November Voyage of the Tripulantes 2011

Coyote Beach on the bay of conception. Our new old Tor

Boojum trees in Catavina

Leaving the Northwest the last week of October and heading south as the winter closed in behind us, we  were on our way to Baja and a rondevouz with some adventure.  We had turned in our Tortuga transportation from last year to go lighter and meaner in our old Tortuga 2 (our 40 year old camper on our Toyota truck)  Taking three days to get to the Mexico border and three more down Baja 101

Camping near Loreto. Could this be Hawaii?

brought us to LaPaz, where we boarded a small plane and crossed the Sea of Cortez, to Matzatlan on the mainland.  As we flew over looking down into the blue waters we realized that we would be backtracking our way in few weeks on a very slow and different vehicle.

Klickatat II in Matzalan

Katy and Fred find some night life. Cheers!

  We met up with Admiral Katy and Capitan Bill McKinney at the Matzalan marina and were introduced to the Klickatat II, their new boat and our home for the next two and a half weeks.  After our third crew member, Fred Paxon, showed up, we spent the week shopping, sightseeing, paddle boarding and night lifeing around Matzalan before heading out across the open sea toward Baja.

Captain Bill at the helm

Jan gets her sea legs, (finally).      Ol' Tom the Sailor man

     The crossing was a first for all of us, and as we saw the land slip away from behind us and choppy seas and headwind meet in front of us, we watched as the sun set, the full moon rose and put a lot of faith in the navigation and auto pilot system. 

The crew enjoying fresh Dorado Fish Tacos

Katy doing her job cleaning out the composting pooper (they didn't make the crew do it)

Tom Driving through large swells

Jan was the only seasick casualty and she fed the fishes for about the first 12 hours, after which she gained her sea legs for the rest of the trip.   It took 32 hours to cross the sea and we were all happy when the sun came up and we could see the distant shoreline ahead.   The next 10 days were spent in and out of bays, sailing north along the East Cape, exploring the land on our way  back to LaPaz.  We had some high adventure with large swells, testing out the boat, and figuring out a few problems on the way, but had a very fun time with our friends and the boating life.

Our friends Gail and Lee from Trout Lake arrived just before Thanksgiving to take our places as crew members.  Bidding the admiral and captain bien viaje and heading south, we traveled again in our camper for a week of camping on the beach in the little fishing village of Los Fraliles about 100 miles to the south.   






We spent Thanksgiving with a large community of gringos who had befriended us on the beach and invited us to a feast put on at a local ranchero. 

Parade in LaPaz

They had been wintering down in Los Fralies for 20 years camping and fishing every winter without electricity or conveniences of stores or civilization.  We had a wonderful meal and got to peek into the world of Mexican ranch life.

Water in the desert!  Ah!

We spent another several days in an oasis like canyon in the mountains before making our way north again.
















 It took three days to get back to the border and another two visiting my Aunt Marg in Palm Springs before heading up through the Sacramento Valley and then along through the redwoods.  The weather started to chill down about mid way up the Baja and we spent several nights shivering in the back of our heat-less camper on our way up through California and Oregon. 

But the redwoods were as spectacular as ever, and the southern coast amazing. We traveled up the Oregon Coast to get home around the 10th of December to see Jan's folks and spend a month at home checking out the rain and staying warm by the fire.

So that was our adventure for the fall. Check back in a while to see where we are off to next.  Got to get out and go while we still can!

Awesome road near Jedd Smith Redwood Park

Northward Ho!

Tom's Office

Jan's Studio

0N THE ROAD AGAIN
3/6/11 La Ventana:  We made our way north to windy La Ventana (on the Sea of Cortez) where the gringo population seems to be from the Columbia Gorge.  The town is mostly a string of houses, small hotels and not much else along a stretch of beach.  We stayed in a campground for a night which was inundated by wind surfers. They all had their area’s staked out along the beach with their small RV or van and an awning and then a shed built from metal poles and plastic.  As we walked the beach we could see inside the storage areas, and many of the surfers had what looked like a small store full of a multitude of sails, boards and wet suits.  We had fun talking to people (mostly from Hood River, the Dalles, Mosier and White Salmon) and checking out the scene, but we decided that if you weren’t a wind surfer/kiter you were pretty out of place in La Ventana.  Oh well.

3/7/11 Carnival in La Paz.  After arriving in La Paz and and finding a place to camp in a park about 5 miles out of town. We hopped on a bus into the city to check out the “Carnival”, their rendition of  Mardi Gras before Lent.  The streets were closed off on the Melacon  along the bay and food vendors, beer and alcohol vendors, trinket salesmen, gambling booths and carnival rides lined the open streets. People were wandering around enjoying the early evening mood as the sun was going down. About 6:00 we started to hear sirens, and saw police cars coming down the middle, clearing people to the sides, and we could start to see the beginnings of the parade.  This was the second or three nights of parade, and we had heard that the night before the streets had been packed with 200,000 people.  You couldn’t walk anywhere. You were just carried by the crowd.  Not liking the ideas of being squished in a crowd we, fortunately, arrived on this second night which was less crowded.  The Parade arrived with costumed and sequined women and men riding on floats being hauled by big 16 wheeler trucks, each blaring their own music.  Groups of people in costume danced by, and trucks carried various mexican bands .  People were throwing empty eggs full of confetti at the trucks and a few of the  people on floats threw candy for the kids. As an added bonus we were watching right under a big screen and a TV camera on the street, so the people would stop and dance and put on their show in front of us.
       After the parade, we wandered the Malacon and as it got dark more and more people showed up until it started to get pretty crowded again.  We drank several Mexican beers to go with our Mexican hot dogs and “gorditos” (like english muffins cooked on hot griddle and covered with a little sweetened condensed milk) and we just watched the scene.  A couple amusing items for kids were 1. A bunch of lighted easels for kids to paint a picture printed on cardboard.  Unfortunately they were trying to paint them with a box of watercolor paints and very tiny brushes.  It would have taken them all night to finish one, but maybe that was the point. They were all giving it a valiant try.

2. Was a large swimming pool filled with giant clear plastic balls, filled with kids crawling around inside of them.  Every once in a while a “wrangler” would move a ball to the side and unzip it and let the child out. The next child would enter, the collapsable ball would get partially zipped closed and the attendant would stick a leaf blower into the zipper to fill the ball with air, as the child held their hands over their ears.  They would then finish zipping the ball closed and push them off into the pool.  We watched this in awe, and wondered if the parents could just leave them in there all night while they went to the Carnival.  We never did figure out how they knew when which kid should come out.  It looked like a nightmare to me.
The nighttime brought out music bands on stages and more carnival goers, but we didn’t last too long and headed home to the peace and quiet of Tortuga.

3/11/11 The Tsunami,
We’d made our way over 30 miles of gravel and car-eating potholed roads and then 30 miles of brand new pavement out in the middle of nowhere to find the little fishing village of San Juanico and Scorpion Bay on the Pacific coast.  Our friends Mike and Linda from Stevenson were camped for the month and we went for a visit on our way north.  We’d been there two days, exploring the area, watching the surfers on some world class surfing waves, eating fresh caught halibut (thanks, Mike) and Linda and I plein air painted together.  On our third morning Tom woke up to news on his short wave radio that Japan had had the terrible 9 point earthquake/tsunami and that it was headed our way across the Pacific.  Then  Linda came over to our campsite to tell us that the police had been by to warn them of the possible danger.  Since we were camped up on a bluff 40 feet above the water, we weren’t to concerned, but we put our stuff into Tortuga in case we had to make a hasty get away.  In town, all of the fishermen had moved their pangas up high off the beach and we watched as two large tuna boats came into the bay to anchor. The waves were supposed to hit about 9:00 or so and we sat around watching and waiting for something to happen.  Nothing happened. 
Then about 11:00 the tide started going far out below the low tide line and then returning to the high tide level at about 20 minute intervals... the tsunami was finally here. It was kind of like a slow motion tsunami, as the waves coming in were less of a giant wave than a surge of several consecutive waves that just kept coming into shore, coming higher and higher with each wave.  At the apex of the tide there would be no surf at all, and then the water would start sucking out again causing confused, sideways waves close into shore.  This high/low tide repeated itself all afternoon about every 15-30 minutes.  The highest waves came in around about 3:00 and actually took some people by surprise who had driven out on the beach thinking that the tsunami was over.  They had to drive to high ground, and then still got their cars wet.  A few surfers went out to surf the Tsunami, but came back in fairly quickly as the surge going out of the bay was taking them out to sea.  The interesting part is that the surges went on all night.  Just when we thought they were over, the tide would come in and crash against the cliff again.  The waves were fairly small but powerful. We can’t imagine what it must have been like for people in Japan with 3-6 meter waves. Incredible and terrifying.

Before the tsunami

Tsunami Wave

             3/13/11 Whale spit in my face:  We’d planned on doing some whale watching sometime during our trip, and there are about three places on the Pacific coast side where you can see the Gray Whales from a boat.  We chose the port of Lopez Mateo because it was the closest to get to off the highway and we’d read that it was easy to spot them here in this constricted part of the bay of Magdalena. We were not disappointed.  We got to the embarcadero the night before and camped at the dock. Up early in the morning, we had to wait for a few hours before enough tourists showed up to share a panga (small boat).  We ended up with a Mexican family of 4, mom, dad and two teen age girls (almost all the tourists were Mexicans here) and our boat captain, Erin.  We were only about 15 minutes out of the port when we spotted the first whales, a mother and a calf. We motored right up to them and watched them for a while with two other boats, and then finally by ourselves, we followed them for almost an hour.  It seems as though there are no rules here about how close you can get to the whales.  It bothered us some, as the boats would drive up close enough for people to actually touch them, which is what most of the tourists wanted to do, and it seemed a bit like harassment. On the other hand, it was also one of the most exhilarating wildlife encounters we’d ever had.   With the other boats gone, the whales moved slowly around, surfacing and coming very close to the boat.  Several times they swam right under us and we could see their giant forms, twice the length of our boat.  At several points they surfaced and blew spray and whale breath all over us.  I was fascinated just to lay at the bow of the boat and watch them at nearly eye level.  What an experience. Truly awesome!  There were several whale mom’s and baby’s in the bay around us and we could see about a dozen whales at one time.  On our way home, Erin took us by a beach which was covered with thousands of sea birds, and near a mangrove stand where a huge flock of Magnificent Frigate birds were roosting.  What a day!

3/20/11  Bay of Conception
We traveled back across the mainland and through the Sierra La Giganta to the Sea of Cortez at Puerto Escondido.

Juncalito Beach. Notice our Tortuga at the lower right of the bay.

There we camped on a free beach with a backdrop that looked like the Nepali Coast in Hawaii, with mountains descending right to down to the ocean.  We were captured here for two days and then drove on to Loreto where we found it to be a quaint little town with low buildings along tree lined streets.  It had a plaza and the first of the Baja missions still in tact.  We met nice people there and camped next to two Alaskans, so we had fun trading stories and drinking margaritas at the local hangout, Augies Bar and Baitshop.

Town Center Loreto

Plya La Perla on the Bay of Conception

At the moment we are camped along the Bay of Conception at Playa La Perla.  It's in a little cove with turquoise water and small cacitas built of sticks and palm fronds for each of the camping places.  We’ve been  here for three nights and have been to two dinner/parties with the other few gringos who have been camping here for the winter. 

 
One neighbor loaned us his kayaks yesterday to check out the close by island and the other neighbor took us in his zodiac over to “Cheeseburger in Paradise” restaurant for... you guessed it: cheeseburgers and beer”. Tonight we are off to some other restaurant with the third neighbor to go to some 15th annual celebration at another restaurant along the bay.   As they say, “No bad days” in Baja. 

Leaving Los Barriles

Time to pick up the campsite and head out of Los Barriles.  We have been here for two and a half months, and it has been a fun experiment in putting down roots for that much time.  But the rest of wild Baja is calling us and we will be spending a month or so on the road again, working our way back up north (depending on the weather, whether or not we return home by April.)  We’ve had a great time here in this little town: met great people, ate wonderful fresh food every day, walks on the beach and arroyos, occasional entertainment with music in the restaurants and bars, etc. etc.

Interesting to be in one location long enough to make some attachments, rather than just traveling through.  There are so many subtleties to a place, the experience changes the longer you stay.  We can definitely see coming back, or even making a winter home here someday.
    A few short highlights since we wrote last (a month ago!... time flies here... manana...Baja time.)  Least you think that we spent most of our time on our rears, sunning ourselves, margarita in hand...

We took a trip to Santiago, about an hour south of LB with some folks from Colorado to check out the beautiful waterfall outside of town.  There are several hidden canyons with water running through them within an hour of LB, but they require a vehicle to get to.  This one was in a wonderful, deep, granite canyon with a 25 foot drop into hazel-green water.  The hike down was more of a climb, but the steepness kept a lot of the tourists at bay.  We enjoyed the day swimming, exploring and hanging out on the big rocks watching two Canadian  guys stringing a  line for tightrope walking about 100 feet above the pool.  We left before they attempted it, not really wanting to see the consequences of the plunge about to happen.  We spied them the next day in LB, so I guess they made it across.


   In February, I was fortunate to be able to participate in a “Artist Studio Tour” at the pool side of the RV park with several other artists.  Since none of us had a real studio,  we banded together to offer paintings, jewelry and collaged toilet seats (really).  There were about 20 artists throughout town showing their studios.  I was able to sell about 6 paintings!  I offered them up pretty cheap since I didn’t have anything to frame them with, and made enough to make it worth it. Got a lot of nice comments,  which is always validating, too.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with all of the paintings anyhow, except decorate my “Mexican” bathroom at home.   During the tour, I also met several artists who painted regularly in their homes.  I got a chance to paint a couple of days with them which was a lot of fun for me.  I wish I had met them earlier in our stay.

Jan at her "studio" during the Artist's Studio Tour

     We’ve found that the Gringos in Los Barriles who aren’t here wind surfing or kite boarding are out fishing when the wind isn’t blowing.  This is historically a very popular place for fishermen (Think marlin and giant man-sized grouper) and during the late spring, summer and early fall, that is mostly who sticks around here. (Other Gringos get out of town as it is very hot and humid).  Tom  got a chance to go out several times with our new friend, John who has a small inflatable and is an enthusiastic fisherman.   They would be up before dawn and out on the water trolling for bate fish while the sun came up.  The times Tom went out, they caught enough fish to keep him interested.  The water has been a lot colder than normal and thus the game fish have not been plentiful this year.  (The water is finally warming as we are leaving and people are starting to catch Yellow Tail, in which we’ve been able to partake feasting on.  Yum!)

    A few of the women in the RV park have a relationship with a small boarding school for rural farm children in the small town of La Ribera.  They do projects for them like raise money for winter coats, bedding, shower supplies etc.  The project during our stay here was to take school photos and make framed pictures for them to give to their families, since none of them have the opportunity to do this on their own.   I went with the gals out to the school, to check it out and had a very pleasant day meeting the kids (45 of them from ages 4-17). It was a nice school facility with the kids being very sweet (at least while we were there), the big ones helping the little ones, like one big family.  They all came out and greeted us, many offering handshakes and hugs.  While the ladies were taking the official photos, I was snapping candid of the kids and showing them to the kids as I went.  Of course they all had to come and get their picture done by me so they could see it.  I have to admit that some of my photos were the ones we ended up using, as they were more relaxed in front of my camera.


   Over the two months we took  two side trips in Tortuga, one to Cabo Jan Jose/Cabo San Lucas and one to Todo Santos, both with art in mind.  I wanted to go back to the galleries in Todo because when we were there before, with Tyler and Tom in tow, they lasted in the galleries about 10 minutes.  I was able to bribe Tom into staying longer, and I think he even enjoyed some of it.
   In Cabo, we rode the city busses around and went to the open “Art Walk” in San Jose Del Cabo which they have once a week.  About a dozen galleries open up late and offer  wine and tequila etc. as you stroll the streets going from gallery to gallery.  Only problem was that there was a freezing wind and we were all hunkered up in our light jackets trying to keep out of the cold.  Forget the iced Kalua.  Where’s the coffee shop? 
   We also went down to downtown Cabo and jostled our way around the docks amid the tour hawkers to check out the fancy yachts and the waterfront scene. About every 5 feet someone would try to hustle you onto their boat to go fishing, snorkeling or to sight see the famous rock arch.  It didn’t take long before we wished we’d had a sign around our neck that said “No fishing, no arch, no tours, no gracias!)  Exhausted, we got out of there pretty fast. 




One hiking adventure was with Anne, a friend of Julie Jonas’ from Alaska.  She and her husband John live here in LB in the winter and fish in Alaska in the summer (as do a lot of people we’ve met here).  She invited us on a hike in the mountains along an old cobblestone road going from one village to another and back, about 8 miles.  When we arrived for our halfway lunch stop in El Trifino, an old silver mining town, we went to the single cafe and found a Canadian film crew working on a movie out front.  There were trucks filled with costumes and equipment and lots of people walking around with radios and earphones etc.  We never did see the m actually filming, but it was kind of fun to take it all in.  

  Our last weekend in Los Barilles we got to view the beginning and end of the Baja 300 car race.  The race went 300k or 180 miles through the back roads and arroyos around the southern cape and started and ended for the first time in LB.  The staging area was at the big hotel in town and there were several hundred participants (almost all Mexican) with a variety of vehicles... fourwheel quads, motor bikes, VW’s and souped up fancy race cars. It was fun to watch them get ready, the drivers and co-drivers climbing into their one piece suits (and helmets with attached filtered air hoses.... many of the cars didn’t even have windshields). Having prayer circles with all the mechanics/helpers dressed alike, giving each other big abrazo good luck hugs, all with the concofany of noise from unmuffled race cars.   When the race started we viewed them a few other places: at the starting line where they left at one minute intervals and a blast of sand and noise;  at a turn heading out of town where they had to cross the highway (everyone holding their breath as the normal traffic on the highway was, hopefully, stopped by flaggers between the race cars crossing)  Up high on a bluff as they zipped to the finish below, and again as they entered town after crossing under a finish arch.  We rode our bikes back to he staging area and watched some of the celebration, but soon realized as the beer was flowing that we didn’t really want to be out on the roads after too long.

Getting ready for the Baja 300

At the starting line of the Baja 300

Drivers in ready to go

   So now we have started our exploration in Los Fariles bay, 20 miles  and a long gravel road south of Los Barriles. We are camped in an arroyo with some other gringos, a fish camp of Mexicans and a bay with several yachts moored every night.  It is a simpler life here, off the grid. The people seem a little hardier than the 4 wheeler retiree crowd in  LB.  We like watching the ocean and the boats and the birds looking for a snack as the fishermen come in.  We’ve been watching the whales migrate by and yesterday had a good show with a mama and baby Humpback whales doing some breaching tricks in front of the bay.

So we’ll be back with you as our adventures unfold and we find internet connection. For now, we wish you well and an early spring!

Lord Of The Wind Feature Film

We found this movie on Youtube if you want to see what all the excitement was about.  Note that neither Tom nor I were featured in the film.  If you want to see more photos and our comments go to the "Lord of the Wind" post in the Archives.
Jan

Lord of the Wind

 

     Last week was filled with the Lord of the Wind international Windsurf and Kite board Competition here in Los Barriles.  This was the first in what the organizers hope to be an annual event for Baja wind sailors. They lucked out with the wind, as before and after the 5 day event the wind and the sea were calm.  But the Lord of the Wind came through and they had HUGE wind to play and perform in... 25 to 30 MPH.  

Kites waiting for competition. Event site in background.

 

There were about a 150 surfers/borders  participating and hundreds of spectators on the beach off and on throughout the competition. Parties at night (most of which we missed) and lots of  tequila and cold beer for sale at the booths along the beach at the event site to keep the crowds happy. 

Spectators: notice the jackets

I guess there were some big names in windsurfing and kite boarding at the events... none of whom we were familiar with.  I do know that the Mexican national kite board champion participated.  The events that were fun to watch were the Big Air Kite boarding where the competitors leaped off the waves to some incredible heights and...

Wind Surfing slalom race

They also had slalom races between buoys for the wind surfers and kite boarders, some of which resembled roller derby races, a crowd starting at one time where anything goes.   There were a few freestyle windsurfing events where competitors attempted cartwheels and other tricks on their boards.   I was told by friend who windsurfs that the skill levels were very high for this, but sometimes it was hard for us to tell, as we are inexperienced.  There was a long distance race where  wind surfers and kite borders competed at the same time.  The wind was really big that day, and the surprising part was that a windsurfer won the race over the kite borders to take home a $3500 prize. 

It was fun to watch though the problem with this kind of event is that it is very WINDY!!!  After being out on the beach for hours, watching the competition in wind which is laying the palm fronds sideways and picking the sand up off the beach in a sand blast manor, we were ready to go home to cocktail hour and a hot tub.

Painting around Los Barriles

Beach at Cabo Pulmo. Watercolor

Beach at Cabo Pulmo.  Oil

Hello family and friends.  Life here in Los Barriles is rather slow paced.  We are getting into a routine: Up in the morning and take a walk or bike ride along the beach. Yoga class 3 days a week,  reading and Jan paints in the afternoon; hot tub in the evening.  Not all that many tourists here this year according to the local long time Gringos. I think the news from the states has kept a lot of people home.  All the better for the rest of us as it leaves the beaches and the town not very crowded... except for the great lunch place that we have found for fish tacos.  You have to elbow your way in from 12:00-2:00 to get the wonderful fish or shrimp tacos piled with salsa, guacamole, salad and fresh lime... yum. 

The town of Los Barriles is mostly one main strip, several blocks long with a few side streets thrown in. Lots of little adobe-type houses and palapas (palm roofs) and some very expensive places along the water and through the hills around town.  It is still a rural place with dogs lazing around and every once in a while you see cows or the occasional burro walking down the middle of the Los Barriles main street. On Tuesday the fish guy comes by with fresh fish and shrimp, on Wednesday the strawberry guy shows up with crates of berries, and on Thursday the vegetable vendor arrives with organic veggies and fresh, hot tamales.  There is the “Modelorama” beer store across the street from us. Who needs more?

Cardon Cactus    Oil

The streets roll up here about 9 or 10:00.  They call it Baja Midnight. But sometimes there is stuff to do in the evenings. There is live music once in a while, and open mike night at the Roadrunner Cafe, movie night at the poolside in the RV park.  We spent last evening at the local sports bar watching the Ducks lose their game by a hair.  Sitting on one side of us was a couple from White Salmon.  On the other side, a guy from Underwood.  We are finding that this is a seasonal home to many Gorge wind surfers.  Everyone is surprised when they find out we are from the Gorge but don't surf or kite... We tell them that we were living in the Gorge BEFORE there WAS  any windsurfing.  We understand why this is such a popular surf destination, as the wind blows fairly constantly here.  It blows for 3-5 days (enough for white caps and to lay the palm fronds over) and then it slows down for a day or two before blowing back up again.  This is fun for the wind guys but a little hard on us beach bums and painters. When the wind doesn't blow, the fishing is good and is supposed to be world class. Tom just got his tackle together and will be trying his luck soon.

"Site #39" Our spot at East Cape RV   Oil

We are getting ready for the "Lord of the Wind International Windsurfing and Kiteboard Competition" scheduled to begin tomorrow.  Supposed to be some big name surfers competing and it seems to be a big deal, (yet to be seen). They have lots of tents set up on the beach and markers set out in the ocean and will be having several events over a 5 day period.  I'll write it up on the blog if it seems to be worth telling about afterward.

I’ve been going out plein air painting with my friend Linda Hunter once a week around the area.  The rest of the time I’m finding shelter from the wind (sometimes in the doorway of Tortuga) to paint on my own.  I’m learning to paint with oil this winter, but also intend to keep up with watercolor, as I think it is a skill that needs practice or you lose it.  I’ve included some of the paintings that I’ve finished so far.  It’s been a lot of fun
 and nice to have the time to focus on painting. Till next time, Hasta luego amigos!

Hotel Los Cerritos on the Pacific:  from my sketchbook

Wave and Pelican study  Oil

San Bartolo Aroyo, Palo Blanca Tree   Oil