Today we took Phil & Sue Ingram out for a day sail into the LA Basin. The weather was clear and sunny and even a little warm for February. This was their first trip with us and all went well. There was a slight swell and some decent wind for sailing.

Afterward, we all went out for a late Sunday Brunch at the 23rd Street Landing in San Pedro.

We headed to the fuel dock to top off our diesel supply. This was done early in the morning to avoid the rush and so we would be ready to head back to San Pedro. There are lots of small slips in the marina and as it is the weekend, there are lots of Paddle Boarders and kayaks floating around the harbor.

Tomorrow we will head back to San Pedro.

The marina lies at the foot of a tall bluff. We needed to replenish some of our our supplies and there was little shopping available in the Marina area.

We decided to set up an account with Uber and use them to get to a supermarket inland of the marina. We made the call and within a short time our car showed up. The store was not far and we were soon shopping for supplies. We did the same process to get back to the boat and found the process quite covenient.

We got back early enough to make our way to the Harbor Grill restaurant and quickly found a table before the crowds showed up. Afterward, we strolled around the harbor area before returning to Hilbre.

We left San Diego on an Ebb tide at 4:00 a.m. As usual we hugged the edge of the channel to avoid any large vessels either entering or leaving. In our case there was a tug with a large tow entering the harbor, but we were well clear of this. By 8:15 a.m. we had put 23 Nautical miles behind us as we steadily motored north on a very calm sea with no wind.

At 6 miles offshore most coastlines are boring unless there are some decent hills and sailing north along the southern California coast is no exception. We did pass a couple of sailboats heading south and they had the benefit of some northeasterly wind; they were under sail.

Just after 1:00 p.m. we had covered almost 53 nm and could see the point that is Dana Point. Because of our wind angle we managed to get a couple of hours under full sail but only at about 4 knots. It still took us a few hours before we were settled into our gust slip (#19) in Dana Point.  We had covered 63.77 nm since leaving San Diego, it was now 3:55 p.m. As you enter the harbor, there are many Paddle Boards, who do not always pay attention to their surroundings. You must be on alert, the often paddle boards make sudden changes in direction. The guest slips here are expensive, we paid over $90 per night with no internet, just water and power.

We were at the end of the Shelter Island Peninsular so we hiked all the way to the Ketch Grill & Taps for lunch. The peninsular has a series of Marinas and hotels in front of which are a number of rental bicycle and scooter stands.

We managed to get a table overlooking one of the marinas that had a number or large power yachts. Afterwards, we strolled back along the waterfront path which provides a nice view of the harbor and the City.

At 00:05 we started the engine for our trip north to San Diego and by 00:20 a.m. we were underway heading out to the harbor at Ensenada. It was a quiet and calm night as we continued north about 6 miles off the coast. By 4:00 a.m. with Anita on watch, we had covered almost 22 nautical miles. A couple of fishing boats had passed us during the night. One had come up astern and passed us inside of the land.

The day turned out to be cloudy, but the sea stayed calm; with no wind, we continued under the engine. It was now 6:50 a.m. and we had covered just over 35 nautical miles since leaving Ensenada. At 9:10 a.m., we added diesel. The clouds and broken up and we now had some sun.

By 11:00 a.m. we were closing in on San Diego, crossing the border back into US waters. We had one large ship which was heading 90 degrees to us and heading for the shore. After passing us astern he dropped his anchor. There were many sailboats enjoying the day out and after turning into the channel leading into San Diego, we were passed by an idiot driving large a powerboat and leaving a big wake which washed over our decks. I guess he was showing off to his guests.

At 1:40 p.m. we arrived at the ‘Q’ dock and tied up. It is here that you call customs and immigration from the Phone provided just up the walkway from the dock. Already on the dock was another sailboat that we had seen leaving the Marina Seca yard in Ensenada. They had been staying at the Hotel Coral Marina which is just up the coast from Ensenada proper.

We waited on the Q-Dock for the wind to die down. There was a strong wind blowing 90 degrees to all the guest docks which are behind the Q-Dock. These docks are managed by the police and have limited short-stay options. As we had been assigned an up-wind berth (#6- even numbers are up-wind docks). We finally moved later in the afternoon (#7) which had a nasty nail sticking out of it which I hammered in.

The boat next to us had also been in Marina Sec having the bottom done and had seen our boat there when they had been launched. The guy on board was a single hander.

The US has a nice way of helping you check in.  If you have a valid CBP decal you can use their app to call ahead once you are in range of a receiving station. They will either clear you in using the app or ask you to go to a Q-Dock to be manually checked in. In our case, the annual decal had not arrived, so we went to the Q-Dock. We gave the officers doing the check in our paperwork and confirmation receipt, so we did not have to pay a single-entry fee for check in. We were waiting for our Decal number. The very next day, we received an email with the decal number which is what we needed.

Today we surrendered our temporary import permit (TIP) and then cleared us and the boat out of Mexico. It was surprisingly easy to surrender the TIP and we were helped by staff from the yard. Hilbre’s TIP will expire in 2020 and we needed to clear this from hanging over our head. Luting a TIP expire becomes a major problem and makes getting a renewal difficult.

The Marina walked us though the process which took very little time to complete. We then spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs and topping up our supplies for the trip north. We frequently pre-cook meals that can be reheated while we are sailing.

One of our other tricks is to make some hard-boiled eggs as snacks for when we are on watch.

We will leave shortly after midnight on 9 July for San Diego.

Today we organized everything so we could go ashore and spend a full day in Ensenada. This included stocking up on groceries and souvenirs. As it is a Sunday, the Malecon is very busy with everyone relaxing and enjoying the sun. There is a small carnival area close to the marina and we did some shopping there for souvenirs.

Early this afternoon, we launched Hilbre back into the water. We are always worried when Hilbre is hanging in the slings and relieved when she is floating once again. We watched carefully as she was maneuvered to the dock where she was lowered into the water. After a careful check of everything and a check to make sure there was no water filling the bilge, we started the engine and motored to our assigned slip.

The staff were ready to clean the hull before putting on the first coat of bottom paint.

We need to get our laundry done and fill our diesel jugs. We took a taxi to get the diesel and drop-off the laundry. Diesel is only sold at a few stations in Ensenada and for a boat, you must go to Marina Coral to fill-up. The laundry was a small shop several blocks inland from the Malecon. After dropping off our laundry we wandered back into town and had a coffee at a small coffee shop where we could sit outside and tease cruise passengers, in Spanish, trying to hustle them have a coffee.

A few hours later, we walked back to the laundry and then walked get back to the marina. In the evening, we had a July 4^th. dinner at a nice Chicken restaurant.

After a couple of boats were put back in the water, it was our turn to be hauled-out and moved into the yard.  This all went very smoothly and within a short time we were in the yard and properly propped up with a nice set of steps all the way up to the stern of Hilbre.

Baja Naval allow you to stay on your boat while it is in the yard and with full water tanks and a power connection, we were quite comfortable on Hilbre. There are restrooms and showers for the guests, and we were one of about eight boats in the yard.  Baja Naval keel the yard exceptionally clean which was a different experience than the US yards we have used. Everything is well organized, and the staff were immensely helpful, answering our questions and letting us know the schedule for the hull washing and painting. They helped us prepare arrangements for our wine tour into the Guadalupe valley, northeast of Ensenada.

This morning we wandered around the Malecon and took pictures of the Mexican heroes of the fight for independence. We also went to the Bank to get more Pesos. Afterward, we went to the fish market and had a nice fish lunch. The people at the table next to us, who were off a cruise boat asked us to recommend a dish which we did. The fish market in Ensenada is well worth the visit especially early in the morning. We have shopped here for fish many times during past visits to Ensenada.

Across from the Malecon is a nice massage parlor and as I had booked a time earlier in the day, I enjoyed a nice massage after lunch.

The evening was spent on the waterfront enjoying ice creams and some Churros.

his morning, we sailed for Ensenada, about 190 land miles south of San Pedro. This is an overnight sail and the purpose of the trip was to have the bottom repainted. This is done every 3-4 years as the paint eventually wears off. The other reason was to surrender our 10 year TIP (Mexican temporary Import Permit) for Hilbre which was due to expire in 2020.

We started the engine at 6:40 a.m. and were underway to Ensenada at 6:55 a.m. By 9:00 a.m. we were close to the Oil Rigs heading South and under power. There was a clear Sky with only a slight swell. By noon we had covered 31 nautical miles and we rolled out the mainsail. We mostly motored in the morning but by 10:30 the wind had increased

An hour later, as the wind had increased, we rolled out the 130 Genoa and continued with some fine sailing at up to 6 Knots for just over 6 hours. However, the wind had dropped by 5: p.m. so we went back to motor-sailing. At 6:35 p.m. we had covered almost 72 nautical miles. As it grew dark, we passed San Diego taking the inside passage for the Coronado Islands and crossing into Mexican waters about 8:00 p.m.

Continuing south under power, the sky was lit up by the Oil refinery south of Tijuana eventually passing it and leaving it to our stern. Continuing through the night, Anita and I did three-hour watches until 6:15 am on July 1^st and sunrise found us well into the Bay at Ensenada with Ensenada visible in the far distance.
We pulled up to the dock at about 8:15 a.m and were directed to a berth.

Today we took Ken and Carol Larson sailing with their grandchildren. The weather was perfect for taking young children out for their first ride in a sailboat. We let each of them take a turn at steering the boat.

They were thrilled to be able to steer the boat although we had to prop them up so they could see over the console. There was enough wind to take out all sails and manage almost 4 knots. They were impressed with the Los Angeles Skyline for more than six miles offshore.

We returned to the dock after about four hours of sailing.

After a full day of relaxation, we dropped the mooring and headed back to San Pedro on Saturday Morning. With a south wind blowing at 12-18 Kts. we made a record time back to San pedro, frequently exceeding 7 Kts with a maximum of 7.5Kts reached a couple of time. The return took 4 hours and 10 minutes, not bad for a 36 Catalina and just a great sail back to home port.

Once again, we are headed to Two Harbors for a few days of relaxation. The trip over was overcast however the sun came out in the afternoon. Our reserved slip, B05 was convenient and the third row in from the beach. A couple of other Catalinas arrived and an older C36 was parked behind us.

It had been a little while since we were last there and there have been a number of improvements including Palapas which rent for $200 a day. The area that was once open has now been fenced off and the few open tables outside of the fenced area are located at the far end of the area.