It is that time of year again: The Baja Ha Ha sailing regatta. I
suspect this years trip will be substantially the same, so don't feel
obligated to read these updates!

Please feel free to forward it to anyone you think may be interested.

First, some general background. Alison (my sail instructor and friend)
and I are crewing on a 43' Hans Christian. It is truly a stunning boat
and some of you have visited on it and can picture it in your mind. "Serenity" belongs to Jackie and Stan, a retired
couple (he is only semi-retired) from Phoenix. Great people.

Last year the updates were sent via HAM radio, this year it will be via
satellite phone.

Anywhere, here goes:

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Woke up to discover I had forgotten my cell phone, so Wendy and I went to my apartment to pick it up - great start and my confidence that I had packed everything is now eroding. Got to the apartment at 6:30. Got the airport without a hitch and the ride was smooth; arrived in San Diego approximately 9:30 a.m. Where Alison picked me up. We went to the dock where I helped wrap up the rummage sale they were having at the marina.

Allison Jackie and I went grocery shopping at four grocery stores and
spent an amazing $425 for groceries. For last year's trip, Allison and I
remember spending approximately $1000 for provisioning. So far so good.

After returning from the grocery trip, I went out and bought my Mexican fishing license. This was intentionally done that so that we could dump unpacking groceries on Jackie. We returned to the boat where Ryan joined us. We then went to dinner at Miguel's for a fair well/bon voyage dinner with Ryan and some of Stan and Jackie's friends (they are giving up their slip in San Diego and heading south) then returned to the boat and went to sleep.

October 26, 2008 - Sunday


We got up at approximately 8 AM and did miscellaneous choirs to get the boat ready for the trip (including topping off the fuel tank) then went with Allison and Stan to the skipper's meeting at West Marine at 11 AM to get all the information for the trip and return to the boat. My son, Ryan, and his friend, Brittany, joined us at the marina before we went to the kick off party at West Marine. It was a keg/barbeque/Halloween Costume party and we had on our pirate costumes, but we did not win any prizes. It was very crowded, but they were serving good beer (Karl Straus) and burritos both beef, and chicken with salsa, guacamole, and all the other good stuff you would expect. Very good.

Ryan, Brittany, and I abandon the others and went to Avalon Tattoo in Pacific Beach. Although none of the artist I wanted to talk to was
there, we looked through various design books and found a new artist who appears to do very detailed, intricate work. When I get back to the states I will send him my artwork and get him to design my mermaid tattoo for me. We spent about one hour at the tattoo shop before walking to Pacific Beach where we walked along the beach before finding a bar. We sat and watched baseball and had a couple beers while we watched the sunset and surfers - who had obviously rented their boards from the adjacent shop; we saw more and more spectacular wipe outs as the surf went up. One guy caught the wave, was on the crest and then lost his balance and fell forward, only to then have the wave come crashing down on him. We called it a night and returned to the boat where Ryan and Brittany went home.


I'll keep you posted!