A HA-HA RECOMMENDATION FROM SOMEONE
WHO TRIED TO AVOID THE EVENT
We received the following unsolicited Ha-Ha recommendation from Denton Bowers Earnhardt of the catamaran Kiapa Nui, who, along with his wife Chrissy, and now 13-year-old daughter Danika, had intended to avoid it. They are currently in New Zealand.
“We accidentally crashed the Ha-Ha four years ago. We were actually trying to avoid it. But we came across the fleet in Turtle Bay, and that's where we met the majority of our buddy boats that we cruised with for the next three years. Many of us went all over Mexico, including all the way to the top of the Sea of Cortez. Many of us also crossed the South Pacific together and shared many anchorages along the way. Our cruising adventures might have looked much different had we not run into the Ha-Ha fleet years ago. Sailing with friends is always more fun.”
And as I'm sure Danika, Chrissy, and Denton would agree, it's 10 times more fun if you have a 'kid' aboard, and you cruise and/or share anchorages with other 'kid boats'. There are always a bunch of 'kid boats' in the Ha-Ha.
Denton is ex-Navy, and he and his wife and daughter are from Truckee. They started cruising with the monohull Simplicity. I wish I knew what kind of boat she is, but I don't. They sold her in Moorea where they moved aboard the performance catamaran Kiapa Nui. Once again, I unfortunately don't know the length or type of cat she is. But they love the additional room and better performance.
In addition to being a fine sailor and skilled DIY boat guy, Denton seems to take his wife and daughter on every possible adventure no matter where they visit. And that's not all. He chronicles these adventures with absolutely superb photos and captions or succinct mini stories. He makes you feel as though you are right there with them.
There are countless sailing blogs and vlogs out there. Denton's isn't one of those, but I find his Facebook posts to be more entertaining and inspiring than almost all the sailing content out there.
Indeed, his posts are the best advertisement for cruising the South Pacific that I've ever seen. Read a dozen of them, and you'll have a hard time stopping yourself from grabbing your family, a little food, and casting off for the South Seas.
Well done, Denton. We give your Facebook posts our highest recommendation.
The Baja Ha-Ha is the 750-mile cruiser's rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, with R&R stops at funky Turtle Bay and surreal Bahia Santa Maria. Over 3,000 boats and 14,000 sailors participated in the first 30.
Entries will be accepted starting at noon on May 9. The fleet leaves San Diego on November 3. Entries have to be at least 27 feet in length, but having kids aboard is not mandatory.
Denton, Danika, and Chrissy off Bora Bora. (All of the photos are courtesy of Denton.)
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Danika was a big hit at the Ha-Ha Cruisers versus
Turtle Bay Kids bazeball game.
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One of the countless 'kid boat' gatherings in the South Pacific.
You can just imagine how much fun the kids must have in such an environment.
And what a great 'real life' education they get.
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I believe this was a Christmas gathering of 'kid boat' cruisers in New Zealand.
A number of them are Ha-Ha vets,
including from the year the Earnhardts didn't — ha, ha — officially do it.
They are honorary Ha-Ha'ers now.
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Denton makes sure that Danika doesn't miss out on any adventures.
This is the real thing, not an amusement park ride.
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