Welcome to Cabo San Lucas. We had an amazing sail from San Diego with Will Frederickson, Debbie Graham, and myself Joe Graham on board. Sosiego joined the long list of entries in the 2013 Baja Ha Ha. The Ha Ha is an annual sailboat rally sponsored by the sailing magazine Latitude 38 where cruisers meet in San Diego and band together for the 900 mile sail to Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the Baja peninsula. The trip had highs and lows as do all trips, but the highs sure out numbered the lows. The voyage is broken into three stages, San Diego to Turtle bay, Turtle bay to Bahia Santa Maria, and Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas. So the adventure begins.
Wildlife! Dolphins, Seals, Rays, Whales, Pelicans, Frigate birds, Yellow fin tuna, and Great White sharks! Yes we saw them all. I don’t’ remember the sea being so alive when we made this trip in 2006. The dolphins never seemed to tire of playing in our bow wake. When one pod got bored with us another pod would take over. One of the boats actually landed a 6 ft great white shark to the fleet’s amazement. Will and I managed to each land yellow fin tuna packing the fridge with lots of tasty fish but alas the purser forgot the wasabi and soy sauce. Debbie made an awesome lemon pepper rub and we ate like kings.
Will met us on the dock in front of the Sheraton in the Cabrillo marina. The provisioning was done, the water tanks where full and all we needed to do was top up the fuel tanks. We motored out on a drizzly overcast morning to the starting line of the 2013 Baja Ha Ha. Approximately 160 sailboats and a couple of (no comprende) motor boats slowly worked are way past the start in a large parade. The local fire boat and city officials were there to see us off. We worked are way south with a head wind that kept us within sight of Coronado island for most of the day and night. We tacked back and forth with small rain squalls for company. The first leg can be a bit of a marathon. Sleep is difficult and the boat is alive with constant unpredictable motion and noise. A crowded sea way keeps the watch busy and the excitement is palpable. The second day everyone is so tired that the sights and sounds will not keep them awake. The monitor wind vane is a god send. The monitor uses the power of the wind and sea to steer the boat no electricity required. The person on watch simply needs to pay attention to the course and make small adjustments to the heading. Even when the seas get rough the vane seems to work harder and better allowing the crew to rest. We did 3hrs on and 6hrs off. Sail changes required two on deck and we tried to wait for change of shift. The third night out a cross swell set in and the wind increased to 25kts. Wash boards where placed in the companion way and watch was taken from the cabin with observations every 10 – 15 min. The stay sail was set and we never took a wave on board. In the morning both the wind and sea calmed down and the island of Cedros appeared off the bow at day break. Truly magical! The decks where covered in small squid from the night before and I counted 25 that where returned to the sea. All plain sail was set and we were on are way again. It took the rest of the day to make port and we all crashed hard once the hook was set in Turtle bay. We missed the baseball game with the locals getting in after dark, but made up for it with the beach party the next day. Debbie met Debbie from Sailors Run at the food tent and proceeded to organize and run the pot luck or more appropriately the piranha pot luck with over 150 dishes. It was a truly an amazing feast with everything from sashimi tuna to tri tip roast with every imaginable salad. Cold beer was provided by the locals for $2 each and Debbie broke out her I phone dance tunes and the party rocked.
The next morning we hauled up the anchor and followed Sailors Run out to the start line. Due to light conditions Richard declared a rolling start of no more than 5 kts under motor. The day was bright with lots of sun and a gentle 10 kts of wind. We prepped the asymmetrical spinnaker to deploy at the end of the rolling start but the wind seemed to fill in before so we hoisted sail and shut down the motor. Sailors dream of these conditions, a following light breeze that pushes the boat along at hull speed. With the monitor set there was nothing left to do but start fishing, reading, sleeping and eating. Surrounded by the fleet with spinnakers set all around was visually amazing. I have to admit to a momentary lapse of reason though. With everything taking care of itself I just watched as Profligate slowly reached towards us not even considering the crossing situation that was developing. Pictures where taken, vigorous waving, and lots of smiles till Dona de Mallorca took the helm. Profligate was on starboard tack and had the right of way so I disconnected the Monitor and luffed up to let her pass. We where able to continue on with the spinnaker till after midnight. Towards evening Will and I got lucky and hooked two yellow fin tuna on our hand lines. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately Will’s fish lost his tail to a larger predator. Another boat landed a 6 ft great white shark around the same time. After two days and nights at sea The mountain that marks Bahia Santa Maria presented itself at dawn. We crossed the finish line doused the sails and motored in to anchor 200 yards off shore. Bahia Santa Maria is a large bight with a spit of sand that separates it from Magdalena bay. Good holding in sand and lots of room for 150 boats to not be crowded. Boarding ladder down swimming became a priority in the crystal clear blue water. Just like the post cards you can see the bottom 20 ft below with no problem. Despite previous beach landings I decided I would ferry us too shore in our trusty walker bay dingy outfitted with a mighty 2hp motor. Note to self, please anchor closer to the drop off point! Finding a small arroyo we turned off the motor, turned the bow to the waves, and rowed are dingy ashore with hardly a drop of sea water aboard. Trip two for Will went almost as well except for an unseen rock that a wave lifted us over. We scrambled over open desert terrain to get to the beach party. You know through cactus, lizards, and other carrion. When we got to the bluff there is a couple of fishing shacks (with surf boards) a tent with a rock and roll band and lots of very happy (cheap beer) cruisers in line for cioppino. We ate, drank, and danced into the afternoon. Unfortunately we left too early because on the morning roll call there was a public apology from the German girls at the party. We can only imagine what had transpired after we left. We turned in early with the plan to lift the hook early and get a jump on the fleet. We didn’t want to arrive in Cabo after dark and miss the party at Squid Roe.
The alarm sounded at 0400 and after a quick cup of instant coffee we raised anchor and set our sights on Cabo. This was the shortest leg with only one overnight at sea. We were able to sail till the evening and then our speed dropped to less than 2kts. I admit that a little barn fever set in and the motor was started. Soon we where motor sailing at 5kts. Everything seemed to work well except for the water maker. While sailing along I diagnosed the problem as having an air leak in the input side preventing the unit from reaching the pressure (800psi) it needs to make drinking water from sea water. The problem would wait for Cabo and we still had 40 gallons of good water in the second tank and plenty of cold beer. The VHF radio brought the good news that we had secured a slip assignment in Cabo. With 150 boats it gets really interesting finding a place to park in such a small marina. Well maybe not so small any more. The price actually had gone down from 2006 so we were happy to tie up for a couple of nights. The bad news was that a northern was blowing in the Sea of Cortez and we would be stuck there till the following Wednesday. I think Will was happy to be in Cabo as Judy his wife was arriving the next day. We went to dinner at the famous Squid Roe bar and the entire Ha Ha crew slowly trickled in. We left after Richard arrived and started dancing on the stage. We sat out the beach party the next day but made it to the awards ceremony on Saturday. We were extremely pleased with getting the second place trophy for the Agave division on the second leg (We sailed the entire leg). Thanks to Will Frederickson and Chris King for all there help in getting Sosiego to Cabo San Lucas!