1) 2010 Baja Ha-ha 17

      
  
The Baja Ha-Ha is a two-week cruisers rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, which takes place every fall.  More than 2,000 boats have completed previous Ha-Ha rallies.  Latitude 38

S/V Learjet

Learjet featured in a sailing magazine.

S/V Learjet departing San Diego, October 2001

In 2001 I sailed to Cabo in the Baja Ha-Ha for my first time and it was my first long-distance offshore passage.  I crewed S/V Learjet which is a 1989 56' Nelson-Marek and not knowing any better figured that downhill sleds were what it was all about.

S/V Seabreeze departing San Diego, October 2006

In 2006 I did the rally again on S/V Seabreeze which is a 40' 1982 Swallowcraft Swift 40, ketch.  This time I learned that sailboats can be very comfortable.  

S/V Rainbow in Richmond, CA

Rounding out the offshore experience I managed to get on-board S/V Rainbow a Crowther 10m catamaran for the 2010 17th annual making it my 3rd time in the rally but first time offshore in a catamaran.  

Leading up to the Ha-Ha we did some practice sailing in the bay.  In our first sail I realized just how powerful this boat is.  We were heading back to Richmond and within the anchored-out barges a couple miles off the shoreline.  The winds were in the 20s and we were moving along quite well with no waves to slow us down.  Here's a YouTube link:

                                                  Crowther 10m 7.10.10  (You Tube link)

On September 4th, a Saturday, we planned to head offshore for an overnight practice run.  The plan was to find a western heading that worked well with the wind and waves and calculate the turn-around point at about 12 hours out.  

September 4th & 5th GPS track (the track ends when the batteries quit, oops)

 ________________________Crowther 10m 9.4.10 pt 1  (You Tube link)

The furthest west we made it was about 47 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge.  At about 9pm on Saturday night we decided to heave-to and eat dinner in a relatively calmer condition than sailing into the 6'+ swells and 20+ knot winds.  The conditions were dramatically slowing us down and we eventually remained in place until the 12 hour mark.  We were trying to time our arrival at the slip at 24 hours later then when we departed.   

                        Crowther 10m 9.4.10 pt2 (You Tube link)

Kick-off party in San Diego the day before the start.