High Times in Turtle Bay

After enduring the coldest summer in recent memory, the 600+ sailors in the Baja Ha-Ha XVII rally fleet have now achieved a long-anticipated goal: They’ve found sunny skies!

As we write this report from an open-air beach bar in Turtle Bay, fleet members in tank tops and swimsuits are gearing up for the annual beach party on a completely undeveloped stretch of the bay, less than a half mile from the heart of this tiny fishing town.

On Monday, October 25, after a grand procession past a crowd of journalists, dignitaries and well-wishers, the fleet departed San Diego under patchy, cloudy skies. But a 12-knot WSW breeze was steady enough to carry the fleet quickly south past the Coronado Islands, and when it clocked to the west, chutes began popping open for as far as the eye could see.

All in all, Leg One held pretty sweet sailing, with the breeze holding until the third morning. It was then, however, that skies cleared and everyone’s layers of heavy clothing were stripped off and stowed. With up to 20 knots of breeze 60+ miles out, and lumpy 8- to 12-ft seas, a number of boats suffered typical damage — such as torn sails and broken goosenecks. The worst gear failure was aboard Matt Daniel and Paul Boyd’s Seattle-based Corsair F-31 tri Tumbleweed. Her bowsprit broke loose after stabbing a few big swells roughly 100 miles offshore. Bill Lilly (aka ‘Hef’) and his bevy of female crewmates, self-decribed as ‘bunnies’, sailed their Newport Beach-based Lagoon 47 cat Moontide 50 miles out of their way to loan Daniel repair tools, and stood by until repairs were completed.

Meanwhile, aboard the Long Beach-based Vector 39 Thee Amazing Grace, one of skipper David Bloom’s artificial hips popped out of joint, putting him in escruciating pain. Luckily his wife Karin McGinley and crew were able to stabilize him — it had happened three times before — and continue on to Turtle Bay, where emergency service personnel, including the chief of police, got him safely to medical facilities ashore. We’re happy to report the hip is now back in place and the crew expects to continue south when the fleet departs on Leg Two Saturday.

With many fleet members practically salivating at the prospect of being able to watch game two of the World Series on a TV in town, crewmember Mike Priest of the Newport Beach-based Swan 56 Defiance announced a wonderful addition to the rally, which he’d been working on for months: an exhibition baseball game at the dusty town’s new stadium. With the stands full of cruisers hooting and hollering, two local teams put on an exhibition of what serious baseball is supposed to look like. A squad of six-year-olds played next, then cruisers of all stripes got into the action — entertaining the ever-friendly townspeople with their blundering antics. It was all great fun, and it served to foster a tremendous sense of cross-cultural camaraderie. We anticipate such exhibitions will now become an annual Ha-Ha activity.

At 5 p.m. local time hundreds of diehard Giants fans flooded several bars to watch ‘Los Gigantes’ slaughter the Rangers, and we’d like to think that all their tequila-fueled enthusiasm had some small influence on securing the win. Stay tuned for further updates. (Go Giants!)