The first leg of the HaHa was extreme to say the least. 193 vessels left San Diego heading south with the knowledge that a big wind event was coming down from the north bringing with it 16-18 ft seas and gusts over 30 knots. Well, we got it and more. The sea state built to over 15 ft by Thursday and the wind to over 30 knots sustained. the challenge was the period of the seas and the overall confused condition. Most of the fleet didn't make it to Turtle bay till last night. We made it Thursday afternoon with a broken boom that resulted from an accidental jib coming down the face of a 20ft swell. The main came across and blew the goose neck to pieces. We were able to keep the main flying, however we were not able to reef if needed which was hugely stressful through the long dark night with giant waves overtaking us and cause bursts of wind to 40 knots that would knock us nearly on our side as the wave passed under us.
Making things worse, the autopilot could not handle the conditions and we had to hand steer for nearly 20 hours. When the moon set at around 3:00am, things seemed to get worse as we couldnt see the monsters coming from behind anymore and they would simply roll under us like steam engines.
At approximately 4:00am, we had a really close encounter with a 60 ft power boat with nobody at the helm driving. The boat came within 30 feet of t-boning us off Cedros and sending us to the bottom of 11,000 feet. I'm telling ya, it was so close we could see the instruments of their helm as we rammed our helm hard port when Dave yelled at the top of his lungs that it was going to hit us as it crested over the swell in front of us.
We have been here in Cabo for several days and today our crew had to head for the airport. It is a sad day as we all really got to enjoy each others company and ability to make each other laugh all day and into the night. Last night we all drank numerous cervezas and shots of tequilla. Everyone had a great time...Lori and I will miss Newman and Captain Cook very much. Thank you guys for all of your help and fun company along the way. Dont forget to makle plans for meeting us in Puerto Vallarta mid-December.
Our plans are to hang-out on anchor for a few more days here in Cabo, finish some boat cleaning projects, finish stocking the fridge and freezer, and have a few friends over for sushi dinner.
In a few days we plan to begin making way towards La Paz. The plan is to make a bunch of day hops and enjoy the opportunity to anchor in as many beautiful anchorages along the Baja coast as possible. I also want to do some scuba diving.
We have lots of photos posted in our blog if you're interested..
__________________
__________________
[
|