Avalon to Ensenada

Welcome to Ensenada! That's what the sign said as we motored into the harbor on Tuesday afternoon. It was a bright sunny and warm day. We'd left Avalon, on Catalina Island, 10:45 am on Monday. It was completely calm as we left the harbor. Barely a ripple on the water, but as we cleared the breakers we decided to raise the jib to see if we could get a little extra pull, and we did. We jump up about half a knot. Scott had that look in his eye and suggested we put up the main to see what happens. It would be the first time we used the main. Coming down the coast in 2011 was a motor sail. We never were under sail alone, except once and that was because we had engine trouble, but it was only for about 15 minutes or so and then only with the jib. This time it was full sail! We raised the main and put the motor in idle for about 15 minutes in the event of a problem. After 15 minutes, the decision was made to sail the boat with out the back up of the engine. Quiet! Complete quiet! It was breath-taking. I handed Scott the helm, the honor was his. He'd had a dream and he did so much work, it was only right he should be at the helm the first time out. His eyes shown bright with pride and accomplishment. I broke out the rum and we toasted him and the boat, as always a little for the God of the Sea. Thirty minutes later Scott handed the helm to me and he set to work on our self steering wind vane. It was a trade prior to leaving Portland and we didn't know how well it would work. Perfect is how it worked. It took Scott about 30 minutes to get her all sorted out, but once we engaged her she took over and we took a break. We simply had to check her course every 10 minutes or so and keep an eye out. It was a clear and lovely day. We only had to glance around every 5 minutes or so. We celebrated with a small glass of wine on the foredeck while Baron von Steern (our name for him, or Baron for short) did all the work. We normally don't drink underway, but we had a little celebrating to do and we were well clear of shipping lanes and land. The plan was to sail for about an hour, as we had light winds, but that turned into two which turned into 8 by the end of it all. After all we weren't in any hurry and we were making about 4 knots anyhow. Our plans had allowed for 4.5 knots just to be conservative on our time of arrival. We hadn't planned on doing so much sailing. The wind dropped shortly after nightfall and so did the main. We brought her down and tried to just do a little motor sailing. Then the wind started to vary and we were done with any sailing for the night. The wind remained fluky the rest of our voyage. We weren't upset, as it was a full moon. We could see for miles in every direction. While running the engine we thought we'd pick up a few extra knots and make up for our slowness during our sail. We did, but not enough to bring our average back up to the 4.5 we wanted, by dawn it looked as though we'd be getting in just before sunset. I hate night approaches to harbors we've never been in before, but it would be what it would be. Somewhere around 8 or 9 am the rum we gave the God of the Sea must have kicked in because we started to get a little extra push from the current. Suddenly we were cruising along at about 6 knots! We engaged Baron and were off and running again. During the night we had to hand steer due to the lack of wind, but only for about 7 hours of our full trip. Not bad! Coming down the coast in 2011 we had steered the entire 1500 miles we made. We were tired each time we made port. This time we were coming in much more rested, but a different kind of tired would over take us that evening. By the evening, it was obvious that the excitement and tension of preparing and actually making this first leg of our new life had taken a toll on both of us. We'd made it to Ensenada by 2:30 and were tied off in Baja Naval Marina by 3pm. We'd just missed the closing of the Customs and would need to remain on the boat for the night before clearing in the next day. I'm pretty sure we could have tip-toed out and no one would have cared, but as stated above we were tired and wanted to go to bed.

It was an early night and the morning even earlier. We've started to live by cruiser's mid-night. That means we are usually asleep by 2100 and awake by 0600. Well I'm awake by 0600, Scott is closer to 0730, but for those of you who know him, that's pretty damned early for him! We were up and excited as Wednesday would be our day to check into the country. I was nervous, but Rogelio, the amazing harbor master, came by and took us to his office for the first of our paper work. He handed us two two packets and told us which window to give which packet to. He took us through the process step by step and it was as easy as he said it would be, until I almost left without getting out “temporary import permit” a very important piece of paper for our boat. Legally we can now leave our boat in Mexican waters for 10 years. Scott pointed out I didn't get it and I'd simply forgotten to go to the Banjercito to pay for it and declare what items we had on board. No problem, to the window and the very nice woman behind it, 15 minutes later all done. All in all it took us about 45 to do all our paperwork and check into Mexico. Even the cats are checked in. As a matter of fact they didn't even ask about them, and I declared them on the paperwork. There is a new expression I've recently heard and Scott and I are beginning to understand “Welcome to Tim” or “This Is Mexico” and it's very refreshing. Everything seems to be so much easier and laid back. It's what we were hoping, but the hoop hopping that happens in the US had clouded our vision and I was expected things to be difficult, but what a pleasant surprise. Even upon checking into the marina I was a little surprised. When the harbor master got our info he handed us a key to the gate and said “enjoy your stay” I turned to him and ask if he'd like an imprint of the credit card or cash. He shrugged his shoulders and said “Why? I don't know what your bill is yet.” I walked out of his office feeling a little shocked by this attitude. It's the way I remember business being done when I was a kid. It's a feeling of trust and honor. What a great feeling. I think I'm gonna like it here and I better, because Mexico is our home for a good part of the rest of the year!

Fair Sailing my Friends!

The Weekend and the Yacht Club

Scott and I tend to shy away from yacht clubs. Not that we believe anything wrong with them, it's simply we tend not to fit into that social scene. We could never really find a yacht club that made us feel we fit in properly. Back home we say it's like finding a church... it really takes a lot of things to come into alignment for it to be a right fit, and the stars never seemed to align on the yacht club scene for us. This weekend, however, while we still are not yacht club people, we did find a lovely group of yachties who invited us to join their festivities for the weekend. They were over to Avalon for their annual St. Valentine's Day Event. It was a perfect weekend for it also, as the weather held in the low to mid 70's all weekend. The group of clubbers each night hosted  a cocktail reception on a different lovely boat. I'm still amazed at how many bodies can be fit into a boat! We got to see a beautiful Tazwell and a lovely Chris Craft. Scott and I both drooled over the space in the Chris Craft! 3 staterooms, a garbage compactor, full size fridge, dish washer, and a library! A Library! I think Scott was in love with that room, if he could have a private office again I think he'd never make a complaint for the rest of his life. Oh, well, the compromises to go cruising.

Yesterday we said "goodbye" to many new friends and by mid-afternoon we were surrounded by quiet again. We were filled in for a few days and now, not a boat within three moorings of us. We renewed our mooring for another week in anticipation of receiving the new alternator we purchased. It's currently out for deliver and should be at the Harbor Patrol's office today. I was amazed at the customer service we received when ordering the part. The wonderful man who helped us went as far are to call the Harbor Patrol's office to verify that we could receive it at their office and  that the address was correct. When we went into their office yesterday, we were told they will even bring it out to our boat when it arrives. Now that is service! I don't know if I'm getting old or if it's simply the work ethic doesn't seem to be up to what it once was, but I always appreciate good service with I experience it. This is a resort town and they seem to go out of the way to give exceptional service! Well, that's Avalon! I recently read a T-shirt that said "Avalon: The Graveyard of Ambition" I certainly can see that. It's a laid back resort town that can make even the most unsocial person relax and join in. It keeps us coming back!

Fair Winds My Friends! Keep your fingers crossed on the alternator!

Alternator

Well, it turns out the alternator we purchased as a spare isn't exactly what we need. It's the wrong size to fit on our engine. Scott has considered a few options, but isn't quite sure any of them will completely work. That means it's waiting time again. He has located one that might work and we are waiting on an e-mail with the exact measurements. Then there is the issue of where do we ship it. We gave up our box at the UPS store in Newport and while we might be able to send it out to the island UPS and Fedex don't ship out here. We could send it general deliver if they can send it US Postal Service. That's all a waiting game until tomorrow, hopefully we will get a response. Then there is the time involved in shipping it down here... get this the company is in Portland!!! LOL!!! We are scheduled to on Monday, but we can extend another week if need be. The rates are super cheap this time of year and we've located the much needed propane to keep us warm. With those two things we can be quite comfortable if it takes until the end of next week to receive the item, again depending on the size of the thing. It's a circle.

As for our time here, we are back in the swing of things from our time in December 2011. We've been surprised how many people remember us. William a member of the Harbor Patrol came by to welcome us back, our favorite bartender at the Marlin Club was glad to see us. Even a guy who winters here on his boat remembered visiting with us before. It's nice to know where to get my groceries and laundry done. Everyone is so helpful and easy going here. I can see why so many boaters over winter here every year. It's supposed to be in the 70's this week and once we've got the alternator set we are planning on doing some hiking in the hills. It should be beautiful. We probably won't go ashore on Saturday or Sunday, as it is usually crowded with tourists, but we've got plenty to keep us busy. We are safe and have a rough plan for the next few days. So Mexico is pushed back a few days. We've got the time and we are only planning on going as far as the Sea of Cortez for the summer. That's about 1300 miles to put us out of the hurricane belt and we have 5 months to do that. So many cruisers push through so quickly and never get to know a place, it's nice to have the option of really slowing down and seeing some of Mexico. From our experience 6 years ago in the Sea it's like sailing through a desert. Should make for some beautiful scenery.

Well, Cheers and Fair Winds!

Avalon Here We Come... again....

OK, OK, I've done a couple of previous posts on Avalon and us visiting. So, here is another... Scott and I left Newport Beach at around noon today. After 4 days at the anchorage we woke to another boat anchored near us. We don't know when they came in, but it was nice to have neighbors even for a short time. The crew of Reisender was up and gone before they. We wanted to make Catalina Island before nightfall..... after all it's only 20 miles..... see the foreshadowing?  After stopping off at the pump out dock to clean give the boat a good wash down we were on our way  after 14 months. She shouldn't have received such a good wash down. It's turns out we were on the very, very tail end of a small craft advisory. While that really isn't a big deal it did slow us down quite a bit. Normally we make the run in about 4 1/2 to 5 hours......... today's run was just over 7! I was not happy! We were only making about 4 knots, mostly due to the wind and waves against us, but  a little to the garden growing under us. It's been decided to splurge on someone scrubbing the bottom of the boat in Ensenada. Scott and I are really glad we do these things in steps. The fridge ran for much of our voyage, and so did the nav-computer, and the radar, and the AIS, and the....... well... it turns out that our alternator was at the end of it's life. I came down to get the paper version of the lay-out of Avalon and smelled something burning. I told Scott to get below while I took the helm. We were minutes away from a possible fire. Scott knows our boat, that's one of the advantages of him doing almost all of the work himself. We were only down about 20 minutes and on our way again. Both of us remained calm and were able to do our respective tasks to get us underway again. While the alternator isn't quite toast, she is definitely retired. Thanks to our good friend Eric for the wonderful swap meet he put on a couple of years ago, we happen to carry a spare on board. The question is now, when do we buy another spare? We will figure it out before leaving Avalon. In the mean time, we will enjoy being in a wonderful setting and enjoying an almost empty mooring field.

Cheers for now and fair sailing!

Day Two at Anchor and the Wild Goose!

It's day two as we wait out this front coming through. We wanted to leave tomorrow, but there are some pretty high winds and even higher gusts that would be on our nose for the trip out to Avalon on Catalina Island. We want to try and do some sailing now that Reisender is rigged for the main and we want some mild winds to play with the first time out.

It's been raining today and we even got some hail, almost unheard of around here. We've both been getting little projects done. Well, I've been getting little putter projects done, Scott is actually working on some rather important projects, namely getting our AIS up and running again. We changed computers and he's working on getting the program working on it. For my non-boating friends, AIS is a system where we can recognize commercial vessels by name, length, vessel type, direction and speed. They are required by law on all commercial vessels, but not on recreational craft, but many boaters are moving to installing them as they are a wonderful safety feature. We have both a transmitter and receiver. It was a great investment that we are so pleased to have aboard, especially in heavy shipping lanes like San Francisco and LA. I know we'll love it when we get to the Panama Canal.

The most exciting part of our day was when we realized we were anchored near "Wild Goose"!!!! That's John Wayne's boat. It's used now for events and parties. Scott and I are both John Wayne fans so this was one more piece of evidence of what geeks we are. Here's a little about her! Hope you enjoy!






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_YMS-328