BajaNomad - Some Stories From San Francisquito

Some Stories From San Francisquito

Ken Bondy - 8-20-2008 at 01:46 PM

#1:

For five or six years in the early to mid 80s one of the San Francisquito employees was a magnetic, good-looking young Mexican kid named Savino. At one time I am sure I knew his last name, now I can’t remember it and I can’t find it in any of my notes. He was probably in his early twenties when we first met him. Our kids really liked him.

Savino did everything, he was a master mechanic, fixed everything that needed fixing, and he was a decent bartender (although I don’t think I ever saw him do any cooking.) But his main skill was as a world-class fisherman. He handled the pangas with great skill, and he knew where to find the fish. He could approach a boiling school of yellowtail from just the right angle and stop at just the right point without disturbing them. When there was no action on the surface he generally knew where to find them down deep. Even when we kept our own little fleet of two inflatable boats there, we would still often go out with Savino in one of the PFQ pangas, because he was such a good fisherman and so much fun to be with. Most of our memorable stories from San Francisquito seem to involve Savino.

My dear old friend Jim Bailey and I kept our two inflatable boats in one of the lockers. Both were Metzelers, superb pieces of German equipment, one a twelve footer called (by Metzeler) a “Maya,” and a bigger one, a sixteen footer called, appropriately, the “Elefant.” Our drill, after coming back in from fishing or diving or whatever we were doing on the water that day, was to haul the boats up on the beach to a point well above the high tide line where it would remain overnight. One afternoon we hauled the bigger boat, the Elefant, up to a point which we thought was safe, and proceeded with the evening festivities. In the morning the boat was gone. We had substantially underestimated an extreme high tide, and sometime during the night, the water reached the boat, and the Elefant floated away.

The morning was beautiful, warm and clear with virtually unlimited visibility, the sea was brilliant blue and dead calm, and there was no Elefant in sight. Frank Armellini was flying the smallest airplane that trip, a Cessna 172, he had plenty of fuel (none was available then at PFQ), and so Frank volunteered to do an aerial search for the boat. We talked to Savino who felt, based on his knowledge of the currents, that it would most likely have drifted to the south. So Frank took off in the 172 and headed south; it didn’t take him long to find our Elefant. It was drifting about five miles offshore and, amazingly, about ten miles south of where it had started, sometime in the night. Frank spotted the location of the boat using landmarks on the coast, and headed back.

Savino fired up the panga and Bailey and I headed for our drifting, crewless boat. It was right where Frank said it would be, and Bailey and I boarded it to bring it home. Savino waited until the engine, a Johnson 25 hp, lit off, and then both boats headed back north to PFQ. On the way back we passed huge boils of yellowtail working on the surface, and since we still had fishing tackle on board, managed to land a few for the day’s ceviche. Our haul-out protocol changed that day; from that point on we tethered the boats to the center pole of a palapa so they wouldn’t ever again wander away in the night.

[Edited on 8-21-2008 by Ken Bondy]

rpleger - 8-20-2008 at 04:42 PM

Good story...Thank you very much

Bob H - 8-20-2008 at 07:04 PM

Ken, great short story indeed. I wonder whatever happend to Savino? He would most likely be in his late 40's to early 50's now, correct? That would be interesting to find out, huh?
Bob H

David K - 8-20-2008 at 07:21 PM

Great story from a great time and place!

My camp at San Francisquito, about 1983...

mailedD50.jpg - 38kB

Pescador - 8-20-2008 at 07:40 PM

Great story. The first time I flew into San Fransisquito, there was an American who lived there in a trailer and made things like sea horses dipped in Gold and various things for sale. He was a friendly sort but whenever the cameras came out we noticed that you could not get a picture no matter what you tried. Several years later he had disappeared and we heard later that he was staying there until the statute of Limitations expired and the day it expired he was outa there.

motoged - 8-20-2008 at 07:44 PM

Still my favourite part of the peninsula...

Ken Bondy - 8-20-2008 at 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob H
Ken, great short story indeed. I wonder whatever happend to Savino? He would most likely be in his late 40's to early 50's now, correct? That would be interesting to find out, huh?
Bob H

Bob, I will tell you what happened to him in another short story coming soon

++Ken++

Cypress - 8-20-2008 at 08:03 PM

motoged, Thanks for posting the pictures.

Ken Bondy - 8-20-2008 at 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pescador
Great story. The first time I flew into San Fransisquito, there was an American who lived there in a trailer and made things like sea horses dipped in Gold and various things for sale. He was a friendly sort but whenever the cameras came out we noticed that you could not get a picture no matter what you tried. Several years later he had disappeared and we heard later that he was staying there until the statute of Limitations expired and the day it expired he was outa there.

Pescador that sounds like it might be Big Ed. He was an American expat who lived there in the early 80's. He had a little jewelry shop just behind the bar. He married a local girl named Martha, who worked in the kitchen. I didn't hear the part about the statute of limitations, I heard that he had died at San Francisquito. I actually think I have some pictures of him which I will post if I can find them.

motoged that is a FABULOUS series of San Francisquito photos. Wow, do those bring back the memories.

++Ken++

capt. mike - 8-21-2008 at 07:03 AM

Jim - that was Ed. he was there for 17 years. used to talk with him a lot, then yes he up and left, disappeared.

Ken - you remember little miquelito who got electrocuted? they were fixing the reach in in the big bar and he was standing in water, they hit the switch it wasn't grounded. everyone was heartbroken.

Pescador - 8-21-2008 at 07:08 AM

Mike, did you ever get to ride on the old truck with no doors and most of the metal rusted off completely. They would come out to where you tied down your airplane and give you and your stuff a ride to the palapas.
You are right, his name was Ed and we thought it was peculiar that we could never get him in a picture. Someone on the old Amigos site told me about the statute of limitations.

David K - 8-21-2008 at 07:19 AM

Motoged, that is a very cool set of photos!

Ken Bondy - 8-21-2008 at 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike
Jim - that was Ed. he was there for 17 years. used to talk with him a lot, then yes he up and left, disappeared.

Ken - you remember little miquelito who got electrocuted? they were fixing the reach in in the big bar and he was standing in water, they hit the switch it wasn't grounded. everyone was heartbroken.

mike, yes I heard about the kid who got electrocuted. But I am not sure I ever met miguelito. ++Ken++

oh yeah!!

capt. mike - 8-22-2008 at 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pescador
Mike, did you ever get to ride on the old truck with no doors and most of the metal rusted off completely. They would come out to where you tied down your airplane and give you and your stuff a ride to the palapas.
You are right, his name was Ed and we thought it was peculiar that we could never get him in a picture. Someone on the old Amigos site told me about the statute of limitations.

that was the "airport car" :lol:

Pacifico - 8-22-2008 at 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Great story from a great time and place!

My camp at San Francisquito, about 1983...

Wow David! I'm amazed your car isn't still stuck in that deep sand!!! What kind of car was that?

San Fran is one of my favorite places down in baja as well. A lot of great memories over the years. And hopefully many more great times to come! I love hearing stories from the guys that were fortunate enough to have gone there in the 70's - the fishing was obviously just insane back then. Still great, but not like back then. I've caught 6 yellows from the beach there and what a blast that is! Here are some of my San Fran pics.....

capt. mike - 8-22-2008 at 01:01 PM

there is no place like PSFO - it is THE BEST by far of any baja beach. nights are magical, moon and venus lighting up the east water in a reflection side by side, one wide the moon one narrow venus.

used to trudge south to the rocks with my tank and a fresh load of Genaro's bad tasting air to spear sheeps heads with my hawaiian sling. what a blast!

i think this fall will allow some return trips and camping.

David K - 8-23-2008 at 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pacifico

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Great story from a great time and place!

My camp at San Francisquito, about 1983...

Wow David! I'm amazed your car isn't still stuck in that deep sand!!! What kind of car was that?

That was a 1980 Subaru 4WD Wagon, 1600cc flat four and stock 13" tires! It was my second of three 4WD Subarus I owned ('1977.5, '80, '87), all with well over 100,000 miles when I traded them in for the next vehicle.

The truth is, that crushed coral/ sand beach was VERY soft and bottomless... and it did dig in there (temp. stuck)... However, like is ALL deep sand situations, no matter what size tire, 2WD or 4WD, the key is AIR PRESSURE.

While 10 psi was what I normally lowered those tires to for sand travel... I probably went down to 8 psi to get out of there when we left a few days later... Pouring sea water in front of the tires to get 'back on top' may have also been helpful... but I don't remember if I had to do that, too.

Photo below of my first Subaru, in 1979 in Calamajue Canyon ... this was after driving over the original 4WD 'road' south of Puertecitos that was all but impassable to most... My exaust ripped off on one of the steep grades and we arrived at Alfonsina's quite loud, in the night!

scan0023.jpg - 48kB

Paulina - 8-23-2008 at 09:25 AM

My first memory of PSFO is pretty foggy. It was 1981, I was in a marine biology class in Bahia de Los Angeles. I believe it was Wiles' dad who flew in to visit. He took us kids on flights of the area, and I got to go to San Francisquito. Of course I didn't realize or appreciate where I was going as I do now in hindsight. I only remember the runway, and commenting on how big the refridgerator was.

I didn't return until almost 5 years ago.

It had such a wonderful "old Baja" feeling to us that we took Dern's dad there along with his lady friend and dumped them off for a weeks stay. (It was one of his first trips with us). We left them there alone to get the real feel of Baja, returning for them a week later.

They LOVED it.

Thanks Ken for reminding me of these special places.

P<*)))>{

Ken Bondy - 8-23-2008 at 10:35 AM

Thanks Paulina. PSFO is very special. I don't remember if you have seen this, but mija Coleen wrote about a trip we made there a few years ago. I think you might enjoy this, apologies if you've already seen it:

http://www.coleenbondy.com/personal/travel/baja_escape/Day7-...

++Ken++

[Edited on 8-23-2008 by Ken Bondy]

Paulina - 8-23-2008 at 11:26 AM

"When you get old you always wonder if it will be the last time you see a favorite place."

A very true statement, unfortunately it seems like Baja is the one changing right in front of our eyes. She's not giving us a chance to get old and visit our favorite places as many times as we can before our clocks wear out.

Is it one of those questions we ask ourselves when we see our children grow? Are they getting older, while we stay the same? Is Baja getting older and changing, but we're not?

I feel that way, but maybe it's only me.

Now if any of that made sense, I'll be surprised.

That was a wonderful story Ken. Coleen is a gifted writer, that is for certain.

P<*)))><

[Edited on 23-8-2008 by Paulina]

Ken Bondy - 8-23-2008 at 11:47 AM

Thanks again Paulina. She is a wonderful writer. Must have got it from her mother. I particularly like this description of PSFO she wrote:

"The whole place is like life strained down to its simplest and most wonderful elements...sea, sky and sand. Sun, stars and moon."

++Ken++

David K - 8-23-2008 at 11:52 AM

I read it years ago Ken, and you never need to apologize for reposting it... IMHO

There are hundreds of new Nomads (or more) who have not read it or seen the link the last time it was posted...

I thank you!

Ken Bondy - 8-23-2008 at 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paulina
"When you get old you always wonder if it will be the last time you see a favorite place."

A very true statement, unfortunately it seems like Baja is the one changing right in front of our eyes. She's not giving us a chance to get old and visit our favorite places as many times as we can before our clocks wear out.

Is it one of those questions we ask ourselves when we see our children grow? Are they getting older, while we stay the same? Is Baja getting older and changing, but we're not?

I feel that way, but maybe it's only me.

Now if any of that made sense, I'll be surprised.

That was a wonderful story Ken. Coleen is a gifted writer, that is for certain.

P<*)))><

Paulina I've been reading and re-reading what you said here and the more I read it the more profound it gets. I feel the same way, like I am staying constant and everything else is changing. Maybe that's because, as we get older, each increment of time becomes a smaller percentage of our lifetime. I still see great passages in my kid's and grandkid's lives, but I feel like I am staying constant. I think that's why it was so satisfying to find that PSFO was still pretty much the way we remembered it when we made that trip seven years ago. ++Ken++

"There are a lot of guys named Jose"

Stickers - 8-23-2008 at 09:23 PM

I think this was Jose who worked for Genaro when I first visited in 1989. He was a great guy and kind of the social director.

As soon as you landed he would drive an old beat-up van out to your plane and drive you to your palapa that was only about 50 feet away. In the evenings he would play guitar and sing while sitting on the beach wall of the bar. One dark evening he stopped playing abruptly and grabbed a fishing pole, ran to the waters edge and came back a minute later with a good size yellow tail. He had us snacking on sashimi and grilled yellow tail in an instant and then went back to playing his guitar.

I returned to San Francisquito 15 years later and asked Genaro about Jose. He looked a little bewildered and said "there are a lot guys guys named Jose". RIP Genaro

PSF 1989 Jose .jpg - 44kB

PabloS - 8-23-2008 at 09:50 PM

Many memories from San Francisquito in the 8o's but the "huevos Ranchero" eggs and weeenies and beans still stand out. Yummy :lol:

capt. mike - 8-24-2008 at 05:39 AM

Stickers i have to say that looks just like little miguelito who got killed there. but a few years after i last saw him.
th Jose i remember had a harder WX worn look.