What a difference a day makes!....1.10.08

We've made it to Ensenada and spent yesterday morning getting checked in. We visited the Port Captain and got both checked in and back out, Immigration getting our tourist cards which allow us to visit Mexico for 90 days & the Temporary Import Permit for our boat which allows the boat to visit for 10 years (go figure!), and finally Customs. So we're all set! But what a difference a day makes. We went from dollars to pesos, gallons to liters, Fahrenheit to centigrade, English to Spanish, miles
to kilometers, pounds to kilos, tossing the toilet tissue in a trash can instead of flushing it down and many more I can't seem to recollect. We made it through the process of getting checked-in in about two hours and then went downtown Ensenada and wandered the streets. There was a cruise ship in port so all of the vendors were out on the street, which was not the case the last 2 days. But the city was bubbling with activity which was nice. There is a super huge Mexican flag that flies outside
of the harbor and we walked over to see it.

Michael and I made our way back to the boat in a taxi that hit another car on our way….and just said 'oops' and they both went on their way…and worked on projects & relaxed a while. We have use of the Hotel facilities & there are several facilities at the Marina too – showers, laundry facilities, bathrooms, swimming pool & Jacuzzi, pool, ping pong, & fuzeball tables. We were certainly treated like royalty as Chad had dinner of lobster & eggplant cooked for us by the time Michael & I went came back
from the Jacuzzi! After dinner Michael & I went up to the hotel again and we played several games of pool. Both Michael & Chad are still feeling under the weather so we're going to hang out here today and head out tomorrow. Today, so far, Chad has installed the lazy jack system which is a set of ropes that help furl the mainsail when it's pulled down so it doesn't fall all over the deck. Michael has done some banking, organizing, & assisting Chad with the installs. He also added some locks to
some items on deck, added the American flag back to the mizzen sail, changed out some ties that hold the dinghy in place, & replaced one of our LED salon lights that has failed already. We have a VERY spotty internet signal that's $10/day that we've been trying to get attached to. My Dad is going to help the posts since we may have issues getting them on the internet for the next couple weeks as we make our way down the Baja coast.

Our first destination is to Bahia San Quintin (pronounced keen-TEEN) which is about 110 miles Southeast of Ensenada. It should take approx 20 hours to get there. We'll leave here approx mid day so we'll have a nice evening passage and arrive in the daytime.

I'll write more later! ?