After stopping for 2 nights in Catalina Island, we arrived in San Diego and anchored in the special anchorage near the airport after obtaining permission from the San Diego Police.
Every night we enjoyed the spectacular view of the city skyline. Our proximity to the city was ideal even though some of the public docks were a little sketchy with homeless people, some of them living on the docks and others in run down boats. The anchorage allowed us to reach all areas of San Diego that had a dock for our dinghy!
A Visit from Robbie and Jade
The highlight of our trip in San Diego was when our son Robbie, and Jade came to visit us. We also had great reason to celebrate since they became engaged in Kiahwah, SC a few days before. We loved spending the few days we had with them going around the city. We are so happy for them and were grateful for their visit.
Around San Diego
San Diego has a very nice feel to it. The mild, mostly beautiful weather, the free spirited people, and the views of the water, flowers, and palm trees were welcoming. We found a great fish market on Shelter Island where we went to have lunch and buy fresh fish to take back to the boat to cook. It was an enjoyable 4 weeks for us to prepare for the trip south.
Around the city, we loved walking on the endless paths along the water. We visited the aircraft carrier Midway, the San Diego Museum of Art in lovely Balboa Park, the Italian section on India Street, Shelter Island, and Coronado Island.
San Diego is also home to The Pacific Fleet Surface Navy with 56 U.S. Navy ships and two auxiliary support ships. The the Third Fleet’s area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering Sea, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and a sector of the Arctic.
S/Y Gemma II
We also had the pleasure of meeting one of Giorgio’s old friends, Aldo Schomachen, who had sailed with Giorgio and his mother Lella in the 70s. Aldo’s father Franco and uncle Ernesto had actually crossed the Atlantic Ocean with Lella in their boat, Gemma II. Today, Gemma II is maintained and cared for by Aldo and his wife Pucci, and is moored at the San Diego Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States. We also had a wonderful lunch at the Yacht Club with them.
Coronado Island
Our projects for the boat were minimal. We had a rigger climb the mast to check our rig, and an electrician aboard to adjust the Mastervolt charger for our new stern thruster batteries. North Sails also had to repair the Blue Water Runner which had unfortunately torn on our trip from San Francisco.
We had entered the Baha Haha Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, but when the day of departure arrived we let the 100 boats go on ahead since there was no wind. Also we felt our battery bank was not working well so we made a reservation at the dock so that we could charge the batteries to 100%.
Our experience obtaining the necessary documents to enter Mexico were fruitless (we tried 3 times), and we eventually had to hire a Mexican company to help us. With their help, we had everything we needed in a matter of a couple of days!
And so we headed south to Mexico with light winds, accompanied by our feathered friends, to reach the Baha Haha group.
The Adventures of SV JAN 