Happy New Year to all of our family and friends (both of you...you know who you are).
At the end of our last post I said, and I quote:
"We'll let you know how the ocean carriage and subsequent trip to Long Beach turned out in about 3 weeks. If it doesn't go well, we'll welcome any friends courageous enough to stop by on visitors day at the La Mesa prison in Tijuana, Mexico."
I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version of the story by taking the statement above in reverse order. Let me start by saying we are safely back in the USA and not in La Mesa. This post is later than the promised three weeks because our boat was delivered 11 days late. And we are in San Diego not Long Beach.
This might be a good point to hit the little "x" in the box at the upper right of this tab otherwise here comes the "War and Peace" version.
After we loaded Temptation on the mothership, M/V Arubaborg, in Fort Lauderdale, we drove back to Williamsburg. Based on the shipping company's estimate of a Dec 12-14 delivery in Ensenada, we flew to Southern California around Dec 7 and bought a new car. This is about when we got the news of the first ETA delay. So we had some extra time to kill in Orange County. This was not bad since we could spend time with the kids and grand kids.
The projected delays kept coming (with no explanation) while Arubaborg hung around the Panama Canal for about a week. Canal transit takes about 10 hours so who knows what the hell they were doing. The shipping company gave us an almost, final ETA so we headed off to San Diego to leave our car at our new marina.
Which brings me to an annoying California oddity. In the last post I mentioned that we had narrowed our marina choice to two places in Long Beach Harbor. As we were completing the paperwork at our 1st choice, the dock master mentioned that we could live aboard 12 days each month. I asked what about the other 18 days and he gave me the government worker shrug. We needed a live aboard permit for full time live aboard status. Fine I said, what does it cost? Cost isn't the issue, there is a 2 year waiting list. I almost went full Joan Cusak from In and Out : "..is there any other time you could have told me this?". I had been speaking to this guy routinely for almost 2 months about docking our boat at his marina and he never mentioned this. BTW this situation does not exist on the East Coast. It turns out there are LA county restrictions, blah, blah, blah. I'll stop now in case you haven't already set yourself on fire ( Airplane reference).
Leaving our car at our new marina in San Diego, we headed for customs in Tijuana.
We got thru customs without trauma and went on
to Ensenada about 65 miles south of the border.
We stayed at a nice resort hotel and waited for Temptation to sneak across the finish line.
The extra days let us explore Ensenada a bit. The busts below are about 15 feet high and seem to be their equivalent of Mount Rushmore. The guy on the left is Benito Juarez. I didn't recognize the other two.
On the day after Christmas, we headed to Mexican customs where we had to import our boat, get permission to leave Mexico and one other step that I still don't understand. Luckily the hotel sent a guy with us to help navigate the bureaucratic maze. Several hundred dollars changed hands but I think it was all on the up and up because it was paid via credit card.
The day after customs clearance the ocean weather forecast looked good so we headed out just after sunrise for the US.
Things were going fine as we headed north at a stately 10 mph. Light winds, long rolling swells, the sun was shining, 70 deg F.
Use your imagination to listen to your favorite ominous music as you read further.
The winds picked up a bit in the afternoon, the seas got choppy and we started getting some spray up on the fly bridge...no big deal.
Ed note: For our non-boater readers, all intense boat stories start with the phrase, "..no sh_t, there we were...".
About 75% thru the planned day, I noticed that our bilge pump indicator lights started to illuminate intermittently. At first I thought that it might be the boat motion up and down energizing the float switches. But the condition lasted too long. So I went down into the engine room to check it out. When I opened the hatch there was water sloshing around on the engine room floor. It could be our fresh water tanks leaking (~250 gallons, not enough to sink the boat) or maybe something else (the Pacific ocean contains 187 quintillion gallons, more than enough to sink the boat). I needed more data. So, being a graduate of of one the finest engineering schools in the country and someone who worked for a company with sophisticated testing labs all over the world, I performed an infallible, high tech test. I stuck my finger in the water and tasted it...salty!
No sh_t, there we were taking on the Pacific ocean 20 miles from any harbor. Further investigation (crawling around the engine room) revealed the culprit to be our "dripless" shaft seals. Boaters understand this. Non-boaters want to be spared the explanation. We came up with a mitigation plan (a wing and a prayer) that got us to the customs dock in San Diego late in the afternoon. After we cleared customs, we limped on to our marina at the south end of San Diego Bay. BTW from the last post, I was wrong. Mexican customs was far more annoying than US customs.
So Temptation is safely ensconced at Pier 32 Marina, slip 310.
This marina has the nicest facilities we've ever seen. They have the usual bathrooms, showers, etc but they are all done in tile like your home. The laundry is great (important to Susan). There is a heated pool, hot tub, excellent fitness center, on site restaurant, cruisers lounge, courtesy bikes, free wifi, a guest suite and a putting green. The only disadvantage, and it's a big one, it is a bit farther away from our grand kids and WAY farther from our daughter Dana. We'll keep exploring marina options.
We've already started enjoying San Diego and have found their Little Italy.
Ultimately this is working out as we hoped since we get to spend lots more time with family.
We probably won't post for a while but if your travels take you to San Diego, drop in.
At the end of our last post I said, and I quote:
"We'll let you know how the ocean carriage and subsequent trip to Long Beach turned out in about 3 weeks. If it doesn't go well, we'll welcome any friends courageous enough to stop by on visitors day at the La Mesa prison in Tijuana, Mexico."
I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version of the story by taking the statement above in reverse order. Let me start by saying we are safely back in the USA and not in La Mesa. This post is later than the promised three weeks because our boat was delivered 11 days late. And we are in San Diego not Long Beach.
This might be a good point to hit the little "x" in the box at the upper right of this tab otherwise here comes the "War and Peace" version.
After we loaded Temptation on the mothership, M/V Arubaborg, in Fort Lauderdale, we drove back to Williamsburg. Based on the shipping company's estimate of a Dec 12-14 delivery in Ensenada, we flew to Southern California around Dec 7 and bought a new car. This is about when we got the news of the first ETA delay. So we had some extra time to kill in Orange County. This was not bad since we could spend time with the kids and grand kids.
The projected delays kept coming (with no explanation) while Arubaborg hung around the Panama Canal for about a week. Canal transit takes about 10 hours so who knows what the hell they were doing. The shipping company gave us an almost, final ETA so we headed off to San Diego to leave our car at our new marina.
Which brings me to an annoying California oddity. In the last post I mentioned that we had narrowed our marina choice to two places in Long Beach Harbor. As we were completing the paperwork at our 1st choice, the dock master mentioned that we could live aboard 12 days each month. I asked what about the other 18 days and he gave me the government worker shrug. We needed a live aboard permit for full time live aboard status. Fine I said, what does it cost? Cost isn't the issue, there is a 2 year waiting list. I almost went full Joan Cusak from In and Out : "..is there any other time you could have told me this?". I had been speaking to this guy routinely for almost 2 months about docking our boat at his marina and he never mentioned this. BTW this situation does not exist on the East Coast. It turns out there are LA county restrictions, blah, blah, blah. I'll stop now in case you haven't already set yourself on fire ( Airplane reference).
Leaving our car at our new marina in San Diego, we headed for customs in Tijuana.
We got thru customs without trauma and went on
 |
| Welcome to Mexico |
We stayed at a nice resort hotel and waited for Temptation to sneak across the finish line.
 |
| Hotel Coral - view from our balcony |
The extra days let us explore Ensenada a bit. The busts below are about 15 feet high and seem to be their equivalent of Mount Rushmore. The guy on the left is Benito Juarez. I didn't recognize the other two.
 |
| Montar Prisa Mas |
They delivered Temptation off the mothership on Christmas Day, late in the afternoon...11 days late. Since it had been onboard for over three weeks with no electrical power, the engines wouldn't start and needed a tow to the closest marina. We had anticipated this and weren't surprised.
 |
| Tow boat Captain Juanito |
Ensenada harbor is a typical commercial harbor anywhere in the world.
Christmas Day in Mexico is very different than the USA. It is a big fiesta and all the families are out at the street markets all day and long into the night. There is music, dancing and lots of fun being had by all. Most public places in the US are deserted on Christmas.
 |
| Hotel Coral and Marina - Ensenada in the rearview mirror |
Use your imagination to listen to your favorite ominous music as you read further.
The winds picked up a bit in the afternoon, the seas got choppy and we started getting some spray up on the fly bridge...no big deal.
Ed note: For our non-boater readers, all intense boat stories start with the phrase, "..no sh_t, there we were...".
About 75% thru the planned day, I noticed that our bilge pump indicator lights started to illuminate intermittently. At first I thought that it might be the boat motion up and down energizing the float switches. But the condition lasted too long. So I went down into the engine room to check it out. When I opened the hatch there was water sloshing around on the engine room floor. It could be our fresh water tanks leaking (~250 gallons, not enough to sink the boat) or maybe something else (the Pacific ocean contains 187 quintillion gallons, more than enough to sink the boat). I needed more data. So, being a graduate of of one the finest engineering schools in the country and someone who worked for a company with sophisticated testing labs all over the world, I performed an infallible, high tech test. I stuck my finger in the water and tasted it...salty!
No sh_t, there we were taking on the Pacific ocean 20 miles from any harbor. Further investigation (crawling around the engine room) revealed the culprit to be our "dripless" shaft seals. Boaters understand this. Non-boaters want to be spared the explanation. We came up with a mitigation plan (a wing and a prayer) that got us to the customs dock in San Diego late in the afternoon. After we cleared customs, we limped on to our marina at the south end of San Diego Bay. BTW from the last post, I was wrong. Mexican customs was far more annoying than US customs.
 |
| San Diego |
So Temptation is safely ensconced at Pier 32 Marina, slip 310.
 |
| Does this angle make her ass look big? |
We've already started enjoying San Diego and have found their Little Italy.
 |
| Lunch in Little Italy |
 |
| Youngest grandson Jack Murray (age 6) and Zephyr |
Sounds like your adventure on Temptation is continuing. We are heading to New Zealand for 6 weeks, starting in a couple of weeks -- we'll catch up with you when we return.
ReplyDeleteBill and Anita
Great story, Mike and Susan! Happy New Year! Rick and Vicki.
ReplyDeleteWonderful story. Great adventures to share. Looking forward to your return to the less adventurous East Coast. But enjoy kids and GrandKids.
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it to San Diego safely... that's not too shabby a winter getaway. As always you spin a good story, even if it's true.
ReplyDeleteWe miss you here, and we doubt you're missing what may be a big snowfall tonight and tomorrow. Happy New Year, and enjoy! Bob and Jo