BOLA TRIP REPORT 5/23-5/29

We Left the central coast of Ca. with a friend and my son at 11:30 p.m. on the 23rd. We made the boarder by 6:00 a.m., waved right through, and headed for bola arriving in town by 2:30 P.M. This was the first time I didn't tow a boat or flat bed with toys and it made me realize how stressful it is looking in the rear view mirrors every 30 seconds to see how close the last passing truck was or how far off the asphalt the trailer tires are!
The trip down was uneventful with very little traffic. As we came over the hill into Bola the red tide was visible. We made it to Gecko in time to unload and set up my boat. We spent the next four days working on our places cruising the Islands and drinking the occasional beer. Fellow nomad David A. made it down with his new boat and we made 1 long range trip to the south of Partida and Raza and then back by way of barnebes reef catching a couple of yellows, groupers and bottom fish. Doc was working on the out drive of his boat the gecko IV, and got it going and in the water.

The weather was great, with highs in the 80's and lows in the 60's at night. We had glassy conditions on the water every day with one evening of west wind limited to town and north. This is the first time I can say we had 4 great windless day on the water in a row. Although the wind was never a problem we saw very little sea life (probable due to the red tide) other than one pod of dolphins and a very tough looking shark that circled the boat on the east side of smith Island. We were on the back side of Smith island on our way to 7 mile reef one afternoon and saw a boat that waved us over. Their engine was dead and their radio wasn't working as they had been trying to call for over an hour. We tried to jump start their engine to no avail and ended up towing them to their house at La Gringa, an hour and a half job. They had a kicker mount on their boat but no kicker They were grateful and even tried to pay me for my gas and time but I just chalked it up as a deposit to my Baja Karma bank account (you never know when you will have to make a withdraw). This was just a reminder of why I spend so much time and money on maintaining and working on my boat. (NOTE TO SELF: BUY THAT BACK-UP HAND HELD MARINE RADIO IV'E BEEN THINKING ABOUT).
This was a great trip even though we slept in late and never really got on the water in time for the early yellow tail bite. We left the 28th late in the afternoon with tears in our eyes. About 20 miles north of the bola turn we came up on a wreck with about 10 to 15 vehicles backed up in each direction. A 26' plus travel trailer was on it's side across the raised road and a very small SUV was hanging 5' off the ground, up right, from the trailer hitch. A group of Mexicans was standing around watching one guy pound on the hitch with a sledge hammer trying to release it from the trailer. Looked to me like a very large rock fall trap about to spring. (wish I had a picture) As it turned out no one was hurt and we went off road around the wreck making it to the Baja Cactus for some rest. We headed to the boarder the following morning and made it home that evening. Another great Trip leaving us hungry for more!

My son on our boat at the back side of smith Island.

shark!

We spotted this shark on the back side of Smith Island. I glided up to it and I don't think it saw us till the last minute. My son was sitting on the bow of our boat as the shark circled us and came up to the back of the boat. It Eye balled us and then bolted away.
I not sure if this was a Mako or not? can anyone tell from this photo?

Catch of the day!

It's like puffer fish one wrong cut and the meal will kill Ya!

You ready for the 4th of July trip soulpatch?

Another deadly catch!

Caught by my son on the rock wall next to Don Juan cove.

i allmost thought you caught a beer at first, theres allways time tom. looks like a good trip comeing up with dorado caught i the bay.

4baja

Looks like you saw Bob's report. With Doc catching Dorado, they must be close in. I better get those outrigger mounts ready. Temp break shows the water warming up fast. Let's go fishing!

And don't worry I have no problem catching beers, It's like they just jump in the boat.

LOL........They only Jump in the boat when Mom isn't there


Glad you had a Great time!!

Bedman

Bedman

Only real men can take their mommy to Baja.

Great Avitar!