Trailering through California

We left Capitola on Monday the 17th at 7 AM only to realize in Watsonville that Patrick left some paperwork in the storage unit. So we turned around and headed back.

After regrouping we hit the road again at 8:30. Destination: Calexico. Everything went smoothly. The trailer was working fine and the brakes were activating on the trailer when requested. The drive was pretty un eventful, and the truck handled all the hills with aplomb! The drive through the valley was beautiful with all the almonds and peaches in full bloom!

We ran out of daylight in Palm Springs and spent the night in the WalMart parking lot. It was fun to be camping in the boat again!

The next morning we noticed the front trailer axle had shifted a little bit to starboard. But since everything was fine the day before we decided to continue. However, our first stop we noticed the brakes were sizzling hot. Clearly they were stuck on. So we stopped in Calexico, just a mile or two from the border to investigate. Not sure exactly what has happened, but the brakes keep getting stuck on. Maybe the old brake actuator has given it up. So we decided that with only 120 miles to San Felipe and our destination we will disengage the brakes and try our luck. There are no hills to go over so we are fairly confident it will work.  We also bought a spare tire to have on the roads in Mexico. With additional paperwork Patrick needed to copy, we did not finish our errands until 2 pm. Too late to cross the border and make it to San Felipe before dusk. So we headed to a Starbucks and worked on some other internet chores. We ate at an Olive Garden and both had big cesar salads, the last fresh veggies for a while! We then headed to the local Walmart only to find that they don't allow overnight camping there! WTF? So we found a lot at the Holiday inn and parked there for the night.

We got up and after a quick trip to Starbucks hit the road at 8 AM. Baja bound! Crossing to the border was easy, but the paperwork was not. Our first stop was at immigration. David took the passports and got our tourist cards secured. Meanwhile the customs guy wanted to inspect the truck and boat, so Patrick allowed him to do a cursory inspection. It took a while, but David found out that we had crossed at the wrong crossing to get our Temporary Import Permits. So we drove along the border east to the other crossing area.

 After a long wait to talk to the right person, we had to maneuver our truck and trailer through a maze of cones and narrow passages to arrive at the inspection area. Finally after a cursory inspection we had completed our paperwork, but it was noon already!

We pushed on to San Felipe and the drive was a breeze. The highway was in such good shape, better than I-5 in California! The drive was beautiful and desolate, but only about 2.5 hours. Upon arrival at San Felipe we investigated the boat launch and registered for our slip in the tiny marina. By then it was 3 and the race was on to raise the mast and get the boat launched before dusk. So we worked hard and fast and managed to launch with no real hitches! Check out the video!

 After working hard, we worked up a thirst and an appetite. So we headed into town and sat ourselves at a bar and ordered Micheladas and fish tacos! Yum! Sleep came quickly and we headed for an early night on the boat, happy to retreat to a lively, gently rocking boat!

Here's a shot of the marina the next morning.