The Baja Ha Ha 2008!

The Baja Ha Ha (a 760 mile sailboat regatta from San Diego, CA to Cabo San Lucas) 2008 began for Jesse and I with the arrival of friends from Northern California. We moved to San Diego from the Alameda, CA in July '08 so it was great to see everybody from up North again. For Jesse and I the Ha Ha was going to just be a great send off for our friends doing the race but little did we know that there were some surprises in store for us.

Here are some of our guests, Kat and Jay Watt at the Brigantine, a local restaurant on Shelter Island. Kat, obviously an accomplished lime squeezer, was just who Jay and his giant bucket of beer needed.

The night before the Ha Ha's famous West Marine festivities we enjoyed a fantastic party aboard Pat Garfield's Morning Star, a 70+ foot Stephens power yacht. We had most of the Farallone family there including many who bought their boats from Farallone as Jesse and I did. Thanks so much for the great party, and the pomegranate martinis, Patty. At the party it became widely known that our friends, Judy and Michael Stouffer, would not be going on the Ha Ha due to health concern (everything turned out alright). They had been planning to go aboard Suebee with some other friends Scott and Sue Radar. Scott and Sue were worried they could not go and wanted to be with folks they knew for such a long trip. I stepped in as I thought it would be a shame not to go at that point. Jesse was great about taking over at the Farallone office while I was gone and told me to have fun. Cheers and thanks! This set the scramble in motion! There was packing, planning, and last minute running! I wasn't ready until about an hour into the West Marine party, hosted by Mick Fritzching (manager of the Rosecrans West Marine). By the way, it was a great party my friend! My pirate hat is off to you and the entire West Marine staff.

The photo below is courtesy of Richard Frankhuizen was taken at the kickoff party. YAY, I love winning stuff!

The motley crew from Farallone. Is Eric who took this? Check it out Gilligan got off the island!
(Photo courtesy Purpleteeleaf)

The flight of the Bumble Bee, go Scott and Sue! Yes, yes I have the evidence. Check out those bees knees.

Where have you been? My response, packing!
Hi Shanna! Oh crap, she's holding a camera.

Nice tushies, Doug, Carla, and Crit of Moondance! We hear the waxing was painful!
Eager Dreamer was crewed by a nun and 2 Blues Brothers A.K.A Rosie, John, and Rick. (Many of the Ha Ha participants dressed in costume for the start of the race).Underway at last! It was an 11 am start for the Ha Ha '08. It was great fun to play with the genneker (the colorful fore sail for the novices reading this).

Patty brought Morning Star out so she and the crew (Jesse, Mimi, and Mark) could see us off. They seem innocent don't they?

Naughty Jesse! It was a hell of a wet soggy sendoff!(Photo courtesy Sue Rader)

Scott was our fearless skipper aboard Suebee.

Sue on lookout coming into Turtle Bay.
Coming into Turtle Bay, Scott and Sue do a last minute chart check.
Shanna on the bow. (Photos of the gals at the bow courtesy Scott Rader)

Whatever could she be looking at?
YAY, Dolphins at the bow (I find they stay longer if you chatter at them)!

Sue comes up to see what the commotion is all about. What a great moment with the two of us at the bow.

The fuel boat was doing a huge amount of business as the fleet came in. My advice is figure out exactly how many gallons you need, get out your calculators and convert gallons to liters before you fuel.

Sunset at anchor in Turtle Bay.

In the morning this delightful young entrepreneur made rounds in the morning collect trash for a buck a bag.
The all day party aboard Suebee. (Party photos courtesy Sue Rader)

(Below) The craziest dock I have ever seen! The dock itself was between 3 and 4 feet wide and comprised of 2 long sections that were attached to each other by what looked like a welcome mat stapled to either side. The pieces were rocking opposite ways and walking them and staying on took all of a person's concentration especially when passing others going the other way. At the dock end nearest the shore there was a square hole in the end that would float back and forth just below the ladder that led to the upper level. The rusty ladder itself was not just vertical but leaned backward slightly. To top it all there was a rope that attached the floating dock to the fixed upper level that ran across the ladder that would pull taunt and touch the ladder then slacken and pull away from the ladder. So dodging the hole at the end of the dock I took hold of the ladder and was not sure whether to duck below the rope and hurry up before the rope was taunt and scraping the ladder (and me) or to go over the rope quickly before it moved too far away from the ladder. I settled on under and have never climbed a ladder so fast. I laugh every time I think of it. For those less adventuresome they can arrive via beach landing, water taxi (ponga) ride, or even using the staircase down to the water on the other side of the tall fixed dock. However the adventuresome way comes with much better stories. (Photo courtesy Richard Frankhuizen)

The beach looking out at the Ha Ha fleet.

Most of the restaurants are little houses opened up to the public. This one is Zagat rated I hear.

Scott and Sue in downtown Turtle Bay.

The locals wait for the Baja Ha Ha all year long and it is not uncommon for businesses to have signs inviting the fleet painted on the outside of the buildings.

The beach at Turtle Bay where we had a huge beach party. For people considering the Ha Ha for '09 remember that you need to bring your own plate and silverware. There were many who were forced to beg for plates (me included), or use bits of tinfoil, or Tupperware lids. Quite entertaining.

The party was to be over before dark because during the beach party of '07 people were stranded onshore due to the high surf later in the day that made dingy launches unsafe. Also as the second leg was to start at 7am an early night was a good idea to tuck in early. (Next 2 photos courtesy Richard Frankhuizen)
The whole Ha Ha group paused the volleyball, balloon fights, drinking, and general frolicking to pose for a photo during the party.

The next day during the sail to Bahia Santa Maria friends of Rosie and John aboard Eager Dreamer lost their steering and we thought it was a good idea to follow them and Eager Dreamer to Bahia Asuncion to make repairs. It was exciting to add a little more adventure as will as taking care of our fellow Ha Ha'ers. We got advice from the Ha Ha net to divert to Asuncion and information on Serena who was quite helpful (she is a Canadian woman who spent the last 20 years in Bahia Asuncion). When she was hailed from the boats she got a list of needed items for repairs, located the items at local stores and residences, and drove those who went to shore around to get everything.

There were 5 Ha Ha boats total that anchored at Asuncion for 2 nights. The last day there was El Dia De Los Muertes, a huge holiday in Mexico, and there were festivites in town for the holiday, a new baby had just been born, and some locals had just bought a house there. Serena invited us all to come to shore and join in the fun. It was a paticularly cold, windy day with a seastate that was not exactly calm. (I bathed in the ocean early in the day and had to laugh at myself because I about drown). The sea was getting rougher and we decided to take Serena up on the ponga (water taxi) ride to shore by the fishermen who were going to be coming back from the day's fishing with the main course for the party. The dingy landings can be dangerous when the surf is building with a real risk of flipping the dingy and the poblems that ensue when an outboard motor goes airborne. So we waited, and waited, and finally Serena hailed us and asked how many to expect for dinner. Rick of Eager Dreamer answered, "There are 13." A long pregnant pause stretched on and a small voice said, "13?" It turns out that the fishing was poor that day and there was not enough to go around so most of us never went to shore. It was unfortunate as Sue and I had built the place up in our minds, were facinated by Serena, and dearly wanted to meet her. Maybe fortune will smile on this wish when I do the Ha Ha agian. (Below Eager Dreamer rounds Point Asuncion onthe way into the Bay).

I am forever snapping photos of seascapes probably because my mother painted such beautiful ones. Incidentally, she painted sailing ships too and that is how a Montana girl fell in love with the romance of sailing originally. Then of course there was a little nudge from Jesse and a free sailboat ride that made the addiction take hold.

More of the area around Asuncion.

We here there are paved streets at Asuncion and a Naval Base. Alas this being stationary on an anchored boat made me want to get to land and explore at the next stop.

John and his brother Rick had to pull the anchor up with prue brute strength during much of the Ha Ha due to a windlass in need of repair.

Underway the next day we really had to hit warp speed to catch up to the fleet some of whom had made it to Bahia Santa Maria already.

Scott and Sue celebrated an anniversary and both had birthdays during the trip. By the time we got to Bahia Santa Maria I thought they should have some alone time. So I jumped on the first ponga with Kat from Kat Den Rie and went to shore for the party. This was taken going into the anchorage.It is easy to love Mexico with such beautiful land and seascapes and so great to meet the locals. They were very friendly and loved it when I made my attempts at speaking Spainish. Here at Bahia Santa Maria there are only a few little buildings and no town at all. The locals from Mag Bay truck in all the makings of a great party including, a whole kitchen setup, food, drink, generators, and music (which was quite good). Cheers to them!

We did what all good party folk do; we ate, drank , and made a dance floor out of the rockiest patch of earth you have ever seen. (Photo courtesy Richard Frankhuizen)

I will be adding a few photos here when I can get my little paws on them. As a matter of fact, this loooooonnnnngggg winded post is driving me a bit batty. I want to post so bad that I think I will and then come back and add a few more things from this point on.

Leg three the morning after the party on shore began at 7 am. There were some pretty tired little puppies.

Moondance is that you in the background with the yellow, and turquiose sail?

Dan aboard Seaduction and his fearless crew, Mike and Chris, kept pace beside us surfing a swell and easing ahead and then watching as Suebee surfed a swell and slipped ahead. It's always a race when 2 boats are out there on the water but tripley so when it is a race and the boats are the same make and model. (Yes, Seaduction you are a worthy advesary). Then the pressure was too much and Seaduction turned, rolled in the sails, and broke off from the crowd. Or maybe they caught a fish.

Reading underway, Scott takes a rest from the helm.

When sunset came that night there were 16 boats near our location and the number did not dip below 15 all night!

This ship was so unique and yes, I took way too many pictures of it. Of course that is the beauty of digital media.Coming into Cabo, the last stop on the Ha Ha the famous rock formations made have been the most photographed thing on the trip, and for good reason.

Having rounded the point we were almost to our anchorage.

In Cabo San Lucas I was too busy hanging out with friends, going to parties, and just kicking up my heels to take many pictures. Here are a few from Squid Roe and the infamous "We cheated Death Party." Or is the Death Cheating party the one we had on the beach the next day? Oh well, they were both a lot of fun. (Below-photo courtesy Richard Franhuizen)

The waiters and waiteresses marched out chanting and tried to find someone in the crowd who had a birthday. No one was having one that day or maybe they wouldn't admit to it. So, they needed to pick someone out and guess who got a green jello shooter with a candle in it plunked in front of them. I was told to make a wish and down the hatch it went!

Ewww, green jello drool! That shooter was huge!

It can be a rough crowd at Squid Roe, these are some mean hombres I ran across.

The December edition of Latitude 38 came out with this silly photo of me cutting a rug at Squid Roe, Ben McShan is to my left. There was a conga line to start out the dancing shortly after the green jello shot. The Ha Ha crowd took up the whole bar and I danced for 5 hours! Upon leaving the bar at 12:30 am about 12 Ha Ha'ers and I found there were no pongas out to the boats. (I was responible and asked how late the water taxis ran when I got dropped off and was told 2 am. But things are different in Mexico). There was much walking around, scheming on how to best get home, and story telling for about 3 hours while we figured out what to do. At one point we ended up in Robbie and Ruben's honeymoon suite making phone calls to people with dingys. Finally, we roused someone from their cozy bed to get us. Thanks everyone for getting me back first, as my husband wanted to know I was safe before he could turn in himself.

The next day the beach party a blast. We hung out with old and new friends and this time when I was stranded on shore with no ponga ride back (11 pm) I was ready. I took a land taxi to the beach, picked the closest point from the beach to the boat and swam for it. Halfway out, I thought, "Hammerhead shark," I answered the thought out load to myself, "Oh, you think of that now, you couldn't wait until you were at the boat." No worries though, the swim took 3 minutes total and I was free to talk to Jesse.

The next morning I only had 2 hours to pack and get out to the taxi to the airport as my departure tickets were booked last minute. It was a rather abrupt and tearful goodbye to those I happened to see on the way out but the adventure has a sequel. Jesse and I will be taking Jesse's Girl out for the next Baja Ha Ha. YAY 2009! We hope see you all out there. Cheers!