My rig is too heavy for the beach. Where can I buy sand rails in San Felipe?
Please send copy of replies to kris.sonico@indymacbank.com
Any help or information is appreciated.
[Edited on 7-14-2007 by edm1]viabaja - 7-14-2007 at 03:26 PM
edm1 - air down!! I've seen 40' RV's on beach. Just take enough air out to really increase your footprint. This with either 2 or 4 wheel drive.BajaWarrior - 7-14-2007 at 04:26 PM
He just U2U'd me, he sounds real stuck. Yep, air down till they look flat, problem is, I think he is stuck to the frame already. He needs a big truck
to get him out.
I have a home just three miles from where he is at, but I'm in San Diego at the moment.
His son posted the message, both here and my U2U, will call the # he gave me..BajaWarrior - 7-14-2007 at 06:04 PM
Talked to Art (edm1), he's stuck allright, talked to him via his cell phone, but is airing down to 10 psi. He said 15 psi wasn't low enough cause his
tires are 19.5's on his rig, and they don't have much "tire", mostly rim.
I hope he gets out and continues his trip soon.
BTW, he does not have 4wd.
[Edited on 7-15-2007 by BajaWarrior]Al G - 7-14-2007 at 06:17 PM
Did you tell him about using water to harden sand? How about towels, blankets, brush, almost anything to stick under tires?
If he is on his axles he will have to jack up and fill in with wet sand.
Wet the sand under jack too.BajaWarrior - 7-14-2007 at 08:05 PM
He was confident he could drive out after airing down, but those are all good ideas. I never heard back from him so I can only assume he's gotten out.edm1 - 7-14-2007 at 08:08 PM
still stuck. will resume tomorrow. thanks for the ideas guys. i will relay all new info to my dad. if you need to reach me i can be reached at 626
437 2336
krisDiver - 7-14-2007 at 08:54 PM
If you can pick up a few bags of cement (quick-set if possible);
Mix the powder with the sand in front and behind the tires and make a ramp in front of each tire with wet sand and cement. Any concrete that touches
the tires will come loose when you drive out.
Let it cure for an hour or so and drive out.
Of course, you will need somewhere to go. Maybe some 2x8 or plywood strips if nothing else ?
Good luck !!
.Diver - 7-14-2007 at 08:58 PM
Another possibility is to wrap tow straps around the tires and chain or cable the loose ends to something imoveable if available. Then let the RV
motor spin the wheels. As the tow straps wind around the tires, it will move you forward and pull you out of the hole. We tied to a tow truck parked
sideways when their winch broke.
.meme - 7-15-2007 at 06:40 AM
A tow truck from town might be useful? He's gonna need something bigger than we have to pull him out. We have two Jeep Cherokees but , not sure we
could get him out with them? It's gonna cost him but think Tow truck may be his answer?? There are not many people here right now with capabilty to
get him out.Al G - 7-15-2007 at 10:53 AM
Any news yet? Please explain as best you can how your Dad got out.
Wish I were there...Meant to tell you 2" wet sand won't do it...must wet to 6" deep or more.BajaWarrior - 7-15-2007 at 09:04 PM
edm1 has released the beast and is continueing his trip south!Mango - 7-15-2007 at 11:07 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by BajaWarrior
edm1 has released the beast and is continueing his trip south!
Excellent News!
I think he needs a few cold ones now. meme - 7-16-2007 at 07:44 AM
GREAT!
Now tell us HOW he got out Warrior?BajaWarrior - 7-16-2007 at 10:10 PM
I only know that he is out. His son U2U'd me yesterday, and thanked everyone for their tips. I wish I knew the whole story too.
Sounds like we're in for a great trip report when he gets back!David K - 7-16-2007 at 11:06 PM
I sure hope he doesn't try to drive into Mision Santa Maria in that 2WD boat!edm1 - 7-19-2007 at 12:09 AM
I just got back home from my 7-day (too short) Baja Norte exploration trip. Trip report to follow.BajaWarrior - 7-19-2007 at 04:57 AM
Welcome back!David K - 7-19-2007 at 06:55 AM
Wonderful!Al G - 7-19-2007 at 07:55 AM
We need a detail...ya know like how many Pacificos...report as a classic example of how to get out of a ditch
Hope you were able to do so without a tow truck...edm1 - 7-19-2007 at 01:18 PM
Sure, Al; details coming up. I think this place where I was stuck is where no other RV's have ever been. It's definetely not Shell beach, it's
farther south of where I think is Shell Beach. I say "I think" because I have not found the Shell beach the you guys speak of or post pictures of,
where you can park an RV or even a pickup truck. It's not a beach either but it's only 150 feet from the waterline during full high-tide. I'll post
the GPS track I stupidly took.
But the short answer to how to get out of a ditch is not to get in it in the first place. :-)
[Edited on 7-20-2007 by edm1]BajaWarrior - 7-19-2007 at 04:22 PM
Shell Beach is actually an Island (San Martin Island is it's former name, it is what we call it), which it's turnoff is just south of Rancho Percebu
and north of Campo Santa Maria, which are 6 miles apart. The turnoff, which favors just closer north to Percebu, takes you directly to the Beach
(Island) and has two block columns serving as an entrance very near the highway that are light grey or white in appearance and that's it. No sign,
nothing.
That road alone which is two miles from the water is a challenge for the wrong vehicle as it is sand as well, not unlike the rest of the desert.
After passing through this roller coaster road of a mile and 1/4, it enters a salt flat, visible to the north is Percebu, and to the south Santa
Maria, cross it, and head straight to the water. Now, if it has been a "high" high tide recently or currently, this area leading to the actual beach
(island) will be wet and very slippery. We are talking about a small area, smaller than a residential culdesac, after crossing that challenge, you
enter the beach, and it is thick sand. Even camping at the actual entrance is not that good because of the traffic entering the beach.
The next time you're in the area my reccomendation for camping in this area would be the north end of Bahia Santa Maria (open space and southern tip
of Shell Island), or two miles south at Campo Nuevo Mazatlan (actual campground with trees, restrooms and water).
We are heading to Lake Havasu in the a.m. but would love to hear about your trip when we get back on Monday.
Also curious where you were stuck temporarily, south of Santa Maria it is more populated and with hard packed roads leading to the beaches, so I'm
thinking you were in the area between the two communities I mentioned.
2 miles from the water?
edm1 - 7-19-2007 at 06:03 PM
When I say I think I found Shell beach, I was within 300 feet from the beach/water at LOW tide. There is a fishing shack and a dark pickup truck next
to it, but no one was there. Why didn't he take his truck with him, I don't know. I was also only 300 feet from the shack when I couldn't go any
further (I was going to park next to the shack). There trail leading there also forked to the left that actually lead to a "muddy" path, which I
quickly refused to get into. There was a concrete pedestal the size of maybe 15 by 12 feet and maybe 4.5 feet high in the middle of nowhere where
water surrounds it at high tide. Not a bridge or a dam but what is it for?
Anyway, I've posted the first installment of my trip report in the Trip Report section, of course.BajaWarrior - 7-19-2007 at 06:40 PM
You were there! Yep, that was the bridge that was never finished. That is the exact entrance to Shell Island. Enter to right of unfinished bridge, but
the sand does get very thick there.
BW
[Edited on 7-20-2007 by BajaWarrior]edm1 - 7-19-2007 at 07:02 PM
To the right and before that "bridge" platform was like a creek and I went down and felt the sand/clay-looking mixture and felt it and it was soft and
it looked like I had to cross 50 feet of that stuff and it was 7:45 PM, although the sun was still up. I'm not easily scared (not of sand 'cause I
know it's self packing and abrasive and easy to shovel), but mud? slippery and dark as in "dark forces" and could be bottomless. And how do you shovel
mud? I'm not going through there without an escort vehicle or at least a tireless strong digger in the early mornings and who can bury a 5x5 ft steel
tire carrier along with the tires at least 6 feet below ground level so I could winch my 10,000lb rig out. Perhaps the time I was there was a bad
time/situation in which to cross?
So, anyway, I reversed and turned around and chose to go to the right-hand fork toward the fishing shack. It was deep sand, so as I said I'm not
scared of sand and so I floated for about a hundred feet until can't do it anymore. Reverse won't move the RV either. The rest of the story I will
cover in that section of the trip report.
[Edited on 7-20-2007 by edm1]edm1 - 7-19-2007 at 07:32 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
I sure hope he doesn't try to drive into Mision Santa Maria in that 2WD boat!
Thanks a lot, David for the encouragement. Is it sand, mud or rocks the
challenge in Mision Sta Maria?
[Edited on 7-20-2007 by edm1]David K - 7-20-2007 at 08:54 AM
edm1, first off please know that we only want the best for you and to not have problems!
You GOT to have 4WD for many places in Baja... period.
The road to Mision Santa Maria (I have posted tons of photos) is rock, sand, and STEEP grades... A 'Jeep trail', that I wouldn't recommend a full size
pick up to drive as they could get hung up.
Please read my Shell Island comments on your trip report thread... But, here is a photo of the bridge onto Shell Island (that's Surfer Jim).
It was completed, and we used to drive over it to get onto the island.
What happened over the years since it was built, is the elevated road (causeway) across the lagoon mud flats has been 'melting' back down into the
flats since this road was built in 1984.
Apparently some project fell through and nothing beyond the road and bridge was built... As you can see from this photo, the road bed is about 18"
lower than the bridge.
So, you will see ruts going to the right, detouring the bridge and the low mud hole under it... That's one way onto the island. The other are the
tracks that go at a diaginal/ right to the beach about halfway to the bridge from the desert. That is the original access road before the causeway
was built in '84.
[Edited on 7-20-2007 by David K]edm1 - 7-20-2007 at 12:34 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
edm1, first off please know that we only want the best for you and to not have problems!
for the encouragement. Is it sand, mud or rocks the
challenge in Mision Sta Maria?
.