Ensenada to Turtle Bay - Major Milestones

[UPDATED Dec 10 and 11, 2009]

We've just arrived in Turtle Bay / Bahia Tortugas / Port San Bartolome after a 50 hour passage from Ensenada. It was a great passage, unlike the other multi-day trips that we did along the Washington and Oregon coast. By contrast, this passage had moderate winds and sea swell and we were both able to get decent sleep inbetween our watches, and the watches went by fairly quickly. Dolphins visited us regularly, as did a variety of birds, yet we saw very few other boats. Enjoying this passage was a major milestone for us, and gave us the needed confidence boost that we could do other similar passages for even longer periods of time.

Flying downwind with two headsails - wing on wing:

And the other major milestone... (drum roll please)... "WE GOT A FISH" was John's cry from the battlezone (aka the cockpit), less than an hour after we had set the sails and the fishing gear outside of Ensenada Harbour. I had only just fallen asleep, but quickly scrambled up to the cockpit to reel in our prize. We reeled in a fairly small tuna...not yet sure if it is a skipjack, or perhaps even a bonito...we have a fish book, but with few pictures. When we find the internet, we'll have to do some more detailed investigation. [Update: turns out that this beauty is a bonito...not the most prized of all game fish...but who are we to complain? Fish tacos, anyone?]

Almost forgot to write about the third major milestone in this passage. JOHN PLAYED YAHTZEE WITH ME!! Wow. Unfortunately, I felt queazy after only a few rolls (all that concentration and addition, I guess), and we haven't yet finished our game, but I consider this to be HUGE progress.

Ensenada

We didn't linger in Ensenada, but we did spend one more morning seeking out the grocery store. Along the way we found the fish market...where we bought a gorgeous hunk of smoked marlin for about $3. Hmmm. Mark and Vicki tell us that we should have tried out the fish tacos - the best they have found to date. And they should know...they are on a serious mission to find the best fish tacos in all the land! They also had this display of prawns unlike any that I'd ever seen.

A cruise ship had arrived in town today, so we saw a very different town than yesterday. On every corner, we were offered a cornucopia of assorted wares and services.

Ola Mexico!

After a few errands with the rental car, and a nice lunch with Denis and Holly (Tango), we left San Diego late on Monday afternoon, and after a short trip, we arrived in Ensenada Mexico at 4:00 on Tuesday morning. It was a lovely overnight passage with a full moon and calm seas. We both managed to sleep for a few hours. We had originally planned on a slow sail and tacking in front of the harbour until sunrise, but we arrived early and when we saw how well lit the harbour entrance was, we decided to enter. We didn't have any problems and were able to tie up at Cruiseport Marina without incident. In fact, a staff person was on hand to welcome us and check us in!

After a couple hours of rest, we began the process of getting assigned a slip in the marina for the night, and then checking in with all the various authorities - Immagracion (3x); Bancocito (4x); Customs; Pesces (fisheries -2x); Port Capitan...etc. We started at 8am, and we finished in time for lunch at 12:30. Whew. Luckily...the kind folks at the marina prepared our paperwork for us (at no additional fee, although the moorage wasn't inexpensive), and were super helpful in making the process go smoothly. We did all of this in the company of Mark and Vicki on s/v Southern Cross, so the line ups weren't a problem, as we had people to chat with, and a spanish speaker to ask for directions!

We also spent some time at the TellCell store, in hopes of setting ourselves up with a new cell phone. It didn't work out to be as easy as we hoped, so we aren't going to have a new cell until La Paz.

Lions and Tigers and Beasts...oh my!

Denis and Holly on s/v Tango invited us to join with them and Judy and Jordan (Sea Turtle), for a trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We hadn't planned on doing any sightseeing in San Diego, so we decided it would be fun to go along. It was Sunday of the Thansgiving weekend, so we thought it may be busy, but the overcast skies worked in our favour and the crowds didn't appear. We saw all sorts of creatures and critters, including lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, antelope, wildebeest, springboks, and tons of birds - pelicans, flamingos, condors, ducks and more. Overall, it was a fun day! And a great opportunity to get to know the camera a little better. As usual, more pics will be posted on flickr, when a lightning fast internet connection makes itself available.

Leaving America

We're about to release the dock lines, and head off in the afternoon breeze towards Mexico. It is a short trip and we should be in Ensenada by tomorrow morning.

I'll try to sort out our photos from yesterday's adventure, stay tuned! Hopefully, we'll find an internet connection!!

San Diego Wild Animal Park

We spent the day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park with Tango and Sea Turtle. What a day...we took a TON of pictures. When I sort them out I'll add a few here.