America's Cup World Series - San Diego

AC Fleet in San Diego / ORACLE Racing (Coutts)

On my way back from Ensenada, I stopped at the America’s Cup Village in San Diego.  There was no racing on Monday or Tuesday, but that allowed me to get a up close view of the AC45’s and to be a tourist in the village. 

Aleph - France

Emirates Team New Zealand

A fun tourist activity is a 5 minute video of what its like to sail on an AC45.  Viewers sit on catamaran trapeze seats and when the action starts high power fans and splashes of water add a bit of realism to the video.

AC45 tourist video ... it was wet!

AC World Series racing has been very competitive and the two previous days of warm up races saw 6 of the 9 teams winning races.

Day 1 Racing

Today was the first day of the World Series and with a new skipper, French team Energy won the top spot and along with Emirates Team New Zealand and ORACLE Racing Spithill, they are seeded in the match racing semi finals.

GreenComm Racing - Spain

ORACLE Racing (Spithill)

Kathryn and I have been following the America’s Cup races on TV.  Racing the AC45’s looks crazy difficult.  A boat can be well ahead of the fleet and lose their position pretty quickly as mistakes are made or conditions change.  It is a good thing they have two years to practice before the main event in September 2013.

Wine Tasting in Mexico?

Guadalupe Valley

Kathryn attended a meeting in Albuquerque last weekend so I headed down to Ensenada to spend some time on Agave Azul.  After completing boat chores on Sunday morning, our slip neighbor, Bill and his wife Sandy and I went off in search of wine tasting in the Guadalupe Valley.  Kathryn and I enjoyed an excellent bottle of local wine, Monte Xanic, at a restaurant on our last trip so I was excited to visit the wine region.  Guadalupe Valley is just a few miles up the road from Ensenada and a complete drive through the region takes just a few hours.  

Wine tasting in Mexico is a bit of an adventure.  Although there are signs to La Ruta Del Vino there were few signs to individual wineries.  So we started at the easiest to find & largest winery in the region, L.A. Cetto.  We tasted some good wines, bought a few bottles and we got a wine area map that helped us find other wineries.  

We drove down some flooded dirt roads (big storm on Saturday) in search of a recommended winery, but couldn’t find it.  Bill speaks Spanish so he stopped to ask a winery worker for directions.  The winery worker turned out to be a plastic surgeon who owns his own winery.  His winery tour appointment was a no-show so we stopped to taste his Vinedos Lafarga wines.  He told us about the history of wine growing in the valley and how his family got started in the winemaking business.  His passion for winemaking made it a great visit.

Dr. Lafarga 

Vinedos Lafarga Vineyard

The big find was Adobe Guadalupe, a winery recommended by a local sailor who raced in the San Diego to Ensenada race.  The region has conditions similar to those in southern France so Bordeaux blends and Rhone varietals are popular.  The Adobe Guadalupe wines were excellent.  Mexico is definitely on its way to becoming a top wine producer.  

Adobe Guadalupe Winery

It's a comfortable B&B, too

Tasting Room

Islas de Todos Santos Race

We were anxious to get back sailing on Agave Azul.  We drove from San Francisco to Ensenada since we had a bunch of gear to put aboard and we wanted a convenient way to visit the local sites and stores around Ensenada.  It was a quick trip, including a side trip to pick up boat shoes for Kathryn at West Marine in San Diego.  The San Diego store is huge - it must be their flagship store.  I planned to come back for a longer window-shopping trip on the way home.

West Marine in San Diego

Sale today - boat shoes for $18.00!

On the drive to Ensenada

Islas de Todos Santos in the background

Welcome to Ensenada

Coral Marina

VI Regata Internacional Todos Santos
Our visit coincided with a local sailing race around Islas de Todos Santos, 8 miles off Ensenada.  We decided to enter to see how Agave Azul would do.  

23 boats entered the 6th annual race; half were from Ensenada and the other half were participants in the San Diego to Ensenada Race that ended the previous day.  The winds started light at 5 – 10 knots, but picked up and held steady at 15 – 20 knots.  It was the fastest Todos Santos race to date.  The course was a beat out, a short downwind leg passing the islands and a beam reach back.


Our start was OK, but our shakedown sail from San Francisco was all down wind, so it took a while to figure out how to make the boat go fast upwind.  When we got our trim sorted out we were able to point 10 degrees higher and started passing a few boats.  

Kathryn at the helm

Tango - 5th place

Sly McFly - 3rd place

Mad Hatter  - 4th place

North island light

Good crew work on Sly McFly ...

They broached a few times, but kept the chute up all the way to the finish

When we rounded the islands I went forward to put up the chute.  I tried something new setting the spinnaker, which didn’t work, and by the time we were ready to gybe back to Ensenada, it was time to douse the chute.  It was probably a good idea, since the final leg had the most wind.  Flying the chute doublehanded with 20 knots on the beam would have been a bit edgy.  Many of the boats that rounded the islands with their spinnakers soon took them down.  We’ll wait until we have more experience sailing Agave Azul.


We had a lot of fun out there and Agave Azul handled herself well.  When we saw the prize list at the awards dinner, we were really hoping for 5th place – dinner for 2 at Sanos, one of the top local restaurants.  We were 5th to cross the line, but we correct out to 7th place, 1 minute 24 seconds behind Tango.  Oh well, next time!


Single Side Band Radio Seminar
We drove back up to San Diego for a pair of seminars to learn more about our SSB radio and using SailMail email and weather download software.  We learned a lot, but still need more hands-on time to get the most out of our system.  Kathryn went back to San Francisco to work and I headed back down to Ensenada to do boat projects.


Driving in Tijuana!
On my return trip to San Diego I learned about the rumored shakedowns by the Tijuana police.  It was a quiet traffic morning and I was driving carefully to be sure I made all the correct turns on my way through Tijuana.  About a mile from the border I was pulled over by a motorcycle policeman.  He explained that I had been speeding and asked me 3 times if I had ever had a ticket in Mexico.  When I said no he explained that I would have to go to the police station in Tijuana to pay the fine.  I asked if I could pay with a check or credit card or by mail, but nope – cash only.  The fine was $140 US – I checked my wallet and only had $60 cash.  OK, can we stop at an ATM first?  The answer was no, I had to see a judge and complete a form to pay by mail … or … I could give the officer the $60 in my wallet right now to pay for the ticket - just fold the bills between your registration please and hand it to me!  Let’s see – I can miss my flight back to San Francisco or pay the half the fine in cash right now.  It seems there is only one thing to do.


Did I break the traffic laws in Ensenada?  Probably, but I’ll be sure to drive even more conservatively the next time!

Marina Coral – Ensenada, Mexico

Our brief time at Marina Coral has been great ... the facilities are top notch, all the staff are very friendly and helpful and we have already met many of our neighbors.  Today we're taking a tour of Ensenada with a couple from Washington and one of the long term residents is giving us a ride to San Diego in a few days.  


Today is Mexico's Independence Day and the marina residents are celebrating with a BBQ this afternoon.  We're looking forward to meeting more of our neighbors.

Agave Azul in our new slip at Marina Coral

Rules are Rules ... 

We topped off our tanks and went for a daysail on Bahia de Todos Santos with neighbors from the marina, also from San Francisco ... Mike on the helm.

Mike & Lynda

We're excited to be in Mexico.

Shakedown: San Francisco to Ensenada

We had an excellent trip to Ensenada.  Our intrepid crew showed up at oh-dark-thirty on Monday morning.  Warm pumpkin bread was provided by one of our neighbors and we passed under the Bay Bridge by 0830.

Robin, Peter & Phil

Mark catching up on some sleep

Hmmm ... how do we get to Ensenada?

Our plan was to sail an offshore non-stop course to Ensenada.  Mark and I set some rough waypoints the night before we left to help us follow a shortest distance, south to south easterly route in international waters.

San Francisco to Point San Luis

Point San Luis to San Clemente Island

San Clemente Island to Ensenada

Last look at San Francisco

Very excited to finally be leaving for Mexico

Yeah, I posed for for this pic

We had a good omen to start the trip – just outside the Gate I had my first ever whale sighting!  The seas were calm so we cut the corner around Mile Rock and motored over the bar on our way past the 3-mile limit. 

The wind picked up as soon as we headed south.  Neptune was very good to us as we had 3 straight days of 15 to 25 knot NW winds with manageable waves and swell ... Neptune obviously liked the good tequila we used to christen Agave Azul.  

Peter at the helm ...

Yes, we did use the BBQ

Creative daytime sleeping arrangements

What's that noise in the steering?

Mark trying to coax a bit more speed from Agave Azul 

as he surfed well offshore of Monterey Bay.

We motor sailed a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday morning to charge our batteries, but it was good sailing weather all the way to south of San Clemente Island.  We sailed about 60 - 70% of the time, about half with main & jib and half with main and chute.

Dan enjoying his time on the helm

Our first Dolphin show

Dolphins visited us several times, at all hours of the day and night and it was a great show every time.  We loved it and they seemed to have a great time, too.  As we neared Ensenada Thursday morning, we sailed with a very large pod of boisterous dolphins, many of them leaping completely out of the water.

I doubt we will ever get bored watching these amazing mammals

The trip around Point Conception was easy, 20 - 25 knots with 6' swells.  Those conditions held for most of the trip.  It was mellow enough to use the BBQ.  

Off Point Conception

Phil working hard trimming the chute

We had an interesting call on VHF late Wednesday afternoon.  Navy helicopter "Navy P3" call to inquire about our intentions.  We gave them our destination and course and they asked us to alter course either out to sea (225º M) or north of San Clemente Island (42º M).  We chose the northern route for about a 25 mile detour.  They were very courteous and appreciative of our cooperation, although I wonder what would have happened if we didn't alter  course!?  After the sun set we were treated to a very cool pyrotechnic display as the military lit up the northern tip of the island with extremely bright parachute flares.  As we rounded the tip of the island and resumed our course south, we heard the rumble of a very large vessel approach in the dark.  "This is Warship 102 -- what are your intentions"?  We repeated our destination and course and they said OK, but to be cautious since "we will be doing some very rapid maneuvers in the dark."  That kept us all very alert for the next few hours.

Our crew was amazing!  A big thank you to Peter Leib, Dan Lockwood, Phil MacFarlane and my son Mark Weber.  Our experienced crew shared their knowledge and insights giving us an added margin of safety and confidence.  Without exception they all had a great attitude, good humor and did whatever was necessary to make our journey safe and fun.

And a big thank you to Agave Azul.  In what would have been challenging conditions for previous sailboat Agave, Agave Azul was comfortable and stable.  When we were flying the chute, she started to round up, but with a firm push down on the helm, she held position and stayed down.  The electronics worked well to keep us informed, and we even figured out how to use the SSB radio and SailMail for email and weather reports.

Robin, Dan, Peter & Mark

Peter, Mark & Phil

Peter & Mark

Hmmm ... where is that Marina?

Robin & Peter

Approaching Marina Coral

Narrow, but deep marina entrance

Kathryn relaxing the day after our arrival

After a very busy 8 weeks of commissioning and wondering what the trip would be like, the whole experience surpassed Kathryn's and my expectations.  We are very excited to have completed this phase of our adventure and we're looking forward to more.