The 32nd Annual Baja Ha-Ha Heads South!

The 32nd Baja Ha-Ha took off from San Diego Bay this morning with clear skies and a warm breeze. The tumultuous El Niño-inspired weather has had us all keeping a closer eye on things, as it even threatened to rain out yesterday’s kick-off party. We flew down from sunny San Francisco to rainy San Diego on Sunday, though the rain held off for Chuck Skewes and Patsy Verhoeven to enlighten everyone during the 9:30 a.m. skippers’ meeting. It rained for an hour after the meeting, then turned to sun again as the kick-off party opened up in Harbor Island Marina’s parking lot, which, along with the marina, is undergoing a full reconstruction.

We were swimming in the shark tank when we crossed paths with the three sharks below. Despite being from the sailing capital of Annapolis, MD, Allie Eberhardt, on the left, was never a sailor until COVID came along. She jumped into it and now has been delivering sailboats all over the Atlantic. She decided she wanted to try something in the Pacific and came across Latitude 38 and our crew lists. She put her name on the Latitude 38 Crew List and found a ride with newlyweds Matt Carey and Jess England, who’ve also picked up sailing in the past few years.

This morning’s launch of the 32nd Baja Ha-Ha was conducted under clear skies and a warm breeze. As the fleet sailed past on their way to Mexico, the envious were left behind to take photos.

Thanks again to the crew at West Coast Multihulls for hosting us on one of their San Diego charter catamarans to start the rally off Shelter Island, and also to the San Diego Harbor Police for organizing the fireboat to come out to fire off the water cannons as the fleet headed south to Mexico.

It was another magnificent start to the Baja Ha-Ha with a warm, calm morning and a building breeze for the afternoon. We’ll bring you more on the Ha-Ha as the fleet makes its way south. In the meantime, you can cruise along with them by following the tracker here.