BajaNomad

Return To San Rafael

Bajazly - 3-3-2019 at 02:55 PM

A couple weeks ago, after 9 months I finally returned to San Rafael. I was one of 4 people who last saw Pancho alive last May and helped make the decision to load him up and get him to the hospital but as most know, by that time it was too late. I will always wonder if we had done that a day before if the outcome would have been different.

I first met Pancho in November of 2014 returning up the peninsula camping for a week after the Baja 1000. I was taken by San Rafael and returned maybe 12 to 15 times to camp and fish there for days or a week at a time. Pancho and I became very good friends and like many, I would always make it a point to take him something he needed or I thought he needed. Every time I would pull in the greeting was always the same, his eyes would light up and a warm hug with beer in hand would ensue. Although he spoke about as much English as I spoke Spanish, we would sit for hours talking and even tho we didn't understand each other literally, I always felt the gist of the conversation was understood by the both of us. Sometimes my girl would translate a little for me but when they were talking, I would just be listening trying to pick out some of the key words to try and get what they were saying.

Pancho was a simple man with few worldly possessions and only wanted what he needed to live day to day. If he didn't have it he would make due with what washed up on the beach, what he found in the desert or what people would bring or leave behind. Although he had little, what he did have was many friends and cared for most everybody with respect and sincerity like few I have ever met and in my book, that made him rich beyond what most will ever know. I remember a couple times I showed up there he was all p'd off at Rancho Jose for some reason but by the end of the stay or the next time I returned, there was Jose and Pancho yucking it up like nothing had ever happened.

I've heard several stories on how Pancho ended up in San Rafael but never did ask him exactly how that beach came to be where he settled but the decision he made some 32 years ago obviously made him very happy. A simple man with a simple life and always as happy as the day is long. The time I knew Pancho was relatively short but I consider him to be one of the best friends I've had in my life.

San Rafael will always be a special place for me but it is not quite the same anymore however it was good to see the fishermen who go there are respecting the place and are actually using the shack and not just destroying the place. Who knows, although they are pretty big shoes to fill, maybe someone will step in and San Rafael will again be a place to stop in and have a beer with a crazy old hermit and some good times and not just a pull over to only see the water.


Panchos grave towards the back of the cemetery in Bahia

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Looking from the Shrine on the hill.




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Some crazy weather when we were there


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Who whom have been there won't recognize this as a welcoming sight?

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A newish pic on the wall of the shack



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A few things we found on the beach to adorn the grave a little.


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This rock was there someone had painted but it was upside down when we first went there. Didn't find it until we moved it arranging the shells. A really nice sentiment from someone.



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And a few years ago when Pancho drug me off in the desert to retrieve this for the baño he was building for the palapa down the beach. That project was never finished.

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JZ - 3-3-2019 at 03:54 PM

Great story, some shots from San Rafael.


https://youtu.be/dP4AmVGh03c


David K - 3-3-2019 at 04:01 PM

Thank you!!!!

ztrab - 3-3-2019 at 10:37 PM

The first time I stopped in to visit Panch he was living in a slide in camper and he had a small ramada. He was always happy to have company. It was fun to watch his spot grow with donated improvements and we always left him a generous donation for the cold beer and in his last years, fresh, hot tortillas. I brought my wife one year, a fluent spanish speaker, he really wanted to send us on our way with fish, something that doesn't travel well on a moto. His local gossip was alway entertaining and often times a year or more behind the actual event, but then his concept of time was different than most. He lived on top of a hill overlooking a bit of paradise. I rode through last week and didn't bother to stop as his place was overrun with construction workers - the road crew I presume and there were at least a half dozen or more shack around his once pristine little hill. Another baja icon gone but not forgotten.

willardguy - 3-4-2019 at 10:31 AM

I was told by a neighbor that around new years his place was being occupied by his son?

TMW - 3-4-2019 at 11:59 AM

Thanks Bajazly for the memories.

AKgringo - 3-4-2019 at 12:16 PM

I met Pancho in either the fall of 20012, or spring of 2013 on my first excursion down the road south of B.O.L.A.. I did not spend much time around there, but overnighted at his camp six times over the years since we first met.

I stopped there on my way north at the end of March last year, and was shocked to hear of his passing so soon after that. He seemed in good health when I was there!

My Spanish, and his English were about on a par, so there may be errors in what I learned about his life. He never mentioned any family, although he asked about mine, so I am surprised to hear about a son.

My understanding is that he was from Guaymas, and first arrived in the area as a crew member on a fishing boat. If I got the story right, he first started staying at the fish camp to guard the gear as the boat made trips to sell the catch, and fuel up.

I believe he decided to stay there, and tried working for ranchers, and boats in the area (second hand info) before taking early retirement at his beach front abode.

I always enjoyed my stay there, and so did our dogs! I would appreciate any corrections to my understanding of Pancho's story.

JZ - 3-4-2019 at 12:36 PM

He was from Guaymas. All my MX friends are from San Carlos, which is a burb of Guaymas.

David K - 3-4-2019 at 12:50 PM

Nice story...
While I only visited with him a few times and never camped by his place (we did once on the beach 2 miles north), he made such a positive impression!

I think I first learned about Pancho from Zac ('bajaboy' on Nomad) when I met Zac in 2001 at our first Matomi/President's Dat Weekend event. Zac was going to Pancho's after spending the weekend with us Amigos de Baja. I even hosted Zac's photos of a trip to San Rafael in 2001 (a few of Pancho's images are in here): http://www.vivabaja.com/zac_pics/index.html

I met Pancho a few months later after searching for a lost mission:


Pancho and me in the center, April 2002.

On Christmas vacation 2002, my kids (age 14 and 12) and I stopped there and Pancho was serving fish tacos and selling beer and sodas. A great dinner in his home for us and he even pulled out some frozen chicken to fix my daughter who hates fish! What a guy!!

In 2012, we stopped by but he was not home and camped on the beach just north a couple miles.

In 2016, I took my Baja Extreme 2016 guests there and everyone loved Pancho... saw him as far more sincere and generous than Coco, who they had met just a couple days before. Pancho gave the girls in our group sea shells...

I left him a few of my books that he could sell for some $$ and he wanted me to bring a case down to him and split the money! So kind of him... but very business-like. I saw him again in January 2017... the last time. The guy was so cool that when the Devil's Road film people were there, asking about area history, he gave them one of those books and they looked me up the next year! Pancho is in their movie preview at Minute 1:27+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynw-Bn8YWiA

I really miss that Pancho is not with us anymore... as does everyone who got the privilege of meeting him.

basautter - 3-4-2019 at 01:08 PM

Nice! He will live on as a Baja Legend for quite some time. I am glad me and friends had the opportunity to share a shot of rum with him. :cool:

Bajazly - 3-4-2019 at 02:00 PM

Quote: Originally posted by willardguy  
I was told by a neighbor that around new years his place was being occupied by his son?


I have never heard of un hijo and he always alluded to being all alone but who knows. A couple weeks ago there were only some pescadores using the place for a couple days and nights then they left.

Bubba - 3-5-2019 at 08:32 PM

Very nice post/thread, thanks for sharing.

Bajazly - 3-5-2019 at 10:23 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Bubba  
Very nice post/thread, thanks for sharing.


De nada. Being there was a little odd, I really miss the old coot. Had many a good times there with him and others that would show up.

towntaco - 3-6-2019 at 10:14 PM

I'm glad you made it back. Pancho will definitely be missed and I'm glad I got to meet him. The lady, son and I passed you at the diversion just south of Puertocitos while you were headed north. I'll have to swing by the shop and say whats up.


Pancho in Dec '17 with a group of German bicycle tourists. There was also a couple from TJ on a totally overloaded KLR that had melted the clutch plates together riding to San Rafael the day beore. They said it took them 6 hours to get to Pancho's from LA Bay. There was also a guy with a yellow FJ and kayak from CA who ended up driving them back to LA Bay for parts.








[Edited on 3-7-2019 by BajaNomad]

Skipjack Joe - 3-7-2019 at 05:28 AM

Quote: Originally posted by towntaco  
I'm glad you made it back. Pancho will definitely be missed and I'm glad I got to meet him. The lady, son and I passed you at the diversion just south of Puertocitos while you were headed north. I'll have to swing by the shop and say whats up.


Pancho in Dec '17 with a group of German bicycle tourists. There was also a couple from TJ on a totally overloaded KLR that had melted the clutch plates together riding to San Rafael the day beore. They said it took them 6 hours to get to Pancho's from LA Bay. There was also a guy with a yellow FJ and kayak from CA who ended up driving them back to LA Bay for parts.


You may want to resize this image.

You've just made this thread virtually unreadable.

David K - 3-7-2019 at 05:41 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe  
Quote: Originally posted by towntaco  
I'm glad you made it back. Pancho will definitely be missed and I'm glad I got to meet him. The lady, son and I passed you at the diversion just south of Puertocitos while you were headed north. I'll have to swing by the shop and say whats up.


Pancho in Dec '17 with a group of German bicycle tourists. There was also a couple from TJ on a totally overloaded KLR that had melted the clutch plates together riding to San Rafael the day beore. They said it took them 6 hours to get to Pancho's from LA Bay. There was also a guy with a yellow FJ and kayak from CA who ended up driving them back to LA Bay for parts.


You may want to resize this image.

You've just made this thread virtually unreadable.


For sure... thanks for photos but you just need to edit into your tag line the max image for Nomad which is 800x600. Now, your photo tag looks like this (a space is added so the photo won't show again): [img]https://i.imgur.com/9C2E5mq.jpg [/img]

To fix the size, insert into the first tag =800x600:

[img=800x600]https://i.imgur.com/9C2E5mq.jpg [/img]
Now, with space removed:



Doug will fix if he sees this before the OP can fix.