Avalon to Ensenada October
30, 2016
A cruise ship arrived last night
and is anchored outside the harbor.
We
are leaving Avalon this morning for an overnighter to Ensenada. The wind is light and there are some sprinkles. Most of the inclimate weather is behind us to
the north.
There is a lot more naval
activity in this area. We see multiple
vessels and aircraft performing maneuvers. There is a relatively small aircraft carrier
with harrier jets taking off and landing.
As night comes there is light traffic. The only real worry is a Mexican fishing
vessel that is on the radar but only visible by the dim port navigation light
as it passes a half mile off the port
side. Bioluminescence is visible from
the prop and also from dolphins as they swim up to the boat and away.
October 31, 2016
Jose in the office at Baja Naval helps us
fill out and organize our forms for immigration. Immigration is a bit of a walk, but not as
far as it would be from the other marinas in Ensenada. The immigration process is long and tedious,
but thankfully most of where you need to go is located in one small
building. First you bring documents and
copies of documents to immigration and fill out the FMM form. Next you get in line at the bank to pay
immigration fees ($44.00 US cash only), and then go back to immigration to have
your documents and passports stamped.
At this point you need to take a number for the harbor master. After a couple hours there was some
noticeable movement in the line. The
harbor master stamps your forms again and then you go back to the bank to pay a
fee ($15.00 US cash only). Back to the
harbor master and then back to the bank to pay for the temporary import permit
which allows you to bring your boat engine into the country. The TIP is good for ten years, but if you
don’t cancel it when you sell the boat, then the next owner will not be able to
bring the boat back into Mexico. The
cost of the TIP is $60.00 dollars US, cash.
This time we did not have to give the bank a copy of our passport as we
did with the other two payments. The
bank actually issues the TIP, but you need to stop at the customs office to
process that information. Because there
are forms to file before leaving BC, Baja California, as well, we did that
paperwork too. It is such a feeling of
relief when it is all complete. Words of
advice for this process: expect to wait, bring cash. Also have originals and
many copies of passports, boat documentation, boat insurance, and your engine
serial number for the TIP. On the walk
back to the marina we stopped at a fishing store and purchased two fishing
permits, $40.00 dollars each for 12 months.
This is one of the requirements for having fishing supplies on the boat.
November 1, 2016
The one issue we would like to
resolve before departing Ensenada is our communication system. It has taken a couple calls to IRIDIUM to
get the SAT phone to work. We would like
to set up our Email through the SAT phone as well, since the single side band
radio has been so unreliable ever since the rigging was updated.
We did hike into town and find a
familiar grocery, so we were able to stock up on a few supplies. We have to remind ourselves to buy only what
we can carry. There are probably many
more groceries than we realize, but our Spanish is very limited. We need to work on minimizing our language
barrier. I think the prices are less
than in the states. Roughly I would day
there are 90 pesos to 5 dollars.
November 2, 2016, Day
of the Dead
A working knowledge of Spanish
would have really come in handy today.
First thing this morning, we headed for Coral Marina where there is a
fuel dock. The price was under 3 dollars per gallon which beats the last price
we saw in the U.S.
Our other adventure was getting
cell phone service from Mexico. It turned
out neither of our phones would accept a different SIM card so we purchased a
new phone. After the phone purchase when
went to an OXXO store which is like a corner convenience store, to purchase the
plan.
In the evening we walked around
the waterfront and were treated to a fountain and light display.
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