Every morning at 8AM, we tuned the VHF to channel 22 to listen in on the local cruisers net.  Each Yachtista logged on with boat name and marina location and discussed the days events and addressed stated needs.  Then we would switch to channel 21 for the best weather reporting I have ever heard.  I don’t know the gentlemen that does the reporting but he gives the current and forecasted conditions from the Northwest all the way down to the tip of Baja.  We met Spike Web of Spycamair at the boat and made arrangements for Spike to give us some “Local Waters” boat handling training starting at 8AM on the 5th.  We spent the rest of the day just taking it easy.  We met Max and Ginger who bought their Mainship 34 Pilot down to join the 90 day Yacht club and spent some time with them, Don Ross/Heritage Yachts and Bob and Debbie Crowe.  Don sponsored a Mainship get together lunch at the hotel for the three sets of boat owners and we all got the chance to know each other better.

Once again, we took the Amtrak to San Diego and Francisco from the Coral Hotel was there to meet us and we enjoyed the van ride to Ensenada.  We checked in and headed for the Makai and on the way there, we ran into Debbie from the Crowe’s Nest (a new Mainship 40 Trawler), walking her dog and she invited us aboard.  We then met her husband Bob and they are just two great people.  We swapped new boat owner stories and headed back to check out the Makai.  During our absence a big storm hit the marina and the increased surge snapped the portside stern cleat.  First time I ever experienced this kind of damage.  Daniel from the Coral Marina Service office was minding the boat during the storm and quickly replaced the cleat bolting it to a stronger section of the dock.  No damage was done to the boat.  The constant movement of the boat caused by the surge is really hard on the dock lines and I recommend that you use the largest size dock lines as possible since light lines will fray and snap.  Our neighbor on a Choy Lee sailboat just happens to be Lonny Ryan, the author of the Ensenada 90 day Club Guide so we are located right next to one of the best sources of information regarding the Ensenada area.   We had a quiet dinner at the hotel, unpacked and turned in for the night.

I Passed the Element 2 Technician’s test for a Ham Radio license at Shoreline Yacht Club.  Missed 2 out of 35 questions for a score of 94%.  This level of license will allow us to transmit on the 2 and 6 meter bands plus on the 70cm band.  We purchased a Icom IC-92D D-Star equipped dual band handheld for use to communicate with other hams when we are within the range of many shoreside repeaters.  This unit is considered a back up to the  helm mounted Marine VHF radios and little cellular phone.  Next we will work on the General class license which when passed will open  up more frequencies for long range communications in addition to the marine frequencies using the new Icom 802 SSb transceiver.  The Makai will look like a pin cushion by the time Alcom finishes installing antennas.
Tomorrow  we take the combo Amtrak/Coral Hotel van to Ensenada for a couple of days to use the boat.  Don Ross/Heritage Yacht Sales can’t make this trip but we will meet up with Bob and Debbie Crowe of the 40 ft Mainship Crowe’s Nest at the Coral Marina.  We will also try to hook up with Bea and Scott Van Every who have their 45 sailboat at the other Ensenada Marina.

Up at 05:30  showered and had breakfast at 07:00.  Checked out and met Fancisco, the van driver and departed for San Diego at 08:00 .  Smooth and uneventful ride.  Took approx 45 minutes to get through the border crossing.  We caught an earlier train than the one we were scheduled to take and its locomotive quit about 5 miles north of San Diego.  1 1/2hours later the locomotive from another train pushed us up to Anaheim.  Average speed about 35 mph compared to the ride down at 50 to 60 mph.

Loaded the truck and made it home at approx 16:30.

Slept in and had breakfast at 09:00.  Used a taxi to go to Agencia Arjona,the nearest marine supply store to buy some rust inhibitor and WE-40.  The stainless lock plates on both doors showing signs of rust so we removed the rust and sprayed a liberal coat of WE-40 into the locking mechanisms .

Checked out the documentation numbers and the epoxy set up well. 

Met the people from a 65 ft custom Selene that the owner had just bought over from Taiwan.   Cleaned  up the boat interior and checked that all port holes were closed  then turned off the batteries and closed up the boat.

19:30  Dinner at the hotel amidst all of the folks celebrating Valentine’s day.  Packed and went to bed early .

Slept in and had breakfast at 09:00.  Stopped by the Marina store and asked the Daniel meet us at the boat.  Picked up a entry card for E dock to check out the new Mainship 40 to make sure that the AC shore power cord was connected..

Epoxied the Documentation numbers to the hull in front of the battery bank on the centerline.

14:00 Went to E dock and for the Mainship 40 power cord connected.  Took some digital pics for Don Ross and the owners.

Mixed up some two part epoxy and epoxied the documentation numbers to the hull in the engine room.

Daniel changed the fenders from vertical to horizontal as recommended by Don Ross.  Met Spike/Spycamair.com, on recommendation from Daniel to give us handling instructions on the Makai during our next trip to Ensenada.  Spike’s company large RC drones to take aerial photos of ships and land based items.   Will put a link on the Makai43.com site to spycamair.comand will also do a blog write up for spike on the T&T and Mainship forum websites.

19:00 Room Service Dinner.

Smooth train ride from Anaheim to San Diego.

14:30 Francisco from the Coral Hotel picked us up at the Amtrak station.

16:30 Arrived at the Coral Hotel and checked in.

Went down to the Makai and found signs of paint damage caused by the sure making the fenders rub the hull.

18:30  After a good dinner at the hotel, turned in and went to bed.

I Heard from Don Ross who just returned from Ensenada.  They replaced the power supply and cord for the Salon flat Screen tv.  Makai is fine with the exception of the fenders rubbing paint off the hull.  Don will have Steve Phelps repaint the damaged spots when the Makai returns from Ensenada.

Went to Ensenada with Don Ross and David Plotkin by car.  Found the port stern line snapped off.  Caused by the boat being tied too loose and the big surge.  Hired Daniel/Coral Marine Services to do weekly checks on the Makai:

            Line check

            Run Engines and Genset

            Check battery levels

            Check bilge pumps

Purchased 1 35 and 1 25 ft ¾ in dock lines.. Had CMS replaced old dock lines and retie the boat.

Found Salon TV inoperable.  David found a bad AC/DC converter which he will send to Mainship for warranty replacement.

Day 2

Weslept in and had just awakened when Don called.  He was already at theboat priming the engines and Racors in preparation to taking on fuel.  Andwe thought we were early risers.  We agreed to meet for breakfast so afterquick showers we headed to the restaurant.  We got off the elevator on thelobby level and started to walk do to the lower dining level when Glo misjudgeda step and fell with the wall to her left partially blocking her fall. She is a very tough lady and popped up saying no big deal and that everythingwas fine.  We sat down with Don and had a healthy breakfast of Mexicanpancakes, eggs and bacon.  We got up to leave and that is when Glorealized that there was something wrong with her left foot.  We ordered upsome ice and She headed back to the room to ice down her ankle.

Donand I headed for the Marina office to meet with Fito the Marina Manager, hisOffice Manager Hilda and Pedro the Customs and Immigration expert. We started the paperwork process, which was more involved than I thought. First came the slip contract that we signed and paid for a 4-month slip lease,which gave us a lower monthly rate.  Now the Marina has our credit cardinfo and our bank was open for business.  Next was to set up a cleaning schedule for the topsides and thehull.   She also attached the special instructions to our work order thatstated not to clean the props or prop shafts, which are coated withPropspeed.  Topside will be cleaned twice a month and the bottom, once amonth.  We also gave approval for them to change zincs as required.

Donin the meantime was next door at the Coral Marine  Services office payingthe bill for the tow and fuel drop off. ($1314 USD), which we will try torecoup through our contract with Vessel Assist.  Don headed back to theboat and was going to call Glo to make sure she was ok while I went with Pedroto the Customs and Immigration office. The fun was about to begin.

Glo’sankle had swollen to a good size but she still did not want to see adoctor.  We found out after returning home that she had broken her anklein 3 places.

Pedrotook Johan from Captain’s Paradise and I to the Customs and Immigrations officeto complete the necessary paperwork.  4 forms and $680.00 later wecompleted the process including the Importation documents required to bring avessel into Mexico.  A word of caution.  Make sure that you havesearched your boat to look for anything that would be considered illegal by theMexican authorities.  If you stay at the Coral, Pedro will make sure thatyou remove any unacceptable items, (firearms, fishing equipment if you do nothave a fishing license for your boat and one for every individual on board),more than the allowable limit of alcoholic beverages, etc)) in case theauthorities decide to board your vessel for inspection.  The inspectionselection process is random made by stepping up to what appears to be a trafficlight with a red and green lens.  You push a button and if the green lightcomes on, you are finished with no inspection.  If the red light comes onyou have failed and  they will schedule you for an on board inspection.

Wereturned to the Marina and completed the last of the marina paper work. Fito assigned  us to a close in slip (B-17) and Don expertly moved theMakai from the fuel dock to the slip.

Theslip was wired for 110V/30A power so we asked Fito for 220V/50A and withinminutes of making the request, Fito had his electricians make the change.

16:00

Timeto go home. We had originally planned to depart at noon.  We checked outof the hotel and said goodbye to all of the nice people but not before theymade us promise to come back for the boater’s New Years Eve party at the Hotelhosted by the Marina staff.  Don had arranged for a car service,

           FrankEaton

           EatonInternational Tours

           6274th Avenue

           ChulaVista, CA.  91910

                         (619)479-1536      

Totake us to Amtrak in San Diego for the ride up to Newport Beach where one ofhis staff would meet us to take us to our cars.  Due to the lateness ofthe day, we agreed to use the car service all the way to Newport, which workedout better all around.  Frank’s rates are reasonable if you compare themto the cost and hassle of taking your own car to Ensenada.  Plus the localPolicia, Federales and the US Border Patrol recognize Frank’s service.

TripSummary

Allin all, a wonderful trip.  The water and weather conditions wereperfect.  The boat ran great.  The people in Mexico were warm andfriendly.  We wish that we had more time.  Even when we ran out offuel, it was a learning experience and again we met some very nice peopleduring the process.  Our Captain, Don Ross/Heritage Yacht Sales is awell-qualified boat captain and just an all around nice guy.  Thepaperwork part of the process was a bit more complicated than I had envisionedbut Pedro of Coral Marina got us through it ok.

Make sure that you have all of your necessary papers,Passports, Insurance binder, Documentation/Registration and Bill of Sale/Proofof ownership.  In fact, we recommend the use of an attorney to assist andguide you through the 90 plus1day process to ensure that you take all of thesteps necessary to be in compliance with the tax laws.  We used;

           David Weil

           Weil & Associates

           Maritime Attorneys and Consultants

           249 East Ocean Blvd., Suite 801

           Long Beach, CA.  90802

                         (562) 432-8618      

Tight linesand keep the shiny side up…