Too much time on my hands, found this old article from June 1993. My ARCA is getting really upset sitting here in Fresno, she wants to go home.
by Capt. Patricia Miller and Capt. John Rains Mexico cruisers know and love this hard-working boat
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Like most cruisers who visit Baja California, Mexico regularly, we recognize the sleek lines of a panga from a mile away. It's the workhorse boat of
Mexican anglers.
We're used to seeing pangas planing out of remote coves at sunrise and seeing them being dragged high up onto rocky beaches at sunset.
But we were surprised to see a panga being trailered north behind a small RV on a freeway near Seattle. As we let the trailer pass us, we noticed its
license-plate bracket, which read: "My other boat is a panga."
As more luxury motoryachts ply the Mexican coast, buying a panga to serve as a tender or fishing skiff has taken on the status of a sports trophy,
brought back from a South of the Border cruising adventure.
Although the panga was developed especially to serve a very narrow range of uses for very practical people, it certainly has some adaptability.
What's A Panga Meant To Do?
The original pangas -- small commercial fishing boats -- were nothing more than homemade 16 to 20 foot hollowed-out logs, equipped with crude sails.
In the early 1960s, fishermen in Guaymas began producing this motorized canoe-type fishing skiff for sale to other fishermen. Later, BOA Co. in
Mazatlan also produced a round-bottom, caravel-planked version. But they were too heavy and vulnerable to be safe outside the region's protected
estuaries.
In 1968, Mack Shroyer, a U.S. transplant to La Paz, began building 24 foot plywood inboard sportfishing boats for the many resort hotels from Cabo San
Lucas to La Paz. His factory was a simple palm frond-topped palapa not far from the present-day Marina de La Paz, which he and his wife, Mary,
operate.
Shroyer's first plywood-hull outboard boats -- what we now think of as pangas -- were commissioned by the large fishing ,/cooperativo, or cooperative,
at Rancho Buena Vista on the East Cape. The 18-footers were hard-chined and had the typical V-bottom, dictated by the plywood construction.Meanwhile,
the many cooperativo fishermen who worked from primitive, seasonal beach camps along Mexico's rugged Pacific coast and the Sea of Cortez needed a
fishing boat that would:
* Accommodate a practical hand-start outboard engine (at that time, a 40 hp Johnson);
* Be easy to launch and retrieve through the rough surf of relatively unprotected Pacific beaches;
* Get up and plane across large swell and short, stiff chop when the hull was unburdened, as it typically was in the morning;
* When burdened, safely carry a load of about two tons of fish, gear and men back from fishing far offshore at night;
* Be light and repairable enough to be hauled up by hand onto rocky beaches;
* Be economical to produce in Mexico.
Such a tall order required Shroyer to loft his own offsets for a full-size fiberglass 18-footer, then build a plug and pull a mold to create this line
of boats. Later, he lengthened the mold to build 20 and 22 foot models.
This molded, modified-V hull boat, with its large, graceful spray knockers and small strakes, eliminated the squared-off look of the plywood vessels.
The new, sleeker La Paz panga was considered Mexico's biggest innovation in boat building.
"They were only six-and-a-half feet wide," Shroyer said, "which was pretty narrow for people in the (United) States, but they were terrifically
adaptable for heavy seas and they had great (handling) characteristics.
"They did everything the ,/pangaderos needed them to do. The fishermen could slap some fiberglass on the bottoms themselves, after the rocky beaches
chewed them up a bit. And we could produce them economically."
Shroyer's panga was so successful that he moved production into a large factory on Calle Navarro and hired about 50 employees.
In the late 1970s, the Mexican government offered a loan package to pangaderos. They could get the basic 20 or 22 foot panga, a 40 hp Johnson
outboard, a fuel tank and nets for about $2,500. That's not much different from what a panga hull sells for today: anywhere from $1,500 to $2,700.
Another 600 pangas were built because of that loan program, Shoyer recalled. From that time on, hundreds of remote beaches were no longer inaccessible
to local anglers.Small groups of pangaderos often moved their families out to rustic base camps, moving them frequently so they could follow the
seasonal harvests of shark, seabass, lobster, abalone and other sea life.
Water had to be brought out in plastic tanks to the makeshift camps, and their catches had to be taken in to the fishing cooperatives to be iced.
Pangas were just about the only modern convenience the anglers enjoyed.
"By the time you were a veteran fisherman in Baja (California) or the (Mexican) mainland, you had developed a great appreciation for what the panga
fishermen could do with their little boats," Shroyer said. So, many U.S. boaters decided they wanted pangas of their own.
Of the 3,000 pangas Shroyer built during the 1970s and early 1980s, he estimated that about 300 were bought by U.S. fishermen. Most of the West Coast
owners usually trailered them down to Mexico to fish. But people who lived farther away often kept their pangas in storage in Mexico.
Many others said they were using their pangas in remote areas of Alaska and British Columbia, where marinas were scarce as hens' teeth, and where
conditions were at least as rugged as those the Mexican pangaderos experienced.
Panga Production Today
In 1982, Shroyer sold his boat building business to his employees, who quickly sold it to a group of La Paz investors. They became know as
Embarcaciones ARCA and continued building from the panga molds and the inboard sportfisher molds.
Four years ago, two of Shroyer's original employees, Lupe Diaz and Lupe Diaz Jr., split off from the ARCA group to open their own shop that would
concentrate on building pangas.
The large new Embarcaciones Diaz factory -- located on the edge of La Paz, next to the Coca-Cola warehouse on the road to Los Planos -- has 30
full-time employees. The company specializes in building 23, 25 and 26 foot pangas.
Besides the classic or commercial panga, which is produced at a rate of 20 per month, Embarcaciones Diaz has designed and built several more luxurious
versions with sport anglers in mind, called "Super Pangas." They include a 25 foot cuddy cabin model and a new 23 foot walk-around version. The
company sold 70 Super Pangas last year.
Lupe Diaz the younger, who runs the shop, said he turns out the standard commercial panga in one week, but he needs about six weeks to build one of
his custom sportfishing pangas ,/al gusto, meaning "as you like."The updated, upgraded and upscale pangas that Diaz and ARCA are turning out today are
a far cry from the first ones, yet they still feature the basic design Shroyer found so successful. And both La Paz companies can finish individual
boats to their clients' custom specifications.
Sturdy floor boards with non-skid surfaces are the greatest improvement over older models. Center consoles with modern controls, rigid windshields and
electronics boxes are available optionally, as are Bimini tops, roll-down plastic windows and padded bench seats.
A ,/cubierto package includes wide, flat gunwales with rod holders, a raised deck forward with anchor locker and gear storage underneath, and a hefty
bow rail. Fighting chairs and the latest outboard engines also are available add-ons. With all the comforts and upgrades, these boats can cost up to
$16,000.
Not All Pangas Are Mexican
Several U.S. boat builders have toyed with production pangas, but few have succeeded. Today, North American Skiffs of Otay Mesa, California, a suburb
of San Diego, is one of the few U.S. panga builders.
Greg Bain, the company's owner, got started building boats while working for San Diego's South Bay Boat Works 15 years ago. He's been with San
Diego-based Knight & Carver Custom Yachts for the past 10 years.
Bain said he got interested in pangas when he "tricked one out as a nice skiff for a luxury yacht." The owner had fallen in love with pangas after
spending several seasons cruising in Mexico.
Bain soon was smitten, as well. He's built six customized pangas so far, ranging from 16 to 22 feet.
Recently, Bain wanted a wider boat for himself, so he cut a 16 foot mold in half and widened it by almost 13 inches. He said that has increased the
boat's stability.
Among other accessories, Bain has designed a 35 gallon bait tank for the forward half, which balances the boat and helps the hull plane faster, he
claims. Another Bain innovation is a "shoe" or flat bottom to the boat's "beach-able" keel.
Shroyer, Diaz and Bain have all tested new diesel outboards on various lengths of pangas, and they suggest that diesel outboard power seems ideal for
this design. In fact, they see no end in sight for possible innovations to pangas.
While Mexico's tough little boat was originally designed with a narrow range of specific uses in mind, the humble panga seems to hold few limits to
its adaptability, no matter where
it's built.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article first appeared in the June 1993 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated.Osprey - 2-23-2009 at 07:10 PM
I've been in Boas, Mag bay flat bottomed pangas, Shroyer and Diaz boats. I have a Shroyer 22'8" La Paz original and even though I just have a 55 HP
motor with tiller, not a side or center console for this area of East Cape it is a perfect design. The San Carlos skiffs are spine crushers and the
new Diaz step chines can be lifted and tossed about in a chop that will pass quietly under my semi flat chine and hull. Mine slides way up the beach
when I come back and at 22 feet won't easily round up or down in big seas. As far as I'm concerned it is the most stable, safest fishing platform for
wide smooth bays like Palmas Bay and others on the SOC side.Paulina - 2-23-2009 at 09:52 PM
I have a question; Our panga is a Paceno. It's stamped on the back and I think it also says La Paz on it.
I've always wondered about the name. Can you guys tell me if it's another builder that's not mentioned in the article, or is Paceno a style of panga
that was made by Shroyer or Diaz, etc. ?
Thanks,
P<*)))>{Osprey - 2-24-2009 at 07:37 AM
I think Paceno must be what model/mold the boat came from. Mine is an ARCA Eskibot but I've been told it is from a Shroyer mold. The factura is from
2/89.cantinflas - 2-24-2009 at 08:41 AM
I wonder why the diesel outboards never took off?Paladin - 2-24-2009 at 10:02 AM
My panga says ARCA USA
I'm under the impression that some pangas were specifically made for the "gringo" market.
The serial number on my indicates it was made in Dec 1984 and was the 9th one made of that type/design.
It has front raised deck with big gas tank, nice center counsel, double seat and storage units behind counsel, nice rear (near motor) storage unit.
Anyway I've always wondered what the "USA" meant if anything.Hook - 2-24-2009 at 12:54 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by cantinflas
I wonder why the diesel outboards never took off?
Probably too loud and heavy.
But I really think that may have been a misprint. I think he meant inboard and there are ones being made.Robertofox - 2-24-2009 at 02:09 PM
I bought a Panga out of Ensenada back in 2005. Had it made to my spec's but changed it when I used it for a while. It's a 23' Center Console with a
Yamaha 90 two stroke. Cruises at 25 with a top speed of 32 mph. Good ride in rough water but I still leave the rough waters alone. Just good to know
it can handle it. I ordered it through Aqua-Marine on Second Ave in Ensenada. The shop is just as you turn inland on Hwy 3 to Tecate out of North
Ensenada. Looks like they just expanded too this last year. The builder is a guy (I forgot his name) who use to help design and make Stingari boats.
It's a good Panga for Mexico's standards. I enjoy it and I'm sure it will out live me!!!BajaDove - 2-24-2009 at 04:31 PM
Paceno is what people from La Paz are called.
The Diesel Outboard were Yamaha's only like 13HP and worked very well, I think why they didn't take off was that they were stolen as fast as you could
put one on. Really wonder were they went and how they held up.
wileyHook - 2-24-2009 at 04:38 PM
13 horsepower pushing a 22 foot fiberglass panga?
I guess one wasn't outrunning any weather with this setup.LaTijereta - 2-24-2009 at 05:01 PM
Here is a shot of our 1982 "Mac" 22' Panga out of LaPaz..
Same specs for gas tank (160 ltr under the deck) center console, raised upper deck for overnight sleeping (including a bow tent), and rear storage box
below the motor.
This boat was made for the Cortez, and has fished from Kino Bay down to below La Paz..all by water.
comitan - 2-24-2009 at 05:51 PM
Hook
Lots of torgue,pitch,size They did real well.Hook - 2-24-2009 at 06:20 PM
OK.
What was the top speed with one of those?
Fishing is a bit more pleasant when you can get to the fishing grounds in a reasonable time. Sometimes the bite can be 10-20 miles farther than the
day before.
I cant imagine a 13 horse engine pushing these boats much more than 8-10 knots, maybe less.comitan - 2-24-2009 at 06:51 PM
From what I remember they performed as well as the Evinrude 55.Pescador - 2-27-2009 at 08:20 AM
Back in 2004, I got a letter from Mr. Chuck, a long time East Cape resident who knew as much as anybody about the Diaz Pangas.
The first pangas were made in Mazatlan and it was this factory that Max Shoyer bought and brought to La Paz. One of those families was Lupe Diaz.
When they reworked the molds, all Arca pangas were 22 feet long. The Arca super panga had it's gas tank up front in a compartment in front of the
console. They made plain jane net and fishing type boats up to and including full blown luxury type super pangas. They made a 16', 18', 20' and a
24' on special order, but according to Lupe, they never promoted these lengths since the 22' rode the waves in the Sea of Cortez so well.
In 1989 Lupe Diaz and families left the Arca factory nd went out on their own and started making his newly re-designed 23' panga in the new La Paz
factory which was financed by the American Terry Maas, who was living in Loreto at the time. The new designed panga is over a foot longer and 9
inches wider and you could put an Arca panga inside of the Diaz panga. The Diaz panga really took over the market sharewith the newer panga as it ran
better, carried more, was more economical to use, and cost about the same. Lupe also started making 20', 23', and 25" super-pangas. The
23'SuperPanga, which became the most famous super panga in Mexico has it's gas tank in the floor under the center console. Lupe built these boats in
La Paz until 1996, when a labor union strike closed him up and ran him out of business. In 1999, he re-opened at Los Barrilles, behind the Palmas De
Cortez hotel and then he went into business with one of the Van Wormer sons and the boats were then called Van-Diaz Pangas and they opened up a new
facility on Hwy #1 at KM post #49. While the Diaz panga is by far the better panga, there were some great Arca super pangas with higher gunnel sides.
In all of Mexico, copying is a great tribute, and panga builders started springing up all over. Cuidad Consitution made one as well as San Felipe
Tony Reyes, Ensenada, Mazatlan, Guadalajara, etc., etc.,
The Arca factory was bought out and the molds were used by a lumber dealer in La Paz for awhie but they went out of business and the molds are no
longer functional as they have deteriorated beyond repair.
Peceno Pangas
pangamadness - 2-27-2009 at 10:08 AM
My Panga came from La Paz in 1980. I still have the origanal paper work. Just cant figure out how to make it big when I post it?
[Edited on 2-27-2009 by pangamadness]
Trying to make the photo bigger
pangamadness - 2-27-2009 at 10:16 AM
Paladin - 2-28-2009 at 11:40 AM
Is there any way you can enlarge this some more???Hook - 2-28-2009 at 06:04 PM
You got to host it elsewhere. Try photobucket.WayneS - 2-28-2009 at 06:28 PM
My wife and I took an anniversary vacation some few years ago to Fiji. We were surprised to find fiberglass pangas, with Yamaha outboards, all over
the islands.
Despite exaggerated claims from some fishermen of disrepute, I doubt they got there under their own power from Mexico. I don't know whether they are
built in Fiji or not, but they seemed quite successful there.Paulina - 2-28-2009 at 06:29 PM
Pangamadness,
I'd love to read the print on your Paceno flier. Ours is the 22' version. I'd like to know more about it.
Thanks.
P<*)))>{
Mr Chuck boat
pangamadness - 3-1-2009 at 08:14 AM
I will keep trying with the other one
Pangas...an Ugly Duckling, yes..but a helluva boat.
Pompano - 3-1-2009 at 09:04 AM
A comparison?
Here is a US made version of the panga....from Panga Marine.
They took a very good design..possibly ARCA.. and made it better. Reverse chines keeps your crew dry, a really good and deep
forefoot gives a much smoother ride, while the 22-degree deadrise and well-engineered lift stakes make these panga hulls very efficient...which cuts
your fuel cost while broadening your day's range.
Comes in models from 18' -28'.
The one in the photo below came with the I/O diesel and has unbelievable range and economy. A 26' model with a sterndrive (I/O) 1.7L Mercruiser
diesel - over 36 MPH with a fuel burn rate of only 6 gallons per hour. Cruising at 20 MPH fuel consumption is only 4.5 gallon per hour...perfect for
Baja where fuel economy is a must. Unlike most other pangas, this boat has 100% wood-free contruction.
Unfortunately, the news is that Panga Marine is now suffering from the current recession and may have to close it's doors. No bailout pork for these
guys. Too bad..and a great loss for the Snook Foundation, of which Panga Marine is a huge contributor.
edit note: seems I forgot how to post a photo..at least temporarily.
[Edited on 3-2-2009 by Pompano]
Pescador - 3-1-2009 at 09:06 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by pangamadness
My Panga came from La Paz in 1980. I still have the origanal paper work. Just cant figure out how to make it big when I post it?
[Edited on 2-27-2009 by pangamadness]
I sent you a U2u. if you send me the picture via e-mail, I will resize it and post for youPaulina - 3-1-2009 at 09:53 AM
Pescador, Mr. Chuck was a big help to us when we refinished our panga. We could always count on him to give us the correct info we needed. What became
of him?
Pompano, Do you know the cost of the panga in your photo?
Thanks,
P<*)))>{Pompano - 3-1-2009 at 10:13 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Paulina
Pompano, Do you know the cost of the panga in your photo?
Thanks,
P<*)))>{
Pualina, the 26 ft diesel Panga's 2007 sticker price with SS T-top, tandem axle trailer, and 48 Gallon Bait Tank was $39,995. But, like all luxury
products, that price is always highly negotiable...and especially in today's buyer's market.
panga
desertcpl - 3-1-2009 at 04:21 PM
i bought a 22' panga about 1982 in san diego,, thru Blue Porpoise marine,, had it sportarised,, with a yamaha ,, I think it was then a 115hp,,, what
fun I had with it,, what a boat also,, spent many hours on it,, just loved itPescador - 3-1-2009 at 07:47 PM
Paulina, I have not heard from Mr. Chuck for a long time. He used to post on the old Baja Amigos site a lot and on Baja net. but not much here, I
think I remember some kind of disagreement in the early days, which is too bad, he was always very well informed and was a storehouse of good
information
Pompano, the diesel was a good idea but in the Sea of Cortez, an inboard-outboard has never been a good long term option. I have had much more
intelligent people than I explain that it has to do with the salinity of the water. In Alaska, where I spend quite a bit of time, they are very
popular, but the salinity is much less there and they do hold up with good maintence. I think it is related to the rubber seals, water cooling
systems, and leaving the unit in the water a lot of the time.Pompano - 3-1-2009 at 08:10 PM
Pescador, yes, indeed. You are correct that I/O's are subject to salt damage..but mostly from boaters who either leave thier boats in the salt for
long periods..or never practice good rinsing/flushing techiques after each use. My first I/O in Baja lasted 20 years throughout several other boat
additions. Now as for straight inline shafts my diesel Pompano was built in 1971 and is still going strong in the Cortez.
I fished commercial herring and salmon in Bristol Bay quite a bit myself. Based out of Naknek. We operated 5 diesel drift-netters..32 ft max-length
in a limited entry of these boats for the Bay fishery. A whole different world up there...and a mite exciting at times.
Pangas are unique, aren't they?
[Edited on 3-2-2009 by Pompano]
Paladin - 3-1-2009 at 09:22 PM
OK, I'm anal about the history of ARCA pangas..it helps fill the time not fishing. Anyway here is another article some of you folks might find
interesting.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Panga Dreams
by Neal Matthews
filed 26 Nov. 99
The killer whale rose from below, unseen. Shark fisherman Marco Bertine and his two crewmen felt the whale nudge the bottom of their 22-foot
[ital]panga[ital] skiff and push it sideways as they drifted on the Sea of Cortez near Cabo San Lucas. They spotted the knifeblade dorsal fin and
ducked down, plastering themselves to the bottom of the boat. They could see the Orca spy-hopping vertically in the water, trying to peer in at them
and their catch. "But he couldn't see over the side of the boat," says Bertine, who has the creased brown face and wiry build of a man who has spent
most of his 78 years fishing off Baja, Guaymas, and Puerto Vallarta. "If he'd seen us I think he would have capsized the [ital]panga[ital] and eaten
us for breakfast."
Salvation by freeboard. Chalk another one up to the Boat That Saved the Third World.
I've rendezvoused with Marco in the fishing village of Puerto Nuevo where he lives about 30 miles south of the border on Baja's Pacific coast in
order to trace the early history of the [ital]panga[ital]. The versatile flat-bottomed, narrow skiff was perfected in Baja in the late-1960's and has
since morphed into the most widely used boat throughout Latin America. [ital]Pangas[ital] have experienced an unending evolutionary development from
narrow 18-foot redwood sailing canoes to longer and more sport-friendly "super pangas" chartered by Americans for saltwater fly-fishing and marlin
trolling at Baja fishing resorts. A market for them has developed in the U.S, and at least five different Mexican panga makers are now competing to
sell boats north of the border, some of them offering features like radar arches, trim tabs, and inboard diesels, expanding the reach of the best
Mexican export since the Margarita .
Marco has owned 20 [ital]pangas[ital] in his fishing career, all but the most recent two made of wood. He has been saved by the boat's gritty
seaworthiness many times, he tells me. His [ital]pangas[ital] have been drug under by giant manta rays tangled in the anchor line, only to pop to the
surface like rubber duckies; he's been marooned on them in blinding fog at night, when people on shore beat 55-gallon drums to help guide him home.
One time Marco was about six miles off Puerto Nuevo when his [ital]panga[ital] was caught sideways between waves and the boat turned turtle. He was
trapped underneath it, able to breath in the space between two bench seats. Before he could decide what to do, another wave caught the boat and
righted it, and there he sat flooded to the gunnels. He bailed it out and fired up the Yamaha 40, and headed in.
I trade him my own panga-as-hero story, the one where I'm in Costa Rica and I break my arm in the forest, a good 20 miles across a bay and
downriver from the nearest help. They call the [ital]panga[ital] drivers down there "capitans," and now I know why. After tearing across the choppy
bay in a classic 22-foot, narrow-beam panga, we had to negotiate an angry-looking river bar on the Rio Sierpe. My capitan simply drove the panga into
the surf on a parallel angle between the waves. We sat there rocking for a few minutes, white water breaking on both beams, me wondering how to swim
with a shattered arm, the capitan calmly waiting for the right moment to make his move -- then he gunned it. We were lifted onto the back of a
ten-foot comber, and if we went over the falls I'm sure I'd have drowned. But as the wave exploded in front of us we wallowed gently down across its
broken back, and the panga's quickness got us out of there and into the river ahead of the next breaker. Marco smiles in appreciation.
He says the word [ital]panga[ital] is the feminine noun for [ital]pangon[ital[, the name for the 40-foot barges used to transfer tomatoes and
other go. "Eventually we all got 5 hp Johnsons, which carried us up and down Baja before the road was built." The [ital]pangeros[ital] didn't all
become wealthy, but their tough little boats ushered them into some of the richest fishing grounds on the planet.
Papa Panga
Malcolm "Mac" Shroyer digs through rolled-up boat schematics in a corner of his upstairs office at Marina de La Paz, in the capital city of the
southern state of Baja, and pulls out a yellowed scroll. He unrolls it on a drafting table, and we are faced with a historic document: The first
design for the modern fiberglass [ital]panga[ital], which Shroyer drew and manufactured in 1968. Eventually Shroyer's company made about 2500 of them
in La Paz. He says some of his boats were modified and used as "plugs" by other companies throughout Mexico to build pangas customized to locale.
Shroyer and his wife, Mary, had made their own fiberglass sloop in northern California in the early 60's and sailed it down to live in Baja.
"When I came along, the pangas were plywood with vertical sides at the stern, and the transom was a rectangle," he explains. "The Johnson 40 horse
power engine was just becoming available, and the narrow transom couldn't handle that."
Local fishermen needed a boat that would plane, in order to get to the fishing grounds ahead of the wind. But the boat also needed to carry
heavy loads, like 35 turtles or a ton of Thresher shark, and it had to be landable on a beach through the surf. So Shroyer set out to produce both a
planing and displacement hull-in-one. He widened the stern of the sailing canoe but still kept it as narrow as the waist, added a slight flare to the
bow, and tapered the hull from a deep-V at the bow to a virtually flat bottom at the stern. Most of the early models, made in the late-60's and
early-70's, were 22-feet-long, six-and-half feet wide, and weighed about 1200 pounds. In a load-test, Shroyer and his Mexican craftsmen filled one
with 3000 pounds of sandbags, until the gunnels were about 3 inches above the water.
Yamaha was also trying to sell its new 40-horse motor in Baja, but there weren't enough local boats that could handle them. So a few Japanese
longboats were brought over, and they influenced the development of the [ital]panga[ital] as well. In the early 1970's Shroyer was awarded a contract
from the Mexican government to make [ital]pangas[ital], which were then offered to Mexican fishermen with fishing gear and a 40 hp engine. Later, the
[ital]pangas[ital] started carrying 55 hp motors, which became the classic [ital]cinco-cinco caballos[ital] found on the boats throughout the 1980's.
"The problem with [ital]pangas[ital] from a business standpoint is, they last forever," says Shroyer. "You sell a guy one, and you'll never see him
again because he'll never need another boat. When water comes shooting up through the keel, that's how they know it's their last run, so they beach
it, turn it over, and re-fiberglass it themselves."
[ital]Pangas[ital] became equal opportunity workhorses. I know of a smuggler who sealed 40 pounds of cocaine inside the fiberglass bench seats
of one in Costa Rica, then gunkholed for two weeks all the way up the west coast to San Diego Bay. And [ital]pangas[ital] are the preferred go-fast
boats of marijuana smugglers who mount 200 horsepower engines on reinforced transoms and shoot across the Sea of Cortez from the Mexican mainland at
night to unload their booty into trucks for the trip north toward the border. The smugglers know the stakes: If their [ital]pangas[ital] are spotted
by Mexican soldiers in helicopters on anti-drug patrols, they won't be stopped and searched; they'll just be blasted to bits by aerial machine gun
fire.
Shroyer's company went under in 1982, victim of the peso devaluation, and it was taken over by Mexicans. Some of his designs are still being
used by ARCA, one of the main panga makers in La Paz. One of his best fiberglass men, Lupe Diaz, went on to start his own company making pangas that
became legendary on the East Cape of Baja. And a new "super-super" panga, based on Shroyer's design, is being made by California Marine in La Paz with
added bow flare, a diesel inboard, and a stern drive.
I visited the California Marine factory and got a joyride on one of it's new [ital]pangas[ital], a 28-footer with a 225 hp Johnson. It had a
radar arch, a fighting chair behind the center console bench, and trim tabs. I'd been on a lot of [ital]pangas[ital] for diving, fishing, and shelling
off both coasts of Baja, but it was a stretch to call this tricked-out, $38,500 beauty a [ital]panga[ital]. She was heavy-duty, like all
[ital]pangas[ital], having been made with eight layers of fiberglass so the hull was 3/8 inch thick. But is a [ital]panga[ital] with a pulpit, a live
well, and a full complement of marine electronics still a [ital]panga[ital]?
Speed Saves
"Shark fishermen on the west coast are only interested in two things, other than sharks," says Amado Perez, who makes [ital]pangas[ital] just
south of Ensenada. "They want to smoke weed, and they want to go fast." So Perez has perfected a speedy, no-frills [ital]panga[ital] that zooms the
sharkers out 60 or 70 miles between the time the afternoon winds die down and the sun sets. They stay out all night, getting themselves and their
boats loaded, then return to shore in the morning before the wind kicks up.
Perez's other job is dirt buggy racer in the Baja 1000, so he knows something about speed over rough surfaces. He's a former commercial
fishermen who used three different [ital]pangas[ital] to design a plug for his own model, which is available in lengths of 20, 26, and 33 feet,
powered either by outboards or Volvo Pentas or Mercruiser sterndrives. His company, Amato Boats, has been making [ital]pangas[ital] for 22 years, and
he's become friends with many of the Americans who order his boats then drive the 75 miles below the border to hang around his shop and watch them
take shape.
For speed, Perez narrowed the transom of his 26-footer to 6' 8", while the waist remains 7' 4". He added some flare and upsweep to the bow, and
removed all chines, strakes, and even the subtle keel from the bottom of the boat. "For speed," he says, patting the stern of the [ital]panga[ital] I
tested in San Diego. He guarantees the hull for five years. "But nobody ever brings them back."
That speed came in handy three years ago in San Ignacio Lagoon, the protected gray whale nursery on Baja's Pacific coast. The Amato
[ital]pangas[ital] have become popular with whale watch skippers who take passengers out onto the lagoon for up-close whale encounters. One morning a
new skipper in an Amato boat full of tourists kept trying to get too close to a whale mother and her calf, even though the tourists kept telling him
not to. Finally, the whale mother had seen enough and she capsized the [ital]panga[ital], spilling everyone into the water.
Here's where it becomes so Baja. The mother whale knew exactly who the culprit was. Ignoring the sputtering tourists, she picked out the
skipper who'd harassed her and gave chase. "She rammed him, and broke two of his ribs," says Amato. Another Amato [ital]panga[ital] roared in from
half a mile away to help, driving off the angry whale and saving all the people in the water. The overturned [ital]panga[ital] was towed to shore,
righted, had another outboard mounted, and was back out whale watching again the same day.#
Sidebar
So You Want to Buy a Panga
Two choices: Buy it in Mexico yourself and make your own arrangements to trailer it across the border, or let a broker handle the purchase. In
San Diego, Steve Davis of Von's Master Marine (619-223-1154) can handle the whole process for you. The main questions involve where you buy the
engine, in Mexico or the U.S., and who does the final rigging and finish work. Davis recommends buying the engine and having it installed in the U.S.,
for warranty reasons. As for finish work, it varies depending on which panga maker you go with. Lupe Diaz has the best reputation for attention to
cosmetic detail.
If you decide to do the deal yourself, bear in mind that you'll have to pay between $80 and $150 in import duties to get it across the border,
plus state sales tax in California, Arizona, or Texas. That's an argument for just bringing up the bare hull without the engine, as valuation will be
lower.
