We left San Diego Sunday morning at 4:30 PM and motored to Ensenada in order to be sure that we would arrive before dark. The entrance to the Coral Marina is somewhat hairy – big rollers breaking just off the starboard side and a very narrow entrance through a stone breakwater. However, the place was terrific.
We cleared customs on Monday morning – a relatively painless process though it did take some time. We also bought fishing licenses, but more about that later!
Around noonish Tuesday, after boat cleanup, filling the tanks with water and fuel, we set off for points south. The sailing was quite good after about an hour of sailing and we sailed through the night. Tuesday morning we took down the main and put up the “drifter” as the wind was rather light and this sail alone kept us going at 3 to 5 knots until about 3 AM when the wind completely died. We have been motoring ever since (now noon on Thursday).
We anticipate having to pull into Turtle Bay to replenish fuel and water as this will now take longer than hoped for, as a result of the very light winds. Its still another 120 miles or so and that will take us at least 24 hours or more to get there. Weather reports indicate that we should see improved wind strength (anything is better than zero which is the current condition) later today but to be safe, Turtle Bay will very likely be our next stop.
This message is being sent by our on board HAM radio but as soon as we have a more robust internet connection, full pictures of today’s headline story “LOU CATCHES VERY LARGE TUNA” will be posted. By that time we will also be able to provide some commentary on the culinary experience associated with this significant event.