Ensenada

Hey all,

 It has been a fun, busy spree.  We had a wonderful time in San Diego preparing for Mexico and visiting with family, friends and making new.   My mom and a friend Cassy came to visit for a week and we caught some time with Kathy & Greg, some friends we haven’t seen in ages.  Doug took mom and Cassy to the zoo.  Cindy stayed with the cats.  I should add by choice.  Not really a fan of crowds and smells.  Unknowingly we had timed the visit for the same time as a boat show so incorporated that in.  Kathy and Greg joined us at the boat show while mom and Cassy rested from the previous day at the zoo.  Kathy and they went to the safari the next day.  I stayed with the cats again and did some catch up and planning.  Of course we also did lots of shopping, touristy and provisioning…  We even had lots of time for them to spoil Maui who went through withdrawals of affection when they left.  Cause you all know we never give the kids enough attention.  Haha!  Good time had by all.

We then focused on preparations to head south.  Turns out if you don’t live in the states for 330 days per year you don’t have to have or pay penalties for Obamacare..  Naturally everything took longer than it should have.  lol  We made it!  Left about 4pm on Tuesday to pumpout and gas up etc., finally getting under way about 6.  That meant traversing the bay with all the lights shining at dusk.  Takes a lot more focus to identify red and green markers in the water from traffic lights on land.  Lol

Part of those preparations was a new prop installed and the barnacles scrubbed off the bottom of the boat.  We were surprised how much faster that combination allows us to motor, since there was again NO wind…  wonder why we bought a sail boat???   Anyways we were moving over 7 knots when we used to get 5ish.  We cut the throttle several times to slow down so we could enter the bay in daylight and clear customs.  Turns out we could have left in the morning and travelled the whole distance in the daylight.  Probably not to clear customs the same day but certainly in time for marina paperwork.  Lesson learned!  Hopefully that means the end of overnight travel…

We arrived yesterday morning about 7:30 and went up to begin entry procedures when the office 'opened' at 8:30.  Ha ha, first lesson in patience.   We visited with others waiting for about an hour.  then they opened, did what we needed here then went to the immigration office to finish up.   Back to the boat to make breakfast.  But instead, we were immediately proven how friendly everyone here is. Mostly other cruisers so far but obvious the community supports each other.    We were inundated (in a good way) with visitors and information overload.  We finally got breakfast about noon.   I took a nap and Doug tried to deal with internet.  Then dinner with friends Vickie and Steve and early to bed.

Working on communication options today.  Lots of research was done stateside but action needs to come from here.  We are still on old methods but...  phone calls $1per minute, texts  .50 to send and .05 to receive.  Internet is a bit sketchy but supposedly good at the office.  So, Doug spent the morning dealing with a customer issue and is now back at the boat figuring out the wifi booster so we can work from here.  : )   Then telcel office today or tomorrow.  Office is located on street known as “Gringo gulch" and 2 cruise ships in port today so tomorrow is likely the best day even without other issues.  

We are loving Ensenada so far and considering it as ‘Mexico on training wheels.’  We will get communications figured out, including learning Spanish!  We have always wanted to learn but not prioritized it.  Now we have more reasons.  Tourist areas it is not necessary but certainly enriches the experience and makes off the beaten path fun instead of stressful.  Some of the smaller bays are most beautiful and peaceful but helps to know the language.

Finally got logged in… now to post???  Only took a couple of days but wifi appears to work, slowly as expected.  .