I updated the last few posts of the Baja Ha Ha and San Diego with some photo goodness.
You're welcome.
S/V Hello World's Travel Log
photos
I updated the last few posts of the Baja Ha Ha and San Diego with some photo goodness.
You're welcome.
baja ha ha XVI in the bag
Our third and final leg of the Baja Ha Ha took us from Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas. We had a great sail the first day and all night long. We had winds from 8 knots all the way up to 18 knots. Once the morning came around, the wind died and we flipped on the engine.
Christy caught yet another tasty fish, this one was either a yellowtail or yellowfin. Somehow, there's yellow involved in this fish's extremities. Whether yellow in the tail or fin, he tasted awesome. Kim put a call out on the Baja Ha Ha VHF net for a good ceviche recipe. The poobah's boat came back with a spectacular recipe that Kim whipped up. Yum.
On the second day after the wind died, we started hearing calls on the radio about 3 different boats that lost their engines and were bobbing around in the wind. We heard a 32 foot boat with a 22 horsepower engine offering to tow a Fuji 45 in our vicinity. Since we were close, Christy got on the horn and offered to pick up the tow.
We made our way over to s/v Peregrine about 10 miles to the west. Once their we took up the tow and hauled her about 25 miles into Cabo San Lucas, through the anchorage to a spot where we Peregrine could set her anchor. We called out to the Baja Ha Ha fleet for some assistance from someone with a 15HP engine on their dinghy. Somebody volunteered (of course, someone always volunteers in this community of boats) and came out to help Peregrine get her anchor set.
Once in Cabo, we headed into town for the annual We Cheated Death Again party at Squid Roe. Here's a tip: DON'T GO TO SQUID ROE. Ugh. It's everything you don't like about Las Vegas bottled up into a poorly translated, obnoxious Mexican night club. At one point, the waitress came by with a tray of jello shots and one by one would walk up to each person in our group, shove a jello shot down their throat, blow a whistle, tweak their nipples and slap their butt. At the end of this little show, she looked at us and said "Seventy dollars." We just got mugged by a cute little Mexican waitress wielding jello shots and a whistle.
We're not big fans of Cabo San Lucas in general. It's a party town accustomed to loads and loads of gringo money. A slip in the marina would have cost us $120USD. Per night. Everyone on the streets accosts us trying to sell us some crap. We got totally grifted by the immigration officer. If you want the Vegas experience, come to Cabo. But if you're looking for Mexico, I'd go elsewhere.
The Baja Ha Ha wrapped up with an awards ceremony which most notably had coolers and coolers of free beer. Our kind of party! They announced the results of each of the 14 divisions in the race. We got third place*!
People, Hello World is an ass-kicker and world beater.
We are offloading Kim on Tuesday to catch a flight back to the States. It's been so great having her on board. In hopes of possibly replacing her, we're bringing Colin and Kristin on board to crew with us up to La Paz. Colin and Kristin crewed aboard the Ingrid 38 s/v Allymar during the Ha Ha and are jumping on board Hello World for a week or so to get up to some kiteboarding hotspot near La Paz.
s/v Teal Sea, a CT54, broad reaching under all sorts of sails.
Sushi!!!
After hearing that a 32 foot boat was offering to tow a 45 foot boat into port, Christy got on the horn and offered the towing services of Hello World.
s/v Peregrine under tow.
Much better after we lengthened the tow line.
Coming around the cape into Bahia San Lucas.
At anchor in Cabo San Lucas.
22°53.367N 109°53.820W
* As it turns out, the other 15 boats in our division also got third place except the two boats that got first and second place.
Christy caught yet another tasty fish, this one was either a yellowtail or yellowfin. Somehow, there's yellow involved in this fish's extremities. Whether yellow in the tail or fin, he tasted awesome. Kim put a call out on the Baja Ha Ha VHF net for a good ceviche recipe. The poobah's boat came back with a spectacular recipe that Kim whipped up. Yum.
On the second day after the wind died, we started hearing calls on the radio about 3 different boats that lost their engines and were bobbing around in the wind. We heard a 32 foot boat with a 22 horsepower engine offering to tow a Fuji 45 in our vicinity. Since we were close, Christy got on the horn and offered to pick up the tow.
We made our way over to s/v Peregrine about 10 miles to the west. Once their we took up the tow and hauled her about 25 miles into Cabo San Lucas, through the anchorage to a spot where we Peregrine could set her anchor. We called out to the Baja Ha Ha fleet for some assistance from someone with a 15HP engine on their dinghy. Somebody volunteered (of course, someone always volunteers in this community of boats) and came out to help Peregrine get her anchor set.
Once in Cabo, we headed into town for the annual We Cheated Death Again party at Squid Roe. Here's a tip: DON'T GO TO SQUID ROE. Ugh. It's everything you don't like about Las Vegas bottled up into a poorly translated, obnoxious Mexican night club. At one point, the waitress came by with a tray of jello shots and one by one would walk up to each person in our group, shove a jello shot down their throat, blow a whistle, tweak their nipples and slap their butt. At the end of this little show, she looked at us and said "Seventy dollars." We just got mugged by a cute little Mexican waitress wielding jello shots and a whistle.
We're not big fans of Cabo San Lucas in general. It's a party town accustomed to loads and loads of gringo money. A slip in the marina would have cost us $120USD. Per night. Everyone on the streets accosts us trying to sell us some crap. We got totally grifted by the immigration officer. If you want the Vegas experience, come to Cabo. But if you're looking for Mexico, I'd go elsewhere.
The Baja Ha Ha wrapped up with an awards ceremony which most notably had coolers and coolers of free beer. Our kind of party! They announced the results of each of the 14 divisions in the race. We got third place*!
People, Hello World is an ass-kicker and world beater.
We are offloading Kim on Tuesday to catch a flight back to the States. It's been so great having her on board. In hopes of possibly replacing her, we're bringing Colin and Kristin on board to crew with us up to La Paz. Colin and Kristin crewed aboard the Ingrid 38 s/v Allymar during the Ha Ha and are jumping on board Hello World for a week or so to get up to some kiteboarding hotspot near La Paz.
s/v Teal Sea, a CT54, broad reaching under all sorts of sails.
Sushi!!!
After hearing that a 32 foot boat was offering to tow a 45 foot boat into port, Christy got on the horn and offered the towing services of Hello World.
s/v Peregrine under tow.
Much better after we lengthened the tow line.
Coming around the cape into Bahia San Lucas.
At anchor in Cabo San Lucas.
22°53.367N 109°53.820W
* As it turns out, the other 15 boats in our division also got third place except the two boats that got first and second place.
bahia santa maria
[11/7/2009: updated with photos]
Baja Ha Ha Leg 2: from Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria
Baja Ha Ha Leg 2: from Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria
This leg was a *much* easier run than the previous leg. Only two nights at sea and the weather has been great. We left Turtle Bay under spinnaker. No - we hadn't fixed the spinnaker halyard. We tried, unsuccessfully, but left the jib piled in a heap on deck and used the jib halyard to hoist the spinnaker. Hello World really hauls ass under spinnaker. In fact, perhaps a bit too much. We let the wind build a bit too high before dousing and had... let's say an exciting douse. Too much wind to put the jib back up so we sailed under mainsail alone for the rest of the evening before starting the engine.
Day 2's big excitement was landing Hello World's first fish! You may recall Christy caught a couple salmon on the west coast of Vancouver Island but both fish shook off the line before we could land them. This beautiful little dorado was not so lucky. We ate very well that day. Thai satay dorado for lunch and teriyaki dorado steaks for dinner. Burp.
At dawn after the second night out, the sun rose behind Mt. San Lazaro in what had to be the most incredible landfall we've made yet. With the rest of the Baja peninsula hidden behind haze, Cabo San Lorenzo towered up like it's own island. It looked and felt like we were sailing into a south Pacific volcanic island. The terrain here is still green after hurricane Jimena blasted the area with rain a month ago.
No sooner did our anchor hit bottom in Bahia Santa Maria than we were shucking off clothes and hucking ourselves into the 80 degree water. Heaven. We anchored next to the ever kooky gang aboard s/v Stepping Stone so we swam over and invited ourselves onboard their great Maple Leaf 42 (hey Scottie and Kelly - we can't seem to escape the Maple Leaf 42's!). The crew of Stepping Stone are great at catching fish and Sarah has worked in a sushi bar for years so we hung out on their boat while they fed us dorado, big eye tuna, and yellowfin tuna in all sorts of ridonculously great concoctions.
Today, we made a shore landing and hiked perhaps not Mt. San Lorenzo itself but one of it's very high cousins. The three of us sweated and grunted and heaved ourselves to the top along with Sarah from s/v Stepping Stone and Kristin from s/v Allymar. We soaked up incredible views of the 170 boats at anchor below us to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
Tomorrow we leave at 0600 (I guess that's AM?) for Cabo San Lucas and what should be our last overnight run. I'm sure you'll hear me say this again but it's been so great having Kim on board. Having someone crew that you trust to run the boat safely is such a luxury. Christy and I would be absolutely ragged without her. Thanks, Kim!!!
The first fish we've brought aboard Hello World.
Thai satay dorado. Yum!
Kim in her Spongebob Squarepants unsinkable shirt.
Making landfall in Bahia Santa Maria.
Hanging out with hilarious crew of s/v Stepping Stone. Stepping Stone's skipper, Elias, would randomly get on the VHF and pronounce "Those tacos sure felt better going in than coming out!"
Christy climbing up the mast again to reave a new spinnaker halyard.
Our group climbing up to the ridgetop at Bahia Santa Maria.
The Baja Ha Ha fleet at anchor in Bahia Santa Maria.
Kim, Jason, Christy, Sarah from s/v Stepping Stone and Kristin from s/v Stepping Stone at the top of the ridge.
Kristin catching some air.
24 46.680N 112 15.037W
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turtle bay
[11/7/2009: updated with photos]
The weather report for this first leg from San Diego to Turtle Bay was for wind. Finally! After motoring this entire Pacific coast, we chose to sail in the forecasted 20 to 25 knots rather than duck into an anchorage like most of the rest of the Baja Ha Ha fleet. Turns out that 20 to 25 knots with an unlimited fetch makes for some spiky seas. We saw pretty consistently 8 to 10 foot swell with a very tight period. Hello World would be just coming down one wave when the next would pick us up. Amongst the 8 to 10 foot swells were a few 12 to 14 foot waves. We saw quite a few that broke behind us. Pucker. Also? Barf.
But we had a great downwind sail - minus all the barfing. In Newport Beach, we finally setup our autopilot to be able to steer to a wind angle instead of just a magnetic heading. This turned out to be a huge boon during this run. We set the sails and autopilot for broad reach and hauled ass down the Baja coast under a reefed main and reefed jib. We made just under hull speed for about 36 hours straight. So this is what sailing is like? Who knew. Over 300 miles on this leg and only 17 hours of motoring.
We are now anchored in Bahia Tortuga surrounded by a crapload of other boats. We haven't gone to shore yet because our dinghy is on deck and we need a halyard to pull it off the deck and drop it in the water. Since our spin halyard is piled at the bottom of the mast, we have to drop a sail to get a halyard down. And right now, we just can't be bothered.
This sailing thing is hard.
Sitting in Turtle Bay replacing the spinnaker halyard.
The beach party at Turtle Bay.
Christy hanging out with Kristin from s/v Allymar.
27 41.068N 114 53.374W
The weather report for this first leg from San Diego to Turtle Bay was for wind. Finally! After motoring this entire Pacific coast, we chose to sail in the forecasted 20 to 25 knots rather than duck into an anchorage like most of the rest of the Baja Ha Ha fleet. Turns out that 20 to 25 knots with an unlimited fetch makes for some spiky seas. We saw pretty consistently 8 to 10 foot swell with a very tight period. Hello World would be just coming down one wave when the next would pick us up. Amongst the 8 to 10 foot swells were a few 12 to 14 foot waves. We saw quite a few that broke behind us. Pucker. Also? Barf.
But we had a great downwind sail - minus all the barfing. In Newport Beach, we finally setup our autopilot to be able to steer to a wind angle instead of just a magnetic heading. This turned out to be a huge boon during this run. We set the sails and autopilot for broad reach and hauled ass down the Baja coast under a reefed main and reefed jib. We made just under hull speed for about 36 hours straight. So this is what sailing is like? Who knew. Over 300 miles on this leg and only 17 hours of motoring.
We are now anchored in Bahia Tortuga surrounded by a crapload of other boats. We haven't gone to shore yet because our dinghy is on deck and we need a halyard to pull it off the deck and drop it in the water. Since our spin halyard is piled at the bottom of the mast, we have to drop a sail to get a halyard down. And right now, we just can't be bothered.
This sailing thing is hard.
Sitting in Turtle Bay replacing the spinnaker halyard.
The beach party at Turtle Bay.
Christy hanging out with Kristin from s/v Allymar.
27 41.068N 114 53.374W
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baja harhar
[11/7/2009: updated with photos]
We're on our way! Christy, Kim (a good friend of ours who decided to crew the Baja coast with us) and I crossed the start line of the 16th annual Baja Ha Ha Rally/Race yesterday at 11:00AM. Almost 200 boats charged across the start line heading south. We hit Mexican waters an hour or two later. We had a brilliant afternoon sail under 8 knots of wind. We hoisted our Swedish flag spinnaker (one of the previous owners was Swedish) and had an incredible sail. Our drifter/spinnaker does fantastic in light wind sailing and had us going 5.5 to 6 knots and pulling ahead of some boats we shouldn't have been beating.
We're on our way! Christy, Kim (a good friend of ours who decided to crew the Baja coast with us) and I crossed the start line of the 16th annual Baja Ha Ha Rally/Race yesterday at 11:00AM. Almost 200 boats charged across the start line heading south. We hit Mexican waters an hour or two later. We had a brilliant afternoon sail under 8 knots of wind. We hoisted our Swedish flag spinnaker (one of the previous owners was Swedish) and had an incredible sail. Our drifter/spinnaker does fantastic in light wind sailing and had us going 5.5 to 6 knots and pulling ahead of some boats we shouldn't have been beating.
That is, of course, until the spinnaker came fluttering down from the masthead into the water. Turns out we didn't entirely address the chafing issues on the spinnaker halyard up at the masthead so the spinnaker halyard parted and is now lying in a heap at the bottom of our mast. The worst part is that we don't get to fly the spinnaker until we get someone to the top of the mast and reave another halyard.
We're also looking for an anchorage to duck into tonight. Looks like a front is coming through and rather than take a beating, we'll tuck in somewhere out of the worst of it.
The kooky kids of s/v Lovely Lady at the start line.
The Baja Ha Ha start line.
Flying the spinnaker.
The spinnaker piled up into a sopping mess on the side deck after the halyard parted.
Note where the halyard chafed through, approximately 8 molecules above the chafe gear.
31 01.608N 116 38.591W
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