Ha-Ha Fleet Reaches Cabo
©2011 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
There are dozens of reasons why sailors from all along the West Coast and beyond join the Baja Ha-Ha rally each year. But one of the most common motivators is to escape the arrival of winter. This year, as always, as fleet members moved south, they replaced the grey skies of the U.S. and Canada with brilliant blues above, and traded the chilly fall temperatures with ever-increasing warmth — culminating with air temps in the 90s and water temps in the 80s upon arrival at Cabo San Lucas
Now that the fleet has arrived at the Cape, there’s a celebratory mood among the 500+ participants. After a big night of unwinding at the famous Squid Roe dance bar, we’re presently gearing up for the annual Baja Beach Party at the Baja Cantina Beach Bar. So we’ll keep this report short and let the photos tell the story of the past two legs.
©2011 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
©2011 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
©2011 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
©2011 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
©2011 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Emma Delivers
After 4,200 miles of sailing alone in a 21-ft Mini 6.50, Emma Creighton became the first American woman to finish the Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50 since ’01. Yesterday Creighton, who has hailed from the Bay Area for the past few years, was the 23rd proto to arrive in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. In doing so, she became only the third American woman to finish the race throughout its 34-year history. In a race where a total of 15 of the 72 boats have had to drop out, finishing the trip is an amazing accomplishment. Creighton has so far done a great job of sharing her campaign through her blog. We expect she’ll take a few days to catch up on sleep before updating it, but keep an eye out for it — we’re sure it will be worth reading.
Taking Sailing to the Kids
As a vocal advocate of teaching kids how to sail, Kame Richards, owner of Alameda’s Pineapple Sails, knows that many children aren’t able to take advantage of learn to sail programs, even if they’re free. Transportation to and from the venue is just one obstacle, but most such programs also require the kids to know how to swim — and many low-income kids have never had the opportunity to learn. So instead of forcing the kids to come to the boats, Kame and his cohort in creativity, Brent Drainey, have devised a way to take the boats to the kids. Check out this video by Vince Casalaina of Brent’s son Jeff testing out the ‘land sailer’.
Kame and Brent developed this prototype in conjunction with the Youth Sailing Initiative of SailSFBay.org, a group of marine industry leaders whose aim is to grow sailing in the Bay Area. They’re hoping that folks who have old El Toros lying around will consider donating them so they can be converted to ‘land sailers’. Email Kame if you’d like to help out, and check out the December issue for more on this fantastic project!