Sunset while we were underway.
To be honest, I didn’t feel like we were really cruising until we left the US waters, as until then it almost like being on an extended version of all the coastal and ocean passage making classes I’ve done over the past few years with Club Nautique. Well, except for the fact that we had lots of beer on board, could take showers (we have a watermaker to top off our water tanks), and thankfully, didn’t have a man overboard drill. I think Club Nautique prepared me well in that way, since I felt confident and comfortable to sail down the coast after going through their program.
The big day came on January 6th, when Lou rejoined us and he, Ed and I sailed out of San Diego and made the 60 mile or so run down to Ensenada. We weren’t in Kansas anymore!
This is a snapshot of our chartplotter as we crossed the border from the US into Mexico. Time Warp is officially in Mexico!
I’m not sure what I was expecting in Ensenada, but a few things surprised me when we got there. First, it seemed like there were more Americans than Mexicans everywhere we went. In the marina no one bothered with the pretense of speaking Spanish. Second, was the prevelance of pharmaceutical tourism, as the pharmacies in Mexico can sell prescription class drugs over the counter. The lax policies combined with the regular flow of mega cruise ships sustains a proliferation of pharmacies, and they pretty much line the streets in the tourist areas. Based on what the pharmacies are marketing, I’d guess there area whole lot of folks out there in need of Viagra and antibiotics. Just sayin’…
Dozens upon dozens of pharmacies line the streets of Ensenada, attracting the business of ‘pharmaceutical’ tourists. Everywhere in Mexico you can procure prescription drugs over the counter from a pharmacy.
Finally, I was surprised by the fact that dollars and pesos work equally well in Ensenada. I’ve traveled quite a bit through Europe, Canada and Asia, and everywhere I’ve been folks want you to use their currency, but in Mexico, and especially in Ensenada US dollars are king.
We took off from Ensenada as soon as possible after completing all the required customs and immigration forms, which took the better part of a day. The next stop was Turtle Bay, about 290 miles down the coast, a two day passage. The passage was uneventful, and we arrived in Turtle Bay to an idyllic sleepy fishing town with dirt streets and a few shops. Right after we dropped the hook and took on fuel we made our way to a restaurant for some tacos and beer.
Ed in Turtle Bay, about to enjoy a few well earned beers after a two day passage down the coast from Ensenada.
On the way down the coat of Baja we encountered countless whales, which come down south from Alaska during the winter months to feed and have their calves. At first I was a little concerned that we might hit one, and do damage to a whale and to the boat, but they pretty much stay out of the way. My guess is they want to run into us as little as we want to run into them.
In the winter whales migrate down to the warm waters of the Baja Peninsula to feed and to raise their calves. They are so numerous that whale shows are a common occurrence on the water. Ed had the camera ready at just the right moment to capture this whale breaching.
Besides whales we saw tons of fish, and had great luck with fishing. Using just a cedar plug with a hook at the end of it we caught this yellow tail (a type of tuna) after having the line in the water for only about 20 minutes. Even more astoundingly, we later caught a bonita (another type of tuna) when we dropped the line over and it hadn’t even been fully let out. Basically it wasn’t fishing, it was catching!
This yellow tail fed us well over several meals as sashimi, on the grill, in ceviche and finally poached in olive oil.
Sashimi in the cockpit…
Exceptionally fresh yellow tail sashimi
And we made it to Cabo!
The Arches of Cabo
We stayed in Cabo for four days, catching up on sleep, cleaning the boat, working on the boat, and provisioning for the next leg of the trip. I even got to go swimming at the beach in 80 degree (!) water.
SV Time Warp 