The Harbor Column -- Mike Whitehead

Ahoy.

In my last column, I told you about delivering a 40-foot power yacht

from Newport Beach to Ventura Harbor in building seas, and that I would

let you know in this column about my next recent voyage south to Mexico

with a border update.

I mentioned that heading south is usually a downhill run going with

the wind and seas, however Mother Nature decided to change her mind that

day. You might remember the Nor-Easter Santana winds blowing last week in

the Southland -- well the next day when the winds were to subside, we

departed Newport Harbor aboard a 53-foot power yacht at 4:30 in the

morning with an estimated arrival of noon at the Hotel Coral Marina in

Ensenada, Mexico.

Normally, there is coastal fog and zero wind that early, but we had a

breeze blowing, which cleared out the marine layer.

The 3-foot seas were barely noticeable in this size of yacht, even

though the swell was a mixed set coming mainly from the southwest.

So much for the downhill run, as the winds began kicking up to a

Sou-Wester.

As the sun rose we could see a picture-perfect day with excellent

visibility, and we were able to catch a distant glance of a few Navy

ships we were tracking on radar.

The winds blew hard until we were about 10 nautical miles into Mexican

waters, and then it became flat calm.

The remaining voyage was smooth, allowing a nice time for breakfast

and an increase in speed, which decreased our estimated arrival time.

However, as I mentioned, Mother Nature can be feisty and the winds

started to blow as we neared Bahia De Todos Santos.

The hotel’s slips are dual slips with two boats in each slips and a

surge that rocks the boats. We knew from past experiences at this marina

that the strong winds will make docking a challenge, especially in a boat

we stepped aboard only hours earlier.

As we backed the yacht into the slip, the hotel had sent down a few

extra staff to assist with the lines and we slid the boat into its new

home. We handed the owners the keys at 11:30 a.m., a half hour early.

Now, time to run for the border and the dreaded border crossing in the

wake of national security.

After a wild cab ride from the hotel to the cab station, we had a

short walk to the border. If you have ever walked over, you know that you

go up over a walkway and then dodge your way across traffic to the enter

the border station. But as we descended on the walkway, we could see the

long line of people extending out of sight.

In typical Mexican style, the normal path across the traffic was

blocked off with no signs where to cross. So, in typical style, we

crossed there with everyone else, fighting our way against traffic to

find the new opening in the barriers. We finally found the end of the

line doubling back down toward the border. I felt sorry for the sole

Mexican officer trying to keep everyone in order and alleviate tensions.

I thought at least three hours, as my last crossing was just over two

hours with a much shorter line. The line moved a good distance and

stopped, then moved and stopped and in all fairness moved quickly. I was

amazed how fast the newly hired private security guards were moving the

crowd through the metal detectors and toward the final immigration

booths.

All in all, we were back in the United States, hopping aboard San

Diego’s trolley for a relaxing ride to the train station in less than two

hours.

Looks like the newly hired private security agency and the border

patrol have improved the crossing, not quite yet back to prewar days, but

reasonable.

Still, I saw people now riding bicycles across in a special vehicle

lane with no wait -- that leaves me to wonder about the difference in

security.

***

Tip of the week: Do you know you can read the actual ocean conditions

on the Internet from numerous weather buoys floating out in the ocean?

There are a few different sites and different formats of the buoy’s

information that post hourly, such as wave height, wave direction, wave

periods, wind speed and direction, wind gusts, water and air temperature.

There are graphs of the past few days that help you predict if the

conditions are increasing or decreasing, plus you can look back to see

what the conditions were when you were there.

The buoy information is being used for wave modeling forecasts, and I

use the buoys daily to track the conditions.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has many links to

the buoys as well as Scripps Institute, and my favorite is o7

www.nwsla.noaa.gov/buoy.htmlf7 . Give it a try, and let me know if you

have a favorite Web site for sea conditions. Safe Voyages

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send him

your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions via e-mail

to o7 [email protected] or o7 https://www.BoathouseTV.comf7 .