Ha-Ha News: Kids, Fuel & Late Entries

Some of the parents and kids who will be participating in the 23rd annual Baja Ha-Ha cruiser’s rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, which starts next Monday, gathered on the shores of San Diego Bay yesterday for a ‘meet and greet’. There will be others.

While at the Downwind Marine pre Ha-Ha Kick-Off Party on Saturday, Scott Doran and Laura Ritchie of Sidney, BC-based Lagoon 40 Muskoka expressed disappointment to the Grand Poobah that the Ha-Ha website was no longer accepting entries. The Grand Poobah doesn’t like to see disappointed people, so he gladly accepted their entry. If you want to be a late entry, the Poobah is the guy to contact. Email him here.

One of the old Ha-Ha friends we met at the Downwind event was Alan ‘Doctor Electron’ Katz of the San Diego-based Slocum 43 Kemo Sabe. Alan says he was "pleasantly surprised" to have the folks at Pearson’s Fuel Dock on Shelter Island offer to sell him fuel at the less expensive large-volume price. Why? "Because Kemo Sabe is entered in the Ha-Ha."

There are fuel docks on both sides of Shelter Island. Pearson’s is the one between the San Diego YC and Humphreys. Please note that diesel is much more expensive in Mexico, and for reasons we’re still not completely clear on, there is a very high ‘dock fee’ charged at the marina in Cabo San Lucas. If possible, you’ll want to fuel up elsewhere.

The only bad Ha-Ha news to date is that the winds out of the south have been relentless for boats north of Pt. Conception trying to get south. We’ve never seen anything like it. And such southerlies are forecast to continue. We’re afraid that more than a few boats planning to do the Ha-Ha won’t make it to San Diego in time for the October 31 start. If you know that you won’t be able to make the start, please email the Grand Poobah here. If you’re just a little late, we’re hoping you’ll catch the fleet farther on down the road. We’ll hold your swag bag for you.

As some Ha-Ha folks know, after 23 years the Poobah decided to move the Ha-Ha starting date back a week. Part of the reason is to not conflict with a huge annual fishing tournament when the fleet arrives at Cabo, and part of the reason is to move even further back in the hurricane season. So it is with interest that we notice hurricane Seymour is brewing, albeit far off the coast of mainland Mexico and Baja. It will be long gone by the time we get to the same latitude, so there are no worries with it.

With the days getting shorter and the water beginning to cool at the latitudes between Puerto Vallarta and Cabo, the Poobah is pretty confident that hurricane season will end with Seymour. Nonetheless, the possibility of future hurricanes will be monitored each day of the Ha-Ha. For the record, no hurricane or even tropical storm in the last 50 years would have crossed the Ha-Ha route when the Ha-Ha boats were there.

San Diego weather for the upcoming week features temps in the mid- to high 70s, while the forecast for the Monday start of the Ha-Ha is in the high 60s. Downright chilly! But no worries, because the temps in Cabo are in the high 80s and low 90s, and should be about the same when we get there in a little over two weeks. If you always wanted to sail where it’s warm, the Ha-Ha is for you.

Need a berth in San Diego? Because of cancellations, there are still a couple of spots open at Intrepid Marina in San Diego, right in the heart of the pre Ha-Ha festivities.