06/21/2008, Baja Naval, Ensenada
I'm posting some pictures in the gallery of the view off our stern. The fog slips in many evenings, keeping it cool at night, then burns off in the morning. Right now it's gloriously sunny out. Two cruise ships are at Cruiseport, so we'll avoid the downtown today and concentrate on boat projects.
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06/18/2008, Ensenada
Busy days here in Ensenada. Rick and Denise flew back to Whisper's Echo and cold days in Richmond, while Michael and I visited his sisters in southern CA and brought our faithful Toyota back with his guitar and a few other goodies to add to the overload on board Sea Venture. We're still paring down and still fixing, but at least we've begun the voyage.
We'd only heard negative things about Ensenada, many cruisers suggesting one avoid this port city. But here at Baja Naval, we've encountered only friendly, eager-to-please folk. Michael's Spanish is passable, but I keep reverting to Italian, so we've signed up for an intensive class at the university. If only our brains absorbed as easily as they did when we were young.
There seems to be a joy here that we don't often see in the States. Drivers smile when they stop for you to cross the street--even taxi drivers! Instead of being jaded by the excesses of tourists, many of the local folk--even hawkers--stop to help and will actually walk one to someone else's store or flag a bus and make certain it's going in the right direction.
Cruise ships dock nearby several times a week, adding to the crowds and bringing forth the hawkers. But on non-ship days, the streets revert to normal, and we're treated to smiles and fewer extended hands. I'm still hoping Denise will forward photos of the trip and am trying to get Michael busy with his camera.
Michael has been recovering from those months of no rest before we left, but I sense a restlessness beginning, which means I may soon have a working washer/dryer. That luxury can't come too soon as we've spent over $60 on two weeks' worth of laundry so far. (To be fair, the first load included a quilt and a blanket that Denise and I used to keep the wind out when we stood watch--both got soaked by boarding waves. Perhaps we're wimps, but our foul weather gear seemed to leak heat and let in the cold, especially around our wrists and ankles.) I'm about to resort to cleaning towels in the shower.
Fog is rolling in as I write, creating a blur where lights shone from the ship just to our stern. Across the bay, at the commercial port, another container ship awaits off loading. For several days we watched mostly motor yachts being hoisted aboard a carrier, bound for somewhere else. New friends Diane and John had Dockwise bring their fifty-foot sailboat from New Zealand. They're on the tail end of years aboard, while we're just beginning. I'm imagining the stories we'll tell one day.
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06/09/2008
Greetings from Ensenada, Baja California Mexico
We left Marina Bay Yacht Harbor, Richmond CA Friday at approx. 11:30 am and headed out toward the Golden Gate. At 3:00 pm we were motoring under the gate and headed out to sea!!! Wow we were on our way.
Sea Venture turned out to be a fantastic ride as she handled the high winds (25-35 knot average) and moderate seas (3-6 ft with some periods of 8-10 ft). These conditions prevailed for the first 3 1/2 days of the trip while we were a little over 100 nm off the coast most of the first 2 days and then around 200 nm off the coast as we headed further south. When we started our turn east we were about 270nm from Ensenada.
Michael and Normandie had decided that instead of going all the way around Baja and then up into the Sea of Cortez to spend the summer, they would spend the summer in Ensenada. Now that we are here in Ensenada it appears that this will be an excellent place to spend the Mexican summer months. The marina, Baja Naval has turned out to be a real gem with free wifi and free telephone calls to the states!!!(not really sure how they are managing that)
So...I guess you are all wondering how we enjoyed the trip. I can tell you honestly that I really enjoyed the 4 ½ days we were traveling down more than 100 nm out to sea. Of course, I must also be honest and admit that there were some truly terrifying moments for me, when on the second night the winds were averaging 30-35 with wind gusts into the 40's. Wave heights that night were probably in the 8-10 ft range, but seemed like 20ft at times. Rick was pretty wonderful as he stood my night watches the second and third nights with me when the conditions were the roughest. Truth be told out of the four of us Rick had by far the most fun, ESPECIALLY during the roughest seas.
The Tuesday our last day at sea, gave us gentle winds and a gentle sea and we pulled into Ensenada at 5:00 pm. Rick and I are going to spend a little more time down here helping to get the boat cleaned up and lend a hand with a few boat projects before heading back home.
We didn't take pictures due to the conditions but I did take a small amount of video that we will try to get edited and up on the web site soon.
Well, gotta get some work done so will say so long for now.
Denise
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