Category Archives: Activities

Things we have done during our travels.

Ensenada to Puerto Vallarta — Days 4 – 5

Posted on by
Reply

Sunday, December 8 — Saturday we had mostly hazy sunshine and calm seas: 1 – 3 feet, 1 foot wind-chop, long swell period. At one point, we entered a cloud and rode in fog for a while before popping out of it. It’s a wonderful ride.

It warmed up significantly today. We’re finally at a low enough latitude for it to be shorts weather. 

In the wee hours of the morning, we’d moved into a more favorable current and have been making good time today, averaging close to 7 knots @1800 RPM. Eric wants to keep RPM up because he knows we’ll eventually slow back down again, and he wants to ensure we make it to Puerto Vallarta during daylight. 

In the am, Eric spotted a sailfish (we think) doing several theatrically high jumps. In the afternoon, Keith spotted a whale. We watched it spouting on the surface for a while before it disappeared without a fluke. 

We passed Magdalena Bay in the afternoon, which was roughly the halfway point for this leg. Whale season has just begun, so it is unlikely we’d see a baby whale so early in the season. There was a bit of traffic around Magdalena Bay, but overall, we haven’t seen many boats today.

It was a beautiful sunset/twilight:

Continue reading →

Ensenada to Puerto Vallarta — Days 1 – 3

Posted on by
Reply

Friday, December 6  — As mentioned in the last post, the sea conditions were not bad when we left Ensenada on Tuesday night. Despite the good conditions, Keith did initially get sick. But within 12-hours, he was feeling good enough to play video games

When dawn finally broke on Wednesday, we saw it was 3 – 5 foot waves with a 10-second swell period + 1 – 2 foot wind chop waves. Thanks to the long enough intervals in between the waves, it wasn’t uncomfortable. The wind was light, came from behind us, and it was overcast all day. 

Unfortunately, we were moving very slowly, only averaging 5.7 knots at 1650 RPM. Eric eventually sped us up to 1750 RPM, but our speed only improved to 5.8 knots. He’s concerned that we have a net or kelp or line stuck to our propellor or stabilizer fins that is slowing us down. He was considered stopping in Turtle Bay to dive on the bottom.

Continue reading →

Ensenada Check-In and Lunch at El Rey Sol

Posted on by
Reply

Monday, December 2, 2024 — There were two main reasons why we usually went to Marina Coral instead of Maina Cruiseport whenever we were in Ensenada. The first was that Coral has a fuel dock, and they used to offer a discount on fuel if you stayed in their marina. However, Coral no longer offers this perk. In fact, it is currently cheaper to buy fuel in San Diego than in Ensenada!

The other reason is that Coral will help you with your Mexican check-in paperwork for a nominal fee. This service has paid off in spades for us in the past, especially when we needed help getting a new Temporary Import Permit (TIP) after our first one had expired (note to cruisers: Always make sure to renew your TIP prior to expiring. Getting another new one issued on the same boat can be a nightmare). 

Nowadays, Cruiseport offers a check-in service, too. Between the lack of fuel discount and the fact that we can get check-in services at Cruiseport, we may choose to go to Cruiseport in the future. While Coral is very nice, it’s also pricey, has serious surge issues, and is on the outskirts of town. Of course, Cruiseport has issues, too, particularly with soot from the cruise ships, noise and touts. You have to pick your poison.

Yesterday, the marina had told us to be at the marina office at 0930 to do the check-in. After they packaged up all of our paperwork for the authorities, they shuttled us into town, where all three offices (customs, immigration and port captain) are conveniently housed in one building. 

This was the busiest we’d ever seen it. We had to wait over an hour for our turn, but once we were served, the paperwork took the typical 45-minutes to process. 

Once we were done with that part of the paperwork process, we celebrated by having lunch at our beloved El Rey Sol. As always, the food was wonderful. 

Continue reading →

Keith’s Perspective on Joshua Tree/Le point de vue de Keith sur Joshua Tree

Posted on by
Reply

Joshua Tree national park was amazing! The first day we drove there. We stopped to get food at a place called Farmer Boys. We went to my friend Heath’s campsite.

Le parc national de Joshua Tree était incroyable! Le premier jour nous avons conduit jusqu’à Joshua Tree. Nous nous sommes arrêtés pour manger à un restaurant qui s’appelle Farmer Boys. Après ça nous avons conduit jusqu’à l’emplacement de camping de mon ami Heath. 

Continue reading →

Joshua Tree National Park

Posted on by
1

The family that we went camping with in Yosemite last year invited us to go to Joshua Tree National Park with them and several others for spring break. Joshua Trees are the largest species of the yucca genus (evergreens with sword shaped, tough leaves and white flowers). In addition to a large collection of Joshua Trees, the park is also famous for giant piles of rocks dotting the desert landscape, and people come from all over to climb these rocks. The park is also popular for stargazing. It has many hiking trails, too. Christi adores Joshua Tree. Eric and Keith had never been.

On Tuesday, the weather was clear and sunny. The three-hour drive northeast from San Diego to the high desert was beautiful. Southern California has had an unusually wet and cold winter, so the landscape was greener than normal and full of flowers, with snow capped mountains in the distance.

The campsite was located in Indian Cove, a small alcove on the outskirts of the park, conveniently located right off the main highway. While the temperatures were balmy during the day, it was cold at night. We’d decided it would be too cold for tent camping, and renting an RV was more expensive than renting a cabin/house. What was great about Indian Cove was that it was next to a residential area, so we were able to find a place that was only a 5-minute drive. With many national parks, such as Yosemite, it can be quite a long drive between the park and the closest amenities outside the park.

We arrived at the campsite at around 1400 (2:00 pm). Here’s a photo taken from atop one of the surrounding rock formations.

The boys spent the afternoon climbing rocks and playing a game called “Joe’s Gas Station.” Christi and Eric did a little bit of rock climbing, too.

Continue reading →