The last couple of days have been somewhat trying. The new outboard died — after replacing the head gasket and the exhaust manifold gasket it looks like it might be a cracked block. Although people have sailed for centuries without outboards, this seriously limits our surf exploration. Since the motor died we've been stuck at the marina basically trying to bum rides from people so we could finish our last-minute provisioning.

Other than that I've finished varnishing the rails and teak oiling the cockpit. The boat is ready go and so are we. I spent a bit of time yesterday adding steel leaders to some of our fishing gear in case we encounter the much-sought-after Wahoo, which is exactly what I want. Actually, I hope to encounter a lot after what it cost to get a Mexican fishing license! I know it's worth it but when you're on a budget it still hurts.

Today started out pretty fast-lots of last-minute stowing and a bit of shopping to do. Then it was on to the skippers' meeting for a quick informal debriefing. We've met a few other boats that will be taking off with us tomorrow in the "slow class": Ethan aboard Brisa, a 29-foot Ranger; and Graham and Taryn of Water Dragon. I think we should all be fairly evenly matched especially due to the fact we we're the last Ha Ha Ha 'ers standing at the party. Well, this will be my last log entry from dry land for a while. Hopefully tomorrow brings fair winds and following seas.

October 30, 2002

Current position: N 28 18' W 115 50'
We are roughly 12 hours from making our first Mexican landfall at Bahia de Tortugas. We left San Diego 10/28/02 at 11:00 am with the start of the Baja Ha Ha. At the starting line we set our spinnaker and were off on a great downwind run. The first night was a little rolly — the wind died at about 2 a.m. and given our southerly heading and a swell out of the west, it made for a less than perfect ride. The sky, however, had to be the most gorgeous one of the trip. During my 00:00 to 04:00 watch I laid in the cockpit watching the masthead light sway back and forth across a backdrop of an inconceivable number of stars. Finally, the wind picked up again and we reset the spinnaker and took off. We were able to keep the spinnaker up all day and throughout the night, having one of my most enjoyable sailing experiences ever.

Unfortunately, at about 09:00 this morning, the wind died again and has not filled in yet. We've been motoring all day and after looking at the latest weather fax it looks like we will have to motor all night. After S/V Brisa telling us today about how many fish they had already caught, we decided to break out our new repala. Not more than five minutes after dropping it in the water, we had a 40-lb. Albacore. Fish tacos for lunch and Thai Tuna Satay for dinner — it just doesn't get any better! There are about 160 boats in the Baja Ha Ha rally this year and it's actually been a good time so far. I originally had my doubts; sailing with so many other boats seemed counter to the reason you set off in the ocean.

November 1, 2002

Current position Bahia de Tortuga. We arrived yesterday morning around 10 am. When we arrived there were probably 20 other boats here, but as of tonight there are 110! We dropped anchor yesterday, cleaned up a bit and headed straight for shore. The town, which is really a fishing camp, has about 200 people, with some of the friendliest people I've ever met. I spent several hours yesterday wandering around the town just meeting people and doing a rather poor job of speaking Spanish. I desperately want to convey what the town is like but I don't think my words could do it or the people justice. It simply reminds me, Need Less.

After wandering, the crew from Brisa came over and we had a potluck aboard Tramonto. This morning we decided to do a few chores around the boat before heading out. It's really a lot of work to keep Tramonto in good shape and anything we let go could turn disastrous at sea. Chafe is our biggest enemy since everything is constantly moving and rubbing against something at sea; this can be a tough thing to do battle with. Lately, our halyards have been showing signs of chafe so after a bit of time aloft today I think I've got that fixed. We'll see though.

Later we headed to shore and joined some locals kids in a game of volleyball. Then to cap off the day we had another potluck aboard Tramonto with Brisa and the crew from Water Dragon. Cruising is a very social thing and it's been great so far. I'm looking forward to moving on to the next spot, Bahia Santa Maria. It's a bay about 250 miles from here no town very remote and there is supposed to be some classic surf.

Take a look at the slideshow of the Baja Ha Ha!