Mexican entrance

Our beloved Ruckus tow boat

sailing under the Coronado Bridge

Full of desire and excitement to continue the sailing adventure we began in August 2010, we motored through San Diego harbor under sunny skies and calm seas. As we approached the Mexican border, several fast Navy boats were passing us with 8 to 10 crew aboard. They were hovering at different positions along the border area along with a USCG helicopter just sitting in the air at 5 miles off the shoreline.  No sign of winds to sail with as darkness fell on us and partial cloudiness occasionally covered the 33% moon. When the clouds did clear we had a magnificent view of the millions of stars above. Awesome. We under estimated the southerly currents, which carried us down the coastline faster than expected and arrived outside the entrance to Bahia Todos Santos at 2 AM. The wind was starting to blow from the NW, so we set the sails and sailed west out away from the fishing boats plying the waters at the mouth of the bay. The water was teaming with silvery fish and dolphins were jumping among the fish carrying a phosphorescence trail. Awesome sight and sail. around 4 AM we turned around and headed back to shore with the wind speed decreasing as we approached the entrance of the bay. Ten minutes after starting the engine and pulling in the sails, the engine died. Rick worked for 2 hours assessing the cause while I sailed in light air with only the Genoa drawing us closer to the bay entrance. After blowing on fuel lines, changing filters, lines, clamps etc he determined there was a blockage in the lines coming directly from the tank and he couldn't clear it. By then he was feeling very seasick. In the cockpit he felt better and decided that we would sail close to Ensenada harbor entrance and call for a tow. Just then the winds changed to SW and picked up to 8 knots, perfect for a sail into the bay. Luck was on our side. When he was well enough to take the helm, I wrote out the entire dialogue I would need to talk with the harbor Captitania. At 3 miles from the entrance, I called in and after the Capitania suffered with 2 sentences of my horrible Spanish pronunciation, he offered to speak in English. Lucky again. He arranged for a towing company, Baha Tow, with boat named Ruckus and an English speaking captain called Bernardo. Soon we were tied up at Cruiseport marina and I love Bernardo now. Few people receive such a celebrated escort into their first international port. Everyone in the harbor now knows us as the boat who was towed in and had listened to all the radio dialogue to arrange it.