At Ensenada Mexico

We tied up at at slip B23 at the Ensenada Cruise Port Village marina at 12.30 PM today after an overnight sail that went pretty well as planned.

At 11 PM last night we rolled up the jib and lay ahull because because the wind had dropped to below 5 knots. We saw no danger in leaving the boat unattended because we were about 20 miles off the coast but well to the east of the shipping lanes, so I abandoned my watch and hit the sack.

At 2 PM the hum of the Rutland wind charger woke me up. The Rutland is a valuable and reliable wind instrument. When it hums it tells you that there is enough wind for sailing. The wind had veered from NW to NE which gave us a good point of sail - almost a beam reach - and soon Pachuca was moving along at 4 kt. Jeff the wind steering did not like trying to steer the boat with a weak beam wind and only the headsail up - the sail plan was too unbalanced. But the autopilot managed the task very and we kept the boat moving for the rest of the night with a steadily diminishing wind. At 4.30 AM the wind was down to 4 kt and the boat was making 2.5 kt. First light found us 16 miles from Ensenada. I woke Arnold up at 6PM then Arnold took over the watch after buttered toast for both of us, and I hit the sack.

I woke at 8.30 AM to find us laying ahull once again due to lack of wind. At that point we were 13 nm from Ensenada. We decided to start motoring after I had a cup of coffee and just as well for the delay because soon Arnold reported a pod of at least 6 Orca whales. We got our cameras out and while I was at the bow I saw the white markings of two of the Orcas as they passed under Pachuca porpoise style.

Arnold noted that he had seen the new depth sounder report a depth of more than 150 meters. Should I attribute the enhaced perfomance to the new technology or the triple virgin olive oil in which the transducer is immerced? (Raymarine instructed to use antifreeze.)

Fortunately Arnold had made reservations at the marina and we knew exactly where we were going. After the usual minor dramas but no damage we tied Pachuca up, met Andy and Bob, a couple of retired characters from a nearby cruiser, then had a celebratory beer. Soon we went to the office to present our documents. Because this was Sunday we would have to return the next day to complete the marina formalities then visit the Mexican authorities for our various permits. I would also have to purchase Mexican boat insurance.,

We got the good news that we would be allowed to use the office Internet wireless facility, though we might be forced to work off the boat and near the office. But I was delighted to see that my modest little webtop computer was able to see the marina wireless network and I am able to tend to this blog, my email, etc from the comfort of Pachuca.

This is Sunday. We will probably complete all our formalities tomorrow and do whatever touring we can, then push on round Cabo San Lucas to La Paz on Tuesday.

We are certainly further south. The warm and sunny weather has me down to a T-shirt with plans to change change into shorts.

The top photo is of the "Jetty Express" bicycle folded up and ready for packing in San Diego. The next two are of some of the Orca whales. The last one shows Pachuca ready for entry: Mexican courtesy flag on one side, Quarantine flag on the other.