November 2, 09 - Marina Coral, Ensenada

We picked up Joan and Clark bright and early on Friday morning and shared our first experience together with Mexican bureaucracy. The mission was to obtain fishing licenses. Locating the consulate was not as difficult as finding a parking meter, which was in turn far easier than finding the necessary change. Of course, fishing licenses were not available at the consulate, so off we went across town. Here we were helped by a very nice young man who sent us to a 7-11 to get the required money order and then we waited for 25 minutes while he typed each license out. (He did a nice job, but speed was obviously not important.) It is somehow reassuring that someone is still using a typewriter.

The rest of the day we took a final run to groceries stores and marine stores and then collapsed after an early dinner. Saturday Joan and I took off for the Italian farmers’ market – I guess we still did not have enough to eat on board – while Earl and Clark did boat things, such as pumping out the tank. (Sometimes it pays to be female). Then Joan, Clark and I did a little touring. First we went up to Mission Bay which is lovely. It is a wonderful thing so have this beautiful area undeveloped. The weather was of course excellent, and we enjoyed a picnic lunch watching the wind surfers and kite surfers. Then we took a quick look at Old Town and returned the car. We were all up by 5 the next morning (standard time). We had decided to leave at 7 am, so in true Kari fashion we left the dock at 5:30 and watched the sun come up as we left the harbor. It was a lovely day, with no wind. At 7:15am we crossed into Mexico, 1,604 miles and 213 engine hours after leaving LaConner. We saw several bunches of porpoises, who took a little time to play with us before going back to feeding. As usual, Daisy got her exercise running from side to side on the bow. We arrived at Ensenada in mid afternoon and tied up at the Marina Coral. The tie up was not our best. Clark and I each thought the other was doing things, and there was considerable doubt until the last minute as to whether we would have a port or starboard tie. It was a Chinese fire drill. The people on the dock were very impressed when they thought we were planning to dock without any bumpers. But in the end everything worked out and the captain says he will give us another chance. This marina is a little north of town, very nice and quite spendy. They do help with all the documentation, which was greatly appreciated, since we were all clueless. We got through all the customs stuff and then almost ran to get Joan a fish taco, which I think she had been dreaming of for months.

We met a couple that had been on the Baja Haha. The fleet had run into very bad conditions about 5 days out from San Diego. This boat had the misfortune to get a long piece of ¾ line wrapped around the keel, and then broke various bits of gear. As a result, they turned back for repairs. We did hear from them that our friends on the Black Dragon were doing well, which was reassuring. Tomorrow we will buy some Mexican fuel, which is normally cheaper than US. The boys are hoping for some fish, so we will get some ice as well (which will probably result in no fish, that being Murphy’s law.) Then off we will go south. I don’t expect that we will have WiFi for a couple of weeks, so the next postings will be by sat phone and will not include any photos.

On the photo of the marina, you should be able to pick out Serenity framed by the two palm tress on the left.