A very early morning start on our way to Ensenada- we pulled away from the dock at 3:30am to give ourselves plenty of time to sail to Ensenada before sunset
Fifteen years ago, Angie and Mike laid out a five year plan for sailing to Mexico. While we’ve not been able to hold to our five year schedule, we’ve had great adventures along the way – we’ve covered a lot of cruising ground in Washington and BC, made it all the way to Lituya Bay in Alaska, and had a great round trip to Hawaii.
Beautiful sunrise over Tijuana
Still, it felt like a milestone to pull away from the dock, exit San Diego Bay, and point the bow south towards Mexico. And it was extra satisfying raising the Mexican courtesy flag after we sailed across the border.
Full main & jib up before the wind really got to howling
And what a sail we had! We waited a few extra days in San Diego to have some wind, and the first wind opportunity we got was a moderate Santa Ana. We had gusty conditions, with some close reaching in sustained 20-25 knots true alternating with patches of 5-10 knots with sloppy seas left over from the stronger winds. We sailed with full main and jib, with a single reef in the jib, then a single reef in the main, then a double reef in the jib. And then we backed all the reefs out as the wind dropped – plenty of practice for our sailhandling skills!
Angie even reeled in her first Mexican fish- a nice & tasty bonito
As afternoon came, the wind settled into a light northwest breeze – perfect for the spinnaker. We headed steadily south as the breeze started to die in the late afternoon close to Ensenada. When we arrived, the friendly folks at Baja Naval were waiting to take our docklines.
And just like that, we’re in Mexico.
