Baja Ha-Ha XVI

[imagine2frolic]

I was preparing Frolic in 93 to leave on the Baha Haha. I was putting in solar, dodger, bimini, radar with arch, GPS, bow roller, anchor & outboard perches. This all within a couple of months. I was just a worker bee gone mad.

A fella in his late 70's walked over one day, and asked. "Boy, you going somewhere?" I explained I was preparing for the Haha, and he replied "You sure the law ain't looking for you? I have never seen so much stuff go on one boat in so little time!"

A couple of years later I sailed back under the Gate. A couple of days after that the same man walked over. His only remark was "Did you have yourself some fun?" I told I had lots of fun. He gave me a wink, and walked off.

In 93 you just left from where ever, and whenever. We just trickled in, and singed in at the Broken Surfboard restaraunt. At least I think that was the name. I signed in as #141, and still have the t-shirt.....i2f

[Charlie]

I have a lot that I want to get done before going on the Baja Ha Ha. Install the windvane. Get the watermaker working install a new nav station. Get the SSB and modem working new windows for the dodger (or replace with a hard dodger) the list goes on. Right now I am debating whether to actually do the Ha Ha. I'm torn b/c I want to get this stuff done on the boat but I want to do the Baja Ha Ha. I'm thinking that what I will probably do is do the Ha Ha and then bring the boat back to SD and finish off my projects.

[jackiepitts]

I am curious if anyone else has had problems with insurance when going on the haha? The haha leaves San Diego on the 26th of October and arrives in Turtle Bay on the 29th. They then depart Turtle Bay for Santa Maria on the October 31st at 8:00 am. It seems our insurance will not cover us past Turtle Bay before November 1st. We are debating between taking a chance without insurance for 1 day or just leaving the next day and catching up with the fleet at that point.
Wondering if anyone else has had similar issues.
Jackie

[Charlie]

Hi jackie:

I am going to look into my insurance today I will let you know what I come up with.

Charlie

[Hollen]

We are entry #134 and are in the same boat, so to speak. We hope to add a rider to our existing insurance policy an pray nothing happens to us like last year, until Nov 1. Even worse we plan on leaving 3 days early to avoid the 350 mile "ordeal" of leg 1.

[Charlie]

What a good idea!!!!! the 350 mile leg is what my wife does not want to do. the kids don't want to miss their soccer game on Saturday. If we had a bye that day it would make life easier on me. LOL I'll see about leaving early.

[windsaloft]

Hey Charlie - maybe we'll see you! We are helping some friends of ours "Ha Ha" in their Catalina 470 - they have been in AK last summer, BC last winter and heading south now. We'll do the Ha Ha route, go on with them to La Paz, then fly home to San Francisco. We're prepping our boat for the Pacific Cup 2010 and then........

[Charlie]

Hi windsaloft:

How are you guys? i was sad that we ddin't get together at the rendezvous. Boat is in SD now. We were planning to do the Ha ha last year but it didn't work. this year I told the family that I was going to do it -- with or with out them. They agreeed to do it. Will look for you.

[jackiepitts]

We will check into getting a special insurance rider to cover before the 1st.
Charlie did you say you were in sunroad marina? We are over in the cruisers anchorage for the time being.
Jackie

[Charlie]

Hi Jackie;

I have a permanent berth at Coronado Cays. I am not at sunroad Marina. Although I live in Nor Cal I enjoy having my boat in SD and go down there for work every month so I can stay on the boat. I am going to do the Ha Ha and then I will return the boat to SD in the spring time. From there, other than to get the boat looking good and working well, I don't have plans except that I want to get south. Kids are in 6th and 8th grade so I'll have to see how they enjoy sailing. Personally I am ready to go but it may be till after high school that I can take off. But you know that story. Haven't heard from my insurance company.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Hollen

We are entry #134 and are in the same boat, so to speak. We hope to add a rider to our existing insurance policy an pray nothing happens to us like last year, until Nov 1. Even worse we plan on leaving 3 days early to avoid the 350 mile "ordeal" of leg 1.

Hi Hollen:

Thanks for the idea. We are going to leave at the same time as everyone else but we are goign to stop somewhere in between and spend the night. The best bet would be to stop at Punta Baja but to do that we need to average 6.5 knots course made good to get in before night fall. Islan San Quintin and Punta Baja are good choices as well. If we can stop at the end of the second day -- then sleep the night. We wouldn't need to take off to early in the morning to make Turtle Bayu on the morning of the 28th. That of course will depend on the wind. Looking at the polar charts for my boat we would need to have wind over 10 knots and sail between 110 and 165 degrees apparent. Wow the racer sure is coming out in me. It is probably a reasonable expectation for the wind to be at that speed and direction. Wouldn't have to push the boat very hard either. Admiral has approved the plan. Next step buy some airline tickets.

[Hollen]

To JackiePitts:
There are two kinds of insurance in Mexico: 1st and cheapest is so called liability insurance that every marina and most port captains will require. It must be from a “Mexican” Insurance company. Check these people (Joan Irvine) http://www.sailorschoice.com/romeros/ for all your needs (crew lists, insurance, etc). 2nd, is what "we" call "full coverage". This kind of insurance could be a rider from your present carrier, but make the deductable very high.
To Charlie:
Great to hear you going slow the first day, that is our intensions as well. We plan to go from SD to SQ in one leg, about 161 miles. It is a great anchorage and PT Baja is another 28 miles with a questionable anchorage. You do not want to enter at night as there is a lot of kelp and rocks. Your are correct about the leg from Pt. Baja to TB being shorter (by 28 miles), but the passage between Isla Natividad and Pt Eugenia should never be taken at night. I plan on going outside Cedros, in the dark from SQ to TB, as it is an easier and shorter trip. I would suggest if you get stuck in the dark on the inside of Cedros to anchor for a few hours at either of the two Cedros Island anchorages. I have entered TB in the dark and it is an easy one, but there will probably be 140 anchored boats to worry about. Just make sure you are in TB by Oct 30th, you don’t want to miss the Beach Party!

[Charlie]

Steve:

Thanks for the inside info on the baja. I am going to be keeping my options open for where we stop at on that second night. I would prefer to go farther on the second day but am planning on stopping somewhere between Islan San Martin and Punta Baja. Unless there is 20 + knots of wind we can not get further than those points in daylight hours. Perhaps we will see you in SQ. It does look like a nicer anchorage and would have us avoiding other problems like Sacramento Reef. If I do get to Punta Baja we will go outside of the reef and Cedros to get to TB. I have been there a couple of times but it was 20 years ago. I would prefer to get there in the daylight hours and have been owrking on speed distance calculations so that I can see what type of speed I need to make in order to get to TB at the correct time.

[jackiepitts]

Thanks for the info on insurance Steve. Our policy is a full coverage policy that we can add a rider to cover us down to Acapulco but will not cover us past Turtle Bay before November 1st. Your post also reminded me that I need to take care of getting the liability insurance coverage for Mexico shortly.
I liked the idea of leaving SD early to avoid some of the stress of leg 1. We may decide to leave early as well depending on how many people we have aboard for crew.
Best,
Jackie

[Sea Conquest]

We have Boat US Full Coverage Insurance and they will not cover us down in Mexico. You said you were able to get full coverage down in Mexico. What company are you using. We have a 1977 Morgan, and it appears that we are having a lot of trouble getting full coverage (ie not just liability) on our old, but heavily improved liveaboard boat. Thanks for any information.