Trying passage

Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico

For some inexplicable reason, even though we were not feeling particularly rested, and I could still feel some effects of the cold I had contracted, we decided that it was an ideal time to tackle the passage across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan.

We left Puerto Los Cabos around 11:30 AM on Wednesday, motoring out through the breakwaters and into very light winds coming from the SE.  We attempted to sail for a couple of hours but eventually resorted to using the engine in hopes that the winds would pick up later.  Sure enough, they did!

We sailed with a double-reefed mainsail and various pieces of the Genoa rolled out, for 37 straight hours, on a single port tack (north wind coming out of the Sea of Cortez).  We started out for about 10 hours close hauled, then were on a beam reach and/or broad reach for the rest of the 2 nights and 1 day.  The seas were quite rough for the first night and Susanne was quite indisposed - even I was sick once - the first time ever since we have been sailing this boat.  For some reason sleep seemed to be really hard to come by and we were totally exhausted by the time we sighted Mazatlan on Friday morning.  Fortunately for us, the winds that had been blowing steadily between 13 and 18 knots for close to 2 days, suddenly died completely, and we had to motor for the last few hours into Estero del Sabalo and into a slip at the Marina Mazatlan, where we basically slept for the next 18 hours.

The weather on the passage was mostly overcast, although still quite warm and absolutely no threat of rain.  Today, in the harbour here, the sun shone for about half the day, but it remains mostly overcast and a bit gloomy looking.  Walking back and forth along the marina walkway, our opportunities for exploration seem quite limited - the marina seems to be in the middle of nowhere.  Maybe when we are a little better rested, we will venture further afield.  For now, it is just nice to sit back and relax for a while.

{GMST}23|16.25|N|106|27.2833|W|Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico|Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico{GEND}

Sculptured visit

Puerto Los Cabos, BCS, Mexico

We had a nice, uneventful cruise along the southern edge of the Baja peninsula - the Mexican military types hanging around in Cabo San Lucas bay did not seem too concerned about us.  After a quick stop at the fuel dock in Cabo San Lucas, we motored out into very light winds for about 2 hours before doing some very slow-motion sailing for another 2 hours.  The winds, what there were of them, were strangely enough coming from the SE, almost exactly opposite of what I though was predicted or normal for this time of year.  So we were mostly broad-reaching at about 2.5 to 3 knots in less than 6 knots of wind.  Fortunately we only had to cover a distance of about 18 miles.  As we got within a couple of miles of our destination, the winds shifted until we were close-hauled for the last 1/2 hour - we were having difficulty exceeding 2 knots in those conditions.  Finally, we doused the sails and motored into the Puerto Los Cabos Resort and Marina at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

This is a new development and is not really all here yet.  The advertised resort, complete with pools, gardens, restaurants and other facilities does not actually exist.  A lot of the marina is here though, and they appear to be taking a page out of the Cabo San Lucas marina management book when it comes to prices.  We had to pay $2.00 per foot for a 50-foot slip, plus taxes - a little bit cheaper than Cabo, but not a lot.

The landscaping is really quite bizarre.  All around the man-made marina basin there runs a path with lots of beautiful flowers and cactus and other plants, with regularly spaced statuary and very professional posters of works of art, or photographs of artists, complete with biographical explanations.  On a hill overlooking the entire project is a huge sculpture of a cross.  This place will be really spectacular someday, if they ever finish it.

We took a walk today into the nearby town of San Jose del Cabo, only about 1-1/4 miles along a fairly new road.  The town was great.  Very pretty place offering both tourist-oriented venues such as the "art" district, and a lot of more genuine small-town Mexico too.  We managed to find the public market and buy up some produce to get us through the next couple of days.

Now back on the boat, we are gearing up to leave for a lengthy passage to Mazatlan, across the entrance of the Sea of Cortez, and on to the mainland coast - almost due east of our current position.  Since it is a distance of about 180 miles, it is too far for us to do on a single overnight passage, and a bit short for a 2-night passage, so we have decided we will leave around noon and plan on averaging no more than about 4 knots.  This should allow us to stretch to trip over 2 nights and hopefully allow us to sail a large portion of it, instead of having to motor all the way to meet a deadline as so often seems to happen to us.  Our plan is to arrive in Mazatlan sometime on Friday morning.

 

{GMST}23|3.75|N|109|40.567|W|Puerto Los Cabos, BCS, Mexico|Puerto Los Cabos, BCS, Mexico{GEND}

 

Sunday Best

Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

Sundays in Cabo San Lucas are a lot quieter.  They block off the main drag of Marina Blvd. and allow the local kids to ride bikes, skateboards, roller blades or whatever, for the entire morning.  It is almost charming.  Even El Squid Roe looks chastened in the morning light.

Tomorrow we are off for a short hop east along the coast to the Marina at Puerto Los Cabos, where hopefully I can continue to convalesce in a less hectic environment.

Now doesn't that look relaxing?

{GMST}22|53.1|N|109|54.617|W|Cabo San Lucas|Cabo San Lucas{GEND}
 

The Dark Side of Paradise

Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

Cabo is too expensive!  Cabo is too touristy!  Cabo is too commercial!  And we are still here!

While we have enjoyed most of our time here, Cabo does wear thin pretty fast, especially when living on a boat in the marina  It is very noisy. We are quite close to the infamous El Squid Row nightclub, "the kind of place where waiters brandishing spray tanks of tequila move through crowds of people dancing on tables".  They get going around 8 or 9 in the evening and don't stop until everyone is comatose - this seems to take an especially long time on Saturday nights.  They have competition of course, from places like Cabo Wabo Cantina (Sammy Hagar's place) - our guide books says it is much like a college frat party, except everyone's older, and drunker.

The fumes of 2-stroke engine exhausts from the glass-bottom boats and water taxis can be overwhelming at times, particularly in the mornings when they are shuttling all the sea-doos from the nearby boat launch, out to the outer harbour to tempt all the beach-going tourists.  This is also augmented by diesel fumes, as the local boat boys seem to make a point of running up and idling the engines on the boats in their care on a regular basis, and there is a steady stream of party-cats and pirate ships, etc., coming and going with their loads of inebriated clientele, adding to the noxious mix.

So, why are we still here you might ask.  Well, that is a result of one of the other big problems with busy tourist traps - Richard seeking germs.  As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, I caught a nasty head-cold a few days ago and have been feeling pretty miserable.  I certainly had no desire to start sailing anywhere when I felt as if I had a balloon inflated in my sinuses.  So we elected to spend a couple more days here to give the bug a chance to run its course.  Today, I am feeling somewhat better and we should be on our way by Monday.  Fortunately Susanne is made of sterner stuff and has not had any problem, except possibly of having to listen to my complaints.

One of the reasons not to leave your boat unattended for too long.

A sure sign that I am getting better - chips & salsa and draft beer is actually appealing again.

{GMST}22|53.1|N|109|54.617|W|Cabo San Lucas|Cabo San Lucas{GEND}
 

Gates and Guards

Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

Staying in the marina in Cabo is a lot like living in a gated community.  We have electronic keys to let us in or out of our dock, 24 hour marina guards walking the beat, along with some military types and tourist police, all eager to pounce on any seedy looking stranger that does not seem to belong.  Somehow, so far they have let us get by - people don't get much seedier than long-term cruisers.  Notice our pet pelican that has taken up guard duty on the end of our dock.

For the exorbitant price (around $130 per night), we get all of this security, use of some very clean, modern washrooms and showers, access to laundry facilities, Internet and the use of a small boat-owner's only pool.  Since it appears that business is quite slow right now (the busy season for the marina is in October / November), we have these facilities almost completely to ourselves.  We have made friends with the boat-boys who look after the yachts on our dock - generally a happy bunch - always eager to practice their English on us.  Our Spanish, on the other hand, is getting nowhere.  Being in a tourist trap means that everyone speaks English to us.  Somehow they seem to sense that we are not locals.

Here are the views from our boat as we wile away the afternoon in the cockpit.

I should take a moment to address you die-hard sailors out there.  We are aware that most of the sailors we know and that we have met on our cruise down the coast would shudder at the thought of spending time in the marina here.  Cabo is too expensive.  Cabo is too touristy.  Cabo is too commercial, etc. etc. etc.  But for us, we are really enjoying our time here.  We have found some relatively inexpensive restaurants just a couple of blocks away from the marina (prices comparable to Canada), and the food is great.  Even the trendy dock-side joints have special deals on - it is almost always happy hour or 2 for 1 drinks, 3 tacos for about $5, etc., and they are great places to sit and watch the touristas parading up and down the malacon.

And we have used our time here to get some things accomplished, most notably I have managed to work on a sticky-throttle issue we have been having on the last few passages, I have mounted our new boarding ladder (ready for anticipated swimming opportunities that will soon abound), we have caught up on our laundry and may even get around to more mundane things like hair cuts tomorrow.  We do try and restrict ourselves to one job a day - no need to overdue it.

Cabo is quite a large town with lots of interesting streets to wander up and down, chatting to the shop-owners and street hustlers.  Anybody interested in some Cuban cigars?  How about some silver jewelry or shiny whistles?  We may actually go a far as buying a tee-shirt before we leave.

Yes, we enjoy anchoring out in the peace and quiet of some remote bay for days on end as well, and no doubt we will do lots of that, but we feel that this is a part of Mexico too, and it is all good!

{GMST}22|53.1|N|109|54.617|W|Cabo San Lucas|Cabo San Lucas{GEND}
 

The End of the Earth

Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

We left Magdalena Bay at first light on Friday morning, around 6:45 AM, leaving the quiet anchorage, anticipating a fast passage to Cabo San Lucas.  Our plan was to make the 170 mile passage with only 1 night at sea, even if we had to motor all the way - I guess we were just anxious to see the end to this seemingly endless coast, something that we had almost begun to think would never happen.  On the way out of Mag Bay, we again passed the pelican lunch stop - still not sure what they are waiting for, but it must be pretty great.

This passage turned out to have what have to be the calmest seas we have seen on the entire trip.  We rarely saw a wind of over 5 knots, only 2 or 3 for much of the time, so we would have been motoring even if we were not trying to keep our speed up.  In case you are wondering, keeping our speed up means trying to average only about 5.5 knots, which is still within what we consider economy cruising (ie: low fuel consumption).  Because the conditions were so very mild, Susanne did not even have a hint of sea-sickness - I think that is a first for an overnight passage for her.  Also, the warmer weather was probably a factor.  The water temperature has risen from the 16 degrees that it had been all the way from Nanaimo to Turtle Bay, to 21 degrees by the time we got to Cabo - this makes a huge difference to the air temperature on the ocean, especially at night.  Just to give some idea of the difference, see the contrast between these two pictures, the first taken on the passage from Turtle Bay to Mag Bay and the second on the passage from Mag Bay to Cabo.  Also note just how tough it is to handle a boat with a reliable auto-pilot.

Approaching Land's End.  Cabo San Lucas harbour is just on the other side of those rocks.

Note: The wind did get up to about 9 knots for a short while early on Saturday morning and I did try to do some sailing, but since it was coming from directly behind us, the best I could get out of the boat was about 3 knots - we need much more wind when sailing downwind than we do when sailing in any other direction.  So, after a pitiful 1/2 hour attempt, we went back to motorsailing (we always have the mainsail up, double-reefed, to improve the side-to-side motion of the boat, and it usually does add a small boost to our speed, saving a little fuel).

On arrival at Cabo San Lucas, right on schedule around noon on Saturday, the winds immediately started blowing at 15 knots and we had lots of fun getting the mainsail down in the midst of all the local boat traffic in the outer harbour.  We were very glad that we had decided not to anchor out, and had called ahead (about two hours before we arrived) to the marina to secure a slip.  Threading our way into the rather tight inner harbour, with lots of mega-yachts, fishing charters, booze-cruise catamarans, glass-bottom boats, whale watching boats, sea-doos, etc. going every which direction, was a bit overwhelming for us, after the last few quiet ports and anchorages.  Somehow we made it into our assigned slip at the Marina Cabo San Lucas with no major mishaps.  We are tied up amongst the endless number of power boats - not many sailboats seem to bother to come into the marina for some reason, most likely because of the ridiculously expensive rates, but we wanted to be where the action is.  Any of you that know us, know what party animals we are.

We managed to negotiate a slightly better rate for staying a full week (pay for 5 days, get 2 for free), so that is what we are doing.  Hopefully, we can get a few of the remaining boat projects done while we are here - much easier to do when tied up to a dock, especially for my main project of trying to mount our new boarding ladder that we bought back in San Diego.

As for the weather, we have finally found some warmth.  Daytime temperatures seem to be running in mid to high 20s, falling to about 17 or 18 at night.  Bright sun and cloudless skies. Very comfortable for us, although the locals find it very cold (it is winter here you know).

Statistics: Total mileage since leaving Nanaimo is 2143 nm.  Total engine hours are 328 (not so good for what is supposed to be a sail boat, huh?).  I will say that the engine has behaved admirably, the only maintenance I have had to do is to replace 3 fuel filters (all before we got 1/3 of the way) and a scheduled oil change that I did in San Diego.

{GMST}22|53.1|N|109|54.617|W|Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico|Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico{GEND}
 

Mixed bag

Bahia Magdalena, BC, Mexico

Our trip from Turtle Bay to Mag Bay was a mixture of most every combination of sailing conditions that you could imagine.

The exit from Turtle Bay, around 8 AM on Monday was in very calm conditions, easy going except for having to dodge the many lobster traps that were set around the entrance to the bay; this is where our new autopilot remote control comes in handy (see the accompanying picture of a boy and his toy).

Once we were out of the bay and heading southward, we encountered a moderate NW swell, at a very bad angle to our optimum heading, causing the boat to rock and roll until Sue had totally succumbed to sea-sickness again - she has been much better for the last few passages, only sick occasionally, but we made up for it on this trip.  Still, she was able to do all of her watches, which is a great help to me.  By the 2nd day, she was somewhat better and even able to spend some time reading in the cockpit - always a good sign.

After the first few hours of motoring in non-existent winds, a NW breeze came up and we were able to sail downwind on a single tack, broad reached, gaining sea room for about 6 hours before I had to gybe back towards the shore.  After a couple of hours, the winds died again and we motor-sailed on into the night.  This on again, off again wind kept up throughout the rest of the passage, and since I wanted to maintain at least a 5 knot average speed in order to arrive in Mag Bay around noon, we ended up motoring for more than 30 of the overall 52 hour journey - good thing we have lots of fuel.  We passed or were passed by no less than 3 cruise ships during these two days.  Otherwise all we saw of traffic was a couple of far-off fishing boats and one mega-yacht, complete with helicopter, steaming its way to Cabo San Lucas.

For most of the trip, the seas remained choppy and the ride was rough.  At one point on the 2nd night, we had a brisk NE wind (about 15 knots) allowing us a beam reach with our double-reefed mainsail and full Genoa at speeds in excess of 7 knots.  Sue requested that I slow it down for her watch though, which I did by reefing in the Genoa somewhat and depowering till we were cruising along easily at 5.5 knots for several hours.

As we neared Mag Bay, the seas were much calmer although we actually encountered a headwind for a while and, almost predictably, had to plunge into a dense fog bank at the entrance to the bay.  Again, lots of lobster traps planted around the entrance - difficult to see in the fog.  Somehow, we managed to avoid them all and made our way northward in the huge bay about 5 miles, to anchor in Man of War Cove, just off the village of Puerto Magdalena. On the way to the anchorage, we passed a queer looking installation of some sort of aquaculture.  From the number of birds roosting on the structure we can only surmise that there is some sort of free lunch to be had there.

We were anchored around noon on Wednesday in a dead, hot, calm.  About an hour later, the wind came up and blew like stink for the rest of the day, prompting me to put out a lot of chain (175 feet in 30 feet of water) just in case it got worse.  Of course, as soon as I got the chain sorted out, the wind died completely and it has remained calm ever since.  This morning was picture perfect - dead calm, bright sunshine and very warm.  Sue baked some fresh biscuits and we had coffee and biscuits in the cockpit, watching and listening to the morning activities in the nearby village.  It almost feels as if we have finally arrived in the Mexico we have been seeking all this time.  Total distance for the passage was about 255 miles.

Tomorrow, we will be off for another overnight passage to Cabo San Lucas, about 155 miles further south, where I am sure we will find another completely different Mexico.  Note: we are now far enough east that we are officially in the Mountain Standard time zone again, just like back in Edmonton.  From the emails we have received from friends and family there, their weather is not so good, so I guess we have nothing to complain about.  Basically, life is good.

Addendum:  I had some great pictures to add to this entry but after about 3 hours getting only 1 result, I gave up - this connection is just too slow.  On the plus side, while I was waiting for them to upload, some nice folks on another boat at anchor here came by and gave us a ride to shore where we visited the local mini-market and picked up some tortillas, so it will be quesadillas for supper tonight.

{GMST}24|38.33|N|112|7.66|W|Puerto Magdalena, BC, Mexico|Puerto Magdalena, BC. Mexico{GEND}

Tossing about

Bahia de Tortugas, BC, Mexico

Not much to report.  We were apparently more tired that we though after our passage and spent a lot of the time sleeping, dozing, cat-napping, etc. while confined to the boat because of some rather windy weather outside.  Winds during the day got up to 15 to 20 knots in the bay, occasionally kicking up white-caps, combined with a bit of surge that kept the boat rocking gently back and forth most of the time.  In some ways, the motion was worse than when we were out sailing, but we were quite snug inside.  Sue made one of her famous pizzas last night - yum!

We are sharing the anchorage with a few boats that look like they have been here a while, and one other obvious transient who was here when we arrived.  Two more sailboats showed up this morning, so we know we are not the only ones making this journey at this time.  This is a big bay and can handle a lot of boats but we still wonder what it must look like when the Baha-Ha-Ha fleet goes through here at the start of December, with 156 boats this year.

Most of the time the skies have been clear except for some overcast this morning, letting our solar panels do their thing.  They are not quite up to the task on these short days though - we are losing about 5% of our battery capacity each day, which means we would have to run the engine every 10 days to make up the difference if we were sit here at anchor for that long.  Still, not too bad for running a fridge, freezer, numerous lights in the evening, listening in on the SSB nets for a couple of hours each day, running this computer and watching a movie on DVD each night.  Temperatures during the day are in the mid 20s, lows at night probably around 17.  Not bad but still not tropical.  Actually feels a little cool with the wind blowing.

We topped up our fuel this afternoon using the excellent service of the "Servicio" Anabell Fuel Barge.  Call them up on the VHF and they come to the boat with a metered fuel barge and very friendly service.  The price is about 2/3 of what it was in San Diego, where they really rip you off.  Too bad we didn't need all that much here - we bought just 80 liters for 794 pesos (about 83 cents Cdn per liter).

We will be off tomorrow morning, bound for Bahia Magdelana, about 250 miles further south.  The swell on the ocean has reportedly been a little higher the last couple of days so we have been waiting for it to subside a bit before we venture out again.

{GMST}27|41.3|N|114|53|W|Turtle Bay, BC, Mexico|Turtle Bay, BC. Mexico{GEND}

Turtle Bay

Bahia de Tortugas, BC, Mexico

We did have some winds last night and this morning after all.  At times we were zooming along at 5.5 to 6 knots in a 14 knot following breeze, using our favorite sail combination of a double-reefed mainsail and a full Genoa.  Since the winds were generally from the NE and we were heading SE, we were able to sail on just one tack for most of time - just had to hang on and enjoy the ride.  For about 50% of the time, we had to use the engine when the winds dropped below 3 knots.

We arrived in Turtle Bay around 9:00 AM.  Here is our first view of the entrance at sunrise - there was a pod of about 20 dolphins accompanying us as I took this picture, although they would not cooperate for the camera.

We had the sails down and the anchor deployed by 9:45, just off the little fishing village located here in the bay.  We have already been approached by two of the local boats (pangas) offering fuel, but we have put off that decision until tomorrow when we will be a bit better rested and have some idea of just how much we actually need.  Probably don't really need any - I am sure we could motor all the way to Cabo San Lucas from here on what we have left, if we had to.  Total distance travelled from Ensenada is 295 miles.

Note: As soon as we got the anchor secured, the wind started blowing and has not let up all day - where is it when you want it?  We are pretty well protected here, even though the surrounding land is quite flat, because we have lots of scope out (about 175 feet of chain in 30 feet of water), plenty of swinging room and about 2 miles of shallow bay in which to drag if worst came to worst.  We will sleep well tonight.  BTW, as I am writing this, the wind has totally stopped, just like someone turned off the tap - that is sort of what it has been like sailing down this coast so far, one minute you are flying along under sail and the next, you are motoring in a dead calm.

No Wifi service available here, but our new Telcel 3G stick is working great- thus the text you are reading right now.

 

{GMST}27|41.3|N|114|53|W|Turtle Bay, BC, Mexico|Turtle Bay, BC. Mexico{GEND

Day 3 - To Turtle Bay

At Sea, Baja California

It is now around 4 PM on the third day of this passage.

The last 24 hours has been a combination of sailing, sometimes boisterous, sometimes drifting along, and about 50% of the time motor-sailing. The winds for the most part have been very light except for a couple of hours in the middle of the night when they crept up to 15 knots. Of course, I stupidly left the entire mainsail up until is was a challenge to reef in the higher winds and bigger seas - but we managed to wrestle it down ok, continuing for a few hours with the Genoa alone. All of the winds have been from directly behind or from slightly off the starboard quarter.

After a non-event sunset the night before, last night we were treated to a spectacular sunset - red sky at night, sailors delight? Temperatures remain around 15 during the night, rising to as high as 23 during mid-day today. The water temperature, which we have been monitoring the entire way down the coast, has not changed by more than a degree since leaving Nanaimo - currently 16 degrees (still very cold water). Mostly sunny, with some wispy, hazy overcast.

We saw a pod of whales a couple of miles off about 2 hours ago, heading north - all we could see was their spouts.

Right now we are motoring, with a double reefed main, in dead calm seas - probably as flat as we have seen on this trip. We are approaching some islands off of Punta Falsa, the largest of which is Isla Cedros. We have used a very conservative off-shore route, being as much as 70 miles from the nearest land as we crossed the huge Bahia Sebastian Vizcaino. Our planned destination of Turtle Bay lies on the other side of this major point of land on the Baja coast and marks the transition from northern Baja to southern Baja, hopefully with a similar difference in climate. We are currently motoring at no more than 4 knots in order to arrive just after sunrise tomorrow. I'm not sure we are going to find any winds to sail by tonight, but hope springs eternal.

{GMST}28|23.1|N|115|41|W|Day 3 - To Turtle Bay|Day 3 - To Turtle Bay{GEND}

Day 2 - To Turtle Bay

At Sea, Baja California

 It is late afternoon on the second day of our passage to Turtle Bay.

We are currently about 130 miles south of Ensenada and about 10 miles off shore. Our ETA into Turtle Bay should be sometime on the day after tomorrow - actually we are having to slow down a bit to avoid arriving at night (not all that hard to do with the very light winds we are currently experiencing).

When we left Ensenada, around 8:30 AM, we motored until about 2 PM, in light swells and less than 2 knots of wind. At 2 PM, the wind freshened up and we were able to sail for the next 18-1/2 hours, through the night, on a broad reach, gybing back and forth to keep the wind on the stern quarter - downwind sailing is not a good point of sail for us without a cruising Spinnaker. We flew a double-reefed main and full Genoa throughout the night, only shaking the reefs out of the mainsail for the last couple of hours in the morning, on a lovely beam reach for a change. Did not last long until the wind totally died and we had to resort to the engine again around 8 AM. Our speed, with typically around 6 to 7 knots of wind, was pretty consistently between 3 and 4 knots.

It is 4 PM here now and we have just turned the engine off, sailing downwind again with a full mainsail and Genoa, broad reaching in less that 7 knots of wind on very calm seas. Temperature last night only got down to about 15C, high for today was around 20 and it is currently about 17. Still not tropical but not too bad either.

Susanne and I are starting to get used to our watch schedule, 2 hours on and 2 hours off during the night. We are learning to make sure we eat and drink enough and are sleeping much better than on our earlier overnight passages. Not a whole lot to do, so we read our ebooks during the day and listen to audio books on our Ipods at night.

This will be my first attempt at updating this blog while at sea. If you are reading this, you know it worked ok.

{GMST}29|20|N|116|05|W|Day 2 - To Turtle Bay|Day 2 - To Turtle Bay{GEND}

Oh, Ensenada

Ensenada, BC, Mexico

Those sharp readers will have noted that Ensenada is located in the Mexican state of Baja California, or "BC" as they abbreviate it here, not to be confused with our other BC in Canada.

After our first day of dealing with the numerous officials, we have spent our time exploring the town on foot, dining in eateries ranging from local taco emporiums to Starbucks (yes, they are here too).  We would never have any problem surviving in Mexico as long as there is Mexican food around and, of course, there is plenty of that.

The marina we are staying in is very nice, good facilities and great staff, although fairly expensive (around $50US per day for us).  We don't mind the expense too much since we will not have an opportunity to stay in such a place again until we get to Cabo, so it will all average out.  There is a very strong cruiser community here at the harbour.  They have a daily VHF net in the mornings around 8 AM where boats from all of the local marinas check in to discuss their needs and concerns, swap equipment and hear a weather report.  Then there is a sort of informal gathering near the marina office where they talk about these same issues over coffee and snacks.  A lot of the boats here appear to be semi-permanent - Ensenada has been described as a "vortex" into which many boats enter but few leave.  I am afraid we are not very good joiners and have not frequented these groups other than to say hello occasionally.

Ensenada, or at least the part in our immediate vicinity, is quite touristy, with endless restaurants and bars and, oddly enough, not a lot of tourists.  We are far enough from the US border to mean that this is not a tacky border town, but it is still only a couple of hours away by car - it appears that there are quite a few US citizens that make their home here.  The climate is good, the living is fairly cheap, and the town itself seems quite friendly and laid back, and they have everything including big box stores like Walmart and Costco.  I can see why some of the people here end up staying a while.  New Years eve here was quite exciting, with fireworks going off everywhere around us from about 8 PM until well after midnight.  Lots of police presence and checkpoints on the main roads, just like back home.

We originally thought we would be out of here by last Friday.  As soon as we got checked in, the port captain closed the port, so no boats could leave - big storm brewing in the north.  Indeed, the weather was very rainy and windy on Wednesday (the day we arrived) and Thursday and the port was not opened again till sometime on Friday morning.  We might have been tempted to leave at that time but we had discovered a few boat issues that needed to be addressed before we left civilization.  The port office is not open on the weekends or holidays, so the next opportunity to check out was today (Monday).

Our first, and potentially worst issue, was with our water supply.  We have been noticing a bad taste in our water ever since before we left Nanaimo.  At first we assumed it was all the crud that was lying in the bottom of the tank for so many years, finally getting stirred up in the bigger seas we encountered in our shakedown trip up north.  Before we left Nanaimo, we completely drained, filled, bleached, drained and re-filled the tanks until the water tasted good.  When we got to Newport in Oregon, we were again noticing an odd taste.  We again drained and refilled the tanks with fresh water.

The problem seemed to stay away until we got here to Ensenada, where we found that the water from our manual foot pump was very, very salty - not a good sign.  If we pumped for a little while, it started to taste OK again but if left alone for a day, it turned salty again.  I finally tracked the problem down to the complicated system of gate valves that are installed on this boat to allow us to use fresh or salt water in our galley sink.  We have never used the salt water choice and the gate valve was completely seized shut as a result of years of disuse, apparently still allowing a trickle of salt water to get by, into the line via a syphon effect, because our water tanks are below our water line.

The reason why this had not been a problem up until this year is that the thtu-hull ball valve that supplies the salt water had always been turned off until I teed off of that line to feed the new water maker and wash down pump.  Most of the time this valve was still kept closed (we pickled the water maker when it became obvious we were going to be spending a lot of our time in marinas on the way down the US coast), but I had opened it before leaving San Diego in anticipation of using the water maker as we make our way further south.  Needless to say I have now completely eliminated the salt water feed to the galley foot pump and our water supply appears to be OK again.  Good thing too, as we cannot use the water here in the marina for drinking.

The other serious issue was with our solar panel controller.  It had stopped working temporarily during our dramatic transit of Cape Medocino, but appeared to work OK after it was reset.  The last few days however, it had become less and less reliable, working for a few hours, then going into a self-test failure mode more and more often, until it finally just stayed like that permanently.  We did not feel we could leave without this valuable asset working properly and figured we would have to order a new one from San Diego after the weekend.  Fortunately, I was able to take the unit apart and clean up the salt water damaged circuits, and it is working fine now.  You may remember that our Magnum inverter/charger that was also damaged on that same passage never did work again - we replaced it with a new unit in San Diego.  I have since repositioned these units so they should be less vulnerable to boarding seas in the future.

There have been numerous other projects as well (replacing the rusty anchor swivel on our primary anchor, servicing the main winches, sewing up a broken and fraying strap that holds the mainsail cover on, etc.), but this will perhaps give you some sense of what the phrase "fixing things in exotic places" is all about.

Today, we got our clearance out of the port from both immigration and the port captain and we should be on our way tomorrow morning.  The most likely next stop is Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay), about 300 miles further south.  With any luck, it will be warmer there.  The weather here has been cooler than we would like - as low as 8C at night and rarely getting up to 20C during the day.

{GMST}31|51.303|N|116|37.315|W|Ensenada|Ensenada{GEND}