11/22/2009, still in Ensenada, Mexico
Trying some new things--pictures in the posts
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We toured through one of the local "super" markets seeing what is available South of the border. Other than a few brand name changes and some things we didn't recognize, they have the same things we had back home.
When we tried to check out at the marina, we were told their credit card machine was broken and could we pay in cash. I'd much rather pay with a card and save the cash we have for other things farther down South. The repair man didn't show up and since tomorrow is Sunday and we plan to be out of here on Monday, we're not sure how we will handle this on Monday morning when we are ready to leave and the machine may still be broken. I don't want to give up that much cash. Time will tell I guess.
We settled in for a quiet night. Well, sort of. While Ensenada has a great break water, it does little to stop the large swells that come through the harbor. If I didn't know better, I would swear that we were actually at anchor with all the rock and rolling we have been doing since we got here Wednesday. I don't know how they get into the harbor as they aren't coming from the entrance but come they do and we and the rest of the boats in the marina do a good bit of moving all through the day. Luckily, it quiets down some at night, but not much.
Well, that's about it for today. As I said in part one, tomorrow I'll be changing the fuel filters. I've yet to do it successfully so keep your fingers crossed.
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11/21/2009, Still in Ensenada, Mexico
Started in this morning by getting the rest of the Hydrovane set up so we can use it when we set off on Monday. The weather didn't look good for taking off tomorrow so we decided to wait one more day. Plus, it gave me time to get a few more projects done.
I went down the ladder on the stern and went knee deep in the rather disgusting water in Ensenada Harbor. By far, not the cleanest water I've ever been in which is why I only went in up to my knees and headed for the water faucet on the dock once I got out. With the rudder attached, I ran the cords that are used to make adjustments to the mechanism that will steer zephyr. Yeah, I know it sounds technical but some things on a boat are. I'll try and add a photo with tomorrows post. I attached the wind vane to the top and he is all set to steer us down the coast--provided there is wind for sailing.
I finally finished the dock lines and got all the ends whipped. The ends of all lines have their ends whipped. I wrap a small wax coated line around the ends of the line to make sure they never unravel or fray. They are much easier to handle and certainly look better.
I checked the top of the diesel tank as it had shown some leakage after we had all the fuel "polished" while we were in Port Townsend, WA. By "polishing", I mean they pump all the fuel off your boat and put it through filters over and over again(changing the filters occasionally) until all the dirt and bits of gunk and water have been removed. Tomorrow, I'll be changing the fuel filters. Three of them filter all the fuel that goes into Zephyr's engine and it's time they got changed. Better to do it in port where if something goes wrong, help is just a few feet away.
When I bought our last bit of line, they left it on the spool for better storage while we were underway. Now that I have used it all, I transferred a bunch of black line that the previous owner had left on board. It's spool had been cracked badly and needed replacing.
In the afternoon, we walked to a local winery much farther in town. Now the way Ensenada was explained to us was that there are painted sidewalks meant for tourists and then there is the rest of the town. We were well off the painted sidewalks this afternoon. We walked to places that no one off a cruise ship would ever go. It was great. All the wine was out of our new wine price point so we passed on it. We have found one thing about cruising is that a $4.00 bottle of wine does just as well for us as a $30.00 bottle of wine and we can get 7 of the $4.00 bottles for the price of the $30.00 bottle. It's the proper utilization of finances when you are out cruising
Got to close. I'm getting timed out again.
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11/21/2009, Ensenada, Mexico
Hopefully this will be the final test over the SSB.
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11/20/2009, Ensenada, Mexico
Once Lene and Hendrick were checked in with customs, we had a delightful lunch and returned to the marina so they could get some rest. As we had bought a kilo of shrimp at the local fish market, we invited them over for a dinner celebration the two of us making it to Mexico safely. It was a great meal telling stores and sharing laughs and jokes.
Today, we headed back to the Port Captain to get ourselves checked out. Yes, I know, we had just gotten here and we were already getting checked out for leaving. They give you a 48 hour window for leaving so this allows us to leave anytime till Sunday morning. That was when we thought the weather was going to be best for our getaway. They made a misstep with us at customs and we had to go back again in the afternoon. Oh well, we have nothing better to do but wait in line.
On for another excellent lunch where we had eaten on Wednesday. With drinks, our bill got to $4.00 for four tacos and two bottles of coke. Can't beat that deal with a stick. Back to Zephyr to finish making some new dock lines and then up to shower. Tomorrow, finish the installation of our Hyrdovane(put on the rudder and run the control lines to the cockpit) and work on the SSB getting our new email program up and running. With the SSB, we can send and receive emails while hundred if not thousands of miles from the nearest land. I have a lot to learn to and now is a good time to learn it.
More to come.
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CONGRATULATIONS on being in Mexico! What a journey and accomplishment! We read your news with delight.
Susan and Bill
11/20/2009, Still in Ensenada
OK, I'm back. Hopefully I won't get cut off this time.
We left for Port Townsend at the end of July after working almost straight from the end of April. Port Townsend was to correct electrical problems(we'd already melted all 6 house batteries and the inverter/charger. We also wanted to have all the standing and running rigging changed as 27 year old rigging can't be trusted for off shore cruising.
I won't bore you with the rest of the sordid details of what happened next. For that, go to our old blog at svzephyr.blogspot.com.
We arrived in Ensenada on Wednesday and headed for customs. We moved from window 1 to 5. Then back to 1. On to window 2, then 2B. Back to window 5 and finally over to window 4 where you push a button to see if you will have your boat searched of not. Luckily, we passed with a green light.
Off for the bank to get pesos and then to a street vendor for a wonderful lunch of tacos at all of 75 cents each. Not a bad deal. Back to Zephyr to get settled in. We'd been met by Jay off Moon Angel when we arrived. We'd originally met he and his wife Benita while we were wintering in Brownsville, Washington. a great couple that invited us over for homemade ice cream that evening. It turned into a wonderful evening of great fun and laughter.
On Thursday, Dana showed up. She's a boat that was made in Denmark by a great couple(Lene and Henrick) of cruisers. They have been out experiencing the world for several years. They've already gone around the cape at the South end of South America. We met them in Nanaimo Harbor up in British Columbia back in May as we headed North to Alaska. We seen them again while we were in San Diego a few days before and now they were back with us again. We took them down to customs and got them all checked in and then took off for lunch.
Ok, I have to post this before I get cut off again.
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