letters

from Latitude 38 | March 2016-2017

key west/cuba race weeks

LETTERS

COOL IT YOURSELF!

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FIN BEVEN

would have to do to stay up with school. The big difference between 2008 and 2015 is that I would no longer be homeschooling them.

As for our Santa Cruz 50 Bay Wolf, , preparing her was simplified by our previous Ha-Ha experience and nine-month cruise. She didn't need a lot of work.

So why is the Ha-Ha such a great family event? Let's see, there is sharing night watches during which time we got to see the moon rise, the planets, and the Milky Way more vividly than ever before. The trick-or-treating among the boats in the fleet in Turtle Bay was as fun as it had been seven years before. The kids' party on Profligate and on her floating islands was a blast. The great

By all accounts, the 'Bay Wolf' girls and their many new friends had a ball on the Ha-Ha last fall.

fishing, which saw us catch two mahi mahi, three tuna — including one about 60 pounds — and amarlin. Seeing a pilot whale and dolphin pods. The great volleyball games on the beach. Dancing with my teenage daughters at Squid Roe during the Ha-Ha party. (There is no other venue in which they would have danced with mom.) A chance for our girls to hang out with some of the younger Ha-Ha kids, which reminded them of their first Ha-Ha. Time spent off-line — especially important for the high school girls.

But above all, there is nothing like living in close quarters with your family to really reconnect! And the Ha-Ha was ideal for that.

By the way, Miya and Romi thought that a two-week hiatus from high school was not insurmountable. They front-loaded some schoolwork, did homework on the lay days, and read on days when the sailing was mellow. Their teachers were almost universally supportive. When a freshman in 2012, Miya had taken a month off from school to do the Ha-Ha with her dad, and had no problems keeping up with school.

One of the conditions of our doing the Ha-Ha was that Miya complete an early application for the US Coast Guard Academy before we left. What an incentive! We recently learned that Miya has now been admitted to the Coast Guard Academy.

Sachi Itagaki

Bay Wolf, , Santa Cruz 50 San Francisco

Readers — After the last Ha-Ha, we sent a letter asking participants for reviews of the event. We were swamped with them, and have only had room to publish a few. But because we believe in the Ha-Ha so much, we plan to publish one a month until the start of the 23rd annual Ha-Ha, which will be on October 31.

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In a typical month, we receive a tremendous volume of letters. So if yours hasn't appeared, don't give up hope.

We welcome all letters that are of interest to sailors. Please include your name, your boat's name, hailing port and, if possible, a way to contact you for clarifications.

By far the best way to send letters is to email them to richard@latitude38.com. You can also mail them to 15 Locust, Mill Valley, CA, 94941, or fax them to (415) 383-5816.

Page 60 • Latitude 38 • March, 2016

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