BAHIA SANTA MARIA TO CABO SAN LUCAS

The Ha-Ha Fleet with Spinnakers Flying

We pulled out of Bahia Santa Maria just after first light on the 6^th of November.  Winds were much lighter than we had seen coming from Turtle Bay.  We decided to fly the spinnaker, even though we could no longer use the pole because the stay sail gear that we had been using for a downhaul had broken.  Still, we managed to fly the kite nearly all day and had a very peaceful sail.  Most of the fleet passed us before we got our kite up, but we gained some ground once we had it flying.  Although we seemed to be one gybe out of synch with the rest of the fleet, they remained in sight.

We had a tasty dinner of Tuscan chicken cutlets, carrots and salad.  It was a pleasure to cook without the boat heaving beneath my feet.  The evening was very warm.  I did my graveyard watch in capris and a light fleece with my sleeves rolled up and slept like a baby, rocked by the gentle waves, once my watch was complete.

Approaching Cabo Falso

When the 7^th dawned, everyone was eager to reach Cabo.  The scenery from Cabo Falso to the harbor was spectacular and Ha-Ha boats once again materialized from all directions.  Everyone was in a hurry, so we cranked up the engine and dropped the sails when the wind died at mid-afternoon.  It came up again shortly thereafter, but we continued into port with bare poles.

The Famous Arch

Arriving in Cabo San Lucas at 4:00 PM is a very bad idea.  We had been unable to raise the organizers on the radio to receive our slip assignment, so planned to tie up at the fuel dock as we had been instructed.  When we arrived, a huge mega-yacht was occupying at least half of the fuel dock and every sport fishing boat in the harbor was jockeying for the remaining space.  We circled for some time but, being ponderous, little power boats kept cutting in front of us.  Finally, we opted to head for an empty side tie where a small sailboat, that we later learned had a broken transmission, cut between us and the dock.  It was tense for a moment until some other people on the dock walked them forward so that we would not crush them.

Michelle in Cabo

We were met by an agitated security guard, intent on making us leave, but I managed to explain to him that we had a slip somewhere and would move as soon as we determined where.  Ingemar ran off to talk to the harbormaster and we eventually landed in a nice slip close to the Baja Cantina and the restrooms.  The location does have its drawbacks, however, as the music is very loud at night.

TURTLE BAY TO BAHIA SANTA MARIA

Raising the Spinnaker

November 2^nd, we left at 8:00 in the morning to sail to Bahia Santa Maria.  Winds were light and we flew the spinnaker for the first time on Fool’s Castle.  It went fairly well, given crew who were novices with spinnakers.  The wind built as the day progressed, so we doused the kite and proceeded under sail with the mizzen and stay sail flying.  It got lumpier and lumpier, but the day was warm and even the evening was pleasant.  Joel completed his 10 PM to 3 AM watch in his swim trunks.

Fool's Castle's Spinnaker

Tension between Scott and the rest of the crew has been running high.  Charles left us at San Diego and the rest of us have been enduring constant outbursts from an owner stressed to the breaking point who takes every fault with his boat as a personal affront.  He wants to be informed of anything that doesn’t work, but is inclined to wound the messengers.  It is difficult to stay out of his way in 43’ of space.

Ingemar had charted a course that roughly followed the coast, instead of cutting across open water to Bahia Santa Maria.  This course became more and more difficult to steer as the wind continued to build.  On the morning of the 3^rd, we could no longer continue on that course and had to stand out to sea, back to the rhumb line we would have sailed if we had gone straight across.  This concerned Ingemar, since we were off the paper charts (we still had two GPS chart plotters operating), but I felt better when we began to see other Ha-Ha boats for the first time since the prior afternoon.

Our plan was to sail west until 4:00 and then drop the main and jib and motor under mizzen and stay sail straight towards Bahia Santa Maria through the night.  Shortly after 3:00, the wind had built to a steady 25 knots and Michelle was having difficulty keeping the boat from rounding up.  I decided to take in sail earlier than planned.  We rolled up the jib without incident, but things got more interesting when I went forward to roll up the main.  The stay sail halyard was lead to the winch I needed to furl the main and the stay sail was flying and full of wind.  As I was attempting to clear the winch without losing too much halyard height, the shackle on the clew of the stay sail gave way and the big metal fitting on the clew seemed bent on my destruction.  At least it no longer mattered that I maintain good sail shape on the stay sail.  I directed Joel to fall off so that the sail wouldn’t rip my nose off and furled the main.  Then, I was faced with the task of venturing out on the bow to pull down and secure the stay sail and rescue what was left of the self- tacking gear.

Boat under control, we laid a course straight for Bahia Santa Maria.  Soon, we were encouraged to see the lights of other boats in the distance.  We pulled into Bahia Santa Maria early the morning of the fourth.  Bahia Santa Maria is a large bay on the outside of the barrier island that forms Bahia Magdalena.  It is usually a lonely place, with only a few boats and a handful of fishermen’s cabins, but that morning it was full of Ha-Ha boats and looked quite welcoming.  It must have rained recently, because the hills were green and covered with pink wildflowers and fluttering yellow butterflies.

Bahia Santa Maria

Having played Cinderella in Turtle Bay, I was desperate to get off the boat.  As soon as we had recovered from our night of sailing, Michelle, Joel and I took the dinghy to go ashore.  At first we headed for the inviting beach near the estuary, but the surf was breaking offshore and we didn’t want to chance a landing there.  We turned around and motored laboriously against the wind and current (the motor on Scott’s dinghy is a one speed, 1968 2.5 hp Evinrude) back to a small beach near our anchorage.  This was our first attempt at landing a dinghy in the surf and my first experience with using dinghy wheels.  It would have been easier if we had lowered the dinghy wheels sooner, but we managed to land without breaking a shear pin or flipping over, so I counted it a success.  The dinghy wheels were fantastic for hauling the boat up onto the beach.  I was able to haul a rib well up onto the shore single handed.

There wasn’t really much of a beach there, but we had a good time exploring up a little wash, drinking beer in the sun and playing in the tide pools.  We met many other Ha-Ha participants there, including one gentleman who paddled ashore on an air mattress, looking very relaxed.  The water was clear and warm and the temperature was ideal.  After a couple of weeks on tension on the boat, it was wonderful to have an afternoon free in what felt like paradise.

We had a bit of a time getting off the shore due to Joel’s insistence on raising the wheels as soon as they cleared the bottom.  He got caught between the dinghy and a rock and had a tough time dodging the propeller.  Lesson learned: Leave your wheels down.  We did manage to leave the shore with some dignity intact and made it safely back to the boat.  Scott had also elected to take the day off and had spent the day reading.  He was in a much better humor when we returned.

We spent a peaceful late afternoon on the boat and then rigged up the barbecue and grilled steaks for dinner.  I baked some sweet potatoes and made a salad and we washed it all down with some nice red wine.  It was nice for all of us to be able to eat together, instead of shifts as we had to do when we were on watches.  We were all ready to go to bed right after dinner.  We didn’t even make it to cruiser midnight (9 PM.)

Bahia Santa Maria with Party Tents in Background

November 5^th was another relaxing day in Bahia Santa Maria.  Boats continued to arrive all day and night after we got in, but pretty much everyone had arrived in time for the beach party that afternoon.  The residents of Bahia Santa Maria conspire with the Ha-Ha organizers to throw a big bash every year.  There was a lunch of grilled marlin and seafood stew, lots of cold beer and a really great rock and roll band that came all the way from La Paz to play for our tips.  We talked to a lot of people and did some crew recruitment for later in the trip.  There was a lot of dancing and people hiked up the hill to look over towards Mag Bay.  A couple of guys floated down the estuary, drinking beers, as the tide went out.  There was beach volleyball after the tide went out and revealed the beach.  We were delivered to and from the party by the world’s fastest panga.  I’ve never gone so fast in a boat.

After the exertions of the party, I made a simple dinner of beef fajitas and we crashed early because we wanted to get an early start in order to get to Cabo in time to meet Ingemar’s wife who was flying in on the 7^th.

SAN DIEGO TO TURTLE BAY

The Baja Ha-Ha of 2013 commenced on October 28^th with a parade of boats, crews wearing silly costumes, a fireboat, and a shot from an America’s Cup starting gun.  Unfortunately, Fool’s Castle was still at the dock in San Diego.  We needed to see a rigger about the spinnaker pole fittings, complete the installation of the SSB radio and replace the pump motor in the forward head.

The day got off to a subdued start when Charles decided to leave the boat.  I was sorry to see him go, but he was not enjoying himself and the mood has been lighter since his departure.  Losing a crew member means longer watches for everyone else, but at least we now have his cabin for storage, which makes the main salon much more comfortable for the rest of us.  We no longer have a giant spinnaker under the dining table and bags of tools on the settee.

The rigger came and he and Scott finally managed to devise a means to fit the spinnaker pole to the mast.  The rigger came up with a pole end that would mate with one of the mast fittings we had on board after a few modifications.  He departed to go machine the part and Scott commenced working on the radio installation.  I tackled replacing the pump motor, which first entailed a trip to West Marine for parts and chemicals to mitigate the holding tank smell.  I took a cab over to West Marine and then walked half a mile or so to the Ralph’s to buy another tank of propane.  Propane in hand, I interrupted the breakfast of a cabby who was sitting in the parking lot and got a ride back to the boat.

While Joel and Michelle went in search of a doctor to tend to her infected leg and Scott worked on the radio, I spent the afternoon with my hand inside the holding tank, removing the old impeller pump motor and installing a new one.  Of course, this involved removing every other part of the sanitation system to get at it.  It was a long and disgusting process, but at least it is not leaking.  We still need to replace the control block, but we have a spare, so will tackle that in Turtle Bay.  At least the gross part is done.

The rigger came back in the late afternoon and he an Scott finally fit the pole to the mast with much jubilation.  It cost $1000, but will allow us to sail downwind, since the largest head sail we have is a 120%.  By the time we had reassembled the forward cabin and stowed all the tools, dinner was ready, so we all sat down to eat salmon, kabocha squash tots and salad.  Everyone was pretty tired, so we decided to turn in early and leave early in the morning.

We finally pulled out of the Cabrillo Isle Marina at 5:25 AM on Tuesday, October 29^th.  It had rained through the night and was still misting lightly.  We motored out through the darkness and passed a brightly lit cruise ship coming in.  Down saw us off the coast of San Diego and we passed the Coronado Islands by 9 AM.  The clouds began to break up and there were dolphins leaping all around the boat.

Our new watch schedule is as follows: Ingemar 5-10, Scott 8-1, Joel 10-3, Rene 1-5 and Michelle 3-8.  My watches are shorter, but I am responsible for all the provisioning and cooking.  We have also now posted a schedule for galley cleanup and housekeeping chores.

We lost the SSB antenna overboard early on the morning of October 29^th.  We were rolling heavily, the antenna flexed right out of the top support, toppled to the deck and snapped off.  It floated briefly, but sunk before it could be recovered.  The rest of the day passed without incident.  The sky cleared and it was warm in the afternoon.  Finally, we felt like we were on the trip we had expected.  The water was very blue and we saw more dolphins and whales, but no more Ha-Ha boats, although we encountered lots of fishing boats and floating fish pens.  I finally got the chance to scrub some of the stains off the deck, although the rain had left the boat fairly clean.

We had a nice dinner of Kalua pork and mashed yams with salad and then spent the night motoring south under starry skies. The wind is directly behind us, making it difficult to sail or steer a straight course.   A huge yellow crescent moon rose about 4 AM as we approached Isla San Martin, off the coast of San Quintin.

Ingemar Navigating

I came off watch at 5 AM on the 30^th and went below to sleep.  A couple of hours later, the motor quit.  We had exhausted the first tank of fuel and it took Scott a half hour or more to get the second tank drawing.  Shortly thereafter, we raised our first Ha-Ha boat, “Ponga,” on the radio.  They had also left late, although not as late as we had.  We were their first contact, also.  They are sailing inshore of us.

I went up on deck an hour before my watch started and helped Scott to rig the spinnaker.  We had good wind behind us and wanted to sail.  By the time we had rigged the pole, sheets and downhaul, the wind had built to a point where we felt it was unwise to try to fly the kite.  We ran out the main sail and rigged a preventer and then unfurled the jib.  We were making 7 knots under sail, but the swells were large and there were two foot wind waves on top of them.  It was blowing 20 knots and the boat was a bear to steer.  Eventually, we turned southeast and ran wing on wing for several hours.  From noon until 9 PM or so, we had very heavy seas and everything was flying around the boat.  Joel was bounced out of his bunk.  We did, however, see lots of whales, including one large grey that jumped completely out of the water twice.  The splash he made when he landed resembled a calving glacier.

Thank Goodness for Gimballs

I was exhausted when I got off watch at 5:00 PM, but I still had to make dinner in the heaving galley.  Fortunately, I had made spaghetti sauce ahead of time in San Diego.  I managed to cut the spaghetti squash in half without losing any fingers and put it in the oven.  That gave me an hour and a half to prepare the salad.  By the time I was ready to serve, we were rocking so badly that I had to stand in the galley and hold the pots on top of the stove.  Everybody took their meals out of bowls and no one was feeling particularly hungry.  I had to wash the pots right away or they would have become missiles.  Boiling water for coffee was an adventure.

Cedros Island

Despite the motion of the boat, I slept soundly when I finally hit my bunk.  Shortly thereafter, the motion of the boat eased.  My 1-5 AM watch was quite pleasant.  We were 50 miles or more offshore, sailing outside of Cedros Island and there were an incredible number of stars visible and lots of shooting stars.  We could see the light from San Benito Island from at least 25 miles away and it was odd knowing it was out there and not being able to see it on the radar, even though it sports a radar beacon.  By the time San Benito appeared on the radar, we could already see Cedros.

I awoke the morning of the 31^st to blue skies and reasonably calm seas, although we are motor sailing at 7 knots.  We can now see a few other Ha-Ha boats and were able to make radio contact for the roll call.  

Approaching Turtle Bay

We followed the line of boats into Turtle Bay and arrived about 4:00 PM.  We dropped anchor fairly close to the town pier and Scott almost immediately hailed a water taxi to take us to town.  There isn’t much to Turtle Bay.  It is only about six blocks of dirt streets leading up from a decrepit pier and grubby beach.  The inhabitants seem prosperous enough, however.  The buildings still in use are well maintained, people drive decent vehicles and there is no evidence of poverty.

View from the Vera Cruz Restaurant

We walked to the top of the town to the Vera Cruz restaurant, where the Ha-Ha bunch met for drinks and dinner.  The food was mediocre at best, but at least I didn’t have to cook.  Very little fresh food finds its way to Turtle Bay and the usually sleepy joint was overwhelmed by the Ha-Ha fleet.  Ingemar insisted on ordering a bottle of wine with dinner.  The best they could do was a lousy bottle of white zinfandel served on ice in a plastic bucket with a lager glass from which to drink.  The rest of us stuck to beer and margaritas, which were excellent.  The restaurant did have a nice view of the boats anchored in the bay.  I wonder what the residents of Turtle Bay think of this annual invasion.

After dinner, we got in a big water taxi with several other groups of people and spent about an hour trolling around the harbor, trying to find boats in the dark.  No one had a clear idea of where they had anchored and many of the boats were unlighted.  While we had a good idea of where our boat was when we started, by the time we had circled the harbor for an hour, we had no idea where we were.  It turned out that we were anchored right next to the first boat we had visited, but we didn’t recognize the boat because the anchor light on the binnacle was on and Scott was sure we didn’t have a red light in the cockpit.  The panga driver was pretty good natured about the whole thing and I think we ended up paying him double.  Later, when Michelle and I were drinking beers in the cockpit, we heard several more boatloads of folks going through the same routine and watched a flotilla of dinghies zip around in the dark, shining flashlights at different boats.  Today, I put out some solar lights to make our boat more identifiable in the dark.

Ha-Ha Fleet Anchored in Turtle Bay

It was nice to get a full night’s sleep in a quiet anchorage.  We awoke the morning of the 1^st to a flat battery.  I made coffee on the barbecue on deck until Scott got up and informed me that, despite the battery gauge saying both banks were flat, the second bank was actually charged.  We were able to start the engine and charge up the first bank.  We consolidated all of the food into one refrigerator.  We will have to settle for cooling beer only while we are motoring.

Post Party Nap

Scott and I spent the day working on the boat while the rest of the crew went into town and later went to the Ha-Ha beach party.  I successfully repaired the sewage treatment system in the forward head and Scott repaired the pressure leak in the fresh water system.  We were unable to locate any ¼ inch hose, so completing the repairs to the water maker will have to wait until we reach Cabo.  I inspected most of the cotter pins and wrapped them with rigging tape to prevent them from injuring us.  We heated water in sun showers and got clean.  There was corned beef and bacon slaw for dinner.  Ingemar and Michelle enjoyed themselves a bit too much at the party and slept through dinner. 

Sunset in Turtle Bay

SAN DIEGO

We left Marina del Rey in the late afternoon on Friday and headed south across Santa Monica Bay.  We had enough wind to sail and we enjoyed sailing for a change.  We started seeing dolphins right away and had dolphins playing in our bow wave all through the night.  In the dark of the night, dolphins appear as glowing streaks in the water.  At dusk, we rolled up the sails and motored south.

We arrived in San Diego about ten in the morning and pulled into a slip that Ingemar had arranged for us at the Cabrillo Isle Marina.  Several other boats on the dock are also participating in the Ha-Ha.  There was a party atmosphere.  Unfortunately, we were still working frantically to get the boat ready and weren't able to participate in the fun.

Scott and I worked on resurrecting the water maker.  Ingemar, Joel and Charles worked on installing dinghy wheels.  Michelle and I walked to the grocery store and bought provisions for the remainder of the trip.  Joel and I re-installed ceiling panels and the dashboard.  We were very busy for two days.

Sunday afternoon was the kickoff party for the Baja Ha-Ha.  It was a costume party with lots of goofiness and dancing.  It was a great opportunity to put aside our boat troubles for a few hours.  We aren't ready to leave tomorrow, but we will get out of here one way or the other.

VALLEJO TO MARINA DEL REY - SHAKEDOWN CRUISE

Leaving Vallejo

We left Vallejo about 6:00 last night and headed out towards the Golden Gate, making six knots under power.  The night was clear and the moon full until we reached the gate where the fog was in and thick as pea soup.  There is a little brass plaque on our companionway that says, "When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."  I was below, trying to sleep prior to my midnight to 4 am watch, when I heard exactly that occurring above me.  The light on the compass was not working. There was a freighter outbound, which had caused us to hug the shore. Suddenly the radar was telling us that we were close to the rocks and Scott couldn't know which was up in the fog.  It was pretty tense for a few minutes but, by the time I got my glasses on and scurried up the companionway, Michelle had produced a headlamp with a red light that made a spiffy compass light and we were steaming under the ghostly yellow lights of the bridge.  Phew!  First adventure survived.

Ingemar

Scott

Joel

For the benefit of those who will be following this blog, I will take this opportunity to introduce the crew of Fool's Castle.  Our official skipper, who conceived of this voyage, is the perpetually natty Ingemar Olsson.  The owner of the vessel and first mate is the camera shy Scott Bonomi.  Don't expect a lot of photos of Scott.  Next, we have the veteran of Pacific crossings, Charles Kite.  Ingemar's friend, Harry "Joel" Curtis-Brown, a power boat skipper, is joining us on his first sailing voyage.

Charles

Michelle

Rene

Michelle Futerman is my dear friend who helps to keep the mood light.  She and her husband, our faithful shore crew, Joe Futerman, are contemplating buying a sailboat to live aboard, so this trip is an experiment for her.  And lastly, yours truly, cook and blogger, somewhat less dumpy than formerly, although I was recently the victim of a horrible haircut.

Once we passed under the Golden Gate, the visibility rapidly improved.  It was still overcast and damp, but we could see well enough at sea level and the moonlight was diffused through the clouds, making it easy to distinguish the horizon.  We were quite alone and did not see another vessel until we reached Monterey Bay the next day.  Most significantly, it was bloody cold.

We are standing four hour watches.  Scott, Charles and I are the watch captains.  Charles has 4-8, Scott 8-12 and I 12-4.  The remaining crew stand watches offset by 2 hours.  Theoretically, this allows us to always have someone fairly alert at the helm.  Ingemar has 6-10, Joel 10-2 and Michelle 2-6.

Moss Landing Fuel Dock

Our arrival in Monterey Bay was magical.  We were greeted by a large pod of grey whales, blowing and flipping their tails all around us.  We also saw many sea lions, some of them leaping out of the water like dolphins with feet.  The bay teemed with sea life.  We pulled into Moss Landing just before noon to take on fuel and talk to a marine electronics dealer who will be providing us with the latest navigation equipment early next year for our Atlantic crossing.  Moss Landing is a small fishing harbor with a very New England feel to it.  We went ashore and had a seafood lunch in a nearby restaurant there.

Fishing Vessel in Moss Landing

 We wasted a few hours trying to sail after we left Moss Landing, but finally gave up, rolled up the sails, and resumed motoring, since the wind direction was preventing us from sailing out of Monterey Bay.  We did get to see more whales, however.  Finally, we motored out of the bay and headed off towards the next waypoint off Pt. Conception, 114 nautical miles distant.  We would not round Pt. Conception until the early hours of Thursday morning.

Scattering Billy's Ashes

Somewhere off Port San Luis, we scattered the ashes of Charles' brother, Billy.  He had passed away twenty years earlier and had been residing in a can in the closet of one relative or another for the past two decades.  Charles thought it was time he was released to the universe.

Tuesday night was extremely cold, but Wednesday night was slightly warmer after we rounded Pt. Conception, although still bitterly cold for those without proper clothing.  Joel said his watch from 10-2am felt like sitting on a chairlift at Sugar Bowl for 4 hours.  It was cool and overcast all day, as well.  We kept a sharp eye out for freighters, but did not see another vessel until we reached Santa Monica Bay.

Grey Days

The early hours of Thursday saw us through the Santa Barbara Channel.  We plotted a course between the shipping lanes and the oil platforms.  It was the first time we had been in sight of land for a couple of days and it was nice to have city lights to look at and use to confirm our navigation. When the sun came up on Thursday, we finally saw the sun for the first time and it felt very welcome.  Everyone was on deck as we sailed along the coast of Malibu and waved at Michelle's brother, who could see us through binoculars from his home in Paradise Cove.

Just Before Pt. Dume

Marina del Rey Breakwater

We rounded Pt. Dume and headed across Santa Monica Bay in the early afternoon.  This was familiar territory for Charles, Michelle and myself, so we had fun picking out familiar landmarks that lead us to the harbor entrance.  We arrived in Marina del Rey at 2:30 PM on Thursday, exactly when we had calculated we would arrive.  None of the yacht clubs had room for a vessel of our size, so we landed at the public docks at  Burton Chace Park and (Ah!) headed for very welcome showers.

Fool's Castle in MDR

Joe met us later with parts he had located for the forward head and we all repaired to my favorite restaurant, Killer Shrimp, for a delicious dinner.  We were all quite content to fall into our bunks and make an early night of it.

FALSE STARTS AND WAITING

The newspaper article in the Vallejo Times Herald says that we left yesterday, but we are still here.  A couple of last minute engine and steering issues have kept us tied to the dock. We had actually decided to call in a mechanic, but he didn't show up for work today.  Now, Scott is working on the engine again after getting some telephone advice.  We still hope to leave today.

The shore crew left us yesterday afternoon and we cooked a nice dinner and spent some time getting to know each other.  This morning, we had a chance to do some of the things that we thought would have to wait for San Diego, but now we are just waiting and holding our breaths.

THE TIDE WAITS FOR NO ONE

I can't remember the last time I was this stressed.   After a week of long days and late nights, we still aren't ready to go.  An old sailing friend of mine once divided boat owners into two classes.  The "carpenters" work on their boats, "getting ready to go cruising," forever and never go.  The "sailors" go whether they are ready or not.  I guess that makes us "sailors," since we are leaving at 2:00 with the tide, ready or not.

We don't yet have a working stove and the SSB antenna is still lying on the deck.  We have a literal truckload of stuff to stow and we have three hours.   I'd better start working on Plan C.  Plan A was to leave yesterday.  Once we leave the house in the next hour, we won't be back for months.  We'll be out of here!