The Baja Ha Ha - San DIego to Turtle Bay to Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas

Time to catch you up to speed with some photos and a few words. The trip down the coast tossed us around for the majority of it. I can best describe it as Mr. Toads wild ride at DisneyLand. The seas were sloshing us side to side, left to right, up and down, with rather large swells in all directions and winds ranging from 10 to 20 knots. I have never been sea sick, but I came pretty dang close. One day I had to just lay in bed when I wasn't on watch. For what ever reason, being in a vertical position was the only way to ride it out. I was just thankful it was down wind, or it would have been a lot worse. Jack did so well on all the crossings. He was worried when night rolled around and would check on me every 10 minutes while I was on watch to make sure I was ok. It was so sweet. Our watches were 3 hours long, twice a day. I was the lucky one to have the 7 to 10 shift. Being the designated cook has its bennefits. Having 4 people on board made it really easy. We all felt like we had plenty of sleep. Our first stop was Turtle Bay. This was a small town with dusty streets, a church, a lot of beer, a baseball field, and very warm welcoming people. The Ha Ha organized a baseball game with the local kids and adults. Jack played catcher, and Patrick and I had a go of it too. They are putting it on YouTube so check it out. You can google Baja Ha Ha 17 and see what comes up. It was very funny. Our next stop was Santa Maria, a very very small fishing village. It was here that I got word about my dads passing. My sister, Shelley, sent me an email thru our ssb, sail mail. I picked up my phone, and prayed that I would have a signal out in the middle of no where. And I did. If I had not been able to talk to my sister and my boys, I am sure I would have gone completely mad. I love AT&T and even called them to tell them thank you. I arranged for alex and blake to fly to madison, since I knew it would not be possible for me to fly out without a lot of complications.

We met lots of great people doing the Ha Ha who are headed our way. I am looking forward to getting to know them better. There were plenty of kids to keep Jack happy, and he even got to trick or treat, by dinghy. We caught lots of fish on the way down, and by the time we left Santa Maria and headed towards Cabo it was time to pack away the uggs and down comforter. Nothing but shorts and swim suits from here on out. Once we saw the ocean temp had risen to 85 we slowed the boat down and we all had a swim. With the exception of Jack. He has seen one to many episodes of shark week and was complete terrified that we were swimming in the middle of the ocean. It was such a beautiful blue, I had to jump in! And I wouldn't call it swimming, none of us let go of the swim step just in case....
We have seen lots of dolphins, sea turtles, and whales. Jack also had his first experience with a jelly fish. It got him pretty dang bad. He was playing in the surf at a beautiful white sandy beach in Cabo, and came out of the water pulling off what I thought was fishing line. Turns out he was pulling off jelly fish tentacles that were wrapped around his arm and one of his legs. One of the fellow haha people knew right what to do, hot water followed by vinegar. He was fine within the hour and was going back in the water, when one of his friends came running out of the water having just been stung.

On the passing of my dad.....everyday is getting easier. I only cried once today, and I am starting to feel some peace inching it's way in. Being out here on the ocean is actually a great place to sort things out. To see and experience such beauty, it is hard to stay down when there is so much light surrounding me. My sister is sending me some of his ashes, and Jack and I will hold our own memorial when we receive them. Thanks for all the love and prayers. We are on our way to Mazatlan. Mo flew back to Idaho from Cabo, so we are down to three crewing. I have taken the 4 to 8 watch. I am on the 4am watch as I type this on my iPad. It is my favorite time. Everyone is sleeping, the stars are amazing, and the sun rise is breath taking each morning. Life is good.