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Alanui Nordhavn 40 Scott Bulger
FUBAR rally heads for La Paz
A fleet of 53 yachts will depart San Diego on November 7 for the first ever FUBAR Odyssey rally designed for powerboat owners wishing to cruise in Mexico and beyond.
Although FUBAR has other meanings, in this case it stands for Fleet Underway to Baja Rally.
Circumnavigator Bruce Kessler is organizing the event along with other yacht club volunteers from the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina Del Ray, California. He filmed the documentary “Living the Dream” on the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally in 2004.
The boats range in size from 30 to 96 feet LOA. Seven escort vessels will accompany the fleet carrying a fleet surgeon, Spanish translator, technical advisors and Internet support.
Making stops for sightseeing and partying, the rally will run about 16 days, weather permitting, with arrival in La Paz scheduled on November 19. Once in La Paz participants can arrange for lodging at the CostaBaja Resort where they can enjoy a Thanksgiving buffet for those staying during the holiday.
Registration was open to any boat owner with a powerboat capable of going 450 nautical miles at 8 knots. The entry fee was $500 to cover expenses. Proceeds will benefit the Del Ray Yacht Club Junior Program.
Trawlers & Trawlering asked participants three questions: What attracted you to FUBAR? What are your cruising plans? What is boating background? The responses of selected crews appear below. A link to a complete list of participants appears at the conclusion of the report and in the related links at right.
Alanui
Nordhavn 40
Scott Bulger
www.alanui.talkspot.com
- Knowing we were going that way anyway and the timing was perfect.
- Panama Canal, Florida, East Coast, Windward Island, Venezuela, Back through canal, return to Seattle then Alaska, then back to Seattle
- Three years of owning a small trawler (Camano 31). Grew up around runabout power boats. Wife had little or no experience and gets sea sick.
Fishin Game Warden Mikelson 50 James Warden
Fishin Game Warden
Mikelson 50
James, Lori, Sarah and Ashley Warden
- This would be the only way we would consider cruising this far with our 9-year-old twin girls to Mexico. Due to our inexperience we decided to jump on this opportunity to have some much support and all the planning handled by experienced Captains. This is a life changing opportunity for us. We are so greatful for FUBAR.
- Leave the boat in La Paz for a few months then down to PV and maybe Barra.
- We have been on fresh water for 10 years (Colorado River) and started boating in the ocean in March 2007. Yes, rookies.
Mystic Moon - Selene 5323 Kathy and John Youngblood
Mystic Moon
Selene 53
Kathy and John Youngblood
www.mysticmoon.talkspot.com
- We were attracted to the rally in order to meet other boaters who may have similar plans to ours. We were very familiar with the Baja Ha-Ha, and had considered going on that until we heard about FUBAR. With 1/3 the number of boats, and all of us being "stinkpots," we decided straight away that the FUBAR might be a better choice for us. Also, this is our first foray into Mexico, so the thought of some guidance on the immigration issues was very comforting.
- We plan to go as far south as Acapulco in the spring, and then return to the Sea of Cortez for the hurricane season. Next fall we'll head back south and continue on to Central America. At that point, we'll have to decide 'right' or 'left'. Our long term goal (10 years perhaps?) is to do a leisurely circumnavigation.
- Prior to purchasing our boat, our boating background was all in chartering sailboats, both monohulls and catamarans. When we decided we wanted to do this, we looked seriously at trawlers and were smitten with the lifestyle. We took delivery of our boat in Seattle in the spring of 2005, and since then, have put close to 6,000 nautical miles on her. We cruised Canada and British Columbia extensively, including a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, and also took her up to Southeast Alaska in the summer of 2006. This spring we brought her down the coast to San Francisco, and this fall, on to Southern California, spending quite a bit of time in the Channel Islands.
Nor'wester Northwest Trawler 42 Peter Whiting
Nor’wester
Northwest 42
Peter Whiting
- We became acquainted with the rally through our friend, Bruce Kessler. We helped to promote the FUBAR at the Trawler Fest in Solomons, Maryland, and Stuart, Florida, last year. Bruce encouraged us to join in the fun with our new Northwest 42 and that became our goal. This is a good inaugural test of the capabilities of the boat.
- We will spend a couple of weeks in La Paz and then Nor’wester will be put aboard a Dockwise ship to return to the Pacific Northwest in time to display at the Seattle Boat Show in January.
- I have been boating for 47 years having begun as a young teenager sailing on a lake in California. I have been in the boating business as owner of Northwest Yachts since 1999. We began the design and building of the Northwest 42 about two years ago as a joint venture with American Expedition Yachts in Anacortes.
Senjero Nordhavn 57 Neil Williamson
Senjero
Nordhavn 57
Neil Williamson
- We are going on the FUBAR to travel with other boating friends, and to meet new ones.
- We will continue to cruise mainland Mexico as far south as Zihuatanejo, then back to the Sea of Cortez for spring, then to the Pacific Northwest for the summer.
- We have owned three sailboats in the past, and now own a Nordhavn 57 which we took delivery of in 2005. We took her to the Pacific Northwest that summer, and then down to Mexico for the 2005/2006 season before taking her back to the Northwest. I have about 35 years of boating experience, and hold a 100-ton USCG license. Along with my wife Elaine and friends, we travel with Cody, our beagle.
Shark Daddy Mikelson 43 Jim and Diana Minnis
Shark Daddy
Mikelson 43
Jim and Diana Minnis
- A very good friend of ours told us about the rally and what a great adventure and experience it would be for us. We were going to plan this trip before the rally became available so it happened at the perfect time. Plus, all the people who are part of planning and organizing this trip are the best.
- We plan to stay in and around the La Paz area in the Sea of Cortez. Our time is limited and were going to try and be back before Christmas. We have one additional crew member, Terry Gordon, who is doing the entire trip with us and we have two other friends joining us for 10 days after the Fubar trip is completed.
- We have been boating for the past 20 years. We started out with a 22' SeaRay and continued with trail boats up to 30' until 2 1/2 years ago when we bought our Mikelson 43 S/F. We had had enough of the trailer scene and was ready for a boat we could do longer trips. We have been ocean boating and fishing for the past 20 years as well as lake boating.
Swede Dreams
Silverton 46
Kent Skogerson
- We are taking Swede Dreams to her new home at CostaBaja Resort in La Paz as we have a home there. We purchased a home and secured a slip and needed to fill it with a boat. We were going by ourselves, my son, my brother and two brothers-in-law, but the rally was brought to my attention and we were fortunate to get in.
- Once we get the boat to La Paz we will return to cruise the Sea of Cortez as that was the reason to buy the boat.
- My experience goes back to the Vietnam era where I was the XO on an 82-foot Coast Guard cutter stationed in San Francisco Bay.
Unreel Ocean Yacht 52 Robert Godfrey
Unreel
Ocean Yacht
Robert Godfrey
- We want to fish at Land’s End.
- Forty years on the water coastal cruising and fishing. We brought our current boat from Bar Harbor, Maine, to the Bahamas through the Canal and up the west coast to Desolation Sound in Canada then home to Los Angeles.
Voyager Selene 60 Les Dobbe
Voyager
Selene
Les Dobbe
- Getting to meet the other cruisers.
- Cruise Mexico for the next year, then head to the Atlantic side.
- Boating/Sailing since youth. First big sailboat bought in northern France, participated with ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) to cross the Atlantic, delivered a sister boat (Selene 53) from California.
Wandering Star Selene 48 Adrian Salzer
Wandering Star
Selene 43
Adrian Salzer
- We’ve been on the Baja Ha-Ha as one of three powerboats in 2005 (130 sailboats+) and want to try it again with an all trawler/powerboat fleet.
- Heading to the mainland for Christmas, Acapulco for Easter and Panama Canal to Caribbean in November.
- Thirty-plus years on sailboats, did the Great Circle on first trawler in 2000, Alaska on the current new Selene 43 this summer.
Click here for the complete list of entries in the first FUBAR
Related:
FUBAR Odyssey 2007
Del Rey Yacht Club
Santa Monica Bay Sailing foundation
Costabaja Resort
San Diego Yacht Club
Original Meaning of FUBAR
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