We checked out of the Bay Club Marina on Monday, the 1st of November. Moved the boat about a half mile to the "Police Docks". Because there is no place that anchoring is allowed (during the week), we took a slip there. Met some other boats who were also about to head south, and talked about the weather forecast that included Santa Ana Winds gusting to 70 knots. We decided that we were far enough south to be safe. 

Ed got up at midnight and got under way. When my watch started at 0300, we were in Mexican waters. Tijuana was astern and the Islas de Coronados were coming up on starboard. The wind was on the stern at about 5 knots, so we were motoring. Within a half hour, the wind began to freshen, and soon we had enough to get over 6 knots. The motor pushes the boat along at about 5 knots, so another knot is a 20% increase! Seas were gentle, and the autopilot was doing a fine job of driving the boat, so I was able to move forward in the cockpit and play with sail trim and look at the sky and ocean. It was a moonless night, but with fog forming and a kind of haziness that limited visibility to overhead. I saw a lot of falling stars, and the reflection of Jupiter on the water was amazing.

 On Teri's watch before my next one started, we were beam reaching on a starboard tack. The wind was light, but out of nowhere it started gusting to 28 knots. Teri has that kind of luck; not enough wind for awesome sailing, punctuated by "what the hell was that" conditions! We were about 5 miles offshore, and it was katabatic wind flowing out of the huge Guadelupe Canyon. We got a little thrill out of that and both sails got reefed for a little while! 

My next watch started at 1000, and again the wind built, so I shut down the engine and sailed the rest of the way to Ensenada. I love it when I have full sails up, 15 to 18 knots of wind on the beam, and 7 knots over the ground! Don't think it's quiet, because at that speed there is a lot noise as the boat hits waves. In fact, the wind pushes up these little (sometimes huge) waves, and then they fizzle and reform, and they do not die quietly. So even without us there, would it be noisy? If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there to hear it, did it make any sound?

The approach to Ensenada was uneventful. We are at a marina called Baja Naval. It is nice, and very close to downtown Ensenada. After clearing customs, Teri and I walked for a while, and got a couple of margaritas for the walk back to the boat. It's kind of fun to walk around with a margarita in a styrofoam cup, and these were excellent! Upon returning to the boat, we ran into our neighbors on s/v Eagle, Tom and Jeanne. We had talked with them on VHF several weeks ago after leaving Monterrey, and we had met them in San Diego. Since Teri had a lasagna in the oven and we had just bought some fresh bread at the panaderia, Teri invited them over for dinner. They brought a salad and a bottle of red, and of course I had opened a large bottle to start breathing before they arrived, so we had a feast! I very much enjoyed the evening with good food, good wine, and getting to know this wonderful couple!

Today the three of us walked into town and had a taco and a cervesa for lunch. Muy bueno! They are forecasting gale force winds tomorrow, so we are staying put until after the system blows through. In the meantime, we'll keep enjoying life here in Ensenada! Hasta luego!