We are thrilled to have made it safely from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas – a distance of over 830 miles over 11 days along with 160 boats as part of the Baja Ha Ha yacht rally. It was an enjoyable and busy trip with some ups and downs along the way and we are now happily in Cabo San Lucas enjoying the warm water (25 degrees!) and beautiful beaches. Here is our recap. (Apologies as this is a longer post as there is quite a bit to report!)
Leg 1 – San Diego to Turtle Bay – 355 nautical miles
This was the longest of the three legs and we were hoping for wind. The leg began with a parade of all the boats in front of the committee boat complete with a Mariachi band, TV cameras and photographers. My mom and dad were on the pier to see us off and it was fun to have them there cheering us on!
The Baja HaHa yacht rally was celebrating its 25th anniversary and is a well known event in the San Diego boating community. It was well promoted and was covered by the local news channels. The kids loved blowing the horn at the 10 o’clock gun as we joined the large fleet of boats leaving the harbour.
Unfortunately the wind did not cooperate and we began the leg by motoring for several hours until we reached the wind out past the Coronado Islands. The kids participated on the ‘kids radio net’ where they were able to practice their VHF radio skills. The forecast predicted wind 60 miles offshore so of course that is where we headed. The majority of the fleet chose to stay on the rhumb line (“shortest distance to the finish”), however we wanted to sail so decided to head out further west.
We ended up sailing more than most any of the other boats as we headed much further West. We alternated between our spinnaker and code zero sail and enjoyed the warm winds, however eventually the wind died and we switched on the motor once again.
Fishing Success!
We reeled in two yellow fin tunas in short succession. These were our first yellow fins. We made sushi and tuna poke and both were delicious. (We radio’d to a nearby boat with a chef on board who we’d met for the tuna poke recipe!) Gavin and Nathan are getting the routine down of reeling in the fish, cleaning and processing. The rest of the fleet had success too – with stories of folks catching dorados, marlin and plenty of tuna. We decided to pull the line in after two tuna as our freezer was already very full from our provisioning in San Diego and we were happy with our catch!
Nighttime Watch Schedule and Navigation
Gavin and I took a 3 hours on and 3 hours off watch schedule – we both loosely alternated being on ‘duty’ during the day taking naps when needed, then switching into the schedule in the evening. I took the 6 to 9pm, 12 to 3am, then 6 to 9am shifts with Gavin taking the 9pm to 12pm, then 3am to 6am shifts.
Overall, this shift schedule worked surprisingly well – however we both commented that we felt more tired than on our run from Point Roberts to San Francisco. This makes sense as we had half the sleep this time! Jer and Don, we missed you!
There was plenty to keep us awake on shift as we were navigating with a very VERY busy AIS screen (AIS short for Automatic Information System shows boats on a navigation screen with their position and speed which is a godsend for nighttime navigation). About 65% of the fleet had AIS with the remainder either having no AIS at all, or only receiving the signals and not broadcasting, which meant they could see us on their screen but we couldn’t see them. This meant we would have two screens active – AIS, radar overlaying our chart plotting screen, and of course looking out into the darkness to try to make sense of the various navigation lights we saw.
In each of the legs we tended to take a western route searching for wind so it took us outside of the main fleet, however, there were still plenty of boats around and it helped to keep us alert on nighttime watch.
I woke up Gavin more than once to get his opinion on nearby boats that didn’t show on AIS and whether we were on a collision course. Everything was fine and I learned (again) that I have a much more sensitive ‘potential collision radar’ than Gavin does! Lets just say I like to err on the conservative side of things!
Nathan took an active interest in sailing along the HaHa helping to trim the spinnaker and jib during the day and night. He chose to sleep in the cockpit on a few of the nighttime legs and woke and kept me company and helped with trimming the sails. I really enjoyed this part of the experience.
The nighttime sky was breathtaking with stars, and the moon rising and phosphorescence illuminating in our wake. Julia and Nathan both enjoyed the nighttime sailing more than they thought they would!
Radio Nets:
A huge plus and fun part of participating in the HaHa was the daily radio nets and chatter among the boats to report news, wind and funny things going on. There were reports of folks catching fish, mechanical problems and help needed, sailing status and localized wind reports, fishing net locations and wildlife sightings. There was also a daily checkin where we would report our location and status update.
We motored into Turtle Bay after 2 nights at sea at midday. We were among the first 20 or so boats to reach the anchorage which surprised us given how far west we went. However, we were able to make good time sailing and were happy overall with the first leg. The only thing missing was more wind!
Turtle Bay activities- Baseball game with the locals
After catching up on sleep the first day in Turtle Bay, the next day we head into Turtle Bay to walk through the town, practice some Spanish (Julia and I have been doing audio lessons!) and participate in the baseball game with the locals. I loved experiencing small town Mexico with Nathan and Julia as they took in the sights and smells walking through the town. I have a feeling they will remember this! They both enjoyed handing out candy to the local kids as it was close to Halloween so the Mexican kids were dressed up to receive the HaHa fleet.
After an enjoyable second day, we were looking forward to the beach party the following day. That is when we experienced some drama…
Drama in Turtle Bay – Mechanical issues and a Scary Incident!
Where to begin…There were three crazy things that happened in Turtle Bay which made it an exhausting stop for us. Thank goodness for Gavin’s mechanical skills, helpful folks in the fleet and plain good luck that it all worked out fine.
Issue 1 – Broken Engine mount…What?!
Turtle Bay is a small town. It’s population is between 1500 up to 4000 during the HaHa (yes the population increases and the HaHa gives a huge economic boost each year it is in town with over 500 souls visiting and buying up fuel, groceries, tacos and “cervasas”.
Gavin decided to check and realign the engine and prop shaft. We were having a small vibration under motor at certain RPM and, given the lack of wind and high likelihood of a lot more motoring, Gavin wanted to try to realign the engine to see if it would minimize the vibration. This was not an emergency situation at all – we’d had vibrations before which Gavin had managed to eliminate by doing the same realignment – this was just a prudent step to take in light of more motoring to come with the lack of wind in the forecast.
At about 10am I heard a few bangs and then an “Oh NO! (A few expletives – sorry kids) and, “Jenn, we have a catastrophe.” “What? “I said, as I came up the companionway stairs, my heart sinking….Gavin does not say any of these things often or lightly and I’ve never heard him say we have a catastrophe before….
In his attempt to move the 500 pound engine slightly to achieve a small adjustment, he’d managed to snap off the cast aluminum part of the actual engine that attaches to the engine mount. This was BAD!
Engine mounts are critical and without one functioning, we could not use the motor. From my non-mechanical way of describing things – when I look inside at the engine when it is running, I can physically see it vibrating, kept in place by four engine mounts attaching the engine to the hull. I could hardly imagine what we’d do without one of the four mounts, let alone how we would fix this problem in a small remote Mexican town.
Then we immediately began problem solving mode. What else could we do? Thankfully Gavin had spare aluminum plate on board (a big thanks to you Patrick!!) and I looked up the spanish word for steel (Acero!) , anticipating that we were going to have to see if any of the local fisherman had some steel we could use. Then Gavin saw that despite the piece of the aluminum snapping off of the engine, there were still three attachment points for him to make a stronger (actually better) bracket for the engine to attach to the engine mount. Pheew!
But this meant he had to fabricate, cut and drill two pieces of aluminum to reattach it to the engine and the engine mount. Luckily he had the tools and equipment on board to make this new piece and he set to work making the new brackets.
It was tricky work, using a metal grinder and various other tools and Gavin assured me that he could make the pieces and that I should take the kids to the beach for the beach party in Turtle Bay.
I waited until Gavin was well on his way to finishing the pieces, then we left for the beach.
Issue 2 – Scary Incident – YIKES!
While we were at the party, Gavin had a scary experience and we are so thankful that he is okay. It was a good lesson in how dangerous electricity and water can be and I don’t like thinking about this incident let alone writing about it, but here goes…
Gavin had been working with the electric grinder on the back of the deck near the swim grid to fabricate the engine bracket all day. He was cutting the metal over the water to avoid having hot metal shower on the deck. He was almost done and the grinder was sitting on the edge of the deck when a panga (local boats used by the Mexicans to deliver fuel and provide wate taxi services) zoomed especially close by the boat which caused a large wave. Gavin watched as his $150 grinder was about to slip into the water and his immediate instinct was to grab for it before it fell over the side. Unfortunately the water had already washed over part of the cord by the time he grabbed it and Gavin got a huge jolt – so much so that he described shaking and a sensation of not being able to let go of the grinder. In the moment he said he realized he was being electrocuted (!!!!) and knew that he needed to throw the grinder into the water but couldn’t let go. Somehow he managed to throw it into the water (it sunk) and in his other hand he had a critical bolt that he needed but he threw that into the water too.
This was obviously a very scary experience. Gavin said he felt a tingling sensation aftewards, but he is fine and has been fine since. It was awful and upsetting to hear this later when he picked us up from the beach and I just gave him a huge hug and thanked the universe that he is okay.
After this it was about 7oclock and we needed to get everything finished and mounted for a 9am start the next day. Nathan and I hung over the engine bay in the cockpit holding lights and helping in any way we could while Gavin finished the last parts of the engine mount.
We turned on the motor and it looked like success! It was better than the original piece- with three bolt attachments to the engine mount instead of two and covering a larger surface area. Thank goodness.
We fell into bed exhausted – Gavin more than any of us – and set our alarm for an early start the next morning.
Issue 3 – Another mechanical issue? Seriously!?
We woke early the next morning so we could motor around the harbour and double check that the motor mount was working properly.
It was good news in that regard – the engine was securely mounted. No problems there. However, in closely observing the engine looking at the new mount, Gavin noticed a salt water hose clamp that looked loose and could use a bit of tightening. So he tightened it and again I heard him say, “Oh no, this is a problem.” “What’s wrong?” I asked, thinking it was the motor mount. “No” he said, “the mount is fine, the plumbing fitting the salt water hose to the engine snapped off inside the engine.” “What?!!”
Oh NO! Nathan and I sat grim faced wishing that Gavin would not have touched something else in the name of prudent preventative maintenance! Let’s just wait until we get through the HaHA before you do more maintenance please! But at the same time we knew it was good he spotted this issue and tackled it while we were in the bay and easily able to fix it rather than being out in the open ocean.
After a quick call on the radio, a person in the fleet had the plumbing fitting and extraction tool we needed and Gavin was able to affix the hose back to the engine and we headed out of the harbour not far behind the fleet for Leg 2.
Needless to say we were all a little tired heading into Leg 2!!
Leg 2 – Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria – 250 nautical miles
Leg 2 was somewhat uneventful (thankfully!) given the issues in the preceding 24 hours. Again there was little to no wind and we set off motoring, again heading west of the rhumb line in search of more wind. We did find wind and managed to sail for over 10 hours, but again the wind died and we put on the engine.
We are told that the lack of wind in the HaHa was unusual. Too bad for us!
We did have some flying squid jump onto our deck overnight and we had fun with the kids looking up the type of squid in our book and dissecting it looking for its various body parts. It was fun and the kids loved it even though they were a bit squeamish at first.
We did have a close call by narrowly missing running into an unmarked fishing net in the dark. This unfortunate situation did occur to another boat in the HaHa fleet, who was just one mile ahead of us. They cut their engine, the fisherman cut the nets loose and another HaHa participant gave them a 13 hour tow to the next bay where they dove the boat and untangled the net.
The upside of participating in the HaHa is the community of cruisers who are there for each other to help out when needed. It makes crossing large distances that much easier to know there are folks nearby who can assist if needed.
Luckily, the engine preformed fine (still have a noticable vibration at certain RPM’s more to come on that later) and we made it safe and sound to Bahia Santa Maria. This time we made it into the anchorage at 11pm on our second night at sea, so we were happy to have made it in time to have a decent night’s sleep.
We awoke to a beautiful sight in the morning, with a huge bay, magnificent mountains and beautifully warm water.
We spent the next day enjoying the water and playing in the Bay. The kids had gotten ahead in their schooling and were able to get some done during the passage so we had a day off and invited other kid boats to join us on Slingshot for a day playing in the water and jumping off the boat.
It was a busy day with 6 kids on board and Nathan and Juila had a blast. Gavin and I enjoyed resting and meeting new friends.
The infamous Bahia Maria Beach Party
Wow, it was an incredible day. We busily finished school in the morning, then head over to the beach where the party was assembling on the bluff overlooking the beach. Most of the rest of the fleet decided to take a panga to the beach but we thought we’d tackle it in our dinghy.
This turned out fine, thankfully, as we were able to watch the panga drivers ahead of us pick their way through the optimal point in the breaking surf to land the dinghy.
Then we enjoyed an amazing afternoon listening to a live rock band in the middle of desolate Bahia Santa Maria play music and chatting with our newfound friends. The kids ran around playing nearby and then we all took to the dance floor to enjoy the fun.
What a day to remember. We made it back before sunset and packed the boat up for the final leg into Cabo the next day.
Leg 3 – Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas – 175 nautical miles
Thankfully there was 12 to 15 knots forecast for the final leg and we rose at 6am for the 7am start the next day.
We launched the chute and enjoyed a wonderful sail against the other boats in our division – two Beneteau 60’s, a deerfoot 60 and a Far 60 pilothouse. It was fun! Gavin and were gybing down the coast in the beautiful warm wind and managed to do decently despite having a spinnaker more suited to reaching conditions than the dead downwind conditions we had.
It was fun! We continued into the night, finally turning the motor on late into the night, only to hoist the spinnaker again when the wind came up again.
The next day we crossed the ‘finish line’ and rounded beautiful Cabo San Lucas to the beautiful bay and anchored next to the beach lined with resorts.
We all jumped in the water within minutes of anchoring – wow is it ever warm! 25Degrees!
We then gathered our documentation and cleared immigration in town. That was an experience and my rusty spanish came in handy. The kids learned about how different clearing immigration can be in Mexico! There were line ups, bank visits to pay for our visa and multiple forms to fill in.
At last we finished the paperwork and enjoyed another swim back at the boat before heading to ‘Squid Roe’ a nearby night club where the HaHa has its welcome to Cabo party. We were all feeling very tired but decided to go for a short visit. We were glad we did. The kids had a blast dancing and celebrating with everyone and so did we.
The next day was a beach party and then an awards ceremony. It was fun to connect with the other boats and new friends we’ve met as we exchanged contact information to meet up as we travel down the coast.
We ended up coming second in our division which was fun – the results far different from racing, factored in sailing time versus motoring time. We were delighted and so were the kids.
We are now regrouping as we plan to make our way to Le Paz and unwind in some quiet anchorages.
Very exciting – great to hear all the news and adventures – love the pictures of you all –
the children seem to be having a wonderful time. Will be looking forward to the next
installment . . . love to you all, Yvonne
Thank you Yvonne! Great to hear from you.
Whoa! What a lifetime packed into this passage! Really enjoyed reading Jenn. Remarkable. Amazing how you and Gavin just keep finding the way forward. Love the photos! Sending love to you all!
Meera – love hearing from you! Some crazy times but we made it.
Wow! What a nice accomplishment, 2nd in your division, despite the unexpected , near disastrous challenges encountered en route. Perhaps the electrical jolt galvanized the crew! (not a joking matter, to be sure). A guardian mermaid was looking out for you?
How you find the time to write, in addition to all the chores and activities that you pack into your days is a mystery…..Your photos are fantastic, as we vicariously soak up the sunshine and warm water from dreary Vancouver…
Looking forward to your next post. Stay safe!
Yes a guardian mermaid indeed! We are so lucky. Thank you for the kind wishes!
Hi guys,
So glad Gavin is OK. You guys look as if you are having a blast. Did Julia get Erin’s email? Erin wants to send her a little update letter and a couple of pics. Are you accessing your email ok? Martin.
Hi Martin – thank you – Yes! Julia was so happy to receive Erin’s email. Apologies for the delay in responding. Julia misses Erin dearly and would love to hear from her. Our svslingshot@gmail.com email is the best to reach us. Our internet reception will be spotty in the next few weeks as we cruise sea of cortez but we will absolutely pick up email when we can. Hope you are all well and we are sending our thoughts your way.
Jenn and family