While I began venturing south of the border in 1979 to mainland places like Rocky Point and Guaymas Sonora, by 1980 the bug to hit Baja hit with a
fever.
Back then I rented planes but in 1985 bought in to a Mooney – fast, seated 4 and sipped gas. Just the ticket!
In 1990 my accountant had by then spent many hours with us flying to Mexico – we traded out – my vacations for his doing my taxes. He never married
and always had a different girlfriend along on the trips. We planned this one to La Paz for a dive trip – 4 days, 3 nights at the famous La Concha
resort by the marina where we had stayed many times.
This was before I had a life raft so we used our dive BCs and life jackets for safety. We also took the “chicken route” as it was called to get across
then sea. The route began west of Hermosillo at Padre Kino Bay and continued 60 miles over 4 islands so you were never beyond 10 miles of gliding to
an island if you needed. El Tiburon, the 1st and largest [The Shark] in Spanish was reported to be inhabited by Seri Indians who besides their famous
ironwood carvings also still practiced cannibalism…I suppose due to the lack of other mammals to eat and fish does get old… but I digress…
So we cleared in at Hermosillo and headed west – all was good, a 2 hour flight to the next fuel and pee stop at Loreto further south on the Baja side
once we crossed. The last island to get over was Isla Lorenzo, a narrow piece of land maybe 7 miles long and less than a mile wide. After that we’d be
8 miles to land and be going over a famous campo with its own strip right on the beach and rental huts with a cantina. We’d been going there for years
– cheap camping and close to Phoenix. Called Punta San Francisquito it is said to have the longest prettiest private stretch of beach in all of Baja –
undeniably true.
Well – about 10 minutes out of land fall the purring Mooney’s motor hiccupped to my horror and immediately woke up the snoozing passengers. The RPM
was surging and the engine was running really rough. While I was trouble-shooting and calling our last departure point on the radio I told everyone to
don their preservers – I knew we were in gliding range to the campo and since we had been there many times I felt a sense of security. God had to be
in charge of this providence.
By now all on board were in near panic except me I guess as instinct and training had taken over. The engine was coming in and out but really never
quit. The vibrations and prop surges were very unnerving to all regardless. I turned to a direct south bound approach to land on the long beach strip
and we made a sweet landing under partial power having descended down from cruise at 8500 ft to sea level in the 8 minutes since the problem started.
We exited the craft and I told all to go to the bar and relax while I tried to trouble shoot it on the ground. After several run ups I couldn’t fully
replicate the problem but realized for safety’s sake I had to ground the plane – we were 600 miles south of the border with the closest town 3 hours
over a very rough wash board dirt and sand road. But we were with friends, the resort operators who knew me well.
We were stranded for 3 days before radio calls brought in 2 planes to rescue us. The 1st was a north bound Beech Bonanza who took my guests 1st – a
courtesy I owed them. They made it to El Centro CA where they rented a car to Phoenix. Our rescue came a day later but it was a south bound plane so
we were forced to accept a ride with them to Punta Chivato, another beach resort but with a full hotel operation about 45 minutes south, not Gilliland
Island type accommodations as with San Francisquito.
After 2 days there we went north with them and also rented a car at El Centro for the drive home. The whole time we were at the beach stuck the girls
kept making up words to the theme music to the TV show Gilliland’s Island – we’re talking good sports, but it was driving me and my friend batty. In
the mean time my buddy and I drank the place out of their beer supply – in fact it got to be so egregious they began rationing us!! We told them they
couldn’t – we both had a form of reverse diabetes and needed a certain amount of alcohol to prevent shock. They believed better to sell us all their
beer than to have to explain two gringo deaths at their resort.
After a month I returned in another plane to bring mine home. I paid my friend the resort’s manager $100 to “guard” her. The rescue was not without
adventure and forms the basis for another tale….
Stay tuned,
Capt. Mike.desertcpl - 6-1-2013 at 02:22 PM
you mean your going to leave us hanging
DENNIS - 6-1-2013 at 02:24 PM
I'm staying tuned.capt. mike - 6-1-2013 at 02:47 PM
well....i do have to write it 1st. Some of these things are on my face book page. You are welcome to friend me there or i can friend you. Either way
i'll finish this one maybe manana. BTW - this happened when Genaro and Pepe were running the show.David K - 6-1-2013 at 03:26 PM
Very cool Mike... Thank you!Floatflyer - 6-1-2013 at 04:29 PM
Ok,Capt. Mike, I have a feeling you might have some spare time on your hands, darn it, so get busy and get to writing!! I am going to be fact
checking you but you can buy me off for a beer for about any reason. Good entertainment. FFLancairDriver - 6-1-2013 at 06:54 PM
Great story Mike! I am anxious to hear the rest of it. Especially what the problem was with the bird and how you fixed it in PSFO. By the way- your
timing is great as Pompano's pictures and tales have been missed since he is fishing up north this summer. Keep em coming.Barry A. - 6-1-2013 at 06:57 PM
Good stuff, Capt. Mike----------great adventures about places I love and subjects I love too.
Looking forward to more!!!
BarryBob H - 6-1-2013 at 09:46 PM
This is good scheisse Mike.... !!Kgryfon - 6-2-2013 at 12:25 AM
Great, can't wait to read part II!Ken Bondy - 6-2-2013 at 07:03 AM
GREAT stuff Mike!! Can't wait for the next chapter!! Who was running the place then??BajaBlanca - 6-2-2013 at 07:10 AM
So wonderfully fun to read! What can we do to entice you to write more? You really should compile a book of short stories.BajaRat - 6-2-2013 at 08:01 AM
Thanks Mike, I'll wait for the rest. Now I feel like I have a puzzler on my hands, fuel...............? ignition........ na. While we're waiting,
someone had mentioned that Telcell Slim had purchased that slice of heaven. Anyone know?
And has anyone drivin the road out lately..... the loop from BOLA, San Raphael, San Francisquito, El Arco ?
[Edited on 6-2-2013 by BajaRat]
[Edited on 6-2-2013 by BajaRat]
El Arco to Punta San Francisquito, San Rafael & L.A. Bay
[Edited on 6-2-2013 by David K]tripledigitken - 6-2-2013 at 08:18 AM
Love it Mike!BajaRat - 6-2-2013 at 08:22 AM
Thanks Mr. Dave, That will tie over my jones !David K - 6-2-2013 at 08:31 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by BajaRat
Thanks Mr. Dave, That will tie over my jones !
Glad it helped!
Ken - at the time
capt. mike - 6-2-2013 at 09:05 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
GREAT stuff Mike!! Can't wait for the next chapter!! Who was running the place then??
it was Genaro and Pepe. Also Debra was still alive then, Lucero, and was using her short wave to try and get us a ride out of there. Sadly as you know
she was killed in that Sams twin wreck approaching MMES a few years later. She was an innocent hitchhiker.....fate is cruel. She was the "Shark Lady".
It is 110 degrees today in Scottsdale - I'll work on part 2. The rescue of the machine and what happened to force us down. It will be sep thread as
this one has gotten pretty long.David K - 6-2-2013 at 09:07 AM
MMES ? Ensenada?
Thanks Mike!elgatoloco - 6-2-2013 at 11:06 AM
As a living breathing survivor of a glorious trip down the peninsula for the Baja 1000 on Screaming Airlines, I look forward to more tales.
yes...sorry force of habit...
capt. mike - 6-2-2013 at 11:55 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
MMES ? Ensenada?
Thanks Mike!
i type often before i think. these tales take a while because i never learned proper typing - hunt and peck is a real drag....speaking of drags - i
hope to have Dragon software soon and typing will be as distant as having a commodore 64!!
