I have never been on a blind date before. What I hear is that they are generally awkward and don’t end well. I second that now.
Earlier this year we decided to do the Baja Haha, a cruisers rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. We generally aren’t fans of rallies, we only even buddy boated once before (from Vallarta to Tenacatita). But we had heard that it’s a lot of fun, so we decided to sign up.
Our friend Bill Noonan decided to join the crew, and at the crew party in Alameda, CA, we picked up Deborah, a professional chef and supposedly an experienced deckhand. Unfortunately TJ had to go back to Alaska and we missed the start. We left San Diego a couple of days late, already in a somber mood and walking on eggshells.
Things didn’t improve when we got to Turtle Bay, exhausted after a 370 mile trip with light winds where we half sailed, half motored. We only had a half a day to rest, which was very much needed, which was cut short when Deborah got lost at the beach party and kept us awake until late, waiting for her who never showed up.
We started the second leg late, due to a certain crew member being delivered back to the boat late, and spend all day and night weaving our way through the fleet. The curse of having a fast boat (and the blind date, again). Right by the finish line we encountered a swedish boat, pointing away from us and shining lights on their sails. I tried to call them up, but got no answer. Instead they apparently got their shit together and either weren’t aware of their surroundings or I don’t know what, but they decided to gybe right in front of us, then pushed us up until we were going 14 knots, drastically over-canvassed, with everybody hanging on for dear life.
Right when we entered Bahia Santa Maria the engine overheated, and we anchored right then and there. It turned out it wasn’t a big deal, just a small leak in the hose for the coolant, and somebody who had decided to store her duffel bag right on top of the engine. After TJ and I took care of that, we hauled the anchor and found ourselves a more protected spot. TJ then had the fun job of rebuilding the head pump, and after that we finally got to go to bed.
I enjoyed Bahia Santa Maria a lot. The beach party I could have skipped, but no surprise there – we are no party animals, after all. But the place was stunningly beautiful, and I enjoyed exploring and taking pictures.
We rested for 2 days, then started the third leg to Cabo San Lucas. We had light winds to start, but managed to sail at about 10 knots in 12 knots of true wind speed. TJ decided to go on torturing a Hylas 46. They were motoring, and we passed them under sail. Then the wind dropped and they passed us. Then the wind picked up and we passed them again! After doing that a couple of times the wind finally dropped and we motored the rest of the way.
When we got to Cabo I finally discovered the reason for my ongoing stomach problems: a fridge that had been turned into a dump, with about 2 inches of reddish water on the bottom which covered half the food, and pieces of food swimming in it. In addition to that there was food on the galley walls, every single dish that had been put away “clean” was covered in dirt, and in one locker every single item was covered in Maple Syrup.
After a short discussion, a bunch of lies and denials, we decided that Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches were delicatessen and a trip from Cabo to Vallarta with just TJ, Bill and me would be soothing to everybody’s wrecked nerves.
Overall I’ve got to say I enjoyed the small scale socializing of the Haha very much and we met a bunch of wonderful people. Even though we are not the partying kind (except for a Conga line at Squid Roe) the experience was positive.
This time our stay in Cabo was actually okay. That had a lot to do with a slip in the marina at a decent price. We left Cabo on Sunday, November 10 despite a weather warning and had a wonderful, fast sail to Vallarta. 25 knots out of the Northeast made for a steady 10 knots for most of the first day, and we made it to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, where we anchored overnight, in a mere 34 hours. The next morning we went into Paradise Village with the high tide and are now happy to be home, even though it’s just for a very short time.
