Leg 1
San Diego to Turtle Bay – 350 nm
Monday October 24, 2011
A hushed anticipation pervaded the Cabrillo Isle Marina as the many BaJa Haha participants made their final preparations to leave the dock. Dinghies were stowed and secured, jack straps were fitted and the clutter of the moored boat was removed for sea travel. One by one the boats slipped their moorings and glided into the channel. Soon the very ample inner harbor of San Diego was bedecked by the vista of the 170+ Baja Haha participants, many of them with sails already up as they paraded in front of the television crew boats and past the water-canon salute being offered up to the fleet at the police dock. It was a magnificent spectacle and Sea Reach and her crew of three was thrilled to be among them.
The grand poobah onboard the 63’ catamaran Profligate started the check in roll call at 1000 and hinted that low winds might necessitate a rolling start. The start line was an imaginary line between the grand poobah’s boat and Point Loma. As we approached the starting point we saw that Shannon and her crew Cathy and Carolyn were hovering to one side to wave off the Canadian contingent. We motored sailed over to say goodbye to them. Just before the start time it was announced that we would indeed have a rolling start and that we could motor at a speed of not more than 6 knots until such time as the rolling start was suspended.
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| Cathy waving off the Canadian Baja Haha participants off Loma Point |
The Baja Haha is a cruiser rally and not a race. Still, a bit of friendly competition is injected into the mass exodus towards the Mexican border by grouping the boats into divisions and by loosely following the rules of racing. The rolling start made for a very orderly start with no great jostling for position and no minor collisions between crafts. It was a dull morning but there was good visibility. Our two main worries had been poor winds, which Sea Reach distains and refuses to dance with, and poor visibility, which her navigator abhors. The rolling start and the good visibility alleviated both of these worries and we set off on a motor sail towards the Mexican Border with a light heart.
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| John exchanging the U.S. flag for the Mexican one as we cross the border |
The rolling start continued throughout the day and into the night. Winds were less than 10knots but provided enough push for very effective motor sailing and we maintained our 6 knots with the engine on at 1600revs. It was a beautiful starlight night with the added display of the many navigation lights At 0645 on October 25, the poobah announced that the rolling start would finish at
Winds picked up to between 15-20 knots later in the afternoon and we took down the whisker pole, shortened the genoa and put a reef in the main sail. This kept the boat moving along nicely throughout the night between 6-7 knots and the windvane continued to work well though with a more S shaped track. Our crew of three took 3-hour shifts during the night with everyone getting six hours of sleep in between. As we continued south throughout the next day the water started to take on a beautiful aquamarine colour. About five nm miles west of Cedros Island we encountered three beautiful Minke whales, their smooth grey bodies churning up a bright turquoise surf as they broke the surface at regular intervals while traveling on a parallel path to the boat. We continued to make very good progress throughout the evening and into the night. Winds picked up to 25 knots at about 2000. We had the whisker pole on a shortened genoa and a full main at the time. We scrambled to take the whisker pole in just before the northerner blowing in the Sea of Cortez sent wind funneling down the valleys and out to sea causing gusts of 28knots or so to take side swipes at the fleet. We surfed towards the finish line with just the main sail up, John on the wheel determined to keep things going until we crossed the finish line. We crossed the finish line at 2143 and then quickly reefed the main down to its third reef to try and slow the boat down so that we would not get into to Turtle Bay before dawn. Despite this effort we still arrived at the entrance to the Bay by 0300 on October 27. The winds had calmed down but we were not comfortable (read Ger was not comfortable) to make the entry at night so we took the sail down and bobbed around outside the entrance with several other boats before making the entry at 0630. What a wonderful feeling it was to enter the Bay and find a place to drop the hook and nestle in amongst the 70 or so boats already there. We were anchored in time to proudly announce that our position was “Turtle Bay,” at the 0730 check in.
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| John setting the Hydrovane, 'Windy' which did most of the helming throughout the first leg |
Baja Haha – Leg 2 – Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria
Turtle Bay is a small fishing village with a fleet of pangas ready to carry sailors to and from the dock. It is a wonderful anchorage with ample room for the Baja Haha fleet. Day one of the Turtle Bay stop over included a baseball game between the cruisers with some of the local kids also participating. The rules were extremely loose and flexible with no score being kept as far as we could tell. Ger was coopted onto the pitch for a brief period where after six swings at the bat she finally made contact with the ball and even stole her way around the field before retiring to the benches and the ice cream stand. We tried our pathetic Spanish out at the local ‘tienda’ and with the Cruiser’s Guide to Spanish in hand managed to buy a few provisions and figure out the exchange rate between the peso and the dollar. At about a ten to one ratio offered at the store we quickly figured out that the sooner we got some pesos at a bank - the better. We had opened a Scotia Bank account before leaving Canada as we had been told that they were very well distributed throughout Mexico.
The next day was the potluck party at the beach. With over 150 boats participating - it was the mother of all potlucks. We tried our first dinghy beach landing in near perfect conditions and still nearly got dunked. Timing is everything in dinghy landings and when the first mate leaped out into the surf upon command, the captain was still perched on one side like a potentate thereby causing the boat to lurch to one side resulting in the dinghy getting broad-sided by a wave – a gentle one as it turned out. Enough, however, to get the captain moving in an undignified scramble overboard much to the amusement of onlookers. We had taken the precaution of stowing everything in dry-bags so though we took on some water nothing got wet. The beach party was a lot of fun and ended in the annual tug of war between the wenches and the buccaneers. Craft overcame brawn and the wenches remain unbeaten in this annual Baja Haha event
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| Dinghies tied to dock at Turtle Bay |
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Pelican's takeover an abandoned panga in Turtle Bay
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October 29, 2011
Next morning we set sail at 0800. No rolling starts this time. The wind was marginal at about 8-9knots but people were anxious to sail and the spinnakers were soon flying providing a burst of colour across the early morning seascape. What a thrill it was to be in the midst of this breath-taking spectacle. We struggled to make way without a spinnaker or genaker. We flew our light wind duster, which we reckon to be equal to about half a genaker. Gradually as the wind built in the early afternoon we started to make good progress and when the winds became a steady 12 knots we had a very efficient sail wing on wing with the genoa polled out. The Baja Haha is a rally not a race but there is enough competition to encourage people to sail as efficiently and without the engine as best they can. At the same time the legs are designed to keep a pace of about 5 knots on average which is impossible for heavier cruising boats when the winds are light. The option is – arrive very late and miss the scheduled activities at the end of each leg – or put your engine on as needed to keep up the pace. Engine hours are logged and penalized when scoring is done. We opted for the middle ground and put the engine on when our speed over ground went below about 3.5 knots. This seemed to work well and we managed to sail about two thirds of the second leg arriving at the entrance to Bahia Santa Maria under full sail just before dark on October 31. We hardly had the anchor set when it was announced on the Baja Haha net that there were ‘trick or treaters’ circling the anchorage in dinghies. We quickly hung our Halloween weirwolf mask over a lantern off the stern of the boat and assembled some treats.
There were a handful of boats with children on board. All Baja Haha activities encouraged their participation but this was their night and I’m sure that it was one Halloween that those kids will never forget.
Bahia Santa Maria is a wild and beautiful anchorage. There is a very small fishing settlement there tucked away among the mangroves. Fishing gear was in evidence outside the small shanties several of which had fish drying on lines. People were very friendly and a special meal was prepared by a group of women that came in from the nearby village of San Carlos and set up a canteen for the beach party held on November 01. The Baja Haha fleet brings a well needed yearly boost to the economy there and the relationship has been well developed over the years. Cruisers are also encouraged to bring school supplies and clothes to drop off at Bahia Santa Maria. They are collected and distributed by the women who run the canteen.
We took our first swim in Mexico in the crystal clear waters off Bahia Santa Maria. We also tried another beach landing on the dinghy - a big improvement over our first attempt. Timing is not yet perfect but we think with some more practice we’ll get it right.
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| Start of Leg 3 leaving Bahia Santa Maria |
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| First must get her beauty sleep enroute to Bahia Santa Maria |
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| Beach party Bahia Santa Maria |
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| Baja Haha fleet anchored in Bahia Santa Maria |
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| Small fishing settlement tucked amongst the mangroves - Bahia Santa Maria |
November 02 – Baja Haha – Leg 3
At 0700 the third and final leg the 2011 Baja Haha got off to a great start with winds of 10 knots and a promise of stronger winds in the afternoon. Once again a shiver of joy and wonder passed through me as we edged our way through the fleet at the break of dawn under sail. We are so thankful that we decided to participate in the rally. We had been reluctant at first thinking that it would be more of a party bash and too much of a forced march. This image is quite incorrect. While there is revelry at the stopping points, it is family oriented and the rally is primarily designed to allow people make a safe trip down the Baja coast with the company and support of other sailors. While it is a bit of a forced march with big legs to cover there is such a camaraderie amongst the fleet that it well worth a few night watches. People who had not before met were willing and eager to assist each other troubleshoot as various problems were aired and relayed on the fleet net each day. Anything from serious mechanical issues to what lures to catch tuna and dorado with were shared on VHF channel 69 as we made our way down the coast. Sea Reach seemed to have all the kinks straightened out during our trip down the U.S. coast and our Baja Haha trip went very smoothly. We started the third leg with great promise that we would be able to sail all the way but unfortunately the promised winds of 10-20k maxed out at 12k and petered down to about 8k before the evening of the first day. We put the engine on for three hours the first night and then had a few more hours of sailing on day two but by late morning the winds had fizzled and we put the horses into action to complete the trip without having to spend a second night at sea. We arrived in Cabo San Lucas at 8 p.m. just as a massive cruise ship was leaving port. Fireworks were bursting into the night sky and the city lights made it difficult to locate the anchorage. We crept along and followed a boat under sail that we hoped knew where it was going. Finally we picked up the anchor lights of the fleet as we approached the beach.
We anchored out off the main beech with most of the fleet and put our name on a waiting list for a slip at the marina. The anchorage is a bit rolly but we had no difficulty sleeping. Exhaustion is a very good soporific. Next morning we awoke to find a large Disney cruise ship anchored off our port in deeper water. We had successfully co at the busy festive and flamboyant port of San Carlos.
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| Start of leg 3 |
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| Start of leg 3 |
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| Disney cruise ship anchored off our port in Cabo San Luca |
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