San Diego
Our last U.S. port before heading into Mexico! We have been here for a little over 2 weeks ( Oct 30-Nov 15, 2018) and it has been busy and fun. Stephen's mother, Renee Poehls from Leesburg, Virginia came for a visit from November 1-7 and interspersed were visits from my longtime friend Lynne Ludivig who has been in SD for the last 6 years. Renee also has a sister, Mary Ann who lives in Escondido and so we had some visits with her and husband Robert.
Stephen and I left Catalina for an overnight sail to San Diego the night of my birthday, October 29. We arrived earlier than expected and hung out in the bay awaiting some light before transiting farther into the bay since it was a new port for us. We were fortunate enough to get a marina slip at the Glorietta Bay Marina in Coronado. We wanted to have a slip secured for Renee's visit and not worry about dinghy rides back and forth with Mom visiting. She was a trooper and stayed on the boat and got used to marine life. Stephen had just bought a new chair for the cockpit and she perched herself into this chair and would enjoy reading in the cockpit and checking out the great scenery.
Coronado is a gorgeous area and we really enjoyed our time there. There is cute downtown with restaurants and shops as well as a great beach literally across the street from the marina. They have a great trail that extends over 13 miles to Chula Vista. The Naval Airbase and the Naval Amphibious Base are right in Coronado. We saw these men and women doing their morning PT so it was only fitting we did too:) It was a relaxing stay there and the staff at the marina, Ramona, Phillip and Alex were terrific.
The pics below start from the end of our trip to the beginning. A quick summary though is our arrival on October 30th in the morning. Lynne met us at the boat the next day and enjoyed a brunch, we went to the beach and then she drove us back to her house where we enjoyed Halloween night in her neighborhood. The next day we headed back to the marina and met Renee, who just completed her 1st Uber ride and had a very positive experience. We spent the next 7 days spending time with Renee, Renee's sister Mary Ann and husband Robert. One of those days we took Lynne, her boyfriend Steve, and Renee out for a day sail in the bay and then had a nice dinner back on the boat.
After Renee left on the 7th, Stephen and I got back to work doing the rest of our boat projects. Stephen wanted to replace our faulty water gauges, install and commission our Single Side Band radio, and install a lock to our companionway, all of which he did successfully! We also needed to get some boat insurance details worked out with our new cruising plan to Mexico and attempt to revisit our TIP issue. The TIP is a temporary import permit that Mexico requires when bringing a vehicle or boat into Mexico. I won't even go the details of this but let's just say if your boat had a TIP on it before and it was not canceled, the waters get muddy, and now you are involved in a swirl of Mexican government red tape. Uggh. Unfortunately, this is our story and it does put a tiny damper on our excitement to get farther south and add another country to our cruising resume to include Canada, the US and now Mexico. Not bad after only buying the boat in January 2017 and not living aboard full time until July 2018.
During this time as well we moved our boat to the Silver Gate Yacht Club on Shelter Island to enjoy the benefits of having multiple marine stores in walking distance. This also includes having Bali Hai, well known for their bomber Mai Tai's also a 5 min walk away. Lynne and Steve had us over for there incredible Friendsgiving and we had one more dinner at a great restaurant called Ketch before our international departure tonight to Mexico.
Other notables of this trip included a successful paddleboard repair for me, courtesy of Uli Paddleboards in Carlsbad, a successful repair of Stephen's paddleboard by himself since just a small area of delamination on his board ( we suspected a tiny leak in Catalina and then the good old spray bottle of soapy water and I found the leak) and Stephen's purchase of a Riffe speargun so he can get us some dinner. We have a Hawaiian sling for me right now as the purchase of two Riffe spearguns is cost prohibitive at this time. I'm still waiting for warmer water:)
Next blog will be from Mexico!
Nautical Miles traveled approximately 1530 so far...
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