Puddle Jumping from La Paz

Patsy ‘Le Reina de la Mer’ Verhoeven, the nine-time veteran of the Baja Ha-Ha, reports than an unusual number of boats in La Paz are getting ready to Puddle Jump to the South Pacific this year. Based on a meeting in La Paz on Wednesday night, they include:

• Avatar, Peterson 44, Whitestone, VA, Shelly Ward and Mike Rickman.
• Jade, Fuji 45, Anderson Island, WA, Pete Cookingham and son Erick Cookingham.
• Huzzah, Jeanneau 45.2, Gig Harbor, WA, Gerry & Jody Gilbert.
• Cinnabar, Schumacher 52, San Francisco, Tom & Sylvia Seaberg.
• Koza, Jeanneau 49, Brisbane, Australia, Carola Melville & Jim Graham.
• Compañera, Tarten 38, Vallejo, Joel and Laura Sorum.
• Morning Light, Explorer 45, San Diego, Scott Thomas. 
• Talion, Gulfstar 50, La Paz, Patsy Verhoeven.

"It’s Interesting to note that three of the crews have lived in La Paz for a period of time," reports La Reina. "Pete for 25 years, Shelly for 11 years, and me for nine years — and we were inspired to do the Puddle Jump at least to some extent by the deaths of our dear friends Paul Whitehouse and Simone Wood of the ketch Tabasco II. The couple tragically perished in La Paz Bay during hurricane Odile in September of 2014. It had been Paul and Simone’s dream to sail to the South Pacific. We will join their families in the Marquesas for a scattering of their ashes ceremony."

Does sailing to the South Pacific mean that Le Reina will miss her first Baja Ha-Ha in a decade? Of course not.