It is October 30th and we are leaving the USA. What can you say about entering a 150 boat rally which has imaginary start and finish lines (750miles)?Plenty⛵😍! Our fabulous crew members are Joey (lady) from Seattle and Joe from San Francisco.

We decide rather than to leave the crowded channel with that many boats we would take off a few hours ahead. A number of boats did the same. If you want to take a look at opening ceremonies or great professional pictures of the entire 10days go to 2017 Baja Ha-Ha Google Photos.

As we leave the channel we hear a thunk and we know what it is immediately. I have hit a patch of kelp. I put the engine in neutral then  reverse, rev it, and try to get the kelp off. We do this a couple of times. Satisfied it is off we hoist the sails as the wind has picked up.

We have 3 hour shifts and this leg is much easier /warmer to sail than off of the US West Coast (Sea-San Fran). For the next day it is mostly motor sailing.

Nov 1st and we catch a 20 pound tuna and everyone helped bring it in. Joe has not fished since he was a kid. He was so excited to see Risto clean and fillet this fish. He marveled at the sashimi that was on our table within 43 minutes. He said “How do I appear not to be a snob eating sushi again when I know it’s not 43minutes fresh”?🐠Good question and you’ll manage we are sure.

Nov 2nd and we arrive in Turtle Bay (Pacific side of the Baja) for 2 Days. This is something I have thought about for a long time. Being a baseball fan (Go Mariners) I can’t wait for the baseball game to begin. It’s a fund raiser for this town and it is the HaHa cruisers against the All Stars from this town. No strikes all balls and no outs. How could it be better⚾. This year a pitching machine was given to the town along with other donations.The next day we enjoyed a hike to the top of the mountain to stretch our legs. We ate dinner that  night at Anna’s, a very small restaurant. This was delicious and fun with spontaneous dancing with the waitresses and other people enjoying their meals. As we paid our bill our  waitress who was probably 11 years old looked at our pesos with a blank stare. The owner came over and we asked is there a problem. Here is 300 (3-100 pesos $16.00 US) pesos, more than enough to cover the bill. He started laughing. One of the 100 pesos had been out of currency for over 25 years, no wonder she gave us a blank stare. It was worth 1peso and so it is up on his wall with our signature of such a good time. So be careful when you bring foreign currency home and put it in a drawer for next time🏖.

Risto dove over the side of the boat and found a big wad of kelp wedged around our prop that had not come off since San Diego. We found our speed picked up quite a bit. Another task to always add as  we anchor.

We take off for Bahia Santa Maria our next stop. This leg has more constant wind so we sail. We had a hitch hiker for about 45minutes on our solar panel. We put up our newly acquired spinnaker and  enjoyed learning new ways to to work with this sail. The wind was picking up and I asked will this sail be coming down before or after dinner. Before an answer could be given we blew the spinny. We found out many boats blew their spinnakers in this leg. That’s sailing.

On this leg we have just gone past the 2,000 mile mark that Risto and I have sailed. We are having a blast!

During the next day we sail through a number of Sea turtles right by our boat. Joe and Joey had a treat this night that still has all of  us talking. Joe had never seen phosphorescence . When he came on his watch at 2 am (Joey was up too) he saw a turtle ringed in phosphorescence with a dolphin 🐬 jumping over it. Wow this was spiritual for all of us.

We make our way into Bahia Santa Maria a nice broad anchorage.

The pangas were busy ferrying folks from their boats to the beach. The dingy landing was one that many including us didn’t want to try.

A rock and roll band drove all the way across the Baja from La Paz to our anchorage to play for the Ha Ha. This is a blast and money making venture for this small area.yBefore  the tide went all the way out we took a panga back to Silver Wings. We took a swim around the boat and then we’re on our way to Cabo about 170 miles South. We have seen lots of 🐋 🐳 whales , porpoise , dolphins 🐬 ,turtles, rays, and amazing sun rises and sets.It is November 7th.

The weather is glorious, morning and night. I am on early morning watchand am grateful the garden has done so well. It’s fun to have fresh herbs ,tomatoes 🍅,lettuce, peppers,and kale to supplement our meals and snacks.

I was to be  on watch at 5:00/8:00am. I am so excited though I couldn’t sleep and have been in the cockpit since 3am. I am alone on watch and at 4 am and see the peninsula . We round Cabo point at 06:52am

 

the 9th of November.  We anchor about 09:30 in the Bay and realize how hot it is when we stop moving. Everyone is tired hot and ready for a swim. Over we go followed by a beer 🍻 to enjoy the moment. (Mimosas had been drunk with our champagne 🍾 a couple of breakfasts ago 😎).

Joe and Joey find different  hotel rooms as we have to wait a couple of days to clear customs. We instantly sleep for 6 hours.

We are now on our way to “We Can’t Believe We Cheated Death Again” at Squid Roe in Cabo.

. It was so much fun to see the other sailors and hear their tales of the whole experience. One couple with a boat over 40 feet had been drug backwards a couple of miles by hooking a marlin. The marlin won but quite the experience for them. We opted for an early night but know it went on until the wee hours.

The next day was a leisurely day to re coup and another beach party 🎉 in the afternoon. This culminates the Ha Ha and at the end is the From Here To Eternity (classic movie) Kissing Contest in the surf.In the HaHa if there is imaginary starts and finishes in our mind we came in Second. We do have a video (thanks Eric) of the whole kiss it’s really fun. Great way to seal the trip.

We say Thank You and good bye 👋 to our crew members who are flying back to the States, it is now Risto and I once again, captain and first mate onboard Silver Wings.

 

San Diego to Cabo

Post navigation