The 32nd Haha was a Blast!

This will be my 10th Haha! I have never taken my boat on the Haha. I assist others with their boat and help them down the coast to Cabo San Lucas. The Haha is in it’s 32nd year. It is a 750 mile rally (not a race) from San Diego to Cabo. In years past, 120-150 boats have joined the fleet. This year, however, we have less than 80 boats. Some say, it’s due to the economy, the price of diesel and more. My theory is that boomers are aging out of the cruising market. The 40 year olds that purchased boats in the 80’s and 90’s are now in their 80’s and out of boating. The younger guys are not buying boats due to many factors, they are buying paddle boards instead. 80 boats my be the new normal. Friday morning, I am preparing to depart for San Diego from SF. I take a quick look at the Haha Facebook page and send a note out that I am looking for a boat. Within an hour I get a call from Glenn, a boat owner looking for crew. I tell him I will stop by the boat upon my arrival to SD. Upon landing, I head to the public dock where there will be a dozen or so boats from the rally. I introduce myself to them but no one is looking for crew, Glenn’s boat is around the corner and I walk over to introduce myself. He own’s a 34 foot Beneteau. She looks to be in fine shape and I join the crew that includes Dustin. It’s a smaller boat but I feel we can make it work. I will meet them on Monday morning for the departure to Mexico. Monday morning and I am at the dock and loading my seabag. We take off at 9:30 for the rally start. At 11am, the gun sounds and we are off. There is little wind so we motor thru the night. The next morning the winds are up and we are sailing. It’s about 350 mile to our first stop in Turtle Bay. That afternoon, the winds are in the mid to high 20’s and the seas are very confused. The boat is doing ok but we are uncomfortable in the swell. It continues for another day and into the next night. The rudder is small and cannot handle the gusts. Now we are hand steering in one hour shifts. It is very difficult. In my 10 Haha’s, I have never had to hand steer as the winds are usually light and the auto pilot handles the wind just fine. After a few rounds, the wind dies down and we are back to motor sailing with a reefed main. The next afternoon, we arrive in the harbor. A boat from last year is there and I contact them to see if they want to host another party. Yes is the answer! We meet some new folks and make some new friends too. Dustin and I head back about 11pm and have a nice convo in the cockpit. On Friday we head to the beach party and have a few beers and food. It’s a beautiful day and everyone is in a great mood. I see some old friends and meet a few more. Most of the fleet is retired but there are plenty of 30-45 year olds as well. Only one kid in the whole fleet. I get a bocce game going on the beach and Dave, Jules and Richard join in. After lots of laughs, we finish and head back to the boat. I am a bit tired and lay down for a few hours. After the crew has gone to bed, I head out to the cockpit and reflect on the fun I have had on the Haha’s and all the cool people I have met. This is why I keep coming back!! We depart at 9am and the wind is up. We raise all the sails and head down the Baja coast to Santa Maria. An uninhabited bay about 220 miles south. It will take about 2 days to get there. The winds continue thru the night and we hit a high of 25. It’s a great day to be alive and on a boat headed to Cabo!! After a 18 hour motor sail, we arrive at sunrise to Santa Maria. It’s a beautiful day and there are 30-40 boats in the bay. We get the hook down and go for a well deserved swim behind the boat. Today is a lay day so relaxing, eating and resting are in order. Tuesday is the beach party with a great band and food. Wednesday is another day to relax and we depart for the 170 mile run to Cabo San Lucas. Should take about 30 hours. More soon. The party on the hill was awesome, however due to late night watches, I was burned out. I found a small room with a nice bed for a 2 hour nap. I needed it. The band was great as was the food. Headed back to the boat at sunset and took it easy. Not much happened the next day but I did get to tell my story in the upcoming Haha documentary. We were up early for the last leg and it was a beautiful day. We hope to arrive in Cabo in the afternoon on Friday. The motor sail was uneventful and we arrived at about 3pm. I checked into the hotel and promptly jumped in the pool with a margarita. It was great to get off the boat and relax in a real bed. I had a salon bench that I barely fit in at 6’6”. I headed over to the dance party at Squid Row and saw a bunch of folks from the Haha. Headed home after a few hours and got a good night’s sleep. This was one of the windiest sails down the coast. I mentioned I never had to hand steer until this one. Even though we had fewer boats it was still a great time and I met some very cool folks. One of the big reasons I keep coming back is the sailors that I meet along the way. Will I be back for an 11th? We will see. Even though I was on the slowest boat, we still had an awesome time on the water. One thing that stood out was how warm the water was. I measured 82 in Santa Maria. I am looking forward to getting home and back to the bay. Cheers.