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Photos of the Day: Baja Ha-HaOctober 29 - Pacific Ocean Sorry to have not reported on the Baja Ha-Ha until the third day, but a combination of smoke damage to our brains and tech problems sending photos have put us behind schedule. The Monday morning start of Baja Ha-Ha 10 was just plain ugly, thanks to the fallout of devastating wildfires in San Diego country. No matter how many times you had washed your boat the previous two days, it was covered in ash.  As the photo above shows, visibility was severely limited and the layer of ash on the water was thick. All in all, the starting area looked liked a Hollywood soundstage for a movie about the end of the world. Since there was no wind for the 11 a.m. start, the Poobah instituted a 'rolling start', with all boats allowed to motor down the rhumb line at six knots. After an hour, the Morgan Out-Island 41 Bronco reported 10 to 12 knots of wind, and the sailing officially started. Given the terrible air quality, it was ugly sailing, with the air so brown the sun was barely able to shine through. Even when sailing 20 miles from San Diego County, it was still disgusting, as the photo below shows, with the air still a terrible brown and the sun only barely able to shine through.  Everybody was happy to be leaving the disaster area of San Diego - including a number of birds who took refuge aboard Profligate. Among the three was a woodpecker, who was disappointed to discover Profligate's mast wasn't built of wood (see photo below).  The wind only lasted until 7 p.m., at which time the wind died completely. Nobody would be sailing the entire Ha-Ha course this year. If there was any consolation, the seas were flat and it was unusually warm. In fact, the ocean appeared to have been ironed by a professional. Given the light air, there were few problems. Somehow, however, Bronco managed to be involved in some sort of collision, which fortunately resulted in only cosmetic damage. Two other boats returned to San Diego, one with electrical problems, another with engine problems. Tuesday, the second day of the Ha-Ha was an improvement over the gloomy first. The air quality was much improved and a light sea breeze came up starting at 11 a.m. It was sweet if not fast sailing until sundown, when the wind died completely once again. Nonetheless, some of the Profligate crew had been swimming, other boats in the fleet had caught some fish, and spirits were headed in the right direction. But it was another night of motoring in perfectly flat seas, much to everyone's disappointment. It's now Wednesday afternoon, and most of the fleet is close reaching or even beating in seven knots of wind, headed for Cedros Island and then the first stop at Turtle Bay. It's warm, the seas are flat, and boats are beginning to converge. It's been a slow start to Ha-Ha 10, but things are sure to be looking up in the next few days.  Catching a Skipjack off Profligate  Bernard and Chris take a swim off the back of Profligate. They claimed the water temperature was in the high 60s and "not too bad." The wind was so light they could swim with the chute up.  Elyxir, a Hunter 33, sailed by Anthony Bettencourt of San Francisco, sails side by side with Profligate. |
