The first big change is that there's a new marina in PE with spacious grounds to house all the activities. Add ons to the marina are a small swimming pool, a pretty good restaurant and a well equipped mini market that carries frozen meats, fresh veggies, ice cream and even freshly caught chocolates (clams, not candy). A few other changes in the festival itself: first, the music on most nights was performed by bands imported from around Baja rather than by groups of cruisers that had banded together, practiced their routines, and put on successful performances. Sunday night, the last night of the gathering, was "open mike" for cruisers to perform. By then, many boats had already departed. Second, they eliminated Baja Rummy and instead had a few tables of Baja Canasta (reputedly originated in Minnesota) and a few tables of bridge. We didn't compete in either. Bocce Ball and Across the Line were played with several boats competing. Unfortunately, my sprained foot kept us out of that action. There were several informative seminars, as was the case in earlier festivals, and it seems that all were well attended. A swap meet was held in the parking lot of the new marina. Almost all the vendors were land based and brought stuff in trucks, lots of it having nothing to do with boats.
The big plus for us was the opportunity to re-connect with old friends and meet new ones. We discovered yet more people, still here in Mexico, that were on the '04 HaHa with us, and the biggest surprise was to meet up with couples we knew on the Caribbean side. One of them, on the boat Rock and Roll, said kiddingly that they just followed along our way.
We are currently anchored in Marquer at the south end of Isla Carmen along with Mystique and a small trawler.
