This photo was taken by some cruising friends as we were leaving Ensenada at 7:00PM on Saturday night. We motorsailed into 15 -20kt winds overnight for most of the trip. We were able to free off just north of the Coronado Islands and sail for about an hour before the wind died away at about 5:00AM so motored the rest of the way into San DIego and tied up at the Customs dock at 7:30AM on Sunday morning. ALl in all a fairly uneventful trip.

However, we had some fun and games with Homeland Security when we arrived.

Because we are Australians we are allowed to enter the United States for three months and obtain a visa exemption at the port of entry. We did this when we arrived in May to pick up Volare, but of course those exemptions have expired by now. Not to worry, thought I... we will get new exemptions when we arrive in San Diego. Uh huh. We were told by Customs we would have to immediately return to Mexico because they were unable to issue visa exemptions because we had arrived by yacht. You can get an exemption if you arrive by plane, cruise ship, train or even by car if you cross the border at Tijuana, but if you come by yacht (I tried to coinvince them it was a cruise ship)....NO DEAL! I tried to keep my patience (even though I hadn't slept for 48 hours and after telephone conversations with Supervisors we were informed that we had two options - go back to Mexico straight away or pay $265 each for a special three month Visa. Obviously I opted for the latter but had no dollars on me so they kindly offered to drive me to a bank then onto the airport where the necessary forms could be completed.

I was put in the cage in the back of their truck and locked in before leaving! Well that was an experience - luckily they had hosed out the back of the truck since the previous night's occupants had visited.

Anyway, all's well that ends well and we are now legally in the land of hope and glory again. We are staying at a beautiful marina in Americas Cup Harbor - the facilities are first class.

Heard a funny story when I got here. There was this old sailor who went to the doctor's. He had a ships steering wheel stuck in his fly. When this was pointed out by the doctor his reply was: "Aye...it's driving me nuts!" Boom . Boom.