Well that was fun…

We had heard several things about the BajaHaHa before we joined in.  We’d heard that it was a drunk fest/moving party.  We had heard that no one actually knew how to sail or anchor.  We heard that it was all retired types and not many families.  So WHY did we join in?  Well, we have been readers of Latitude38 for years (the main sailing rag in California).  They always write quite a bit about it and it always seemed fun.  Plus, having done ocean passages, we know how helpful it can be to have lots of other sailors around when doing an off shore passage.  Our main goal was to build community (especially a kid community for the girls), meet other sailors and have a bit of a fun.

So was it all true?

Party Party?

Well, it was a LOT of fun and there were a ton of social engagements.  They were all during the day which gets you to bed at a reasonable hour.  It was lovely to meet a bunch of sailors from all over the west coast and some beyond.  There was almost always beer around if you wanted to drink it, but everyone was professional and I never saw anyone overdoing it.  Maybe that’s because I left early with kids in tow.  Meeting the party schedule did push us a bit at first and we were feeling stress to arrive in port in time for the festivities.  After the first leg we examined this attitude and decided to throw it out the window.  We would get there when we got there regardless of the party schedule and we would enjoy the sailing.

Can they sail?

Of course they can sail!  Only an idiot would head off shore without knowing what they were doing.  There were a few people who struggled a bit in a couple of the stiff breezes, but it was a very small minority and they were supported well by the rest of the very large and knowledgeable flotilla.  It was actually an amazing asset to be around so many sailors who have sailed extensively in these waters.  Every morning there would be a radio check-in on the single sideband radio and the first order of business was asking for any medical or mechanical issues.  People were always well supported with spare parts, manual labour or knowledge.  It was pretty cool.  I think about 10 people were nominated for the “good Samaritan” award at the end of it.  We got some great insights and a few electronic charts from our new friends.

Were there any kids?

Yes, yes there were kids.  It was actually quite kid friendly!  You can tell that they are working hard to make it a family affair with baseball games, lots of beach time and even a kid party on the lead boat “Profligate”.  There was trick-or-treating with tons of boats participating by leaving their lights on for the kid filled dinghies to making their rounds and collect their Halloween treat.  We ended up with WAY too much candy but some very happy kids.

And… Drumroll Please…

We won 1st place in our division!  Okay so we have NO idea how this happened.  When they started rattling off the awards and they got to second, Cameron and I literally turned to each other and said at the same time “They forgot us!”  and then we won.  Being in a flotilla of boats really emphasized to us just how SLOW we are!  Compared to most boats in the rally, Banyan was on the more mature side and a bit more big boned than many of the sleek racy types.  She also doesn’t have a lot of waterline to compensate for her heft (31’ of waterline and a whopping 28,000 lb displacement…)  so it was a little shocking to my competitive nature that we were not always in the top 10% to arrive in the bay!!!  All that said, we won our division (probably full of similarly stout vessels).  One advantage is that we sailed the whole last leg.  When they calculate the placements they take into account the amount of time motored vs. sailed.  It’s a mystery to us exactly how this is done, but it must have been a pretty hefty advantage to push us to first.  We were pretty happy.  It was a real eye opener that although our boat is set up very well for heavy weather (we are from San Francisco after all) we lack good light wind sail inventory…..

The girls also won the Youngest HaHa Participant award.  This award is an even greater mystery since there was a 5 month old baby participating… but since the award was a giant blowup turtle pool toy, I think they made a good call.

All in all it was an absolutely fabulous time full of good people and LOTS of entertainment.  I haven’t yet mentioned the most amazing crew member ever, Ms. Kimberly Vawter.  Kim, I have to say, was absolutely a delight to have on board.  Banyan can feel small with just us on board, so adding someone who sleeps 1 foot from the dinner table makes things quite snug.  Kim was a trooper, she ferried us around in her car doing last minute provisioning before we left, she cooked at least once if not twice a day, she did dishes, she stood night watches, she singlehandedly made us social by getting to know everyone in the HaHa (she made it a point to read every profile in the book and had everyone pegged about 1 hour into the voyage).  She took the girls on beach adventures, she hiked mountains and did yoga on the boat and the beach.  She made sure everyone knew who Banyan was by falling in LOVE with the VHF radio (it was work, but we did manage to suppress her constant desire to project her voice to the whole fleet and we are proud to say that she did NOT win the “radio loud-mouth” award.)  We love you Kim and are so thankful that you came to help us down to Mexico!

We have just shoved her off onto her flight back to the US and we are now one of the very few HaHa boats still languishing in Cabo… yes, we are slow!  Most others have started up north into the Sea of Cortez and a few have headed across to the mainland.  We have staid mainly so I can take advantage of the good cellular reception and wifi in order to get some work done.  I’ve been burning the midnight oil a bit, catching up, but all is well on the home front.

Now Cameron and I just have to decide what to do!  Going north and continuing to get to know our new friends sounds fun, but the winds are on the nose that direction so we may beam reach it (head perpendicular to the wind) over to the mainland for a while… but no firm plans yet.  Feels good to go where the wind blows!

Stay tuned for a short video of the trip showing our fishing successes (we caught a Wahoo the size of Isa, a 2′ MahiMahi and a beautiful Tuna!), a few dancing dolphins, a little singing (maybe) and lots of sailing.

 

Ciao for now!