We left San Diego around 430 in the morning it was 36 degrees. We had all our layers on and big smiles on our faces as we started motoring out of Coronado and into San Diego bay. It took 2 hours to reach the Pacific Ocean and we took another left and sailed toward the Mexican Boarder. The sun rose and the world began to wake. It didn’t warm up though. Both of us kept gazing out over our Port bow looking toward land. We spot the boarder wall. A mix of black and rusted metal on the American side. You can see a swath of land where the wall cuts up through the landscape as far as you can see. It juts out into the pacific a bit. It gets closer and closer and then we pass it. Looking back over our left shoulders you see bright colors painted all over the Mexican side of the wall. Tijuana. We will see this color display all along our way down the coast.
The sun started to warm up the air enough we could unzip our coats and shed our hats and gloves but it was a chilly ride most of the day. That didn’t keep the dolphin away. They soon came swimming, jumping, and spinning around our boat. Their show went on for hours which kept our minds off the cold. The winds began to pick up and we were able to turn off the motor and raise the sails. The winds continued to build through out the evening and we ended up having to reef our main sail. Meaning we made it smaller which depowers Hiraya a little. Not sure she liked it but we were more comfortable. Entering the Bay of Ensenada the waves were up and the winds were still howling. We then had to turn broad side to the waves and swell in order to go behind the sea wall. It is my least favorite motion. Rocking side to side like we are a round bottom baby toy. Only a little ways to go but enough to turn my stomach up side down.
But just a few feet behind the wall everything lessens dramatically and we quietly motor into the Harbor. It is dark. We motor on by the work yard where a big container ship is being offloaded. The bright lights lighting up the channel. Off to our starboard side we pass the Pier where the cruise ships dock. Our marina is just past the pier. It is hard to differentiate the the channels to each marina and the land but like we’ve come to find out it just takes getting a little closer for everything to come into view. We attempt to call the marina over the vhf. No response. As we inch closer we find our dock and begin to go in. Which is what they told us to do. But they also said security would answer the radio and be on the dock to help us. As we make our turn the lights shine on a line that is across our slip. We have to make evasive maneuvers to try and back out of the slip with out hitting anything. This makes us nervous because we still aren’t really familiar with Hiraya and how she wants to be handled. The more we have experiences like this we find she wants a firm command. As Sam backs up quickly she straightens out and we choose to take an end tie the size for a very large vessel. We dock, check our lines, raise our bright yellow quarantine flag. As we are getting ready for bed we meet the boat in front of us along the side tie. Dawson and his Toy Box Express was there to check in. We have a quick chat. He reassured us that the marina is “way chill” and to just chill. “Welcome to Mexico.” We return to our boat and sleep.
The next morning the Marina is buzzing with workers. The office stops by and makes sure we have everything we need and instructs us to stay on the boat. They will send medical to do our screening. They also say its no problem that we took the side tie and they would have someone help us into our slip “today, or tomorrow, or sometime”. We chuckle and are loving the laid back go with the flow atmosphere. After medical does their check the office sets up a time for us to check into the country. She makes sure we have all our papers in order and goes with us to the Immigration office.It’s a short 10 minute walk. She explains everything we need to do. It is just like the DMV at home. Long lines. Hours waiting in line. But with her help we are able to go to the correct line in the correct order. You’re allowed to hold spots in line there and everyone greets you with a smile. Three hours later we are officially checked into the country and so is Hiraya. The only difference is we can only be in the country for 180 days and Hiraya gets 10 years. We even made new friends Dave and Mandie on FootSea, who we wont run into again until months later.
The next day we meet up with our friends Maciek and Ola. They arrived a couple days before we did. They came by our dock and waved. Hugs and smiles and plans for a celebratory dinner were made. It was a day of excitement and celebration. We both made it to Mexico!! We felt like we were finally there! We have Ceviche and Mexican beer for dinner. The Ceviche was good. I was brave and ate it. Little octopus tentacles and everything! Surprisingly I will actually eat it again sometime. We walked the streets of Ensenada and took in the atmosphere. It felt like home with a Mexican flare. The street vendors excitedly trying to get you in their shop to look at their stuff. But carry on a conversation with you even after you don’t go in. Joking and laughing with us making the evening a lot of fun. The Mexican music playing in the back ground. The bright flashing lights and carnival feel was enjoyable. We spend an evening over with Maciek and Ola on their boat. Too fast our week was over and we make our plan to continue down the coast.
Now comes the adventure, right? We are heading out into the unknown. A foreign country where we don’t know the language or customs. There are so many what ifs but even more why nots. We check the weather for the next week. We make a plan A. We make a plan B for if the weather decides to do something different. We give Hiraya a good once over and then another. And just like that… we go.