Beinvenidos Mexico!

Tawn is writing up an update about our time in San Diego, or as a good friend calls it “Dirty Waffle”. If you think about, it makes perfect sense.

We left San Diego late in the afternoon on the 21st so as to make it to Ensenada, Mexico just after sun rise. We stopped in Ensenada to 1) clear in to the the country, get our visas, and 2) to get our boat hauled out and have a bottom job done.

We were going to get the bottom job done last year in Seattle, but the quote we got from the boatyards up there were ridiculous. Doubly so, due to the fact that me and Tawn do 93% of the work on our boat ourselves. But grinding off bottom paint down the the gel coat is something that boatyards in Seattle will not allow you to do anymore. So they are able to hand you an estimate of $12,000 without batting an eye…..

I batted the shit out of my eyes and pooped my pants a little.

We had a friend or two that had the same work done on there boats here in Ensenada two years ago when they came down. So we followed their lead and waited till we got here.

Tawn emailed the boatyard (Baja Naval Marina) and got an estimate for the work we needed done. The estimate was $2500. That was infinitely more doable, and no need to change my pants afterwards.

We got here a day early and the yard hauled the boat and got it in the stands while we walked down to the Immigration office and got cleared into the country. Clearing customs here in Ensenada is insanely easy by the way. It’s all done in one building (room actually). Took us less than 30 minutes.

By lunch the next day they had the old paint ground off and were cleaning up the mess!

Originally they told us we would be here a week to 10 days, but at the pace they are going, I think it’s going to be shorter than that. Possibly we will splash on Monday.

We’ve been spending time hanging out with our friend Erlin on his boat Ventured. Some other friends of ours (Brad and Joanne, on Loukia) showed up today. So we are showing them around town. Since we’ve been here 48 hours, we are practically locals.

We have found many delicious street tacos and I am now on the hunt for a hammock, and a tortilla press. I’ve also been eyeing the dude selling bacon wrapped hotdogs…..those are really looking tempting.

Picture from the roof of the Marina Naval office roof.

I may or may not have supposed to have gone up there?