We could only stay at the Police Docks in San Diego (USA) for a maximum of 10 days every 45 days. After our 10 days, we moved to a free anchorage, available on weekends only, and made a reservation 24 hours in advance as required.
Then we moved to an anchorage at Glorietta Bay at Coronado (about an hour away) for another 3 days, available only during weekdays, and also requiring a reservation 24 hours in advance.
After that, back to our original anchorage for our last 3 allowed days. Quite a hopscotch routine! If you wish to remain longer in San Diego, you must move to rolly waters that have a longer stay-period. PS You can´t buy any boat parts in Coronado.
And leaving the United States, well you can't just go to the Customs Dock as you do when checking in. You have to go downtown to check out, quite a distance away, and then must leave the US within 48 hours. Will sure be glad to get to Mexico, away from all the regulations!
We've spent the last several days doing the last boat stuff, where everything is easily available, before our next stop in Mexico. Jordan has attached dinghy wheels for all the upcoming beach landings. And he removed the boat propeller and had it re-pitched as the RPMs were too high for the speed of
Sea Turtle. The test run after reattachment indicated a faster speed with lower RPMs so the re-pitching was a successful manoeuvre. Next big job is to try to find a spinnaker pole so we can fly our colourful spinnaker sail in light winds.
We have also spent several days with family and friends who have been in the area and came for a visit. Here's our smallest and cutest visitor so far...
Abbey, Jordan's sister and brother-in-law's dog
As far as tourist things, one day we visited the
USS Midway, a recently decommissioned aircraft carrier of 1927. It used 260 gallons of fuel per mile and 10 tons of food per day. Jordan especially really enjoyed going through it and seeing the engine room...a guy thing...
Communications room - big change from nowadays!
Another day, we toured the non-profit
San Diego Wild Animal Park. The Park was not originally intended to have public access but it was later opened to the public as more funds were required to keep it in operation. It's dedicated to protecting and preserving wildlife and habitats.
The Park breeds endangered species as most animals will not breed in zoos and require a natural setting, which the Park provides. It also provides a home to animals that have nowhere else to go, such as the African elephants that were to be slaughtered in Swaziland and 2 injured condors that will later be released from the Park.
We spent 5-6 hours walking all around the 1,800 acre Park and were able to get very close to several of the 3,500 rare and exotic animals. Our photos show only a few of them - check our Photo Gallery in the
Past San Francisco album at the end of the set - and I identified all that I could remember.
In the evening, we watched a toe-nail clipping of the moon setting until it was sitting on the horizon - just like a happy smile!