Monday, September 29, 2014

Gassing Up in Ensenada

The trip south last night had a strong 24 knot wind hitting us on the beam, so it was a rocky start departing Newport. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to deliver my "A" game and take my shift running the boat. Aaagh! So much for serenading sailors with my own version of... "On The Night Shift!" Luckily, I didn't toss my cookies, turn green or dry heave... it was a close one. Ha! I consumed a Saltine and Ginger Ale dinner of champions, numerous ginger lozenges, chewed some ginger gum, crossed my fingers that my Bonine would take effect quickly and things simmered down after a long while. Watching 3 movies in succession kept my mind off the "roly poly" of it all and by the time they finished I was able to accompany Brad in the pilot house and keep him company for a few hours until some much needed shut eye called my name. We departed at 4pm yesterday so that we could arrive in Ensenada (@6:30am) and be first in line at the gas dock when they open at 8:00 to ensure we are filled up & are allotted the 1100 gallons of gas we need. Muy importante for our trip south!! We passed a few cruise ships and fuel tankers in the middle of the night and lots of fishermen. 
It's a gorgeous day here and the Wifi is helping us all pass the time as we await the gas dock to open while we watch the morning news. (And some delicious coffee/cappuccino from our über Nespresso wonder machine...Girls- you know who you are and a huge thank you for such a thoughtful gift!) Brad is busy checking "Sea Weather" so we can navigate around potential weather "kerfuffles" also known as hurricanes. We had to officially "check-in" to the country of Mexico by taking a car to the port captains office in downtown Ensenada. (See photo below of how crazy the check-in procedures are.) Here is where we all clear customs & immigration. Lots of paperwork is done and we are now "official" and have to fly a Mexican flag (along with our U.S. Flag) during our stay in their country. From here we will pass Cedros island, Turtle Bay and Mag Bay where we are counting on some great fishing! We should arrive in Cabo San Lucas on Friday and I doubt we will have a Wifi connection until then for blog updates...so don't think we've been hijacked by banditos (Mom!!) if you don't hear from us until this weekend. Haaaa!   








Sunday, September 28, 2014

THE DAY IS HERE...OUR BIG ADVENTURE BEGINS!!!

I'm happy to announce that the BIG day of our CHASING THE SUN TOUR III boating adventure is finally here!! As we depart today and go over all of our travel checklists.... We can breathe a sigh of relief that all of our preparation is finally complete...or is it? ha-ha!  We've been so looking forward to our journey and thank all of our friends for their "hot travel tips", words of wisdom, and encouragement! We've been inoculated (Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Tetnaus, et al) and have prepped not only ourselves, (CPR certified, Ocean/First Aid Safety Courses and have got the Heimlich maneuver down pat should your meal shimmy down the wrong pipe) but also the boat for hopefully every situation that we could possibly come across. 
Today we are heading south to our destination of Puerto Vallarta which should take us approximately 6 days. Our first stop will be Ensenada, Mexico where we will fuel up tomorrow morning and journey south for what we hope to be some epic fishing along the way! I'm taking "watch" tonight and running the boat by myself from 12-3:00am. We are joined by our Captain Danny who is awesome at not only running the boat, but wrangling sea creatures as well. Our dear friend Sid (some of you may know him as "Scallywag Sid" from previous boating adventures) is accompanying us too! He's adept at all things nautical and we are so happy to have him helping us move the boat south. So ladies & gents...sit back, buckle-up... and may the adventure begin!


Brad, Sid and I with ants in our pants ready to depart...

Our bon voyage cheering section of Sid & Susan, myself & Brad, Captain Danny and KatMatt who surprised us with a champagne toast! Our dear friend Lance joined us as well and was sweet enough to take this pic.