BAJA HA-HA XXIX NEWSLETTER #2
THE POOBAH NEEDS YOUR HELP!
For who are thinking of signing up for the Ha-Ha, and those who have already signed up for the Ha-Ha, the Poobah has a special request. When filling out information for the Meet the Fleet Guide, please be as complete as possible.
The Poobah knows it's a bit of work, and it's more work for him. But he wants the booklet to be as informative and entertaining as possible. Because what's more fun than sailing side-by-side with another boat halfway down Baja in the middle of the night and being able to turn to the booklet and get to know who they are and something about them? "Hey, they like pineapple on their pizza, too!"
As an editor for more than 45 years, the Poobah has no problem taking bits of often unrelated information and turning them into something readable. So don't fret about sending raw material, he'll do the polishing.
The first Ha-Ha stop is Turtle Bay.
The more detailed the information, the better. For example, a lot of skippers list their occupation as 'Engineer'. That's better than nothing, but it would be more interesting and informative if you mentioned what kind of engineer you are. Civil, Train, Software — because 'engineer' is by far the leading occupation of Ha-Ha skippers.
It's the same thing with Nurses. Emergency Room Nurse tells us a lot more about you than just Nurse. Similarly, if you are in Sales, it helps to know if you sell specialized Aviation Propellers or Fentanyl in San Francisco's Tenderloin.
Age counts, too. People want to know if you're 29, 39, or, like the Poobah, 75. Many women are sensitive about age, of course, so unless a woman is 35 or under, her age isn't mentioned.
If you report your crew is 'Joe Blow', that's not informative beyond he probably identifies as male. It's so much better if it was "Joe 'Jo-Jo' Blow, 28, an Options Trader and Influencer who loves Creedence but hates the Eagles, the Celtics, and anchovies on breakfast cereal."
Yes, it sounds a little silly to have you list a couple of favorites, be they movies, vegetables, rock 'n roll bands, desserts, quotes, sailing heroes — whatever you want. But it humanizes you and begins to flesh you out. Maybe better still, list a couple of movies, vegetables, rock 'n roll bands, desserts, and quotes that you hate. That might be even more revealing.
The Poobah doesn't need all your favorites and dislikes, just four or five.
Stop number two, 240 miles down the road, is Bahia Santa Maria.
Naturally, you don't have to disclose any information if you don't want to. But it's more fun for everybody if you do. And remember, the Ha-Ha is about fun, so funny responses are encouraged. Self-depreciation is always good, and if you can't laugh at yourself — or at the Poobah — who can you laugh at?
If you're like a lot of skippers and don't know who your crew will be, don't worry about it. You can provide that info later or not at all.
The following are three examples of good bios — although all of them could benefit from more personal preferences about movies, vegetables, rock groups, and that kind of stuff:
Wanderment — Beneteau Oceanis 51.1 (W)
Joff Redfern
Santa Barbara
Jeff, 55, is still active in the Tech world. He'll be sailing south with his brother Matt Redfern, 46, who also works in Tech. Andrew Buckley, 57, a Writer/Producer, will round out the three-person crew. Both Jeff and Andrew have 50-Ton Coast Guard tickets.
"I've been sailing for decades," reports Jeff, "having grown up 100 feet from the ocean on Cape Cod. I sailed dinghies and fished commercially until I was 21. Then I moved to Silicon Valley and the Tech world. I got back into sailing in 2019 when I bought Wanderment spanking new. She's my second boat.
"The name Wanderment comes from a poem in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. There is a line in the poem that says “All those who wander are not lost”. That’s why I chose Wanderment.
"We live on a farm in Santa Barbara. It's a Covid thing. When we bought the farm I told my wife I get the first shot at naming the animals. We now have a llama called Michelle O’Lama, her baby Lama Bean, four Valais blacknose sheep (Eenie, Meenie, Miney, and Moe), chickens called KFC, McNugget, Chick-Jagger, and Meryl Peep. You get the drift.
"My longest passage to date has been 16 days across the Atlantic.
"After the Ha-Ha we'll turn around and sail back to San Diego for Thanksgiving. We're about the journey, not the destination."
Fio — Jeanneau SO 54 (W)
Jay Dozier and Barbara Benson
San Diego / Kerrville, TX
Jay, 54, is a Small Business Owner, while his "Life Partner" Barbara is a Kitty Cat Owner. Their crew will be Melanie Benson, Barbara's sister, a — bless her heart — Nurse/Midwife; and Jay's son Abe Dozer, 17, a Student of Life.
Jay crewed on a ketch in the Caribbean in the '80s and has day-chartered boats, but Fio is the first he's owned, and he's owned her for two years. "Fio had been in a rental booze cruise fleet in the San Diego Bay area since the day she was born in 2005," reports Jay. "But she believes she was destined for a greater legacy. Her previous two owners did not listen to her requests for adventure, but with new sails and rigging, we're going to help her see the open ocean, some whales, and whatever else is out there.
"More about our crew," says Jay. "I'm a three-time poison ivy survivor, and make biscuits and sauces. Barbara, who prefers cats and naps to managing a restaurant, does not like musty half-dried towels but does love my biscuits. Neither of us really knows how to sail, but Barbara has watched some YouTube videos.
"Barbara’s sister Melanie has sailed some, but it's unlikely Jay will hear her suggestions over the JBL speaker playing Swans or Gorillaz — music Barbara considers "so weird". However, if anyone gives birth during the Ha-Ha, Melanie knows what to do. As for Abe, he'll add to the sailing of Fio as much as you would imagine any 17-year-old screenager would. He will, however, be able to silently hold his gaze on an unspecified point on the horizon longer than the rest of us.
"Our dream destinations would be Panama and the Galapagos, but we'll return to San Diego after the Ha-Ha, then do the Ha-Ha again in 2024.
Iliohale — Lagoon 450S
Allan and Rina Alexopulos
San Diego / Box Elder, South Dakota (2005, 2008, 2018)
Allen, 63, is a Managing Director of a consulting company, while Rina is a Benefits Administrator. They will have four crew, most of them likely to be vets of their last two Ha-Ha's.
"We've been sailing since 2003, during which time we've owned two boats," the couple report. "First, a Hunter 466 for 17 years, and now Iliohale for two years. Our longest passage has been 26 days from Puerto Vallarta to the Marquesas.
"We can’t believe this will be our fourth Ha-Ha. In 2006, after learning to sail three years before, we joined Orange Coast College's Alaska Eagle in the Ha-Ha to learn the ropes and build confidence. We then joined the Ha-Ha 2008 with our Hunter 466 Follow You, crossed the Pacific to New Zealand, brought the boat back, and did the Ha-Ha again in 2018.
"A good friend told us recently, “You guys have retired more than anyone I know!” This year we're retiring for the third time in order to sail the Pacific Coast of Mexico for two years, then cross the Pacific again to join up with our daughter Alyssa. She sailed to New Zealand several years ago and has since made it her home.
"Looking at our 2018 Ha-Ha bio, we have to chuckle. If it wasn’t for Covid, we would be in New Zealand right now. But Covid chased us home in 2020, and I went back to work as Managing Director of a consulting firm. We sold our Hunter in late 2020 and started shopping for a catamaran. We found a well-maintained cat whose owner had planned to cruise but fell to an all-too-common circumstance: aging parents and a sense that his window of opportunity had closed. We decided then and there not to wait another year, as we aren’t getting any younger either.
"We’ve also enjoyed becoming grandparents to one-year-old Esmeralda, with Rina providing daycare full-time for the last nine months.
"Fatu Hiva will again be our dream destination. A catamaran is our dream boat.
"The great Jeanne Socrates, noted for being the oldest person to do a solo circumnavigation, is our sailing hero. Now 80, she just took off for the South Pacific.
"Our favorite quote is based on our own now significant cruising experience. "Never sail on a schedule!"
Ha-Ha Factoid. Over 850 Lagoon 450s have been built.
 The final stop is a shocker — Cabo San Lucas.
It's the place to have a little fun, take care of business, then quickly move on.
The Poobah hopes these three bios give you an idea of the kind of stuff he's looking for. It's also important for the quality of the result to get the information to the Poobah ASAP. After all, he can't do a good job if he has to do 100 of them in two weeks.
If you had intended to send the information later or if you left something out or have something to add please send your information now to: haharally@gmail.com.
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