We spent an incredible 14 days in Ensenada, immersing ourselves in the offerings of the town. We enjoyed bike rides, beach views, explored the bustling streets, visited various plazas and markets, a craft beer taproom (which is hard to come by in Mexico) and even managed to fit in three museum excursions. The marina where we stayed hosted a lively Halloween potluck, providing us with the chance to connect with fellow sailors and engage with the liveaboard community. It was a wonderful evening filled with shared stories. We opted to book a slip at the Cruiseport marina for an entire month since it was more cost-effective than a few days, allowing us the flexibility to monitor the weather and choose the ideal window for our upcoming sail to Turtle Bay, which was to be our next destination along the coast.

To ensure a smooth departure from Ensenada, procedure is to notify the Port Capitán of your intentions, which requires a lead time of two to three days. This timeframe allowed us to double-check that all necessary paperwork was in order, ensuring a seamless transition into the next stage of our journey.

We spent a couple of days stocking the fridge and filling the water tanks in preparation for our upcoming passage. Using two five-gallon jugs and a wheelbarrow, we transported water from the dispenser at the top of the dock (our tanks hold 208 gallons), which turned out to be good functional exercise.

On October 28th, after receiving our stamped crew list from the Secretaria de Marina and the Gobjerno de Mexico, we followed further protocol by radioing the Port Capitán for port clearance out of Ensenada, untied the lines, and at 8:45 on a beautiful sunny morning, we set off on our next passage, having traveled 1625 nautical miles since our departure from Vancouver on August 18th.

We motored away from Ensenada, through All Saints Bay and out into the open sea. As we navigated around Punta Banda and past La Bufadora, we raised the head sail, switched off the engine, and sailed downwind for the rest of the day and evening.

It felt great to leave the dock fully stocked, knowing we might be at sea for a couple of weeks. We were still undecided about whether to hop from harbor to harbor along the coast or venture offshore straight to Cabo.. it will all depend on the wind and sea conditions 💨🌊⛵️

Despite the sea tossing us from side to side, we enjoyed a great sail and made excellent progress on the first day of our three-day journey. We encountered seas up to nine feet, wind speeds over 27 knots, and managed to break only one of six sheet attachments on the forward sail – yay! Achieving our second-best day for distance by covering 137.5 nautical miles in 24 hours, with 163 nautical miles being our best day this trip.

On the third morning, having unexpectedly veered from our original course by about six hours, we decided to anchor off Isla de Cedros instead of continuing to Turtle Bay as planned. We dropped anchor at 9:30 on October 30th, where we would stay for the next two days.