Baja Ha-Ha 2026 Cruises Into Turtle Bay
After Monday’s idyllic start from San Diego, the 2026 Baja Ha-Ha fleet cruised south in warm, light air with fresher breezes arriving as they approached Turtle Bay.
The Grand Poobah, Ullman Sails’ Chuck Skewes, reeled off the roll call for the Monday-morning fleet as they headed out past Point Loma and pointed their boats south.
Fresh fish has always been a big part of the Ha-Ha, and David Smith of the Catalina 470 Comet sailing out of San Diego shows why. “I’ve never found so many little flying fish on deck in the mornings as I have on this trip!” Doug said. “They go great with coffee!” Most of the Ha-Ha fleet are after bigger catches, but cruisers know how to make the best of what the sea dishes out.
The skies have cleared for the Ha-Ha and the fleet is enjoying a smooth run south.
Mark LaFevers of the Oxnard-based Jeanneau 45 Silver Linings sent a dispatch from the sea.
“Sailing was iffy initially under a rolling start, but filled in to some excellent light-air sailing Monday, followed by sporty seas and higher winds Tuesday/Wednesday. Many people reporting in on Turtle Bay radio net commented best sailing leg ever of all previous Ha-Ha’s.”
Despite its being the “best sailing leg ever,” the sail to Turtle Bay did have some issues among the fleet: “an autopilot that could not keep up with 19–20-knot boat speeds in the mighty 73-ft Velos;” And then there was the waterspout passing over the entrance to Turtle Bay, which Mark says was “too high for Whisper’s Echo or Tropicale to launch mixed-drink monkeys with their colored parasols up and over to Kansas.”
Silver Linings was not exempt. “Our major issues included Jack wishing for his squid goggles as he got smacked in the face by the slimy night raiders. His later complaint was “way too much dolphin traffic inside Turtle Bay to be able to wing-foil without risking hurting them.”
But of course there has been some excellent sailing. Mark tells us that the changing conditions allowed them to deploy a variety of sails “for a great downwind experience.”
“A spinnaker too big for the boat in light air Monday into Monday night: switching to a smaller spinnaker for higher winds Tuesday that we eventually blew up at 9 p.m. but really enjoyed its easy control: white sails wing-on-wing after that straight down the rhumb line, with a little helm-edging to avoid the heaviest of the following seas.”
And there have been lots of fish caught — bigger than Comet’s flying fish with reportedly “overloads” of giant wahoo. (You can see more of Mark’s previous Ha-Ha experiences in Latitude 38‘s September issue.)
This is the scene that greeted the Ha-Ha Mother Ship Velos in Turtle Bay. It won’t look empty once the fleet arrives.
Overall, it’s been a good start to the 32nd Baja Ha-Ha. The fleet is moving along nicely with just a few mechanical issues, and no medical emergencies. We hope that latter trend continues.