After many farewells, countdowns, some delays and false starts, and with the checklists growing arms and legs; we made the decision to leave American waters. Were we ready to migrate south to Ensenada? Had we accomplished everything that needed to be done? We had bought so many things that Flapdoodle was too low at the stern. Leticia hadn’t sorted her clothing. All the paperwork was not in perfect order. Everything that was tackled seemed to have a glitch and take a lot longer than anticipated. Running in circles was the norm, and at times seemingly going backwards was the main direction of force. Leticia was emotionally frazzled, and even Harry at times frustrated. Enough was enough! This show had to get on the road. We cast off from the docks Thursday morning March 4th, 2020 at 3am after just 4 hours sleep and headed south.
“A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for.” – John Augustus Shedd
Goodbye Koehler Kraft. 
Heading out into the bay. 
Leaving the bay. 
A tug pulling barges, something to stay clear of.
Once clear of the bay it was motoring all the way with a little bit of motor sailing when the when the wind was strong enough.
We crossed the “water” border wall at 5:40 am. The Mexican courtesy flag was hoisted. [As displayed in the featured image.] Whenever we ventured out of the cockpit, for safety we used tethers to attach ourselves to the boat.
On average we were off the coastline about 4 to 5 miles . Land could not always be seen because of the fog bank hugging the shore. En-route there were occasional groups of buildings and a tanker of some kind offloading.
There were a lot of sea birds sitting on the water in large flocks. Every so often a school of fish would happen by and there would be a flurry of activity from the birds. When the school had past they would return to resting on the water.
As we approached Ensenada a small pod of dolphins joined us to welcome us to Mexico. It was hard to photograph and seen as Leticia was not prepared to tether herself to the bow sprit, this was the best shot achieved.
As Ensenada appeared on the multi-functional display the boat was rocking and rolling because there was a following sea on the stern quarter. We lowered the sail and trusted our eyes and the box before us to navigate us into the port.
Cranes used to load containers. 
We followed this boat . 
In so many ways the trip that Leticia imagined to be a concern and point of stress and worry, was a welcome change. It was instead a time to release the pressure valve and wind down.
The yellow buildings are the ECV marina office block and bathrooms.
13 hours later we arrived at our destination – Ensenada Cruiseport Village [ECV] Marina. It was 4 pm, 69.3 nautical miles had been covered, and 7.5 gallons of deisel burned.
We checked in, had showers, ate some dinner and slept soundly knowing that we had reached another milestone in our adventure. The coming new day held more tasks to be completed and more circles to follow; but we had finally made it to Mexico, something we had threatened to do for what seemed like forever. And so the trials and tribulations, and joys and accomplishments of Flapdoodle continue on the other side of the border.
“DOLPHINS” welcoming you onward ….
Pretty darn great omen….
It felt special. It was the cherry on the top for the trip.
Fair winds and following seas you two!
Thanks. It is one little step further towards our goals.
Congratulations to you both. Be safe and happy sailing!!
Thank you. It is indeed our plan to stay safe.
You did it!!!!!
Congratulations on this step.
<3 <3 <3
Yep! I still feel in so many ways that this is all a part of a long dream.
How exciting! Well done to you both for getting there, it’s been quite a journey!
And it isn’t slowing down.. the adventure continues.
Fair Winds Leticia! Glad you first step was successful!
Thank you. Little steps. We are still so close to the bottom of a large learning curve.Looking on the positive side, we have come a long way.
You did it! Wow….wondering how much fuel Flapdoodle holds and how often you will need to refill?
Does Roger McAlpine know Kenneth McAlpine?
Flapdoodle has 106 gallons of diesel on board when full. We do about 9 miles per gallon. So we could do about 900 nautical miles on that. That would be from San Diego to Cabo. We have a big safety margin. Of course the ideal plan is to mostly sail and only power up when essential. Conditions for sailing are often light in the Sea of Cortez. It will be interesting to see how much motoring versus sailing is achieved. We hope that we don’t have to fill up the diesel too often. As for Roger and Kenneth knowing each-other, I don’t know? I met Roger and Carole in San Diego but now they live at The Isle of Wight, UK.
To answer Virginia’s question, as far as we know, we have not met a Kenneth McAlpine. I will have to check our DNA links through our Ancestry tree and see if there is a Kenneth there.