The Southbound Migration Begins

Every year at this time great numbers of humpback whales and a wide variety of waterfowl migrate south for the winter along the West Coast. At the same time, hundreds of sailors load up their boats and point their bows toward the sunny latitudes of Mexico. This morning at 11 a.m., the largest single group of them set sail from San Diego with the 22nd annual Baja Ha-Ha cruisers’ rally.

Over the next days, they’ll travel 750 miles down the coast of Baja to Cabo San Lucas, with rest stops along the way at Bahia Tortugas and Bahia Santa Maria. Conditions for the first leg of the downwind sail should be ideal — especially for the many first-timers in the fleet — with light winds and mild seas predicted, and a full moon overhead for the first few nights.

As in years past, the fun began yesterday with a grand Pre-Halloween Costume Kickoff Party at the West Marine complex in San Diego. As is typical, there was a large number of swashbuckling pirates and saucy wenches, along with all sorts of gypsies, rappers, ghouls, princesses and more.

At 10 a.m. today, the 110-boat fleet — with 436 sailors aboard — left San Diego Harbor in a grand procession, alongside warships of the Third Fleet. While friends and family of fleet members cheered them on from the shore, TV, radio and print journalists recorded the scene from the deck of the sportfishing boat Dolphin, alongside various dignitaries including Randa Coniglio, the president of the Port of San Diego; Dan Malcolm, chairman of the Port Commission; Sharon Cloward, head of the Port Tenants Association; Ken Franke, president of the Sportfishing Association of California; Victor Ibanez, director of Sportfishing of Baja; other government officials from Mexico; and representatives of Mexico and San Diego tourism.

Latitude staffers will check in when possible during the cruise. If not sooner, we hope to have a report from the small fishing town of Bahia Tortugas on Friday. You can see a complete list of entries on the Ha-Ha website.