It seems forever since we crossed into Mexico’s borders. In San Diego we provisioned the boat yet again and we also got a few big projects done around he boat that needed to happen before we left the USA. Batteries, low watt bulbs, the list goes on. Work, work, work. This has hardly been a vacation yet and it seems the boat is like a colicky child, constantly requiring our attention. Thank God, Brett has two crew on board who can help with the batteries, the rigging and all the other heavy lifting that I would rather not be involved in. So our stay in San Diego, though it was a beautiful anchorage and I saw (briefly) a side of the city that was more picturesque than I would have thought our time was very occupied and our hearts were further south with the warm weather.

Before we left for Mexico we did find the time to meet a person who lives in San Diego who had come across our web site. He came over and we discussed funny stories, lamented the number of items that the ocean had claimed from us and he told us about some great spots in San Diego that we could sail to. It was a pleasant evening with our guest and thanks for the Albacore! I’m saving it for a special occasion.

On Thursday the water was flat and we decided to motor out, a huge luxury. We have committed ourselves to not using the motor and using the sails only. So when we came from Avalon to San Diego it was not unusual for us to wallow around in two to three knots. That morning I knew that I was done with cold showers and no matter what, I was going to get a hot shower today. You see, our hot water is only made when we use the motor unless we heat it electrically, which is a strain on the batteries. My timing had been a little off over the last few days and I had taken cold showers every day because I need a shower when I get up and decided to bite the bullet to get myself feeling human. Of course we were never motoring before I got up in the morning while we were in Avalon. On another note we needed to make it into Mexico before the end of the work day on Friday to check into immigration. It had been at least four days, maybe five, since I had felt warm water on my skin and I was way too over it to explain. We got out of the harbor and the water was so flat that you could look down and see your reflection in it, there was not even a puff of a breeze. I got my wish and finally had a hot shower. It was pure ecstasy!

Are you feeling me? Sometimes travel shows you things that you would never see if you did not get out of your protected cocoon. Sometimes those things are right under your nose, like the joy of a hot shower. It is something that we take for granted every day and it is more of a requirement than anything else. Then you are on a budget and the joy that you get from that shower is ten fold of what you would feel if you were home and found a hundred dollar bill lying on the floor. Funny.

So, fresh dressed like a million bucks, we glided through the still water. The inventory still had to be finished before we could go into Mexico so Brett and I worked feverishly to get it done while David took the lions share of the watches. As we neared the Mexican Border and the sun shone down on us the festive mood was palpable. We could see military ships doing their patrols and with the helicopter buzzing overhead it was easy to feel like we were getting another escort out of the country on our final Bon Voyage. The dolphins were leaping in our bow wake and we could see, off in the distance, sea lions leaping in the air: an unusual sight to see them completely clear the water like the dolphins do. But it was like the whole sea was celebrating our departure when we saw two wales breaching; they came within 100 feet of the boat off of the starboard beam. It was a magical moment. We entered into Mexican waters and celebrated by popping open a bottle of champaign that we had received at our bon voyage party. That night, in the moonless and starless night I sat transfixed and staring off the side of the boat as hundreds of jelly fish, flashing their brilliant lights, also did their dance farewell.

When we entered Mexico we threw down our anchor and headed to shore. It was pouring rain and we were all pretty soaked when we finally got to immigration. The immigration officer was less than friendly, we all managed to mess up our visas some how, even though the instructions were printed in English and Spanish. And when I appologized for getting mine wet (since my entire body was soaked through) we got a good “talking to” from the officer who told us that “this is not funny” and if we screwed these up we would have to buy new ones so we all did our best to appear contrite and saved our snide remarks for far from ear shot: there are some battles that are not worth fighting. Immigration is high on that list.

We were dying for some authentic tacos and so we headed to our favorite taco joint from almost four years ago (when we had our boat here for three months). We ran through the streets laughing and getting splashed, rained on, soaked through and wading through puddles that were more like street wide rivers. It felt good to get off the boat, even if my jeans were stiff from the rain and falling off of me with the weight (Why didn’t I wear my bibs? Note to self: next time wear the rain gear that you own when it is raining. It might not look as cool but you would have been dry.) When we got back to the boat her keel was buried in the soft silt, our depth sounder was still reading us in 10 feet of water so we can only presume that the sounder was shooting straight through the soft nasty bottom. With all of us soaking wet the three of us sprinted to action and were able to get the boat moving and off of the anchor. She is now in the nastiest slip available, the docks are crooked and one of the cleats that the boat was tied to looked like it was going to blow right off of the deck. After a lot of messing with the lines and getting her just right we are only rudely jerked back and forth occasionally. For the most part it is about as rocky as being on a mooring ball, in other words: rocky as hell.

Our time in Ensenada has now been occupied with… you guessed it: getting the boat ready. We now have storm shields on the anchor locker and over the companionway hatch and a third reef is rigged into the main (a series of ropes and ties that make it possible to reduce the size of our main sail and give us better balance in heavy weather). Today I will get some last minute odds and ends for the galley and then, as soon as Shane gets back from his little side trip to Vegas we will be out of here and bound for our (approximately) ten day crossing to get down to Cabo San Lucas. We are so excited about getting to warm waters and we can’t wait.