The Baja Ha-Ha Sails South, One Leg at a Time
The fall Baja Ha-Ha migration of cruisers sailing from San Diego to Cabo has been a pretty magical ride for 31 years. Year 32 continues the tradition, with some repeat participants saying it’s the best one yet! How could it possibly be better than all those rallies we’ve raved about in the past? You’re never comparing apples to apples, but the conditions have been very cooperative, with light airs in the morning and stronger breezes in the afternoon. All breeze coming over the transom. And the air has been warm from San Diego south. We’ll have to take their word for it, but that all sounds pretty normal.
Paul Lyles and David Smith from the Catalina 470 Comet, sailing out of San Diego, found themselves without breeze in the warm Mexico air. There was nothing else to do but jump in and cool off in the 82-degree water.
Rob and Suzanne Schwager looked over the transom of their Santa Barbara-based Oyster 595 Genevieve to discover they had a visitor on their tender. Rob wrote, “This is NOT AI — this big boy hopped in our tender yesterday in Turtle Bay while at anchor … competition for the panga drivers — this guy drives for fish, not pesos!”
Mark and Robin LaFevers of the Carpinteria-based Jeanneau SO 45 Silver Linings are on their fifth Baja Ha-Ha, and they say it keeps getting better. Mark credits Jack Rieder for some professional drone shots, and, importantly, credits Sarah Kowallik for Olympic net-snatching the drone in high winds and lumpy seas. Without a good catch, none of the drone shots might have ever been seen.
Grand Poobah Chuck Skewes is continuing the tradition of the Baja Ha-Ha aboard this year’s mothership, the Tanton 73 Velos. That means managing roll call duties and fleet activities, and perhaps still keeping up with sail repairs.
Speaking of repairs, Peter Nelson aboard John Irwin’s Jeanneau 51 Victoria wrote of a mystery steering problem as they started the second leg from Turtle Bay. Apparently, after leaving the harbor the boat began spinning circles to port. Tightening a loose steering cable helped, but they ended up using the emergency tiller so they could continue under power. Around 2:30 the next morning, the steering failed completely, sending them back into the hatches with their heads down and butts sticking out. They discovered the cables had come off the steering quadrant, restrung them, adjusted the tension, and restored steering. They’re hoping to find experienced eyes to check their work in Mag Bay and inspect the Raymarine autopilot ram, which had also become disconnected. They’ve now completed leg two and are in Mag Bay, where hopefully they can confirm a lasting repair.
Could the fishing be better than on past Ha-Ha’s? Again, it’s hard to compare one fillet with another, but all reports indicate there’s been plenty of good fishing, and most everyone has been dining well on this trip south. Amy and Peter Kardel of the San Luis Obispo-based Beneteau First 40 Ruby landed a wahoo (pictured above) that was too big for just their crew. They managed to share some and freeze some for later.
Regardless of the weather, the fishing, the sail changes or any other condition of the Ha-Ha, the one constant that remains is that people enjoy the people on the Ha-Ha, and the local hosts in both Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria. The common thread that has run through all 32 Ha-Ha’s is that it’s always the people that make the adventure the best. How could it be better? We have to assume everyone is too busy enjoying themselves to spend time figuring out how it could ever be more fun than it is right now.
The fleet is currently taking a break in Bahia Santa Maria and will depart on Thursday for the finish in Cabo San Lucas.
Caption Contest(!)
This looks like a pretty reasonable way to store a sailboat in the front yard.… Thanks to San Francisco Maritime and Coastal History Club for sharing!
You can see last month’s winner and top 10 in the November issue of Latitude 38.
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Le Cléac’h Rescued, Laperche Takes Line Honors in 2026 Route du Rhum
Last Wednesday, November 4, we reported that the 100-ft Ultim Maxi Banque Populaire XI had capsized and that the skipper, Armel Le Cléac’h, was inside the capsized boat, approximately 550 miles northwest of the Azores, awaiting rescue. Le Cléac’h was picked up a couple of days later by the cargo ship Palexpo.
The clip below, shared by Team Banque Populaire, was filmed by by Táo HP, a member of the Palexpo crew.
Earlier in the race, Francis Joyon, sailing the trimaran Oceans in the Classic Multihull class, also capsized and was picked up by the merchant vessel Maersk Columbus. The two capsizes are by no means the only casualties of this 3,542-mile race from Saint-Malo, France, to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, with numerous entries dropping out of the race due to either personal injury or damage to the vessel.
In good news, the first three boats have reached the finish. Tom Laperche of the Ultim SVR-Lazartigue took line honors on Sunday, November 8, at 0331, Paris time. He completed the race in 6 days, 13 hours, 27 minutes and 40 seconds.
Route du Rhum describes Laperche’s entry as “a well optimised, reliable Ultim trimaran which he knows like the back of his hand … he proved fast in every condition, smart and agile during transitions, and both incisive and dominant from the very start of the race.”
Laperche covered 4,308.32 miles, clocking an average “actual” speed of 27.18 knots. It was his first Route du Rhum race.
The Route du Rhum starting fleet comprised 115 boats across six classes. At the time of this writing, three boats have crossed the finish line and 18 are retired, leaving 94 boats still racing to the finish.
A Sacramento River Cruise
Over Labor Day weekend, my wife Cate and our daughter Brooke and I cruised up the Sacramento River to the Sacramento Yacht Club and back. It was a wonderful four-day journey with fabulously sunny and warm weather.
Our yacht, Papillon, is a 2021 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440, 44-ft long, with a 7.5-ft keel draft and 62-ft air draft. The shallowest point was in the first mile of the Sacramento River, where our depthsounder briefly read 4 feet below the keel. River current averaged about 1.5 knots.
We left the City of Brisbane Marina on Friday and sailed across the Berkeley Circle and under the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. A following breeze on San Pablo Bay made for a pleasant run to the Carquinez bridge. The Benicia-Martinez railroad drawbridge was the first bridge where we needed to request an opening. From there, we transited Suisun Bay and were surprised to see hundreds of giant windmills on our port side, rotating slowly.
We pulled into the Delta Marina in Rio Vista at high tide, with sufficient depth at the entrance, and docked in a guest slip we’d reserved in advance. They use the Dockwa app for reservations, or you can call (707) 374-2315. Natalie and Monica are super-friendly and helpful. They introduced me to the Tides Near Me app, and their store had a USB-to-Lightning charger cord to replace the one we’d left at home!
The marina has a fuel dock, shorepower, fresh water, restrooms and an RV park. At the dock, we met Kevin Bacon, his wife Melodie and their daughter Savannah, who were also cruising aboard their 45-ft cabin cruiser Hunter. They took us on a tour of downtown Rio Vista, which is a sight to behold: a throwback to the 1950s. Dinner at Foster’s Bighorn Restaurant and Bar is a must. It doubles as a taxidermist’s museum, with about 75 different specimens. Get the burger made from ground bison, elk and beef.
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