Ha-Ha Paid Entries Nearing 100

The Grand Poobah is chuffed to see that list of paid entries for this fall’s 20th Annual Baja Ha-Ha Cruiser Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas — with stops at (maybe Ensenada), Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria — is closing in on 100.

So far there are entries from six countries, including three of them from across the Atlantic Ocean: Chris Rinke and Alena Pribyl’s Columbia 34 Green Panther from Vienna, Austria; Eric Boye’s Borghegn 49 Ariel IV from Raa, Sweden; and Chris Geddes’ Columbia 50 Sagacious from Dartmouth, England.

The smallest entry is still Dan Krammer’s Ericson 29 Pez Vela, which is just a foot shorter than Joe Helfand’s Alameda-based Nonsuch 30 Jolin, and Jan and Ramona Miller’s San Francisco-based Odyssey 30 Jatimo. Jan and Ramona are not only vets of the Ha-Ha, they are vets of sailing their small but capable oldie but goodie across the Pacific and many other cruises. If you’ve got South Pacific questions, they, like a number of other Ha-Ha entries, have answers based on firsthand experience.

The biggest sailboat entered is Reza Malek’s Sausalito-based Beneteau 58 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. The Ha-Ha has the welcome mat out for motoryachts, too, and so far the biggest boat in the fleet is John Hartung’s Olympia-based 60-ft trawler Scout.

The overwhelming majority of boats entered are fiberglass sloops built in the United States. While we haven’t run the numbers, based on past Ha-Ha fleets we’ll bet you a Corona that the average length entry is between 42 and 44 feet, and is between 15 and 20 years old.

There haven’t been many schooners in the Ha-Ha over the years, so we’re glad that we’ll be joined this year by Byron Chamberlain’s Newport Beach-based 51-ft Rose of Sharon. She was designed by the great Starling Burgess and was built by Eastern Shipbuilding of Nova Scotia back in 1930. As such, we suspect she’s the oldest boat in the Ha-Ha fleet. For the record, Byron is the head of Mariner’s General Insurance, which has offices in California and Mexico, and which over the years has insured a lot of Ha-Ha boats.

To date there are only six catamarans entered, which comes as a bit of a surprise, as normally the Ha-Ha attracts about a dozen. Five of the seven cats are returnees, with an average of six Ha-Ha’s between them, somewhat misleading by the fact that returning mothership Profligate has done 17 of them. Coming the farthest of catamaraners are Keven and Marcie Millett, who are bringing their custom 50-ft homebuilt cat from Nawiliwili, Kauai. The couple have operated a daycharter cat business out of Hanalei Bay for many years and will be doing their second Ha-Ha.

We always take it as a compliment when people sign up for a second — or third, or fourth, or fifth, or sixth — Ha-Ha, and there are about a dozen of those. Two of the Ha-Ha vets we’re most eager to see again are Jeff and Debbie Hartjoy of the Longbranch, Washington-based Baba 40 Sailors Run. The dynamic couple did the 1999 Ha-Ha, then spent six years cruising the South Pacific. They did a second Ha-Ha in 2006, after which they sailed down the west coast of South America. Jeff said he always wanted to sail around Cape Horn, but it wasn’t Debbie’s idea of fun. So Jeff singlehanded around — as reported in Latitude — while Debbie flew to Punta del Este and met him there.

We love Jeff and Debbie because they live life to the hilt, and aren’t fazed by minor obstacles. Debbie once told the Ha-Ha audience an example of the latter. During their first Ha-Ha, the wind came up pretty strong, and they felt it was safer to have Jeff continue steering than to try to douse the chute. After several hours of steering, Jeff just had to take a pee, but couldn’t leave the wheel. The ever resourceful Debbie quickly came up with a solution. She brought an empty bottle up from down below, unzipped Jeff’s pants, and as Jimmy Buffett would put it, "drained the lizard" for her husband. If that isn’t Ha-Ha style teamwork, we don’t know what would be.

The publisher of Latitude will be doing his 19th Ha-Ha, while Assistant Poobah Andy ‘Mr. Pacific Puddle Jump’ Turpin and Head of Security Doña de Mallorca will both be doing their 18th. Are any of the three of us tired of doing the Ha-Ha? No way! We wouldn’t would dream of missing it, as it’s the two most fun weeks of the year. Yeah, the Ha-Ha is even better than St. Barth because you become friends with literally dozens of really terrific people, people you’ll almost certainly be sharing anchorages with elsewhere in Mexico if not also the South Pacific and beyond.

It would be great if you and your boat could join the 20th anniversary Ha-Ha fun. For entry information, please visit www.baja-haha.com.

Here are all 95 entries to date (don’t you wish you were among them?):

Moontide / Lagoon 470 / Bill Lilly & Judy Lang / Chacala, MEX
Adios / Columbia 43 / Craig Shaw & Jane Roy / Portland, OR
Calou / Jeanneau 47 / Bruce Powell / Tiburon
Coyote / Jeanneau 42DS / Stephen Meyer / San Diego
Mykonos / Swan 44 / Myron & Marina Eisenzimmer / San Francisco
Gypsy Wind / Hunter 40.5 / James & Elizabeth Lee / Marina del Rey
Unleashed / Hardin Voyager 44 / Paul Bailey & Carol Dabdub / Seattle, WA
Jigger / Pearson Invicta 38 II / Dennis Hall / San Diego
Ikani / Gecco 39 / David Barten / San Diego
Thea / Stevens 47 / Doug & Martha Towle / Vancouver, BC
Vent de la Mer / Beneteau 423 / William & Cindy Roush / Oceanside
Fais Do Do / Fuji 40 / Richard & Patricia Greyson / Melbourne, FL
Agave Azul / Catalina 470 / Robin & Kathryn Weber / Sausalito
Cake / Beneteau 361 / Ken & Sheri Bliss / Ventura
Sooooo Lucky / Hunter 45 CC / Jeff & Josie Jellick / Long Beach
Aldebaran / Olympic 47 / Rob & Lynne Britton / San Diego
Snapdragon / Beneteau 473 / Russ Johnson / Lopez Is., WA
Angelina / Hallberg Rassy 43 / Jerry & Carol Kvalheim / Berkeley
Jolin / Nonsuch 30 / Joe Helfand / Alameda
Trial Run / Passport 40 / Charles Johnson & Kathy Pickup / Berkeley
No Remorse / Catalina 445 / Jack & Suzanne Lutchansky / Alameda
Don’t Panic / Beneteau 423 / Rob Beaton / Sausalito
Lauren Marie / Spindrift 46 cutter / Martin Swank / Berkeley
French Curve / Beneteau First 47.7 / Mark & Cheryl Mitchell / San Diego
Adventure / Island Packet 38 / Frank Stair / New Orleans
Odyssey / Caribbean 44 / Bill Bischoff & John Skorstad / Channel Is.
Rocket Science / Bieker Riptide 55 / Thomas Durnan / Dutch Harbor, AK
Cygnus / Cabo Rico 38 / Joe Lavash / Newport, OR
Neko / Switch 51 / Peter Malloy & Mary Perica / San Francisco
Two Shadows / Morgan 462 ketch / V. Kelly & R. Chapel / San Francisco
Kandu / Tayana v42cc / Eric & Leslie Rigney / Marina del Rey
Wild Thing III / Jeanneau / Rhonda Hill-Tolar / Newport Beach
Diamond Girl / Beneteau 393 / Larry & Nelda Read / Bellingham, WA
No Ties / Jeanneau 49DS / Cary & Robin Spencer / Marina del Rey
Opportunity / Beneteau 393 / Dennis & Carol Klingelhofer / San Diego
Jatimo / Odyssey 30 / Jan & Ramona Miller / San Francisco
Pacific Breeze / Fast Passage 39 / Lon Schofield / Anacortes, WA
Resolution / Beneteau Oceanis 400 / T. Sumner & M. Wright / Bellingham, WA
Green Panther / Columbia 34 MkII / Chris Rinke & Alena Pribyl / Vienna, AUT
Atalanta / Farr 53 / Ray & Janet Lotto / San Francisco
Stella Maris / Hylas 46 / Tom Madden / Newport Beach
Celebration / Beneteau 473 / Richard & Audrey James / Channel Is.
R&R Kedger / Hunter 460 / Rob & Rose Benson / San Diego
Just Dandy / Ericson 32-200 / William Horne & Kim Tullis / San Diego
Mintaka / Ingrid 38 / Mark Bennett & Robyn Rogin / Salt Lake City, UT
Hotel California / Catalina 375 / Michael & Linda Stafford / San Francisco
Ariel IV / Borghegn 49 / Eric Boye / Raa, SWE
SeaSwift / Southern Cross 35 / Barry Barholomew / Center Is., WA
Pez Vela / Ericson 29 / Dan Krammer / Sausalito
Phantom Mist / Beneteau 40.7 / Roger Incledon / Wilmington
Caramba / 43-ft P-Squared sloop / Terry Reish & Jo Britton-Reish / Dana Point
B’Shert / Tayana 42 / Michael & Ann Witenstein / Long Beach
Seaquel / Nordic 40 / John Berg / Ventura
Minnie Maru / Hunter 34 / William Hinkle / Oxnard
Dulcinea / Downeast 38 / John & Janice Barker / Long Beach
Sosiego / Westsail 32 / Joseph & Deborah Graham / Alameda
Pamela / Pacific Seacraft 37 / Dennis Maggard & Pamela York / San Francisco
Nomad / Rival 36 / Robert Cohn & Margo Louwerse / Pt. Richmond
Appa / Wauquiez Centurion 42 / Marcus & Jennifer Reichert / Seattle, WA
Capricorn Cat / Hughes 45 cat / Wayne & Carol Hendryx / Brisbane
Wavelength / Beneteau 46 / Bill & Sandy Schwartz Portland, OR
Sunshine / Saturna 33 PH / Robert Coulson & Diana Brown / Thieves Bay, BC
Ocean Echo / Hallberg-Rassy 45 / H. & A. Starnitzky / San Francisco
Dolce / Island Packet 485 / Eric & Gisela Gosch / San Diego
Four Choices / Islander Freeport 36 / Robert Scholl / Westpoint Harbor
Ilean / Catalina 38 / Andrew & Eileen McDonough / Alameda
Solstice / Island Packet 485 / Bruce & Mary Bock / Coronado Cays
Starshine / Shannon 38 / Dave & Gail Kenyon / Deale, MD
Fury / C&C 44 / Fred Hazzard / Portland, OR
Top Cat / Fountaine-Pajot Antigua 37 / Rod Goodman / Long Beach
Winterhawk / Beneteau Evasion 36 / Rick & Patti Nordby / Edmonds, WA
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot / Beneteau 58 / Reza Malek / Sausalito
Calixto / Hans Christian 33 / Ramiro Medina / Marina del Rey
Scout / 60-ft trawler / John D. Hartung / Olympia, WA
Cerulean / Amel Maramu 46 / Jeremy & Erika Hermanns / Marina del Rey
Sea Gypsy / Sea Maid 45 / Jon Culver / Elfin Cove, AK
True North / Hallberg Rassy 36 / Gregg & Anne Brickner / Anacortes, WA
Honi / Hunter 33 / John & Jill Mackay / Long Beach
Antara / Westsail 42 / Don Russell / San Francisco
Ebenezer III / Catalina 36 / Richard Schaper / Sausalito
Green Flash / Beneteau Oceanis 351 / Robert Ritner & Joan Chen / Long Beach
Indigo Star / Tayana 48 Doug & Mary Tracey / Vancouver, BC
Happy Dance / Jeanneau DS 43 / Marty & Sue McDaniel / Coupeville, WA
Cool Change / Beneteau 37 / John Caletti / Pt. Richmond
Rose of Sharon / Custom 51 schooner / Byron Chamberlain / Newport Beach
Sea Otter / Island Packet 37 / Michael & Julie Dillard / Bend, OR
A Good Day / Island Packet 485 / Charlie & Carol McCullough / San Francisco
Kalewa / 50-ft custom cat / Keven & Marcie Millett / Nawiliwili, HI
Sagacious / Columbia 50 / Chris Geddes / Dartmouth, GBR
Ahmeek / Celestial 48 / Dennis Gray & Sherie Gibson / San Diego
Sailors Run / Baba 40 / Jeff & Debbie Hartjoy / Longbranch, WA
Gatecrasher / Tayana 48DS / Roger Shortz / San Francisco
Celtic Traveller / Mayflower 48 ketch / Dorris Welch & Mike Sack / Moss Landing
Victorious / Downeast 32 / Ray Smith / San Diego
Ticket II / Jeanneau 57 / Rick Niello / Sausalito
Cameot / Hunter Legend 37 / Neil & Shelley Stephens / Coeur d’Alene, ID