa Maria, headed home!

Yes, we did attend a cock fight, gruesome.



The large swell at the entrance to San Jose del Cabo marina.



I'm trying to do my share of the chores...

 Thursday, June 2, we left San Jose del Cabo at 9:00 p.m. with our new buddy boat, R Sea Kat with Mike and Deena aboard.  We met them on the docks on the second day of our stay and have been sharing taxi's, dinners,and information ever since.  The night was calm as we left the marina, however as we rounded Cabo Falso, the wind piped up to 30 knots on the nose for over an hour.  The boat slowed down to accomodate the rough seas and we trudged onward from 2-3 knots.  As the morning rose and through the day, the seas and winds varied, eventually falling to 15 knots and bumpy seas.  We made it to Magdalena Bay around 10:00 a.m., dropped anchor and went to bed for a nap.  The water around us was filled with dead langostino, floating everywhere and creating quite a stink.  This enticed the flies to join the mess so we decided to fuel up from the port captain and move on to Bahia Santa Maria.  We also are out of water as we couldn't make water in the last week or so due to poor water quality in the marina and bouncing seas.  Arriving at Santa Maria mid-day we found it to be extremely windy.  No problem it always dies down at night...not.  It increased throughout the day and into the evening and on for the next week!  We had winds up to and over 40 knots, which I've never seen before.  With the 4' swell coming from the opposite direction of the 25+ winds, it was an uncomfortable few days.  And, to beat that, the beach break was so large we couldn't get ashore.  So, for a week now we have been reading, watching movies, cooking, playing scrabble, and writing emails.  Thank heavens for at least slow internet.
   Today is Thursday, been here since Sunday, am getting a BIT house bound.  But, today the winds have subsided a bit and I got out on deck and did some laundry!  Oh yeah, laundry!  A change in the routine is so nice.  There is a weather window on Friday night, Saturday morning that we hope will take us to Turtle Bay or beyond.  I was hoping to do some shelling but as we can't get ashore, I guess that's out.  So much for seeing the bay.  This week would be a good reason for a bit larger boat, having a freezer, bigger water maker,  more fuel capacity and more food storage would all be nice.  We are the smallest boat here, as now there are 11 boats here in BSM.  It's hard to believe that the wind isn't howling, the rigging isn't banging and the spume from the waves isn't covering the boat and us.  It's truly incredible what a little wind can do, even the pangas haven't been out fishing.  Thank heavens also for good ground tackle, snubbers and chafe gear.  Leif has changed it twice already due to the constant tugging.  But, on the postive side, we have been making water like crazy, hence the laundry day today. 
   Photos coming later due to slow internet.  I'm sitting on deck with the laptop, hoping it sends..