Ensenada to Turtle Bay

After a whirlwind day in Ensenada where we pulled in about 0700 and were at the marina office to start the immigration process, the marina provided a guide and translator who took us from one window to another, we had all of our documentation together thanks to our friends. We had the port authority to pay for entry, the government, then our boat had to get registered to import goods, called a TIP, then we got our Visa's and paid for some more fees. Then we were done but needed to get our fishing license. The way it works if you have fishing gear on the boat then you need a license for each person on board. Finally done by 1pm. We took a short nap (I think) and then it was off to get fuel for the next leg. We grabbed several jerry cans and carts from the marina, we were told it was only a few blocks away, we got to the Pemex and they did not have diesel, the guy said it was five lights down the main street. That was over a mile up and over curbs on dirt sidewalks and past a horseback riding stable. Then that station did not have diesel either, but for sure the few more blocks they have it. So now loaded with 15 gallons of fuel we head back to the boat, over curbs and holes etc.

We set off about 1630 with our friends headed South. This leg was over 290 NM down the North end of the coast of Baja to a quaint little town of Turtle Bay. We made pretty good time of 2 days and 2 hours, averaging about 5.8 knots. This was our first multi-day journey, we were on 3-hour shifts starting at 1900-2200 with Lynette on the helm, then Tim would take over till 0100. Once you get into the rhythm it works really well. 
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We arrived after dark in Turtle Bay, we had two choices, have Steve and Janny guide us in or keep going to the next bay 40 miles down. (You never want to enter an unfamiliar port after dark.We heard a story of someone losing their boat and everytihng on it a few weeks prior in this very bay by coming in after dark.) Steve's VHF radio failed on the first night and we lost contact with them. We hailed them many many times with no avail. Thankfully, we did have our Delorme InReach explorer satellite tracker that we could send text messages to their phones, but there was no service for the majority of the two days. Finally we got a response back from them that they were anchored in Turtle Bay and for us to proceed. When we got within 2 miles, we were able to get them on their handheld radio and they guided an exhausted couple to raft up with them on Thanksgiving night. We had a brief meal of Turkey and stuffing and crashed by 2200. 

The next morning was glorious and the bay was teeming with action, shouts of joy from a distant fishing boat hauling in their nets for a big catch, the pelicans came to their aid. We needed to get fuel and a little project of getting the AIS installed. We purchased a colision avoidance system called AIS, but did not have a chance to install it before we left San Diego. So Steve came to Tim's aid in wiring the system up with a temporary solution. The system broadcasts our boats location, speed and direction as well as receives other ships information to us. We can then hail them by name to discuss the crossing situation. By the end of the afternoon, we had victory. So with that, we set off at about 1600 for Cabo San Lucas. We decided to just get into the groove and do the 600 miles all at once in about 4 days. The wind was predicted to be a brisk 17-20kts from the North, so a straight shot down the coast with the wind at our stern.