Woohoo! We’ve made it to Mexico! What a relief to finally be in a country with decent internet access, after all we suffered through down the coast of California! I tell ya, I don’t know how people can live in those conditions.
We had a fantastic sail from San Diego to Ensenada, although poor Eric was a bit seasick. The upside was that he could barely choke down one peanut butter sandwich, so he didn’t get hungry until after we’d docked. And Todd got the Cape Horn wind vane working, so it steered us for a good part of the trip.
Capn Gringo was a bit nervous about being in a new country where he doesn’t speak the language, but as soon as he found out he could get a meal of fish, shrimp, and steak tacos, plus a beer, for $5, I was worried he would never want to leave! Luckily, there is a strong surge in the marina where we’re docked (Baja Naval). This means the boat rocks a lot, and rubs against the fenders. But just to be sure he’d be willing to head south, I’ve been adding a few extra scuffs to the side of the boat.
I guess a cruise to Mexico wouldn’t be complete without a paperwork nightmare story: Yesterday we spent a couple of hours getting our tourist visas and clearing into and out of the port. The immigration official sent me back to the marina twice, insisting that the paperwork I had was insufficient. Luckily, we had already taken care of our boat importation permit prior to leaving the US, so customs was a snap. I was a bit nervous when I had to press the button that randomly determines if you get searched or not; I even considered having Koiya press it, since she tends to have good luck. But thankfully, we got the green ‘PASE’ light, and we were done! Since we’d spent so much time there, we took our picture in front of the immigration building.
We had a much better time that afternoon, when we toured the Bodegas de Santo Tomas winery. As there was no cruise ship in town, we were the only ones there, and got a private tour and tasting. Did you know that wine has been produced in Mexico since the 1600s, and that Baja California Norte has two valleys where the majority of the grapes are grown? We were very impressed with the wines, and bought a chardonnay and a tempranillo.
This morning we’re preparing to head south. Depending on the wind and how we’re doing, we’ll either go to San Quintin (about 120 nautical miles) or Turtle Bay (about 295 nautical miles). We’ve tanked up on diesel, taking advantage of the great price ($2.50/gal, as opposed to over $4/gal in San Diego) and fantastic service. Arturo brought the fuel right to our boat, with this great setup that filters and pumps it.
See all of our Ensenada photos here, including a special video of the Cape Horn for Rick and Marcus:
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I am very happy to hear you are using Eves to steer you.
At least that is what we called our Cap Horn self steering system. We would always ask how Eves was doing. Have you inspected Eves lately? I think you need to tweek Eves a little.
He seemed to steer better once we personalized him in this way.
Have you seen the video of Eves Galinas’,who created the Cap Horn steering, round the world trip who created the Cap Horn steering?
It is funny and sad and interesting, and there is some dudity for Susan.
If you are still there, the best churo I ever had was at the marina in Ensenada. Someone rolled up a cart and fried the dough and squirted in the churo custard (or whatever it is). Anyway, its better than anything you get in a warming bin at 7-11.
great web reading and pix! We too liked the m.wine a. were rather surprised by the quality of it.
Keep going and enjoy – we are just a bit envious that we’re not there anymore – for now. our diesel heater is going …. after 2 yrs of no use …..
Excellent post. We’re leaving on a 45′ ketch in a few weeks. We’re going to cruise the caribbean and south america for a while. Are you going thru the panama canal?