Enseñada

¡Hola amigos!

Mexican and Canadian flags

Estamos en México a Enseñada.  We arrived here on Thursday, November 3rd at around 10 am after travelling overnight from San Diego.  The marina staff took us to the Port Captain's office that afternoon and we took care of all the immigration and boat paperwork.  We are now eligible to fly the Mexican flag along with our own.    

A hotel in Enseñada

After taking care of the formalities we came back to the boat.  Mark wasn't feeling very well and we were both tired so we napped.  Yesterday we got fishing licences and then went into town and had lunch at an authentic little restaurant that the hotel shuttle driver recommended.  After lunch we went to the TelCel office and bought a banda ancha for the computer which will give us internet access wherever there is cell phone coverage.  We also got a new phone but I forgot to ask what to dial for long distance. 

Hotel Coral and Marina

Mexico hasn't changed since I was here last.  It's still a juxaposition of half-finished abandoned buildings next to beautiful buildings next to piles of rubble.  We walked around town a bit but got caught in a rain storm and caught a taxi back. 

It rained a lot last night and was intermittently very windy.  The weather should be more settled over the next few days although cool and we plan to leave tomorrow.   

Our first sunset in Mexico

Mission Bay and San Diego

Mission Bay

Mariner's Basin at Mission Bay

Mission Bay was just an overnight stop for us before going into San Diego.  We anchored in Mariner’s Basin, a free anchorage for up to three days.   We seemed to be in lots of water when we pulled in but there was a negative tide that evening and at one point I wasn’t sure if we were still floating (but we were).  Here are a few photos of Mission Bay. 

The park along Mariner's Bay

An interesting navy plane

San Diego

Entering San Diego harbour

San Diego was by far the largest city we stopped at.  It had a haze of smog covering it and extending quite a way out to sea.  There are several military installations in San Diego and we often heard navy jets and helicopters.  I had some disconcerting moments with the radar wondering where these incredibly fast boats were that I could not see even though they were quite close.  Turns out they were helicopters. 

Aircraft carrier in San Diego harbour

Walk along Shelter Island

We were able to finalize the insurance we needed and caught the World Series game at the Red Sails Inn.  We stocked up on engine filters, rope, got fishing supplies, and made our last food and booze runs.  There is a lovely walk along the waterfront on the way to the business area and Bird of Paradise flowers were everywhere. We even had some trick or treaters from other boats at the transient docks but I forgot to take their pictures.  It was a busy few days and at last we were on our way to cross into Mexico! 

We saw this camper a few times along the waterfront

Bird of Paradise flowers

Three Hour Tour at transient dock on our last night in the US

Venice

Venice

Procession into Marina Del Rey

We arrived at the Marina Del Rey harbour on Sunday, October 23.  There were many sailboats out that afternoon for a day sail and as we arrived many of them were going back to their slips for the night.  We joined what could only be called a procession and made our way to the transient dock.   

Tamsen

On our way back from the Queen Charlotte Islands this summer we were passed by a large sleek sailing ketch named ‘Tamsen’ just south of Bella Bella.  Tamsen was also anchored in the Santa Barbara anchorage the morning we left for Ventura.  And here was Tamsen again in a slip at Marina Del Rey beside what could be her larger (56m vs. 52m) sister. 

Our missions in Venice were to arrange marine insurance past San Quintin, just south of Enseñada, which was as far as our current coverage extended, and figure out why our autopilot compass was way off.  Mark arranged to meet an insurance agent in San Diego and I contacted Philbrook’s Boatyard in Sidney regarding the compass.  It seems that having a large bag of ferromagnetic tools near your autopilot compass causes problems. If only all problems were that easily fixed.

Lighthouse with palm trees

 I like taking pictures of lighthouses and here’s  one with a new twist, palm trees. 

Venice Beach

 Here’s Venice Beach where Arnold got his start. 

 

Dockyard at Los Angeles

We left Marina Del Rey on Wednesday, October 26^th to do an overnight trip to Mission Bay, just a few miles north of San Diego.  We had to pass through the shipping lanes leading into and out of the port of Los Angeles.  Our experience in the Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest came in useful. 

 

There was a beautiful sunset that evening as well as a pretty sunrise the next morning.

Sunset on our way to Mission Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ventura

Ventura

Pelican, pelicans and more pelicans

We left Santa Barbara at around noon on October 15^th and arrived in Ventura at around 4:30 pm. where we met new friends Heather and Jim.  Heather works at the marina and found a slip for us and her husband, Jim, would be looking at our freezer.  They live aboard their 49 foot catamaran ‘Meerkat’ and have cruised extensively in Mexico.  We had a nice potluck dinner together and saw some of the beautiful pictures they took on their travels.  As well, Jim is an avid fisherman and he gave me lots of good advice and some fishing gadgets to add to my arsenal.  The freezer now cycles on and off and the cooling fan works (it had never run before).

The jetty protecting Ventura harbour is home to hundreds of pelicans.  This is another photo that would encompass the whole experience more completely with the addition of smell.  

Marina in Ventura

 

Ventura was to be the start of our long-term provisioning.  There are some things that are hard to get in Mexico so we planned to stock up beforehand.  Among them are hard cheeses like cheddar, nuts, tea, good chocolate, decent wine and peanut butter.  Basically, the four food groups; sugar, fat, caffeine and alcohol.  

New dingy wheels

 

We also wanted to get wheels for our dingy so that we would be able to do beach landings in surf.  Jim and Heather told us about the absolute best dingy wheels and lent us a car so that we could pick them up in nearby Oxnard. 


The installation was not as straight forward as advertized but that was due to the construction of our dingy, not the construction of the wheels.  And only two days after starting this simple project they were installed!  Aren’t they gorgeous?

The installer

We left Ventura on Thursday, October 20^th in the afternoon and headed over to Santa Cruz Island where Jim and Heather were planning to meet us for the weekend.  Unfortunately, they weren’t able to make it so we checked out Yellowbanks anchorage on Santa Cruz Island and East Fish Camp anchorage on nearby Anacapa Island before leaving for Marina Del Rey on Sunday, October 23^rd. 

Yellowbanks anchorage on Santa Cruz Island

                                        

The hills at Yellowbanks anchorage look like they could have been imported from Drumheller.  There was a rattlesnake exhibit at the Ty Warner Sea Center in Santa Barbara and, although I don’t know if rattlesnakes live on the island, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see one.  We chose to stay at East Fish Camp anchorage on Anacapa Island because it would enable us to reach Marina Del Rey at Venice without doing an overnight trip.  Anacapa Island is composed of steep sea cliffs.  It was quite foggy while we were there.    

The rocky cliffs of East Fish Camp anchorage

  

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

I think Santa Barbara was my favourite stop along the way.  The city has definite Spanish influence to its architecture.  It’s a very pretty city without skyscrapers but with plenty of parks, easily accessible shopping and lots of palm trees.

A bicycle/walking path runs along the beach through immense palms.  You really start to feel like you’re in the sub-tropics.  This little cupola was in a park near the harbour.  The main shopping street, State Street, has numerous restaurants of all possible types, clothing stores, even a Saks and Macy’s.  

 The marina was full so we anchored east of Stern’s Wharf.  A local tourist attraction, Stern’s Wharf was built in 1872 and extends half a mile into the Pacific.  It also has restaurants, gift shops etc. and is home to the Ty Warner Sea Center which has aquariums, a touch tank and an area called the ‘wet deck’ where they bring samples up from the sea bed.  I can walk past a shoe store easier than I can walk past one of these places and I spent a nice afternoon there while Mark went to play at the hardware store. 

Stern's Wharf

Pelicans on Stern's Wharf

Pelicans are everywhere and porpoises regularly cruise through the anchorage.

Full moon on the anchorage

 Ty Warner Sea Centre 

Ty Warner Sea Center on Stern's Wharf

Nudibranch?

Sea Star

Jelly Fish

Spaghetti worm

This was in one of the samples they pulled up from the sea bed.  The young volunteer told me it was called a spaghetti worm.  It's about six inches long and that lump in the belly moves up and down the body like something out of 'Alien'.  It was truly one of the most repulsive things I've ever seen.

This was also in the sea bed sample.  It had been attached to something but had become detached.  The volunteer squeezed it gently and a small stream of water spurted out like a squirt gun.  The whole thing is about four inches long.

Moray Eel

Octopus

                                                    Octopus at Ty Warner Sea Center

The weather was pleasant and we weren’t in a hurry so we stayed through October 15^th.  We were actually planning to spend another two days there when I realized that our freezer was not working.  Mark made some phone calls and found someone who could look at it at Ventura which would have been our next stop.