One Month Left To Sign Up for the (Last?) Baja Ha-Ha

The Grand Poobah’s Baja Ha-Ha updates still allude to the possibility of this year being the last for the famous cruising rally to Mexico. We certainly hope it doesn’t come to that. Read on to hear about and be inspired to join the fleet for this 10-day cruise south.

It’s just a month until the official deadline for signing up for what very likely may be the last Baja Ha-Ha ever. So if you want to be a part of Ha-Ha history, it’s high time to make your move. The number of paid Ha-Ha entries currently stands at 91. That’s a lower number than normal, which is fine with the Poobah. Quality always trumps quantity, and there are a lot of terrific and experienced entries in this year’s 29th Ha-Ha. Traveler, for example. Here’s their bio:

Traveler — North Wind 47, Michael and Barbara Lawler, Newport Beach (2019 Ha-Ha)
Michael, 70, is an estate planning attorney, while Barbara, bless her heart, is a 7th grade English teacher. Both have held 100-ton licenses from the Coast Guard. Their two crew have yet to be identified.

“I was on the USC Sailing Team in college,” Michael reports, “and since then have competed in seven Transpacs and have about 100,000 miles at sea. Barbara has raced in six Transpacs, each time being voted Most Valuable Crew Member. She and I have done five Transpacs together, three on Traveler, including a First to Finish trophy in the Cruising Class in 2019. This will be my second Ha-Ha, as I did the 2019 with friends Bill and Owen on Moonlight Lady. This will be Barbara’s first.

“Back in July of 2010 Barbara and I completed a three-year circumnavigation with Traveler, sailing a westabout circumnavigation through the Suez and Panama canals. We visited 64 countries on six continents. Traveler is a North Wind 47 built in Barcelona in 1985.

“Barbara and I each have held a 100-ton captain’s license (retired). Before our fortuitous meeting at the Hawaii YC following the 2005 Transpac, Barbara lived aboard a Peterson 44 for five years cruising the Caribbean.

“After the Ha-Ha, we plan to cross over to the mainland, taking a slip at Marina Mazatlán for a couple of weeks, then continuing on south as far as Acapulco before slowly working our way back up into the Sea of Cortez. We’ll spend about eight months altogether, cruising Mexico before doing the Bash back to Newport Beach around the first of June.”

Naturally you don’t have to have Michael and Barbara’s experience to sign up for the Ha-Ha. But if you’re relatively new to cruising and/or have dreams of a circumnavigation, it’s nice to know there will be members of the fleet whose brains can be picked for advice based on experience.

Michael and Barbara are already favorites of the Poobah because they’ve also sent in a couple of nice photos for the Meet the Fleet booklet that each entry will receive during the Last Cheeseburger in Paradise Costume Kick-Off Party at the West Marine Superstore in San Diego.

Baja Ha-Ha XXIX. If it’s going to be the very last Ha-Ha, the Grand Poobah is going to do everything in his power to make it the best ever.