WHO IS SIGNED UP FOR THE HA-HA SO FAR? There are currently 71 paid entries for November's Baja Ha-Ha 30, which is typical for this time of year.
Sixty-one of these boats are sloops, the biggest being Zac and Karina Singer's sleek La Cruz-based Andrews 56 Encore. Almost as long but bigger in volume is David and Allison Shuttleworth's CT54 Epifania, which is an entirely different boat from Encore. Epifania is a Taiwan-built, Bob Perry-designed classic cutter-rigged ketch.
The two smallest boats registered to date are from Oregon: Chris Fowler's Ericson 32 Red Beard from Portland, and Mike Meloy's Catalina 32 Even Keel from Corvallis.
As usual, the majority of the boats are in the mid-40-ft range. Lots of them are oldies but goodies. So far, the oldest might be Chris Fearon's Islander 36 Mambo from Canton, Ohio. The Poobah remembers selling Islander 36s, which are still good-looking, in the early 70s.
Currently, there are eight catamarans, not including Profligate, the 63-foot Hughes that will be the mothership for the 27th time. This is a typical catamaran-to-monohull ratio for the Ha-Ha.
As always, powerboats are welcome in the Ha-Ha, and two have signed up so far: Jeff Gerard's Defever 53 Eventide from Kensington, and Ed and Wendy Thomas' San Diego-based Mikelson 43 Apogee.
Stand by! The paid entries have now surged to 74! And we have a new biggest boat, Phil Friedman's Farr Custom 79, Sapphire Knight.
You can stay up to date with all the entries by clicking on the blue “2024 Entries” tab on the left.
The Poobah and Dona de Mallorca are currently on our canal boat in Saint Florentin, France, after two weeks of gallivanting around France and Italy. I'm finally settled in a very quiet area and have got my Starlink cranking, so I'm about to begin one of my favorite tasks of the year — writing the bios for the Ha-Ha entries.
For those who have been sleeping far inland, the Ha-Ha is the 750-mile cruisers' rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, with stops at fun and funky Turtle Bay — where fuel is once again being sold from the pier — and surreal Bahia Santa Maria. The event starts on November 4.
There are different ways to cruise south to Mexico, but we think being part of the Ha-Ha is the most fun — eight big social events — and the easiest and safest because of the numbers. Plus, by the time you get to Cabo, you will have made all kinds of new cruising friends.
We've only missed one of the 29 Ha-Ha's to date, and can't wait to do 30. We hope you'll join us.
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