BAJA HA HA

The week of 17 October 2011 begins the real preparation for the Ha Ha. A few parties thrown by the different marine stores, evening seminars, meet and greets of other ralliers, and final preparations.

21 OCTOBER 2011 - FRIDAY
My brother Walt arrives, good to see him. Start getting him used to some of the boat parts, pieces, equipment and the Ha Ha. Understand, that for years Walt has always kind of given me some crap about wanting to be on a sail boat. Well back in early July he had made a comment that he thought it might be different and fun to see what the Ha Ha rally was all about. Lisa offered to have him come along and be damned if he didn't take her up on it. As we got closer to our departure from home we re-confirmed and he said he had his tickets to San Diego and home from Cabo San Lucas. He was confirmed and registered as crew for the Baja Ha Ha. He attends a couple of seminars with us, the main Baja Ha Ha rally party and some of the meet and greets. We are ready.

24 OCTOBER 2011 - MONDAY - RALLY START DAY

It is going to be a big parade departure from San Diego harbor. All 160 boat start the march from their respective berth or anchorages to the SD bouy. It was quite a site. We all paraded by the committee boat which had many officials from the San Diego area. The Grand Poobah, Richard (the owner of the magazine Latitude 38) on Profligate (a 58' custom Catamaran) starts the roll call. There are 12 different divisions and although we were the first to sign up we are assigned to the last group which is all catamarans. There was no wind so he also makes the announcement that it will be a D sail start (the D sail is Diesel Engine). Off we go.
We make a decision to head off shore and drag some tuna lines. There were about 14 of us who headed off shore. The start was announced as a running start with a maximum speed of 6 knots. We motored all day and through the night. The first Radio Net was on Marine SSB channel 4a or 4146khz. Prior to the Net those who didn't have an SSB called someone who did on the VHF so they could relay their positions. There were a few boats that did not have sufficient fuel capacity to motor all the way to the first stop so they had to sail almost all the way. With no wind it was pretty much a drift south. Only about 80% checked in on the net but the Poobah kept checking on his chicks. At 0700 on the 25th it was announced that the running start was over and sailing time began at that point.
We were about 100 miles off shore when the announcement came that the running start was over. The wind where we were was 8-10 knots out of the NNW. We raised the main full up and set the screecher. The wind was too far back on our starboard tack so we weren't getting much push. We were sailing at about 3.5knots. As the day wore on we assumed the wind would be that light for at least another day which meant we wouldn't make it into Bahai Tortuga (Turtle Bay) until late on the fourth day. Our mission wasn't just to sail South and conserve on fuel but to get South in a timely manner. We added a little D sail and motor-sailed through the day and night. By the next afternoon the wind picked up to 15-20 knots out of the NW. The D sail was shut down and we moving along at 8 knots over water and 7.5 over ground. We were still 80 some miles off shore so we jibed to a easterly heading on a port tack. As night fell we should have taken in a reef but were now moving at 9-10 knots and making good time to our destination. We did furl and drop the screecher and opened the genoa. At 9pm local some 10 hours later we were merging in with several other Ha Ha boats near Cedras Island. The wind was up to 25G30 and we still had the full main up. We hadn't reefed the furling boom in anything over 20knots and I was concerned that heading into the wind we might do some damage to the new main. I let the main all the way out to the shrouds and pointed up enough to just keep some pressure on the sail to let the stronger gusts blow on through. The winds on the grib files didn't indicate anything stronger than 25 so we assumed the usual, weather predictions are always off by at least 5 knots.
As we approached Cedras, we saw the trail of running lights marching south and we were going to be crossing though the parade at a 90 degree angle. I made a Securate call giving them all a heads up we were coming into the pack from the West doing 13 knots. That was our top speed and we weren't ready to slow down. Upon making the Securate call a Canadian came back with "and ORCINIUS just what do you want us to do with that information". My reply was "Do with it what you want but be aware we are going to blow through the fleet at a 90 degree angle from the West". The Securate call was an appropriate safety call. My crew decided they did not want to take a chance as we were on a port tack and they all had the right of way on starboard tacks so we jibbed early. We were still 20 miles West of Cedras so when we jibbed our tack would take us further to sea. By the time we Jibbed again back East we were 40 miles from Bahai Tortuga and the finish line. We jibbed eastbound around 0600 local. At 12 knots average we still had 3.5 hours to go. We no more than jibbed when the wind started backing off and within the hour it was down to 5-10 knots and eventually it went to zip. We pulled into Bahai Tortuga in the early afternoon under the D Sail. First leg was done.
We didn't break anything but did have some problems with the Genoa furling system. We also put a little preliminary wear on the main at the battens where they rode against the shrouds but it is minor. The Genoa was a different problem. Since the furling system rides on the head stay, the top of the furling extrusion needs a means of twisting on the stay smoothly, like a bushing. The cap bushing is made of a PVC material. It appeared that during previous repairs or maintenance, a rigger needed to remove the top cap but didn't want to take the stay off of its attachment point so proceeded to cut the cap so it could be spread apart to slide off the stay. After re-installing it they merely taped around the cap to hold it in place. Over time as the furling was rolled up it cut a goove in the cap. Under pressure with heavier wind the furling would stop twisting. That is what happened when we tried to furl in the Genoa to 50% during the heavier winds. I had to fabricate a repair which I did out of some 3/4th and ½ inch starboard. I actually built a new head piece with help from Walt and by the end of the day the Genoa furling was repaired. The new cap piece should last many years.
We got the repair completed just in time to clean up and head to the beach for the infamous Baja Beach Party. The grand poobah came on the radio at the net check-in in the morning and gave warning about dinghy landing in the surf. It was only a 3 foot surf! Thank goodness there were a couple of young Mexicans standing at the surf when we came in because we were being broached when one of them jumped up on the port bow and kept it from going all the way over. That didn't stop it from knocking Walt underneath the surf nor me. Only one escaping the swamping was Lisa. As we rolled in over the surf to the sandy beach, our starboard dinghy wheel came off. Although I might claim that was the real cause for the broaching, I shall not. It was lack of experience. We were none the worse for wear so we managed to mingle, drink some beer and meet new yachties.
29 OCTOBER 2011 - FRIDAY - LEG TWO
This leg would take us from Bahia Tortuga to Bahia Santa Maria, a two night sail. One should always try something new each time out. Since we were anchored in fairly shallow water on a sandy bottom, I chose to start this leg from anchor's away under sail. Although we did have the engines running they were strictly for back up. We deployed the genoa and caught the offshore breeze pushing us along a 1.5kts as the anchor came free of the bottom then into its hold on deck. Next we raised the main up full and as we cleared the bay we doused the genoa and deployed the spinnaker. Off we went. That worked pretty good. We sailed the second leg from hook up to crossing the line. There were times we were only doing about 3 knots but this leg was meant to be sailed all the way and we did. We ended up being somewhere about number 30 crossing the line. No major problems excepting our head and a continuing charging problem. Thank goodness for a third head. Lisa and I switched to the port side forward head because we couldn't get anything to flush on our side. Once we set anchor, I worked on getting the head to flush. The water pump and mascerator worked but nothing would move. I took the seawater pressure hose to it and ran the pump, mascerator and seawater in it all together. It was a shitty job but someone had to do it and it worked for now. Our head was to be one of our nemeses.
We were anchored and settled in when Pura Vida came near to set anchor. We suggested they just side tie to us as they needed some water and the easiest way was to pump from us to them.
Got everything cleaned up and we prepared some of the fish we caught earlier in the day. Judy and Mike brought over some salad and hors d'oeuvres and we shared a meal together with their crewmember Jan.
The next day, 1 November 2011 was another beach party day. The party was to start around 1300 local so we got some chores done on the boat before we cleaned up to head to the party. Not wanting to make the same kind of mistake at an attempt to do a beach landing we opted to take a panga into the beach. Nice and easy ride. We mingled and met more sailors, drank some beer and margaritas and had a few tacos. Tacos here aren't like you get in the states. A taco here is a soft cooked taco size tortilla about 5 inches in diameter with one thing... beef, pork, chicken or fish. The rest is what you put on from a selection of different salsas. As the sun was getting ready to set, we get a panga ride back to the boat where we relaxed.

2 NOVEMBER - WEDNESDAY Depart Bahia Santa Maria the third leg

Rather dull overnight sail as the winds were again light so mostly motor sailed. We were on the first come first serve list for a moorage because we were the first to sign up for the Baja Ha Ha. When we arrived we were moored right behing Profligate, the vessel owned by Richard the organizer from Lattitude 38. We attended the Squid Row party which was quite the gathering. Most of the fleet's crews were in attendance. We hung around for a couple of hours before it got too roudy and then went back to Orcinius. We spent 4 days in Cabo San Lucas and every day there at the dock we heard very loud music coming from the various Bars until 0400. It was time to leave and find someplace a little quieter.

7 NOVEMBER - MONDAY

We depart Cabo San Luca for Los Cabos some 20 miles around the point where we are scheduled to have the boat hauled for some repairs. Walt is to depart the next day so we take a taxi into San Jose, quant little town with lots of atmosphere.

8 NOVEMBER - TUESDAY

Walt is to fly home this afternoon but before he leaves we have the boat hauled and blocked. The main purpose was to replace the seals in the port sail drive which had been leaking since San Diego. There are not many places in this part of the world that can haul a boat with a 26' beam so this was it. The haul was going to cost $20US per foot for the haul and launch plus $1.50US per foot per lay day. The yard made me a deal (standard) to do a bottom paint job for $41US per foot and no lay day charges. That meant I could work on the sail drive while the bottom was preped and painted. Some yards allow live aboards while on the hard but this one didn't. So we had to find a place to stay. We ended up in San Jose at the a Holiday Inn Resort.

We gave Walt hugs and kisses and put him in a taxi for his trip home.

11 NOVEMBER - FRIDAY
Orcinius is re-launched in the afternoon and we take a berth at the marina for one more night.

12 NOVEMBER - SATURDAY
We depart Los Cabos for an anchorage half way to La Paz. The wind has picked up to 15-20 out of the South. Heading for Los Frailes anchorage. Great sailing. When we arrive at the southern facing cove there are 6 other boats at anchor. As we pull near the other boats the swell is 3-4' and all the boats are bucking up and down. Not a place for us so we turn East and head back out. All the boats at Los Frailes spent 4-5 days riding that horse because they were too concerned to enter the main body to head North. We moved on and spent the night heading further North to Los Muertos, some 70 miles further. We arrived mid morning and set the anchor. By moving further North we moved out of the southerlies and into more westerlies which made Muertos a wonderful anchorage.

15 NOVEMBER - TUESDAY
The weather forcast was for winds out of the north starting on the 17th so we decided to weigh anchor and head for La Paz. We arrive later in the day and set anchor in front of the local pier. Double Diamond another Lagoon 440 was already there. We had settled in and in the late afternoon we heard a call on the VHF that another boat was outside some 7 miles away looking for a dingy with a 20-25hp motor to come and help them get into the anchorage. They had lost their transmission. After listening to several calls for help, we hailed them and said we would weigh anchor and come get them. Good thing we did. The boat was a 57' steel sloop weighing more than Orcinius. A 25hp dingy would never have towed her into the anchorage because there is a very strong ebb current in the channel to La Paz. The next morning we received several cudos on the VHF net for being so generous. Later the skipper brought by a bottle of Vodka for the help.

We had been having some trouble with our primary refrigerator, i.e. not cooling. It finally quit cooling at all. It ran ok but had developed a slow leak in the freon.

18 NOVEMBER - FRIDAY
We move to Marina de La Paz for two nights where we had Hectre remove the refrigerator and take it back to his shop for repair. Late the next day Hectre's crew returns with the refrigerator and re-installs it. It is now working great. The ice box part is even working. The bill wasn't too bad either, $150US.

We spend the next several weeks and Thanks Giving in La Paz. For Thanks Giving we decided to join some 250 other sailors at a dinner/pot luck. It cost $4 per person and a side dish. We made a large batch of garlic mashed potatoes. We also had the un-luxury of no shade at dinner. We were joined by Pura Vida and Tahnoo. It was worth doing once, just too many people.

25 NOVEMBER 2011 - FRIDAY
We wanted to move a little further north and get a taste of some of the small fishing villages and islands in the Sea of Cortez so we weighed anchor and headed out. Winds were predicted for 10-15 for the day and were to increase out of the north for several days after that. Heading for Isla San Francisco, wind on the nose at 15kts with 30miles of fetch made the sailing impossible. So we turned around and headed back to La Paz only this time we got a berth at Cosa Baja entrance to the channel. Got a slip in the back forty, tight fit length wise and near the headwalk. Wind was blowing a bit so made the backing into the slip a little tricky. Took two shots but Lisa did her usual and brought Orcinius comfortably to the mooring.

Over the next several days we had an opportunity to meet the couple who owned Orion another Lagoon 440. Had drinks and a light snack on Orion and then they came over later in the week so we could reciprocate. Nice people and good time. Also, a boat named Boomer moored right behind us. Boomer is a sloop rigged 42 footer owned by Byron a young 70+ gentleman we would come to enjoy his company. As it turned out he kind of followed us all the way to Puerto Vallarta. Of course he was also following The Rose another sloop who is making the Puddle Jump.

La Paz was great for all their Taco Stands.... no not Taco Bell type.

More on all that later. Have to move on to things further South, but first a bit of the Islands. NEXT BLOG