You need to act soon, but there’s still time to sign up for CUBAR, the legendary powerboat rally every two years from San Diego to La Paz, Baja California. One of the premiere cruising events on the West Coast, the rally will leave the San Diego Yacht Club on Oct. 30, and it’s scheduled to arrive, after several stops, in La Paz on Nov. 17.
You can’t wait until the last minute because the highly regulated rally, which will have about 40 boats, has mandatory checklists and even a pre-cruise inspection. The organizers strongly urge captains and at least one crewmember to attend a training weekend, on Oct. 5 and 6; the sessions will last from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The rally covers 910 nm from San Diego to La Paz. Participating boats must have a range of 450 nm and be able to cruise at 8.5 knots. The rally features dinners and parties at the overnight stops, plus fishing, kayaking and exploring.
The idea behind the rally is that there’s safety – as well as fellowship – in numbers. Mechanical, communications and medical personnel are on each trip. This year’s rally kicks off with a mandatory three-hour captain’s meeting on the morning of Oct. 29, followed by a send-off party that evening.
The San Diego to La Paz rally down the Baja California peninsula dates to 2007, when Bruce Kessler, the circumnavigator and film director, organized the first one. He called it FUBAR, which stood for Fleet Underway to Baja, or whatever.
As a safety measure, this year Garmin is providing a 25 percent discount for CUBAR participants for each InReach device. The rally organizers will use InReach as the primary tool for communications, and it’s also a great item to keep in a ditch bag in case of an emergency. Read more:
