Who’s Aboard for the 31st Baja Ha-Ha?
On Monday, November 3, the 31st Baja Ha-Ha fleet will cast off the docklines or haul up the anchor and head south on the annual Cruisers Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Crews aboard the 100+ boats will be waving and hooting and hollering as they pass by the official starting boat. Those of us not signed up for the Ha-Ha will be waving farewell from the docks, rather than the decks.
Ahead of each Ha-Ha, the Poobah and Assistant Poobah gather a little background on the fleet, a who’s who of the Ha-Ha. Over the years this has proven to be a fun read and is great for getting to know one’s fellow cruisers. It’s also great for those following along from home. Of course, we can only tell you about the sailors — we know nothing about the cruising experience of the whales, dolphins, frigate birds, flying fish and other sea life you’re likely to encounter along the way. We can, however, assume that they’re very comfortable in their environment, and with a little luck, will happily cruise along with the fleet from time to time.
Here’s a snapshot of the Baja Ha-Ha XXXI participants.
Raven — Reinke 13M Special
Jim & Lisa Osse, Everett, WA / Leavenworth, WA
Jim, 67, is a retired mechanical engineer, while Lisa is a retired technical writer. Their crew will be Mic Fite, 71, an electrical engineer.
“We are relatively new to boat ownership and long-passage sailing,” Jim and Lisa report, “but not to adventure. Our first date was a three-day climb of Glacier Peak, and our honeymoon was a 10-month around-the-world bicycle trip.” Read more.
Orca — Cartwright 44
Pat Fryer, San Rafael / Novato
Pat, 68, is a retired utility service rep. He’ll have three crew: Jeremy Shima, an entrepreneur, and two others yet to be determined.
In his 35 years of sailing, Pat has owned five sailboats, including the 1993 Jerry Cartwright-designed Orca for the last four years. While this will be Pat’s first Ha-Ha, he has considerable sailing experience, having done the ’96 and ’00 Pacific Cups. He’s also sailed to San Diego twice and Santa Barbara and Catalina once each. Read more.
Capricorn — Hallberg-Rassy 42F
Simon & Lisa Lilley, Seattle, WA
Simon, 53, is a retired actuary, which the Poobah presumes means he used mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk of potential events with the goal of helping businesses and clients develop policies that minimize the cost of that risk. Lisa continues to work as a software developer. The two will doublehand. Read more.
See more Ha-Ha sailors in the September issue of Latitude 38.