| Pages:
1
2 |
Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
|
|
WIND...Nature's way of saying, "UP YOURS!"
THAT DANG BAJA WIND!
WIND – COLD TEMPS
Present day Mulege and area.
The very high winds and cold temps around our area have got everybody in a funk. I’ve never seen so many people wearing panchos, hooded jackets,
sweaters, & parkas.
The cold, fierce wind is..shall we say..bracing. The Bay of Conception is a white-capped sea of foam..not fit for man nor pelican.
Yesterday I looked up glanced skyward and noticed many thousands of snow geese flying south??? Now that’s strange..…..
...so got out the binocs and then realized it was just all the white plastic bags from the Mulege land-fill whizzing by. Why am I not surprised?
Weather is an interesting topic. Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a
while. 
YES!..WE DO HAVE .......WIND - WIND - WIND!!
Driving over to the poker game the other day, I saw a wind victim on the beach...someone's nice little aluminum boat...a Lund..just like I used to
have. Got me to thinking about all this wind lately …and how much it affected a lot of us oldtimers…so long ago.
Being a history buff since forever, I started a daily Baja journal at Coyote Bay, 1971..shortly after deciding to become a homeowner. I figured I'd
best record this crazy endeavor/adventure of Baja.
And so, last night and into the wee hours of this morning, sifting through this collage of memories, I came across a couple notable 'wind and
cold events' that I had jotted down.
This is one of the first notes I made about Baja wind… ‘February has always been known locally as the Loco month. If it's gonna be
cold or windy, this is the month for it. The ‘wind’ is the key factor in deciding my day's activities on or off the water.’
Hmm...'factoring in the wind'--yup. God, how well do I remember those trips from Coyote Bay to San Marcos and Tortuga. 45 and 60 miles
one-way in an open 16' Lund aluminum boat. Windy? You bet your life it was!
Almost every day in Jan-Feb-March it blew a little..but mostly in the afternoon. But I thought, "Hey, we are here...and this must be
normal"..and I was a fisherman..so we went every day. Duh...
Calm running out in the mornings...and Crashing Waves coming back in the late afternoons. What rides we had!
Boom..Boom..Boom thru the waves..then...Whoosh! ..spray covering us from head to toe. Crazy we
were! Wet and chilled to the bone. But grinning like Cheshire cats, too!
That much fun would kill me today....
Some old accounts:
Coyote Bay, 1975 Feb.
‘Cool temps and the wind has blown huge whitecaps now for 15 days. Ricardo says it will last a few more days. Too rough to go outside the Bay
let alone San Marcos or Tortuga. Sand and dirt everywhere…hazy horizons. New Zealander’s 32’ catamaran drug anchor and ran up on rocks in Pompano
Cove.’
--My old amigo, Blackjack, was in charge of our social life on the beach and had made up a saying one night around a windy campfire. (It was
quite a scene..sparks blowing everywhere...the whole bunch of us huddled close to the smoke and heat...too damn stubborn to go inside campers or
houses.)
JW/Blackjack as usual had a bulging cheek full of Beechnut chewing tobacco..and as he spit a big brown glob onto my boot toe, sagely proclaimed to the
huddled mob...
....”Don’t let the wind ruin your vacation.”
We stared blankly at him..waiting for the next brilliant jewel of knowledge that would take us out of this windy hell.
Well, he finally decided enough was enough with this crew... and proceeded to get us all revved up for a trip inland to see the Comundos and La
Purisima. We would leave the windswept beaches and go exploring in the desert. The Longs, Doves, JW, Lois, Coyote beach crew, the English couple,
and us packed the rigs with camping gear…drove south 11 miles to turnoff into the mountains. I had a pickup box full of firewood to warm us at our
campsites. We were motivated wind-cheating campers, by God..and thanks to Blackjack.
Air temps must have been below 32 at times…cuz we had mucho ice in the wee hours of the morning! Brrrr…..Don’t you just hate getting out of that
warm, cozy sleeping bag on cold mornings to go water a cactus?
That trip to see the twin villages of Comundo and some ranchero amigos of Blackjack’s took us a week…and much to our amazement, it was ‘still’ windy
when we returned to Coyote Bay…but at least it was not the gale force that we had left.
Sheesh….wind, wind, wind. What can you do? Nada.
"The best thing one can do when it's blowing is to let it blow."
What insight! I think that quip might have been another of Blackjacks fireside gems...uttered just before he sent another stream of Beechnut tobaccy
onto your boot or pantsleg.
(Blackjack"s real name was JW Black of Paradise, Ca. He was the ramrod for all of Earl Stanley Gardner.'s expeditions into Baja back in the 50's and
60's. Quite the Baja character..and a genuinel nice guy.)
some more weather memories:
1983 Feb. Pta. Chivato.
Windy and freezing! Today was the 5th day of ice in the wash basin at Casa Grande, Pta. Chivato. Campers are being
sandblasted on the beach with heavy NNE winds..gusts to 60mph. Lost our solar hot water panels from Casa Grande roof. Ferry service out for
a while due to high waves.
Saw snow on Three Virgins and talked to a store owner in Santa Rosalia who told me he had not seen snow up there since 1949.
Manuel’s farms and others in the Mulege valley suffered frozen crops.…losses are great.
--That was a very cold and windy time, especially at exposed Pta. Chivato..so mi amigo, Dusty, and I decided to fly the gals in the 180 taildragger to
Cabo and warm up. My gal & I made a mad dash for the airplane out on the Chivato strip.
We ended up at a beach hotel/resort (Sol?)….and found the beach still too cold and gritty windy to sit out in swim trunks...so spent a few
days INSIDE the hotel…which was fun, too. {Note: Met a guy at the bar one night who flew a Widgeon..one of my dream-about aircraft.}
Yes, indeedy…..the weather!
Wind, cold, floods.... over the years, one thing I've learned...
…Mother Nature may be forgiving this year, or next year, but eventually she's going to come around and whack you. You've got to be prepared.
Some great things other people have realized….about weather..and wind.
“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” (I think Baja helps to bring this out, right?)
“Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms you would never see the true beauty of their carvings.” ..now see? Wind is our friend.
yeah, sure...
Now get out there and fly those kites!! Get the windsurfer waxed!
Hey..look! .I think the wind is dying down out there. Where’s my rod and reel..?
[Edited on 2-4-2011 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
|
|
|
Sunman
Nomad
Posts: 400
Registered: 6-22-2007
Location: Oxnard
Member Is Offline
|
|
Me thinks this book you are eventually (hopefully) are going to write is going to be good! Always enjoy your dispatches.
|
|
|
Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
My last vacation to Bahia de LA in November, we launched the boat every sunrise but had to return by 9AM because of the wind. Some old timer in camp,
Andy, came over to tell us to say "shouldn't go out when it so windy". I wish I had that quote of Blackjacks at hand "don't let the wind spoil your
vacation"
|
|
|
motoged
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6481
Registered: 7-31-2006
Location: Kamloops, BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gettin' Better
|
|
Roger,
Gracias for the pics, stories, and attitude.
You are living a good life
Don't believe everything you think....
|
|
|
El Jefe
Super Nomad
Posts: 1027
Registered: 10-27-2003
Location: South East Cape
Member Is Offline
|
|
Great post! Thanks for that.
And oh, I think I just saw some of those Mulege plastic bags fly by down here on the near-east cape! They'll be stuck to the sides of Cabo high-rises
in no time.
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
|
|
|
BigOly
Senior Nomad
Posts: 524
Registered: 10-1-2010
Location: Los Barriles, Bandon
Member Is Offline
Mood: Easy Birder
|
|
Then you saw the guy with the stick with a nail in it chasing the bags, that would be me!
|
|
|
baitcast
Super Nomad
Posts: 1785
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: kingman AZ.
Member Is Offline
Mood: good
|
|
Nice to see your writing again and pictures an all.
Rob
Anyone can catch fish in a boat but only \"El Pescador Grande\" can get them from the beach.
I hope when my time comes the old man will let me bring my rod and the water will be warm and clear.
|
|
|
Arturo
Junior Nomad
Posts: 51
Registered: 2-22-2010
Location: So. California
Member Is Offline
|
|
Nice Read, Thanks. Oh, and nice looking Gal too.
|
|
|
monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
When I used to be a fanatical windsurfer it seems like I was always waiting for wind and there was never enough, now I'm more into fishing and I'm
always waiting for the wind to quit.
|
|
|
Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline
Mood: undecided
|
|
There have been days when I prayed for a breeze, just a slight puff of wind. Your prayers are always answered, but not immediately and there's usually
a twist thrown in to boot. Be careful what you pray for.
|
|
|
cabo3100
Junior Nomad
Posts: 49
Registered: 8-29-2010
Member Is Offline
|
|
It is not that the wind is blowing it is what the wind is blowing
|
|
|
Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting
|
|
I am a kayaker and HATE the wind. I have spent many a "paddle or die" day because of it and I have sat for days waiting for it to stop and darn near
going crazy because it didn't. But that's Baja. Thank god for that plastic bottle tequila! And a good book.
|
|
|
Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8088
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
The Lund on the beach reminded me of our adventure.
Last month after a night of tent camping in a howling wind we found our boat upside down on our beach. Everything was dry and nothing was damaged.
Just a boat with it's contents and motor below it. I couldn't believe how the wind could take that much weight and completely flip it over.
I guess we were lucky because once we got everything back together the motor started right up. My theory is that the wind managed to do all that with
the boat on dry land.
|
|
|
ddawson
Nomad
Posts: 103
Registered: 9-6-2010
Location: Hilo
Member Is Offline
|
|
Great pics, thanks!
|
|
|
luckyman
Junior Nomad
Posts: 60
Registered: 12-19-2007
Location: near chico, ca
Member Is Offline
|
|
thanks for the stories and pics...i always enjoy them. you have a gift.
|
|
|
Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
|
|
Pompano, just how many photos do you have and how the heck to you keep track of them all and know when they were taken and where, etc.???
Unbelievable!!!
You are fantastic man. I gotta get down there and buy you a beer at Scotty's, or wherever.
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
|
|
|
Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by El Jefe
Great post! Thanks for that.
And oh, I think I just saw some of those Mulege plastic bags fly by down here on the near-east cape! They'll be stuck to the sides of Cabo high-rises
in no time. |
TutTut, my dear!
Thems are not lowly plastic bags you see.
They are Baja Prayer Flags.
(prayin' for a let-up in the incessant winter winds)
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
|
|
|
Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
|
|
Mulegena....IT'S WORKING. The waves out from here are only 3-4 feet high this morning.
The Beast is dying.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
|
|
|
Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob H
Pompano, just how many photos do you have and how the heck to you keep track of them all and know when they were taken and where, etc.???
Unbelievable!!!
|
Bob H...actually I have only 4 photos of Baja. But I'm a whiz at Photo Shop.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
|
|
|
mcfez
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8678
Registered: 12-2-2009
Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
Member Is Offline
|
|
The winds last October were blasting down in Puertecitos and GB...kept us from fishing all but one day. Usual weather.
Pom....one of your pictures is of you wearing a white jacket with patches sewn on....what do those represent? Tournaments?
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
