Turtle Bay to Ensenada
We refueled with the help of Jesus and his panga (open fiberglass fishing boat with go fast motor) after setting the hook in Turtle Bay. The wind had piped up off shore and we weren’t going any where for a few days. Patience, Patience, Patience….. Debbie and I were off to town to explore and soon found a small restaurant named Morocco with good fast wifi. We went there for lunch each day to check the weather web sites, in hopes of finding a good weather window. On our last day in Turtle bay we ran in to a delivery crew that appeared a little rough around the edges. They were delivering a Lagoon catamaran from PV to San Diego. The crew said it had been a rough trip up the coast with wind and sea on the nose the entire way. Then, the Captain walked in and introduced himself as Woody. Debbie and I both know him from reading the Latitudes and Attitudes magazine. He sailed a 29 foot Cal around the world, writing about his adventures along the way. It was great reading. We chatted for a few minutes and then Woody gathered his crew and they were off. We opted for one more good nights sleep and to let the sea settle down.
In the morning we raised anchor and set the Vertical Dacron Stabilizer (main sail) and motor sailed out of the bay and around the point. There was a fair amount of kelp to be avoided and that was another good reason to transit this area during day light hours. We had planned to anchor at the north east tip of the island of Cedros but we felt that our weather window would evaporate if we wasted the night sleeping, so we endured yet another,” cape effect”, and pressed on. We where rewarded with a wonderful nights sail across Bahia Sebastian Vizcaino to the mainland. We needed to clear the point further west so we spent the day tacking back and forth We decided to head for Punta San Carlos anchorage for the night. We had a rousing sail on a beam reach and arrived before dusk. We settled ourselves in by anchoring in 30 feet of water with just a little swell. We sat down to a fine evening with a home cooked meal and a movie on our miniature DVD player.
In the morning we raised anchor and set sail for Bahia San Quintin. It was only 60 miles north, and according to the guide was a safe anchorage. Well, perhaps the guide was over exaggerating. Debbie warned that she had read about a couple that had lost their motor when trying to leave the anchorage. They didn’t have enough wind to sail out of the impact zone and lost their boat there. Upon arrival we were spooked due to the five leviathans swimming around the mouth of the estuary. You can hear them sing through the hull of the boat and I had the foreboding feeling of a loud sleepless night. Little did I know the whales were the least of our worries. Around midnight I got my first wakeup call as Sosiego came up short on her anchor rode. A large tidal shift put us in the path of a raging river with over a 6 knot tide rip under our keel. The Bruce anchor held and we didn’t drag, but restful sleep was out of the question. In the morning we came on deck to discover the surge breaking not 20 yards off the bow and all the way across the bay. I believe we set a new personal record in raising anchor and getting underway.
We had to cover 114 miles to get to Ensenada. This makes it an overnight passage and of course the wind was not favorable for sailing. We needed to go further west, again, so that required tacking back and forth. The next morning we arrived at the entrance to the bay only to find it shrouded in fog. It persisted making it difficult to see the point. We used our instruments and entered the bay for Ensenada. We arrived at Cruiseport Marina village around 1:30 pm. Deb made several attempts to contact the staff by radio, but no one answered. A watchman pointed us to a slip and we tied Sosiego up for a good rest.
The next day the staff gave us a ride to the port captain and assisted in the checking in procedures. Customs, Immigration, and the port captain are all under the same roof. The one building made checking in very convenient to say the least. With Sosiego secure, we rented a car and headed home for a visit. We made the trip in one day. The only problem occurred at the border crossing. In the maze that is the border we followed the signs to San Diego. Unfortunately we ended up in the line that said Sentri. Debbie speaks Spanish and didn’t know what the word meant. So we continued on only to discover it was for daily commuters. They actually go through full background checks before they are given a special pass. We where searched, chastised, and threatened with a 5,000.00$ fine if we ever did it again. Apparently we aren’t good at smooth transitions.
After the long and arduous journey, home was a welcome sight We are doing the necessary evil of ordering parts, going to the doctors, doing taxes and as much visiting as possible. We should return to the boat on Thursday the 1st of May. Until next time, may you have fair winds and following seas.
Wow, incredible weblog format! How long have you ever been blogging for?
you make blogging look easy. The whole glance of
your site is magnificent, as well as the content!
For a better review please view this page – http://stanford.edu (Dollie)
Thank you for the wonderful comments This has been my first go at this a couple of you tube videos and looking at other sailing blogs. My wife is chief editor and we are taking a year long sabbatical from work on our sailboat Sosiego.