Mexico

 We left San Diego last night at about 1900.  This so we could make the overnight journey down to Ensenada and arrive in the morning.  We picked this time even though it was no wind the day before and the immediate days after we’re predicting winds from the south.  So we decided a motor was in order.  

Ensenada by road from San Diego is over 100 miles but by sea it is about 70.  We arrived at 0845 this morning and were greeted on the dock by two staff members catching our lines and a member from the dock master’s office beginning our paperwork procedures.  He asked us to come up to the office at 0930 to fill in the rest of our paperwork.  This we did and they soon drove us to a money changer to get some pesos and then it was off to the various offices to clear in and get a temporary import permit for Sari Timur.  The TIP as it is called gives Sari Timur the ability to stay in the country for up to ten years or the ability to go in and out of the country.  So a very valuable item.  The crew on the other hand only get 180 days.   

All of this was done with the assistance of the dock master’s office and we were back on the boat having lunch by 1130.  We can’t say enough nice things about this marina.  We were even told about two Cantinas for fish tacos and two places for margaritas.  Welcome to Mexico!!!!

New Water Maker

 Part of the reason for taking a berth in San Diego was to install our new water maker.  We chose the Sea Water Pro modular unit which makes 20 gallons an hour.  This unit comes with an auto back flush system and high and low pressure gauges as well as a real time TDS monitor.  Plus it is a low current draw device so we can run it on a portable generator or hopefully an inverter while we are motoring.  

It was a little more of an event than we thought it would be to mount it.  A lot of the places to put things proved to be an inch or two too small so lots of last minute rearranging and trips to the marine stores to purchase the necessary extra parts.  But the good news is Saturday morning we made water and everything works ok.  We still have some last minute tidying up to do, i.e. plumb the line to the tank and mount the control panel.  We also need to build some protection guards for the hi pressure pump and pre filters as these are in a rather large storage locker and we want to use the rest of the locker space for storage.  But these are smaller projects that can done in Mexico.  Except mounting the panel, that needs to happen before we leave.  We need four 4.5 inch screws for that and the longest we can find are 4 inch.  But I am sure we will solve said issue in the very near future.  

Our plans look like Thursday night we will have a reasonable weather window to make the jump to Ensenada.  Guess we better start working on our Spanish!

Panel still hanging on strings the membrane (top) is nicely mounted though

The locker where the pre filters and high pressure pump are mounted

The mounted filters and high pressure pump

San Diego

 We left Oceanside at 0815 this morning and made our way out with an offshore breeze.  Once out of the breakwaters we quickly set the main and we were getting ready the staysail when the wind dropped down to under 5 knots.  So we resolved ourselves that we would end up motoring to San Diego.  We kept the main set to help steady the boat and take advantage of any breeze that did appear.  As we neared Point Loma we found ourselves dodging lots of fishing buoys so we secured the main and jogged our way through until we entered the inlet.  As we were coming in we observed the wind was increasing and sure enough started to see gusts into the twenties which we would have on our tail as we needed to land in our berth.  As we came around the corner we noticed it was going to be a tight fit and a little tricky as the boat sharing our pen was rather beamy.  Pauline called Flora and they and another guy offered to catch our lines.  Mark swung out wide as to get a straighter approach in and brought Sari Timur into the berth at a speed a lot higher than he would like but luckily our prop walk is to starboard (the same side we were tying to) so all went pretty lickety-split.  Thanks guys for the help.  We learned from Flora that they had similar issues when they came a couple days ago.  And the wind will be done in a couple of hours.  And sure enough it was.   We are secured here for 10 days.  Our water maker arrives Tuesday.  The Skerritts are coming for lunch tomorrow and The Garrisons are coming Monday.  Then it is heads down and bums up getting the water maker installed.  

Point Loma ( the entrance into San Diego)

In Oceanside, California

 Sorry we have been here a few days before we posted.  Just after we departed Newport Beach ( barely out of the breakwaters) we noticed our engine was running hot.  We hoisted the headsail with all of 3 knots of breeze to help us maintain steerage away from danger while Mark investigated.  We were getting water out of the exhaust but still running hot.  Upon deeper inspection Mark found there were only 4 blades left on the 8 blade impeller.  We keep a spare water pump with an impeller in it for just such an occasion.  It is a real pain to change the impeller only on this engine.  Easier to change the whole pump.  Plus that way we can remove the broken blades from the lines.   Anyway it set us back by an hour or so but another problem was sorted.  

Once we approached the dock the crew of S/Y Flora came to catch our lines.  Always a nice plus when approaching a new dock.  Pauline had met Flora in Sitka and we met them again on the dock in Avalon and in the dinghy in Newport.  We decided we needed to meet up for Sundowners so invited them over.  

While we were visiting a newbie boat owner came by (Scott on White Bird ) we quickly invited him as well and we had a party!

The second day Jan and Steve drove up to meet us for lunch and drop off some mail we had delivered to them.  They also drove us to a local AutoZone to purchase some oil. 

We have done some chores, replaced the broken stern light, fixed the control lines on the spin pole, and changed oil.  Today we are planning a bike sightseeing trip into town and along the beach.  Tomorrow it is off to San Diego.

Flora took a drone shot of our two boats.  That is them on our bow