Largest Ever Baja Ha-Ha Sailing Rally Underway

Contact: Dale Frost (619) 686-6461

More than 200 sailboats paraded out of San Diego Bay on October 25, 2010, to start the 17th annual Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally that ends in Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Baja, California.

This is the biggest turnout ever for the spirited 750-mile event that attracts boats and crew to San Diego from ports along the West Coast, including as far north as Alaska.

Signaling the official start of the race, Captain Mario Martinez, a regional director of operations in the Mexican Navy, fired a shotgun blank into the air at 10 a.m. sharp. He was aboard the sportfishing vessel Shogun, stationed near the west end of Shelter Island.

After two weeks of sailing south with stops in Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria, the Baja Ha-Ha fleet will reach Cabo San Lucas.

Boats and captains began arriving in San Diego days and months before the rally to prepare the vessels for long miles of blue water cruising. This means increased business for marinas, marine supply stores and boatyards around San Diego Bay.

"The Baja Ha-Ha rally is great for waterfront businesses," said Elaine Lutz, marina manager at Cabrillo Isle Marina on Harbor Island.

She said more than 40 boats participating in the rally stayed at the Cabrillo Isle Marina, some for days and most for a few months, making it the busiest time of the year at the 460-slip facility.

"The rally participants and other cruisers spend a significant amount of money in San Diego while they buy gear for the boats, dine in local restaurants and sight-see," Lutz said.

Two cruisers spent so much time and money in Downwind Marine, a local boat supply store, they decided to get married there during its Baja Ha-Ha welcome party on October 16, 2010.

"Downwind Marine is a special place, with impeccable service and quality gear. I felt comfortable there and thought 'Why not get married in the store?'" said bride Kristen Sierra.

Customers and vendors in the store at the welcome party were asked to take a break from shopping and watching vendor demonstrations to gather around the couple for a surprise wedding ceremony.

Downwind Marine salesman Lee Neher, also a minister, performed the ceremony.

"Who would have thought a wedding aisle would be between anchors and liferafts?" said groom Ned Kohlauff.

The couple later celebrated at Island Prime, a waterfront restaurant on Harbor Island. And the honeymoon? It was hauling their 42-foot vessel Bristol Blue out of San Diego Bay at Koehler-Kraft boatyard to ready it for cruising.

"The Baja Ha-Ha event is a boost for many businesses in the Shelter Island area," said Kitty Gushue, store manager at Downwind Marine, owned by San Diego Marine Exchange.

She said the recent Baja Ha-Ha welcome party, which attracted more than 100 customers to Downwind Marine, was the biggest sales day of the year so far.

"It was the most profitable day, and the most joyous," said Gushue.

Since the Baja Ha-Ha event began in 1994, more than 7,000 cruisers, aboard 2,000 boats, have visited San Diego and sailed in the rally.

"The Baja Ha-Ha rally draws people together," said Randy Short, CEO of Almar, a company that operates 18 marinas on the West Coast and in Hawaii. "It's truly one of the great boating events."

The rally is sponsored by Latitude 38, a Northern California-based sailing publication.

For many of the Baja Ha-Ha cruisers, the rally to Cabo San Lucas serves as the first step in a new lifestyle of international cruising.

San Diego Bay and its surrounding tidelands provide a recreational haven for boaters, cyclists, fishermen, runners and art enthusiasts. Seventeen public parks along the waterfront include amenities such as childrens' playgrounds, basketball courts, soccer fields, baseball fields and miles of scenic walkways. There are four public fishing piers, four public boat launch ramps and several accessible boat docks.