My trip to Ensenada, by the way, is not *merely* for the bottom work but
it's a trip I've been wanting to do for some time with a few of my
friends.

Alan, that was what I was doing myself when I was down there. My girl friend
(at the time, now my wife) and I made a late summer trip from Marina del
Rey, where I had the boat at the time, just a short ways down the peninsula.
We stopped at Ensenada for a few days on the way south. At the time, the
commercial docks hadn't been built, and there was a fish cannery where the
docks are now. There were no worthwhile public docks at the time, although
there was a ramshackle dock where we could tie up our dinghy. The smell from
the cannery, and the fish oil slick that the wind blew down through the
anchorage, had to be experienced to be believed.

We had a few idyllic days at the larger of the two anchorages at Todos
Santos, where we had the place completely to ourselves. After that we
stopped at Puerto Santo Tomas and Punta Cabras for a couple of days each.
About that time a tropical depression started brewing up down the peninsula,
and since it was well into August at the time we decided to head back North
instead of trying for Bahia San Quintin, which was about as far South as we
thought we had time for. Fierce headland-effect winds at both of those
spots, which are slightly protected from northwesterlies by the bluffs and
substantial kelp beds, but wide open to the South.

When I brought the boat up to Port Townsend a few years ago, I shipped it on
a Dockwise Yacht Transport ship, which loaded it in Ensenada and dropped it
off in Vancouver, BC. So I got another look at Ensenada after all these
years. There's a fine new marina, that some of the people there call the
"90-day yacht club" because of all the San Diego people who take delivery of
their boats there to save the state taxes. The wonderful old El Rey Sol
restaurant is still there, and just as good as it was in '77. Try it for
dinner.

Have a great trip, and tell us about it when you get back.

Regards,
Tom Dacon

Tom Dacon wrote:
My trip to Ensenada, by the way, is not *merely* for the bottom work but
it's a trip I've been wanting to do for some time with a few of my
friends.

Alan, that was what I was doing myself when I was down there. My girl friend
(at the time, now my wife) and I made a late summer trip from Marina del
Rey, where I had the boat at the time, just a short ways down the peninsula.
We stopped at Ensenada for a few days on the way south. At the time, the
commercial docks hadn't been built, and there was a fish cannery where the
docks are now. There were no worthwhile public docks at the time, although
there was a ramshackle dock where we could tie up our dinghy. The smell from
the cannery, and the fish oil slick that the wind blew down through the
anchorage, had to be experienced to be believed.

We had a few idyllic days at the larger of the two anchorages at Todos
Santos, where we had the place completely to ourselves. After that we
stopped at Puerto Santo Tomas and Punta Cabras for a couple of days each.
About that time a tropical depression started brewing up down the peninsula,
and since it was well into August at the time we decided to head back North
instead of trying for Bahia San Quintin, which was about as far South as we
thought we had time for. Fierce headland-effect winds at both of those
spots, which are slightly protected from northwesterlies by the bluffs and
substantial kelp beds, but wide open to the South.

When I brought the boat up to Port Townsend a few years ago, I shipped it on
a Dockwise Yacht Transport ship, which loaded it in Ensenada and dropped it
off in Vancouver, BC. So I got another look at Ensenada after all these
years. There's a fine new marina, that some of the people there call the
"90-day yacht club" because of all the San Diego people who take delivery of
their boats there to save the state taxes. The wonderful old El Rey Sol
restaurant is still there, and just as good as it was in '77. Try it for
dinner.

Have a great trip, and tell us about it when you get back.

Regards,
Tom Dacon





Very interesting stuff. Thanks, Tom.
--Alan