Ateo
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The Lost Dory – Traveling in Baja with my dad and his handmade boat
A story that I think many of you will find enjoyable....
Written by Joe Curren
"When I think of my dad, I think of roughing it in Baja and traveling up and down the peninsula in a rickety old VW Bug. For three straight years,
between the ages of 13-15, my dad would pick me up in Santa Barbara and we’d make the 1,000-mile drive south to Cabo on Highway 1. We spent six weeks
in summer and two weeks in winter mostly staying at my dad’s place on the East Cape, but we also camped, surfed, fished and dove along the way, and
always with his handmade foam and fiberglass dory.
The trips are some of the best memories I have of my dad while growing up. Yes, we did rough it, but a bit of hardening was good for me. Traveling in
Baja is a rite of passage for the Southern California surfer and getting dirty comes with the territory, especially once you venture south of
Ensenada. Shipwrecks, Scorpion Bay, Seven Sisters; as a grom it was the waves that drew me in. Many hours, of course, were spent surfing. But my dad
really made sure I experienced everything the land and water in Baja had to offer."
Much more here and photos:
http://www.thecleanestline.com/2014/06/the-lost-dory-traveli...
[Edited on 6-16-2014 by Ateo]
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BajaGeoff
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Mood: Heading To Baja!!!
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Great stuff!
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David K
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Now that was a nice story... thanks to our dad's for giving us the knowledge about Baja!
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Skipjack Joe
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What a neat story!
Half Moon Bay, where I live, was originally a portuguese community. Many of the schools, streets, and libraries were named after the early portuguese
settlers. Back in the 80's it was not uncommon to see them launch their dories in the harbor. I was always absolutely amazed at how easily they could
make those boats go so fast. They would row them out into the pacific and fish for rockfish. As I recall the guy would row standing. But he could
cover 30 yard with two strokes from the oars. It was such a pleasure to watch.
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Marc
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Thanks for this great story.
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elgatoloco
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Nice story.
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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BajaBlanca
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great story and pics!
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desertcpl
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yes great stuff,, I remember when my Dad first took me to Baja
it was San Felipe about 1953
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Martyman
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Nice Ateo! I was feelin' it.
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JohnMcfrog
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Thanks Ateo..
Mike Doyle's "Morning Glass" also had some great looks at Pat Curren. When I was a grom, we went to Carpenter's Hall and watched Pat surf Wiamea.
(1958/59). Loved Mike Doyle's story about trying to find Curren's Wiamea shape and found it on the sidewalk in North County SD, in front of Pat's
shop.
thanks again,
Juanito
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bajaandy
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Awesome story! Thanks for posting!
This reminds me so much of my dad. In '64 he and some friends built 3 Sabot sailboats. When I was old enough, I learned to sail in that boat, and kept
it and fixed it up and sailed it for many years. And in '73 dad and his buddies drove to La Paz and caught the ferry to Topolobampo. His slides from
that trip inspired me to seek adventure in Baja, and they still do to this day. I still have all those old slides. I need to get them digitized.
subvert the dominant paradigm
"If you travel with a man, you must either fall out with him or make him your good friend."
JBL Noel
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Whale-ista
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Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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Great recollections and photos. Their "newer" VW reminds me of my first car: a 1968 Baja bug. Low on aesthetic value, high on versatility.
I drove it during the week and on many weekends it was towed out to camping adventures behind the family GMC frame-mounted camper. (The term "RV"
had not been invented back then. It was pretty obvious you were driving those beasts for recreation- you didn't need to name the vehicle to explain
its purpose.)
Good memories. Thank you for sharing the link.
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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wessongroup
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Thanks much ... 
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Ateo
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Stoked you all enjoyed the article, that a friend of mine forwarded to me.
My first memories of Baja are going down with my Dad to Ensenada and launching our Avon inflatable from Estero Beach. Large waves that day and my Dad
dumped the boat trying to make it up a wave, on his way out to SCUBA Todos Santos.
He's never been further south than Ensenada.
My goal is to take him back to Baja, deep south.
Maybe the whales this year.
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wessongroup
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My dad used to take us kids down, in the 50's ... still remember the firecrackers 
For sure take your old man ... and lots of pictures
The story and desertcpl picture brought back a lot of great memories
[Edited on 6-18-2014 by wessongroup]
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