Bahia De Tortugas

Me with the Firebolt

After months of repairing Seaglass in San Diego, we were finally ready to go on the Baja Ha-Ha. The Baja Ha-Ha is an annual event in which a rally, or large group of boats, sail down the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The rally started on October 31^st, so there was a big costume party the day before we left. Most of the people their were, not surprisingly, pirates and wenches but their were also some Vikings, sea creatures, and famous characters from movies. My family, went as wizards from the wizarding world of Harry Potter. My brothers and I had all the gear of students from Hogwarts while my parents both went as regular wizards. We even had the Firebolt, the fastest broom of them all.

Our first, and my favorite, stop on the rally was Bahia De Tortugas, Spanish for the bay of turtles. The trip there had a few big waves, but overall was great downwind sailing. Our boat is so good at downwind sailing, we were one of the first boats there! In the bay, there was a town and big, sandy beaches, but, despite the name, I didn’t see any turtles. The people in the town loved baseball. They had six teams that played all around Mexico, and even had a full baseball field in their town.

Seaglass sailing

Baseball is probably my favorite sport. I played it all the time before we left on the boat and haven’t played a real game since. That is why the Baja Ha-Ha baseball game in Bahia De Tortugas was so fun for me. We played the game according to the “Baja rules”, in which the bases were closer together, and the balls were pitched underhand. The boaters and the locals lined up to bat, and each person got at least 2 hits. For the fielders, anybody who wanted to, glove or no glove, went out onto the field. At one point in the game there were 3 people on 2^nd base! During the game, I ran home once and played on second and outfield.

The Baseball Field

 At every location the Baja boaters stopped, there was a beach party. The beach party at the Bahia De Tortugas was set up on the northeast side of the bay. On the beach by the party zone there were several large sandstone cliffs, and the boaters had set up chars, tents, and a full-sized volleyball net. The locals also set up a bar and food stands. I got into volleyball about a year ago. Then, we were up at Whidbey in summer, and we played the game with our friends up there. Those first games, Josh and I were so bad; we called our team the Losers. After a while of playing though, the Losers occasionally won. We brought our A game to the Baja.

Sunset in Mexico

The beach party had several rounds of volleyball, a tug of war match, and hot dogs! I spent most of my time their playing with the various sports items that we brought and that were already there, and meeting the other kids and adults on the rally.

Thanks for reading, Jacob