1/1/25-Wednesday-Day 26 “Ferry Day!”
We manage to successfully avoid all of the noise and festivities that typically comes with New Years Eve and each of us wakes rested and ready for what will surely be an interesting and exciting day! After breakfast we take down camp and begin making our way away from the beach and towards Puerto Pichilingue where we will be boarding the TMC ferry bound for Mazatlán on mainland Mexico.
We arrive at the port plenty early enough to allow for any potential hang-ups or mishaps with paperwork or ticketing. Thankfully everyone in our group obtained their Temporary Import Permit (TIP) when crossing the boarder in Mexicali so that is one less step to address today! Upon entering the port we go through a simple customs inspection that takes about five minutes before being directed to a scale house where our truck is weighed and measured for length. At the scale one worker collects a port tax of $190 mx (about $10 us) while another asks my age and the year of our truck before handing over a slip of paper which will determine our ticket price. We backtrack through the port a bit to the TMC ferries ticket office where our friends are already in the process of purchasing their tickets.
When we all made our reservations nearly two weeks ago we were not given a price for the trip, but instead shown an estimated pricing schedule which seems to be based on what the port employees determine your vehicle to be, whether it is a pick-up, motorhome, commercial vehicle, etc.. Seeing as our truck has been re-titled and registered as a motorhome since mounting our camper over two years ago we fully expect to pay the motorhome rate of $17,200 mx (about $860 us) plus a passenger ticket for Heather. Imagine our surprise when we leave the ticket office having paid just $8,300 mx (about $415 us). With our ferry ticket along with two meal tickets for each of us in hand we again make our way through the port and stage our truck along the dock next to the San Jorge, which will carry us across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlán!
We wait at the dock alongside commercial trucks and other travelers for close to three hours before the ship begins to load and it is nearly 5pm before we are directed onto the ferry. Once on the ship it becomes apparent just how tightly the vehicles are packed onto the deck, something we’ve been conscious of since making our reservations, but we fortunately have just enough room to open our camper door and set up our step ladder for entry. The trucks are parked so closely together that we all have to crawl underneath of the semi trailers just to access other areas of the ship. We make our way to the upper deck to enjoy one last sunset over the Baja Peninsula as the port workers prepare the ship for disembarkation.
Once under way we head down to the galley to see what our options are for dinner. The evening meal is turkey (I think it was anyways!) with a brown gravy, rice, beans, and fresh corn tortillas. Honestly the meal was better than either of us expected, especially the gravy! Back down in the camper all is well until the ship is clear of the harbor and begins to gain speed. As soon as we approach cruising speed the ship begins slowly rocking side to side in the waves which immediately sends the sweet baby Duke into a panic. It’s starting to look like we might be in for a long night…
Adam Olterman
You can read more on our travels here!
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