Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally

08/22/2024

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR PARENTS AND KIDS ON 'KID BOATS' TO HAVE A GOOD TIME WHILE CRUISING?

By a wide margin the most important factor is the proximity of one or more other 'kid boats'.

On land the rule is, 'happy wife, happy life'. On kid boats, it's 'happy kids, happy cruising'. And nothing makes kids happier than having other kids around to socialize with.

There are often group sleep-overs when kid boats gather. In many cases this gives some lucky parents a night off to rest. Or maybe even try to remember what it was they did together to produce kids in the first place.

Anyway, the Poobah is happy to report that as of today there are nine boats signed up for the Ha-Ha, which will have a total of 22 kids between the ages of 1 and 18. The Poobah believes this is a record.

Normally the Poobah considers the 'kid range' to be 1 to 16, but Teresa Oster wanted her 17-year-old daughter Lila and 18-year-old son Justin to be included as 'kids'.

"They are almost adults," she argues, "but will forever be our kids."

Even though we're way down here in Mexico, we can hear poor Lila and Justin groaning: "Mom!!!"

The breakdown of kids is as follows:

Five of the kids are 5 or under.

Six are between 6 and 9.

Six are between 10 and 13.

Three are between 14 and 18.

What are some of the Ha-Ha highlights for kids?

— Face-painting, costumes, and prizes at the Last Cheeseburger In Paradise Kick-Off Party.

— Seeing all the sea life on the first leg.

— The Kruisers versus Kids Bazeball Game in Turtle Bay, where women and kids are always 'safe', and it's common for four-year-old girls to get homeruns.

— Frolicking on the beach and in the water with other kids at the Turtle Bay Beach Party.

— The Poobah's Kid World Championship Diving Contest off the transom of Profligate at Bahia Santa Maria.

— And last but maybe not least, watching in wonderment if not horror as old people engage in the Here to Eternity Kissing Contest in the warm surf of Cabo San Lucas.

By the end of the Ha-Ha, and following the events mentioned above, strong kid boat bonds will have been made, which will typically last through much of Mexico if not all the way to French Polynesia and beyond.

In early October the contact information of 'kid boats' will be shared with other 'kid boats', unless somebody wants to opt out.

Having no grandchildren of my own, the Poobah is looking forward to sailing south with all you kids!

08/14/2024

WHAT IS BAJA HA-HA BOOT CAMP?

It's when I, the Poobah, get back from Paris after a summer of croissants, canard and cheese and start restricting my diet to fish, spinach and lentils to get into shape for the Ha-Ha.

It also means one to two miles a day in the spectacular Boot Camp Waterfront Pool. I've got to work off some of the gut I've been carrying around in case there was a worldwide foot shortage.

But trust the Poobah, the more fit you are, the more fun your Ha-Ha will be.

It's getting toward late summer here in Mita, and even without hurricanes the weather is pretty dramatic. Depending on the day, it can be just very warm or brutally hot with astonishing humidity. Overcast is your friend.

Many days start out sunny and clear, but not brutally warm. Then the clouds ominously start forming in the 10,000-ft mountains behind Vallarta. 'We're coming to get you', they say. Sure enough, by the afternoon or evening the clouds, rain and lightning have their way northwest toward Punta Mita.

It's such a funny scene, as it looks like a dark end-of-the-world scene, punctuated by lightning bolts and thunder, coming your way about 7:30 pm, yet there are still hundreds of Mexicans having the time of their lives frolicking in the surf.

Once the rain arrives, the Mexicans don't even seem to notice. They're having too much fun with their simple pleasures. Watching them warms my heart, which is already near boiling.

Once the lightning bolts get within a mile or so, the Mexicans reluctantly start to leave. I love those folks.

Yesterday started sunny and sweet, but by last night there was epic lightning — over 800 strikes according to Lightning Tracker — with lots of wind and buckets of rain. Umbrellas flew off terraces, and the lightning seemed to shake the building to a salsa beat. Fortunately my Palapa in the Sky palapa survived. As I often tell Dona, it's better to be flexible than rigid.

My Boot Camp goal is to dump 15 pounds in six weeks, in anticipation of the fall Punta Mita Aquatic Championships versus Isabelle the Gypsy Woman of Lisbon, Sayulita, St. Barth, the Ivory Coast, the south of Spain, Pau, and I'm not sure where else.

Last time Isabelle shocked the world, and embarassed me, by effortlessly swimming the 81-ft length of the pool underwater. I couldn't believe it! She also beat me in the Freestyle — in my home pool, for god's sake.

But I did beat her in the Pool Run. Some will say I had an advantage because the pool is shoulder deep for me and over her head for her. But I say a win is a win, and I don't want to hear any excuse.

As Isabelle is sleek like a javelin, I don't think I'll be able to beat her in the Underwater Endurance event. But I have high hopes in the Freestyle. Particularly after I've seen a bunch of recent photos of her lying around on her back with her beloved little dog on her stomach. She doesn't look to be training very hard. Either she's become complacent or she's taunting me. I'm coming for you, Isabelle!

And this year there will be medals awarded, and a champagne and guacumole Awards Dinner. So it's going to be a really big deal.

Thanks to air-conditioning and the pool, I'm really enjoying my time down here. Between swims I get to work on Ha-Ha bios — we're up to 93 paid entries — in a perfect working environment. My big fear is that unless we get enough torrential downpours, the pool is going to get too warm. It hit 94 degrees last year, and you can't even walk in that stuff without getting par-boiled.

If all goes well, we'll start the 1,000-mile Bash north to San Diego with Profligate in late September in order to get ready for the November 4 start of Baja Ha-Ha ###.

I wish you were here. But since you can't be, don't miss the November 4th start of the 30th annual Baja Ha-Ha.

07/25/2024

DON'T HAVE A BOAT BUT WANT TO MAKE MONEY DOING THE HA-HA? THE POOBAH SUGGESTS A WAY THAT IT'S POSSIBLE, STEP BY STEP.

1) You and three knowledgeable friends buy a fine but ridiculously cheap boat in Southern California. See examples below.

2) You do minimal outfitting, but you may have to buy a life raft/dinghy, InReach, a portable genset, and maybe an AIS.

3) After the Ha-Ha sail the boat to Vallarta and put her up for sale. If you bought right, you almost certainly should be able to sell her for more in Vallarta. And you sell all the stuff like the life raft, gen-set, AIS, and such that somebody wouldn't need for just Banderas Bay sailing.

The boats you're looking for are almost certainly from the 1970s and 1980s. They built a lot of fine boats back then, boats that if they were maintained, are perfectly fine now.

The most common examples are Catalinas. Either a Catalina 27 or a Catalina 30 would be good choices. Looking on Craig's List in Southern California, I've come across 27s from $3,000 and less, and 30s, some of them with new engines, new rigging, and dinghies, for under $10,000. And those are asking prices.

You might wonder how these boats can be any good if they are so inexpensive. The deal is that there is a very limited market for boats that are 35 and 45 years old, even if they are structurally in good shape. Young buyers want new, more spacious, and more luxury. And with the berth fees and insurance having gone up so much, a lot of owners, now in their 70s or 80s and no longer sailing, just want to get rid of them. Sometimes you can even find decent boats being given away for free.

The other thing is there is a glut of them. Mind you, the 27 is a surprisingly quick boat, and the 30 is very spacious.

Is a Catalina 27 too small a boat for the Ha-Ha? Not if you know what you're doing. There was a couple who sailed one in the windiest Ha-Ha ever, then lived aboard her in Mexico for five years. They loved her.

While you can also find good deals on older Newports, Cals, and such, the 'big boat for the buck' Catalinas predominate.

But the boat we'd go for is a Peterson 34 berthed at the San Diego YC for something like $7,000. The Peterson 34 is notorious for going to weather like a witch, so she'd be a great Banderas Bay day racer. .She has 12 bags of sails, so you'd want to get rid of eight of them. Her one downside is that she has an Atomic 4 gas engine. But a Peterson 34 sails so well the last thing you need on a Ha-Ha is an engine. Just get a Harbor Freight portable genset for $400 for all your power needs.

La Cruz summer resident Dave Reed raced and sailed the hell out of his Peterson 34 on San Francisco Bay. You've been looking for a Banderas Bay boat, Dave. This one is looking right back at you. And you'd get to do a Ha-Ha, too. Or maybe it's looking at Mitch Perkins, who always says he's going to do a Ha-Ha.

I also saw an Ericson 35 MKII listed for $14,000 asking. That's a damn good boat. Over 600 were built.

Or if you and your buddies have a little more scratch, there's an Ericson 46 for $18,000 asking. Back in 1983, when I did my first race to Mexico, one of the competitors was an Ericson 46 being raced by a group of SoCal sailing royalty, including none other than the great Jim Kilroy as one of the crew! Back then an Ericson 46 was a really big boat and the queen of the line. While you'd get a lot more comfort with a 46-footer, you're getting into a lot more money for slip fees, insurance, and the like. If you're frugal, smaller is better.

The cool thing about all these boats is that there are countless reviews of them online by owners and various publications.

I'm not just talking through my hat about a scheme like this, as I've done it. Ages ago I came home one night and my then wife said she wanted a divorce. If that's what she wanted, who was I to deny her. So two days later I drove over to Berkeley, picked up a Cal 25 on a trailer for $2,500, and drove solo to Puerto Escondido. I sailed the boat in the then wildly popular Sea of Cortez Sailing Week, and some of my employees also used her in the Sea. It was one of the great crazy adventures of my life. I sold her a few months later for what I paid for her.

If you were thinking about doing anything like this, you'd want to carefully check the boat out, because if you'd be doing a Ha-Ha, you'd have to take into account the possibility, although small, of facing some rough weather. So you need to make sure the basics are in good shape: The mast and rigging, thru-hulls, sails, engine, rudder. But it's not too hard, as most boat this size have few systems.

The thing about buying boats in Southern California is that many of them are in better shape than Northern California boats. Why? Because San Francisco boats are sailed in much stronger winds. There are probably more 25-knot days on San Francisco Bay during a week in July than there are in two full years in San Diego. In addition, because of the nicer weather, many Southern California boats are used more as a place to chill on the water instead of as a sailboat.

Good luck!

07/02/2024

OH NOT, NOT AGAIN FOR DAVE AND KIM.

Son Kanoa reports that Dave and Kim Wegesend, who still have countless friends in the Vallarta area, are safe in hurricane-battered Carriacou.

But their 47-ft catamaran apparently flipped on land. We can only presume she's a total loss.

No further details were available.

Our deepest condolences go out to our dear friends, who we visited with just months ago in St. Barth, as they lost their previous cat in the Tuamotus.

Carriacou has long been considered to be too far south for hurricanes, and hadn't been hit in 20 years. But you can never trust hurricane zones or seasons.

Be safe everyone.

That's Dave on the left in the photo, and Kim on the right.

07/02/2024

BEFORE AND AFTER.

It took about $1,000 in materials and one guy five hours to cut the faux teak and lay it down.

But we're going to have him come back tomorrow to add additional glue to the sticky back on the faux teak.

But I think it's transformed the boat, as she looks 25 years younger.

No, it's not a Royal Huisman or Vitters job of perfection, as there are a couple of small gaps and a couple of lines are off a little.

But nobody is going to notice or care. At least me. And with the money I saved I could buy a new car.

And if it indeed stops the leaks, that alone was enough.

07/02/2024

WHEN IT COMES TO HURRICANES, IT PAYS TO BE LUCKY.

Hurricane Beryl looked to be heading for Grenada, but reports are that there was very little damage at Port Louis, St. Georges, seen in the accompanying photo.

But just 24 miles away at Carriacou, there was severe damage, with catamarans being flipped over and boats being knocked off stands.

06/22/2024

WANT TO KNOW WHERE THERE HAS BEEN CRIME AGAINST CRUISERS IN THE CARIBBEAN?

The Caribbean Security and Safety Net is by far the best source of information for everything from thefts to violent crime. Check it out.

06/21/2024

ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, BASH!

Anybody looking for a great weather window to make it from Cabo to San Diego should be firing up their engine(s) right now.

It might be a little sloppy in the beginning just after Falso, and up near Ensenada, but most of the 750 miles looks, according to Windy, to be a lot like a lake until almost Wednesday. And even after that north of Sacto Reef looks pretty good.

Hugging the coast is a good idea, particularly as you get north of Sacto Reef. At least that's been our experience.

The only downside of going north now is that it's still cold. Assistant Poobah Patsy Verhoeven said she was still freezing while wearing two layers of long underwear last week off Mag Bay.

If you want warmth going north, you have to wait until mid-August or September, when it's shorts and t-shirt weather.

No matter when you go, may the Gods of the Bash looking down kindly at you.

06/19/2024

THE POOBAH AND DONA ARE ABOARD MAJESTIC DALAT IN THE ARSENAL MARINA IN PARIS.

Paris is fabulous, of course, but the weather has sucked for the last couple of days. And it looks to be gloomy if not rainy for the next few days,

So when I stumbled across the accompanying photo of some Ha-Ha boats anchored in Turtle Bay for the Beach Party, I got homesick for the Ha-Ha. Thank god it's only 140 days until we're back to the sunshine, warmth, and pristine beauty of Baja with so many delightful sailing friends.

Not signed up for the Ha-Ha yet? Today would be a great day to do it.

Seventy-nine boats are signed up so far, for the event that starts on November 4. The Notice of Rally and registration forms are available at www.baja-haha.com.

If we find the space, we'll bring along a baguette for every entry.

05/30/2024

SURFING ON THE BAJA HA-HA AND BEYOND
From time to time we get questions about board surfing during the Baja Ha-Ha. As all surfers know, catching good waves is always a hit and miss thing. It's even more so when there is limited time, such as during the Ha-Ha. So there are no guarantees.
However, over the years Ha-Ha participants have sometimes caught excellent surf at the point at Bahia Santa Maria, the sometimes home of a fly-in surf camp. Some years there has also been interesting surf at the bar on the way into the mangroves at BSM.
Not nearly as often sailor-surfers have met up with other surfers in Turtle Bay to drive up to a break a few miles up the coast.
Isla Natividad, just north of Turtle Bay, is known to have great surf, but we're not sure how one would approach that.
Scorpion Bay, on the Middle Reach of Baja, is probably the best known and most reliable break along the Baja Coast. But in order to hit that, a Ha-Ha-ers would have to either leave Turtle Bay a day earlier than the rest of the fleet or arrive in Bahia Santa Maria a day later than most of the fleet.
There are also well-known surf spots once the fleet gets to Cabo.
After the Ha-Ha there are many fine breaks on the mainland. There is fine surf at a number of places in Mazatlan. and San Blas is known not just for mosquitos but also for long, mellow, beginner rides.
Sayulita is an international surfing mecca, and you can paddle in to the break. The downsides are that it's often crowded with beginners and locals, and it's an open roadstead anchorage.
The sailor/surfer's paradise on mainland Mexico is just inside the northwest corner of Banderas Bay, where in the space of just a couple of miles there are five or six great breaks, from El Faro to Burros.
El Faro, aka The Point, can be a fabulous Rincon-like point break, with some sizzling sections. And it's common for boats to anchor just outside the surf line. In fact, the number of boats anchored there is a good indicator of how good the surf is.
Lucky is the surfer who can lay around on his boat, then paddle in when he/she can have El Faro to himself/herself. It's surprising how often a sailor/surfer can be the only one out, as it's a long walk to the break for those without a boat.
For beginners there is the whole Mexican Malibu/panga marina/Stinky's/Rosewater complex, all of which are easy spots to paddle into. In fact, they are just in front of the massive main anchorage. Mexican Malibu and Stinkys are excellent for beginner surfers, but over the years we've also seen epic overhead barrels with long, long rides.
A little bit further to the east is the La Launcha break, another paddle-in spot we often had to ourselves back in the day. Except for early in the morning and late in the afternoon, it's now often overpopulated with surf-schoolers and others. But if there is any surf in the bay, La Launcha usually has it.
Even further to the east, and yet another paddle in-break, is Burro's, which many think is the best break in the bay. Before the sun is up there is often a crew paddling out.
Given a big enough swell, there is also an excellent break just to the east of the Nayarit Riviera Marina and the main La Cruz anchorage.
Lest I forget, just around the corner and outside the northwest point of Banderas is a break known as Bahia. It's best in the morning before the wind comes up. You get there by dinghy from just inside the bay — or from your home in the Four Seasons complex.
There used to be a guy with about a 45-ft wood motorsailor who used to run a liveaboard surf camp between The Point and Burro's. It would be a perfect gig for Profligate, which can sleep 12.
There are a couple of more breaks elsewhere in Banderas Bay, but we don't know enough to comment on them. It's the same for further down the coast.
We've love to get additional Mexico surf break information from surfers, so feel free to weigh in.

05/23/2024

WHO IS SIGNED UP FOR THE HA-HA SO FAR?

There are currently 71 paid entries for November's Baja Ha-Ha 30, which is typical for this time of year.

Sixty-one of these boats are sloops, the biggest being Zac and Karina Singer's sleek La Cruz-based Andrews 56 Encore. Almost as long but bigger in volume is David and Allison Shuttleworth's CT54 Ephifania, which is an entirely different boat from Encore. Epifania is a Taiwan-built Bob Perry-designed classic cutter-rigged ketch.

The two smallest boats registered to date are from Oregon: Chris Fowler's Ericson 32 Red Beard from Portland, and Mike Meloy's Catalina 32 Even Keel from Corvallis.

As usual, the majority of the boats are in the mid 40-ft range. Lots of them are oldies but goodies. So far the oldest might be Chris Fearon's Islander 36 Mambo from Canton, Ohio. The Poobah remembers selling Islander 36s, which are still good-looking, in the early 70s.

Currently there are eight catamarans, not including Profligate, the 63-ft Hughes that will be the mothership for the 27th time. This is a typical catamaran to monohull ratio for the Ha-Ha.

As always, powerboats are welcome in the Ha-Ha and two have signed up so far: Jeff Gerard's Defever 53 Eventide from Kensington, and Ed and Wendy Thomas' San Diego-based Mikelson 43 Apogee.

Stand by! The paid entries have now surged to 74! And we have a new biggest boat, Phil Friedman's Farr Custom 79, Sapphire Knight.

You can stay up to date with all the entries by going to www.baja-haha.com and clicking on the blue "Entries" tab on the left.

The Poobah and Dona de Mallorca are currently on our canal boat in Saint Florentin, France, after two weeks of gallivanting around France and Italy. I'm finally settled in a very quiet area and have got my Starlink cranking, so I'm about to begin one of my favorite tasks of the year — writing the bios for the Ha-Ha entries.

For those who have been sleeping far inland, the Ha-Ha is the 750-mile cruisers' rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, with stops at fun and funky Turtle Bay — where fuel is once again being sold from the pier — and surreal Bahia Santa Maria. The event starts on November 4. The Notice of Rally and entry form can be found at www.baja-haha.com.

There are different ways to cruise south to Mexico, but we think being part of the Ha-Ha is the most fun — eight big social events — easiest and safest because of the numbers. Plus, by the time you get to Cabo, you have made all kinds of new cruising friends.

We've only missed one of the 28 Ha-Ha's to date, and can't wait to do 29. We hope you'll join us.

05/22/2024

Funny.

05/08/2024

SIGN-UPS FOR THE LEGENDARY BAJA HA-HA START AT NOON PACIFIC TIME TOMORROW, THURSDAY MAY 9.

This year's event will be the 30th running of the 750-mile cruisers' rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, with R&R stops at fun and funky Turtle Bay and surreal Bahia Santa Maria. Over 3,000 boats and 12,000 sailors have done a Ha-Ha.

The Ha-Ha features eight major social events, startling with the Last Cheeseburger in Paradise Kick-off Costume Party, and ending with the Awards Ceremony in Cabo San Lucas. And don't forget, it includes the world-famous Cruisers and Locals Bazeball game in Turtle Bay, and the ethereal live rock 'n roll party in Bahia Santa Maria.

Three of the things that make the Ha-Ha unique are that participants will able to check-in to Mexico at BSM, having done all the paperwork in advance; that a mothership, the 63-ft catamaran Profligate, will accompany the fleet as it does every year; and within reasonable limits, there will be free sail repair service during the Ha-Ha courtesy of Ullman Sails.

The event itself starts on November 4 from San Diego. The Notice of Rally as well as sign-up instructions can be found at www.baja-haha.com. We hope you'll be sailing south with us this year.

05/04/2024

IT'S NOT OFTEN THAT THE GODS LOOK DOWN AND GIVE YOU CONFIRMATION THAT YOU MADE A CORRECT DECISION.

But that just happened to me.

At the end of our last season in France, we made a six-day trip to Saint Florentine in Burgundy with Majestic Dalat for two reasons: to get the boat hauled to have the bottom done after eight years, and to have the dodger replaced and have a cockpit enclosure built.

If you own a boat, you're no doubt familiar with the concept of no work being done on your boat unless you are right there. That goes quadruply true for getting offseason canal boat work done in France. It just doesn't happen.

So we're about a month away from returning to the boat, and we finally make contact — sort of, given the language barrier — with a woman who says she can make the dodger and enclosure. Naturally, it turns out that she can't do the enclosure without the help of a metal guy, and even more naturally he won't be able to get it done for god knows how many months.

Same old story. So we blow off the concept of the cockpit enclosure. We've never had one, so we'll be able to do fine without. No big deal.

Then the woman suggests that she might not be able to meet our deadline for just the dodger, even though we've pushed it weeks back and it doesn't need any metal work.

So I decide the heck with both projects. While the dodger material is now parchment like, it only has one little hole, and we can live with that, too. We'll get in done in the Netherlands where boat work tends to be much more business-like.

When we tell the women to forget the dodger as well as the bimini, she suddenly realizes that she can rearrange her schedule and get the dodger done in time after all. What a surprise! So we told her to go ahead.

We hope she'll be true to her word, because the following day Saint Florentine was hit by wicked hail storm. As you can see from the photos, our dodger now looks like Swiss cheese. I believe the gods were telling us we really needed the dodger replaced — and right now! So our decision was the right one.

As for the boat being hauled out and a long list of minor issues addressed, none of that has happened. I'm not really surprised. Nor do I really care.

Our summer plans for the boat are really up in the air. As much as we like Paris, we don't think we'll return. It would require getting a holding tank for the galley sink, which would not be an easy project. In addition, Paris is getting ready for the Olympics, and they are going to require a QR code on everybodys' phone to enter the city!

Plus, what better stage is there than the Paris Olympics to stage protests over what's happening in Gaza, Ukraine, and god knows where else. It doesn't sound like that much fun.

So we might bypass Paris and head back up toward the Netherlands. On the way I would love to spend a week or so between Charleville-Meziers and Givet, which is the spectacularly beautiful Ardennes Forest. And then maybe up to Maastricht, one of our favorites.

Or maybe we'll just blow the boat off for one summer. We're already signed up for Beaulieu with Isabel, Naples, Capri with maybe Maria of La Cruz, Pompeii, Rome to see Pierre on Kris, after which it's up in the air. We have a number of Bartian friends who have invited us to spend time with them in the Sud just inland from the crowds of the Cote d'Azur. And we don't want to miss the Alps.

Or maybe we'll go back to Croatia for a week. Or maybe Greece. Or maybe other places in Italy. Dee Smith says Verona is great. Going to look into that. We're looking for second tier destinations that aren't overwhelmed like Venice, Barcelona, St. Tropez and those types are. Got any suggestions?

The one thing I'm happy about is that Dona and I are the owners of a 2005 Honda Element and a 2007 Honda CRV. Having not blown $70,000 to $100,000 on cool cars, we can afford to romp around Europe during the summer. Priorities.

Here's to wishing your dodger is not full of holes.

04/15/2024

SPECTACULAR BAHIA SANTA MARIA, ABOUT 175 MILES NNW OF CABO SAN LUCAS, IS THE SECOND STOP IN THE BAJA HA-HA.

Because of its pristine beauty, spectacular vistas, well-protected anchorage, and the live rock 'n roll party, participants regularly vote BSM to be their favorite stop on the Ha-Ha.

The Ha-Ha, of course, is the 750-mile cruisers' rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas with two R&R stops. It's open to boats 27 feet or longer that were designed, built and have been maintained for open ocean sailing.

There is lots to do at BSM.
— Hike the nearby peaks to get spectacular views of the Pacific, the bay, the mangroves, the sand dunes, and Mag Bay just across the dunes.
— Surf the point or the bar.
— Explore the mangroves by dinghy.
— Stroll the miles-long sandy beach.
— The Kids Diving Olympics off Profligate
— Volleyball on the beach.
— Complete your check-in to Mexico, a unique Ha-Ha feature.
— And last but not least, the not quite world-famous BSM beach party, featuring food, adult beverages, dancing to a rock 'n roll band from La Paz, and because the Ha-Ha is serious about people having fun, joining in on Dona de Mallorca's conga line. This one-day-a-year event is surreal.

The Ha-Ha starts on Monday, November 4 from San Diego, and the fleet arrives in Cabo San Lucas the following Thursday, with social events seven and eight the following two days.

Ha-Ha sign-ups begin at noon on May 9 at www.baja-haha.com. Mark your calendar!

While berths in Cabo are in very short supply and never guaranteed, the earlier you sign up the higher you are on the list for a berth.

Looking forward to sailing south with everyone!

03/28/2024

IT'S JUST 42 DAYS UNTIL REGISTRATION OPENS FOR THE HISTORIC BAJA HA-HA ###, AND 221 DAYS UNTIL THE START FROM SAN DIEGO, SO LITLE ZOFIA IS COUNTING THE DAYS AND HONING HER SAILING SKILLS.

Conceived by parents Zacary Singer and Karina Velasco during the 2022 Ha-Ha, Zofia isn't sure why they didn't go last year, but is happy they are gearing their Andrews 56 Encore up for another Ha-Ha run this year.

Zofia is looking forward to 750 miles of almost certain downwind sailing conditions, R&R stops at funky Turtle Bay and surreal Bahia Santa Maria, eight social events, and lots of cruising kids to socialize with.

While eagerly looking forward to Kid's Diving Olympics off the transom of Profligate in Turtle Bay, Zofia is going to pass of the Here to Eternity Kissing Contest in Cabo San Lucas. "I'm a little young for that," she says.

Cute-as-can-be Zofia may be young, but if you look closely, you can see that she already knows the proper way to hold a sheet or halyard to prevent her little fingers from getting crushed in the case of a accident.

To learn more about becoming part of Ha-Ha history, visit www.baja-haha.com.

03/16/2024

YES, THERE WILL BE A BAJA HA-HA ###, STARTING ON NOVEMBER 4.

The Ha-Ha is the 750-mile cruisers’ rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, with R&R stops at Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria.

Over 3,000 boats and 12,000 sailors have done it.

Once again, participants will be able to check into Mexico at Bahia Santa Maria. It’s the easy way.

Registration starts at noon on May 9 at www.baja-haha.com.

We hope you can join us enjoying the tropical waters of Mexico.

Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally. San Diego, California, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.