As I entered the breakwater to Marina Coral on Friday 9 November my outboard motor started making a loud grinding noise. I motored for another minute before it quit, and was able to glide into my assigned slip. A mechanic looked at it later that day and confirmed that it was now an anchor. Since then I’ve learned that it takes one day to drive to San Diego and buy a new outboard, and one week to complete the paperwork required to import it into Mexico. In my case it also involved driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic towards the border crossing, once at the direction of a Customs officer and once at the direction of some car window washers who rode on the bumper of my rental car and moved a concrete barrier so I could take a shortcut which saved me 3 hours of waiting at the border. I bought full insurance on the rental car and thought I might as well put it to good use.
The queue at the border is horrendous because of the additional security to protect us from the women and children in the migrant caravan from Central America. When I was at Customs, every few minutes there would be a rumor that the caravan was approaching and everyone would run outside to see it.
On the way back to Ensenada navigation wasn’t working on my phone and I got really lost in Tijuana. It was like Mad Max or East Oakland out there. I decided it was safer to drive through stop signs and red lights than to stop. Apparently everyone else thought the same thing. The full insurance on the rental car turned out to be a real bargain.
My new outboard is installed and I’m ready to sail South. I love Ensenada and I’ve had a wonderful time here. I’ve met so many people and everyone is incredibly friendly. The marina is very quiet and peaceful. The weather has been beautiful. But it is time to go. I will restock my provisions tomorrow and take care of a few other things, then when everything feels right I will say goodbye to my friends and sail away.