Baja HaHa 2009 Leg 3

No Stories to Tell

Leg 3 began on November 4th with light winds and a rolling start. The land in the background is actually an island. I decided that sailing the entire leg would be nice, but not at the expense of enduring boat speeds below 2 knots. There is just not enough glory in it.

Since Virago uses fresh water to flush the heads, we did eventually empty the 30 gallon supply tank. Here we see the crew filling the tank with sea water. BTW: Catalina cleverly separated the head supply tank from the other water tanks. I added a task to my list of improvements to the boat--install a "Y" valve so we can switch to sea water. The boat has two seacocks already installed that were to be used to supply conventional heads.

Speaking of heads, we found that the tank macerator pump for the forward head was not working. At sea this is no problem since we discharge the heads directly overboard, but it became a maintenance chore to be done while were in Cabo.

My Maine friend Michael Hetzel always told me that a well planned and executed voyage left no stories to tell. About all I can say for this leg is that it did give us a Chamber of Commerce evening of sailing. We had 10 to 15 knots of Northwest wind, some long period swells, temperatures in the mid seventies, and some waining moonlight. We flew the asym alone for hours. Roger commented that is was nights like this that keep him from giving up sailing and going over to the dark side (power boating). Unfortunately, the wind died completely near the end of the leg so we did motor for the last few miles.

We did learn that the most demanding conditions for battery usage are sailing over night. We didn't the engine for power, but the lights and instruments including radar and autopilot draw nearly 15 amps. During a beautiful 24 hours of sailing the boat will draw down its house bank to nearly 0. Since that would not be good for the battery, we ran the engine just to charge the batteries. This taught us two things: first, the simple voltage regulator on the alternator does a poor (read slow) job of battery charging, and second, that we hate running the engine when we should be sailing silently

Here is the final tally of miles, hours, and speed for the three legs of the 2009 Baja HaHa. BTW In Cabo we emptied the eight jerry cans into the fuel tanks and took on six more gallons to top off the tanks. So, our entire fuel consumption for the entire 750 mile trip (remember that the race legs are not the entire trip) was 46 gallons.

We learned at the final awards ceremony that only six boats had sailed all three legs. Roger says that in 2004 only two boats did. At least our having sailed one leg did get us a 3+ award instead of the plain old 3.

We felt especially fortunate when we learned of some other boats' troubles. The J World boat had hit a whale and sunk. The crew took to their life raft and were rescued by Coast Guard helicopter. The captain is an experienced sailing instructor and the CG complemented her on a perfect text book response. In turn she said the swimmer who put the crew into the sling for lifting was cute. Our friends Larry and Mugs Zabel suffered a broken transmission coupling and had to limp along without engine power and finally be towed into Cabo for repairs.

Baja Green

The island that was in the earlier picture did have some low green vegetation, but Cabo showed and entirely different green fertiliser in action: dollars. (Ok, maybe it was pesos that are not green.)

This is the coast just before you reach Cabo San Lucas. Both Bill and Roger have been here on previous HaHas and remember this as almost totally barren hillside. It reminds me of a crowd watching an event with everyone on their toes trying to see over the ones in front. Thoreau said, "I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion." Appropriately, the heirs of Ralph Waldo Emerson gave Walden Pond to the state of Massachusetts expressly to prevent it from being developed like the resort town of Revere.


Once past Lasha on Baja, the famous arch the trademark image of Cabo comes into view--first without fertilizer.

Now the greenbacks arrive. Cabo is a frequent stop over for cruise ships.

Once around the arches, we see Cabo sprawled before is. Although it is hard to make out from the distance. there is a lighthouse-like tower in the center of the harbor. It is just in front of the IGY Cabo San Lucas marina. Speaking of green, the nightly slip fee (after a 20% Baja HaHa discount) was $148. That's dollars not pesos!

The Ship has Weathered Every Wrack

With 450 miles of California coast and 750 miles of Mexican coast behind us, we settled into one half of a 100 foot slip. It is a sign of the economic times that all HaHa boats that wanted a slip found one. I think there were about 90 slips available and that is unheard of. Just over Virago you can see the before mentioned tower.

From our stern we can look out of Cabo harbor to the sea and remember the 2009 Baja HaHa.

Looking over the bow of Virago we can see the Baja Cantina the official Baja HaHa headquarters. Here you can see Roger and Bob at the Catina.

It's About the People Not the Boats

My fiend Dick Einshpar likes to say the cruising is all about the people. So here is photo of what I will remember most fondly from my 2009 Baja HaHa--my crew: Bob Engelhart, Roger Elliott, and Bill Eddy. Thanks for a wonderful experience.

But wait, there was more to come. We sailed on to La Cruz.