Schumacher 52 - Sailing from San Francisco to Ensenada

In July I fell in love...with a big, red, beautiful sailboat. It was bigger than our dream cruising boat, newer than our dream cruising boat, more expensive than our dream cruising boat, but we couldn't resist and we bought her anyway. Currently she is named "California Girl" but we will change her name in the near future. Here is the promotional shot of CalGal:





As soon as we returned from South America (I'll post some shots of that most excellent trip later) we worked like crazy on the boat, got her ready for sailing offshore, and on Thursday August 30th at 8:00 p.m. headed out the Golden Gate for Ensenada Mexico with five sailor pals. It was a beautiful night, totally unlike most summer nights in San Francisco (meaning fog) and the full moon decided to accompany us on our journey.






The sky was clear most of the night but the marine layer filled in about 3:00 a.m. The first day was slightly overcast and cool, but not cold. Timo can drive in his sleep, and I think that's what he's doing while Judy enjoys her coffee.




Later on the wind filled in and blew the overcast away. We had this weather for the rest of our trip down the coast. It was a sailor's dream come true, steady winds, sun and flat seas.











I even made muffins in the morning!







One afternoon some dolphins decided to play in our bow wake. They swam along with us for about a half hour.




On Saturday we hoisted the spinnaker and really picked up speed. It was the first time that CalGal's carbon fiber spinnaker pole had ever been used! She drove like a dream downwind.

We have a hot and cold shower on the stern and Mike decided that outdoor showers are far superior to the indoor variety:




Saturday evening gifted us with a beautiful sunset.

On Sunday afternoon at 6:00 we approached Ensenada harbor and took this group shot to commemorate our fantastic trip down:





We pulled into Cruiseport Marina and guided CalGal into her new home.


Check out our neighbor, the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean! No kidding, this is the real thing!!





About two minutes after docking Judy brought out the blender and whipped up some Margaritas for us!







We enjoyed ourselves Sunday night because we knew the torture of Customs awaited us the next day.

Here is our route from San Francisco to Ensenada:


More on Ensenada later...