OK all you Shell Island fans - last weekend had 19' foot tides with a lot of wind from the south. No access to Shell Island on this trip. Did not want
all the salt water & mud that would have resulted from driving thru the stuff. Would have used half my water tank cleaning me & the machines
off! Even the mouth to Percebu Lagoon has changed with a new opening to the sea which means more salt water to go thru at low tide. Middle of April
will see 18'.5'' high tides.
[Edited on 3-25-2011 by viabaja]Bob H - 3-25-2011 at 01:58 PM
Great images of the high tide effect there. I had never seen it at high tide.
Thanks.David K - 3-25-2011 at 04:06 PM
Beautiful photos Chris... again, a very good reason why I named it 'Shell Island' instead of Shell Beach!
What happened at Percebu? The north tip of the island had extended almost to the beach there last July... threatening to seal off the lagoon entrance
and turn the island into a peninsula!
In this photo of Ken and Leidys collecting shells (7-10) at the north end of the island... you can see how close the beach in front of Percebu is
across the narrow channel of the lagoon entrance:
Ken Cooke - 3-25-2011 at 04:33 PM
It wasn't mentioned that the mud there in the mud flats is extremely slick. Great photos! BajaWarrior - 3-25-2011 at 09:26 PM
Great shots viabaja! I'll be down in a week for a week, can't wait!viabaja - 3-25-2011 at 10:13 PM
Dave, a new opening in the sand barrier occured last year. There are now 2 openings into the Lagoon. Perhaps the original opening will close up or the
whole sand barrier will disappear? We shall see. C
David K - 3-25-2011 at 10:19 PM
Thanks Chris... Perhaps the tiny break-off will add sand to the beach in front of Percebu?
It is funny how Bahia Santa Maria and Shell Island will remain unchanged for several years, then in a short time... maybe 2 years, the points or tips
of the island or bay will start extending, curving, breaking off... Mother Nature getting bored, perhaps?Neal Johns - 3-25-2011 at 10:26 PM
Time for a replay...
Baja's Shell Island Adventure (1980)
by Neal Johns
I had discovered the remote Baja beach (now named Shell Island by David K) poking around the area the year before in my Land Cruiser. The two-track
off the old road between San Felipe and Puertecitos had looked inviting, so I took it. My religion is simple, if you pass a desert side road without
taking it, God will get you!
After a few miles, we (my girlfriend and I) arrived on the edge of a muddy lagoon separating some sand dunes from the mainland. We had lunch
while we tried to decide whether to drive through the mud or not. We could see that the two-track continued but my chicken blood was running into my
brain. Just then a Jeep passed us with a smirk, and drove on through to the dunes. That was it! No darn Jeep can show up an FJ-40 Land Cruiser! We
crossed with no problems even if our TruTraks (remember TruTraks? The BFG’s of yesteryear) clogged up.
Surprise! There was a pristine beach on the other side of the dunes with no one in sight except way down south. Hundreds of shells littered the
beach and we had lots of time to look at them because for every revolution of the tires, we moved forward about two feet. Airing down the tire
pressure helped but there was still a lot of slippage. After camping the night, we went on to other things.
Move the clock up a year and I am poking around Baja with two buddies, one with a Jeep CJ-5 and the other in another Land Cruiser. Nightfall
approached and I declared "I know a great place to camp!". It took us a while to get there and it was dark with no moon. The lagoon was full and the
two-track disappeared under the water. Said I: " No problem, I have been here before and if you stay on the track, there won't be any problem, just
follow me". That's when things started to go terribly wrong.
I took off in low range with the two guys behind me and things went OK until the unseen underwater "road" bent right, and I didn't. I started
to bog down and screamed the infamous words "Pass me on the right!" just before I got stuck. The Jeep did so and went two more car lengths before he
got stuck. We heard on the CB the other Land Cruiser say he was stopping. There was a loud silence before they started cursing at me. The other Land
Cruiser was stuck also.
The Jeep had a winch on the front bumper which was of little use because we were behind him. I had a small portable winch which we hooked up to
his trailer hitch on the Jeep to pull him backwards. As the winch owner, they let me stand in the foot of brackish water and operate the controls.
What could go wrong, it was only 12 volts? My screams told the others that the kickback voltage from the motor windings was more that 12 volts and
that experiment quickly ended.
Next, we broke out the Hi-Lift jacks and pushed some large jack boards down into the mud without moving the Land Cruiser upward. By that time
it was midnight and we decided to sleep in the vehicles until daylight. They didn't sleep too well because they thought the rising tide would bury
them alive. A few crabs in the water and mud did little to calm their fears.
The next day’s vista was very informative. If we had continued straight the way we were going, we would have been in the unseen mud flat on the
edge of the dunes which was much worse that where we were. Guess we missed that right turn. We fooled around some more with the Hi-Lifts to no avail
and then turned our efforts to the Land Cruiser closest to the mainland. By burying the spare tire in the mud and using a come-along puller, we got
him out about noon.
We drove back to San Felipe and tried to hire the large wheeled war-surplus boat launching vehicles to come and pull us out. No luck, they had
to remain there to pull the boats out. We then had to decide which would be better, a 400 foot rope, or some planks to serve as railroad tracks. Two
inch by twelve inch eight foot long planks were decided upon and we went to the lumberyard on the main drag. They sawed them to length by hand and we
loaded six of them on the Land Cruiser fenders/running boards.
Back at the lagoon in the late afternoon, we set to work getting the Jeep out. For some reason, they vetoed getting my vehicle out first. We pounded
nails into the boards and bent them over to give more traction to the soon to be muddy "railroad tracks" and started to work. Using the boards as
giant jack boards for the Hi-Lift, we managed to get the wheels started up on four "tracks" and laid two more boards behind them. The plan was to go
like heck backwards until the Jeep ran out of track and then pray. We must not have prayed to the right Gods because as soon as the Jeep got off the
boards it would go only about 50 feet, and had no steering control whatever. Oh well, only 350 feet to go. The boards that we could manhandle and lift
so easily early on, took on a life of their own toward the second midnight. The suction from the mud on a heavy eight foot by 12 inch board was all we
could overcome toward the end.
We got the Jeep out at midnight and my former friends camped on the warm, dry, sand and informed me that "if" they were around the next
morning, "maybe" they would help me out. The next morning, the water had gone down a little and we started on my Land Cruiser. Around dark, we and our
aching backs had it almost out so we quit and they again camped in tents on the sand while I spent another night in the Land Cruiser. The next day
after a little more work, we all headed for San Felipe. We checked into Ruben's Camp where we proceeded to wash off the six inches of mud onto the
gravel driveway. We got a few funny looks, but it was a rustic campo at that time so we got away with it. When queried as to where we got the mud, we
just shook our head and said "south". A few months later, my former friends presented me with a tee shirt that said "Pass me on the right!"
Rumor has it that there is a causeway there now.
Update: Washed out! Ready for the next victim!David K - 3-25-2011 at 10:57 PM
Great story Neal... the very same situation (almost) happened to me about 1980, in my Subaru 4WD wagon... arriving in the dark, moonless night... A
super high tide covered the firm track across the mud flat... and I got a foot off the firm track and sank into oatmeal-like mud... No other vehicles
with me... Slept in the car... found wood planks up near the beach (yours?)... Jacked the Subaru's little 13" tire onto the wood... drove off the
wood... repeated this until the tire was back on firm ground (underwater still mind you)... and drove onto the island.
The elevated causeway and concrete bridge onto the island was there when we went in mid 1985... In 10 years, the causeway had melted down below the
level of the concrete bridge, making it useless to drive onto the island during extreme tides. So we're back in the water (and mud) again!
Here is that bridge and looking inland down the former causeway across the lagoon/ mud flats (July 2010):
But, this beach is worth it, and is the primary reason I have almost always owned a 4WD!:
and the sunsets too...
bajajeffrey - 4-11-2011 at 10:19 PM
Great post!
Cant wait to see this for myself
will be out easter week.
see you at the cantina.
[Edited on 4-12-2011 by bajajeffrey]Ken Cooke - 4-12-2011 at 06:08 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by bajajeffrey
Great post!
Cant wait to see this for myself
will be out easter week.
see you at the cantina.
[Edited on 4-12-2011 by bajajeffrey]
Just watch for the signs, and don't get lost...
David K - 4-12-2011 at 08:24 PM
These are the only signs at the turnoff to Shell Island:
[Edited on 4-13-2011 by David K]mcfez - 4-13-2011 at 06:31 AM
Entry fees are free this time of the year.
bajajeffrey - 4-13-2011 at 07:42 AM
Somebody painted over OSD, maybe the road crew.David K - 4-13-2011 at 07:54 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by bajajeffrey
Somebody painted over OSD, maybe the road crew.
CortezBlue - 4-13-2011 at 08:09 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by mcfez
Entry fees are free this time of the year.
McPhotoFez
Be careful you may be censored for using the image of the Oracle of BajaDavid K - 4-13-2011 at 08:16 AM
Funny is good, Cortez... McFez is making funny... so what is your title, Valium of Baja?
