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steekers
Nomad
Posts: 255
Registered: 12-4-2007
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Rancho Santa Ynez Ines)
I am a new member and currently working on a new book detailing the past significant events and noteworthy people that have visited and/or worked at
this ranch.
I would like to hear from anyone who had any personal contact with Josefina Zuniga (past owner), Bill Stroppe, James Gardner, Mickey Thompson, or any
other racers during the period 1967-1975 when the long races were held.
If you know of anyone that has photos of the ranch during those years, please contact me.
Thank you all
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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
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Steekers:
I started landing at Santa Inez in 1968, became a Friend of Josephina, Family and Oscar and Family.
The old refridg, has a Sticker from my Snap-on Tool Days when I would stop and stay for a couple of Days.
Will check through my Photos and see What I have. I was not into racing so do not know much on that Score.
Will let you know if I find any photos which may interest you.
I am looking for Information on any Aircraft Wrecks-One at the East end of the Strip when my Friend dumped his TwinBeech on Takeoff.
Skeeter
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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I landed at Rancho Santa Ines numerous times in the mid to late 70's. I will root through my photos and see what I have. Here's one image I always
liked, my Baron at the end of the Santa Ines runway:
++Ken++
[Edited on 12-5-2007 by Ken Bondy]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Hi Steekers (good handle) ,
I sent you a couple of emails after we met... one re. the Ynez/ Ines question... I need to dig up the email from Marv Patchen who details why it is
spelled Ynez by the ranch owners... Marv owns a cabin on the ranch, as you know.
Welcome to Baja Nomad, by-the-way!
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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It is spelled "Ynes" on the Baja aeronautical chart CH22 . So we have four
variants, Ynez, Ynes, Ines, Inez. Probably should vote on it 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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What's funny Ken, as they seldom seem to care about spelling of names in Mexico, as long as it sounds right! I am sure we make a bigger deal of it,
since we like to make maps that are accurate... or close! 
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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
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Pompano: I was interested in Bill Riffe's Pileup on takeoff--Forgot the Date.
Twin Barron I think.
Also looking for info on the Cessna 320 off the end of the Runway at Pt. Chavito, at the time I saw it about 25 Feet of Water, now covered by Sand.
Any Photos would be appreicated.
Thanks Skeet.
By the way Bill Riffee is still living in the Round House on the Beach in Loreto. 86 yearsold.
Skeet/Loreto
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 2-9-2004
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Marv has a cabin near the rancho property because he was involved in the races. I'll bet he knows a lot of the rancho history and has photos - you
should contact him. He might be at the Discover Baja party this Friday night. Others can attend for a small charge - it's not just for members. I
think they live in Borrego now, so maybe you can find him and see what he knows.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Marv and Aletha's Patchen's second Baja book is called 'Baja Outpost' and is about their Santa Ynez cabin and the log book entries from their cabin
guests... Graham Mackintosh being one of the most frequent, as he loves going to Mision Santa Maria and the area.
Sunbelt has that book on a special sale for only three dollars: http://www.sunbeltbooks.com/store_article.cfm?articleid=1674...
[Edited on 12-6-2007 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Back to Santa Ynez
A letter from Marvin Patchen to me asking if the correct way was Ynez or Ines, etc. I am still searching for another from Marvin that had even more
details and stories from Santa Ynez:
Subject: Re: Ynez
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2003 23:41:57 -0500
David....more: when I first went to Santa Ynez in 1968 it was Ynez and although there was a Catavina on some map there was nothing there. The ranch
was the only thing there except a small ranch house by the dip in the road just before you got to Santa Ynez. Some old maps have Inez and some Ynez.
Oscar does not own the ranch. Fred Hampe owns it. It was willed to him by Josefina.
I don't recall if I said in my other E mail that Fred Hampe built the road to the mission.
Marvin
Photo of the Santa Ynez restaurant window (May, 2007):
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BajaSedoso
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 4-3-2006
Location: Orange, CA
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Mood: Dreaming of Baja
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Unfortunately I do not have any old photos or stories about Santa Ynez but I might get to see Marv and Aletha over the weekend. Marv would probably
enjoy collaborating with you, he is a great storyteller and an author himself. He erected the cross on the mountain behind the ranch in honor of
Josefina but he should really tell you this story himself. I will print this thread an take it with me when I see him as he is not on this board. Is
there a way that he can contact you?
Another person to contact would probably be Ralph Schoonmaker who lives during the winter in a house close to Santa Ynez. He does not have a phone
down there but is on shortwave radio each morning. Maybe someone on the board knows how to get in touch with him.
BajaSedoso
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Marv and Aletha in Feb., 2005:
Marv's Baja racing helmit, a new use:
More photos from our weekend with the Patchens at: http://vivabaja.com/patchen
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bonanza bucko
Senior Nomad
Posts: 587
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Airport Bum
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Before about 1985 when the USDEA convinced the Mexicans to prohibit the sale of airplane gas everywhere but at government airports Rancho Santa Ynez
was a frequent stop for us as we went to and from Alfonsina's. We bought gas from a barrel on the back an old truck driven by Francisco and Ysenia,
his sister. We went down to the cantina to order and rode back up the hill with them.
We needed the gas because our old Cessna didn't have the range to fly down from the US and then take off from Gonzaga Bay for Tijuana and then divert
to Mexicali if TJ was socked in.....you couldn't get the WX down there...no radio..no flight services, of course.....no way to find out what was up to
the north until you got to altitude (about 8000 feet) and got another airplane coming south on the radio with a WX report.
Flying to Gonzaga Bay then was an adventure because you were never assured of getting home on time...or at all...in a small plane because of the WX or
because of mechanical problems. A lot of us got pretty good at improvisation in the air and some of us have flown sick airplanes....and sick people
sometimes....out of Baja in situations that today sound dangerous...but they were just the way things had to be so we didn't think of them that way.
Rancho Santa Ynez was a most important place to go if you needed an alternative landing spot.
That alternative was needed on any flight during the full or dark of the moon because Alfonsina's runway was covered by water then. We couldn't land
until the tide went out and the runway dried out. So we landed at Santa Ynez and took a nap under the wing until the runway dried out.....usually had
some bueno comidas at the cantina too.
We also flew up to Rancho Santa Ynez for water. There was no fresh water at Gonzaga Bay for most of us....a "goat well" at Papa Fernandez but it
didn't produce enough for everyone. It was a five hour trip by truck to Rancho Santa Ynez for the water but it was an 8 minute flight. We filled our
five gallon jugs from the well behind the cantina...the water came up in a bucket that was full of old and dried paint...but it tasted good! We drank
the water only....not enough for bathing. If you use hair conditioner on your body in salt water you leave the ocean without much salt on you...don't
need fresh water.
We took Francisco y Ysenia for their first airplane ride...they wanted to see La Mission in Palmas Canyon just down the mountain from Rancho Santa
Ynez....neat place and the source of all the palm fronds we used for thatched roofs then. It was very hard to get up into the canyon by the old
mission's ruins to get the palm fronds but it was the only decent source we had. The roads were too lousy to think about a long trip to Guerro Negro
or places like that for the fronds as they do now.
Once in while the Santa Ynez runway was covered with tarranchulas which were there, I guess, to stay warm. If you buzzed it low they would scatter.
Ditto the goats and horses.
We always tried to land up hill....to the east...and take off downhill to the west unless the wind was really strong against that. Rancho Santa Ynez
was, is, the only paved runway between San Felipe and Bay of LA.....before they closed the downtown runway there in about 1983 due to an accident it
was the only paved strip between MMSF and Loreto (MMLT). But, we didn't care....Bush Pilots in Baja generally don't need...or even want...a paved
strip. Dirt is better....easier on tires and more fun.
But...flying in Baja is a whole other subject in which there is a whole bunch to know and most of which is boring to kiwis.
 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Great story!!!! Thanks Bonanza Bucko!
Found another photo of Rancho Santa Ynez from 1999... Mur photos me on the quad, heading to Mision Santa Maria!
[Edited on 12-6-2007 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Happy Times: High Res. Satellite Image!
Previously, the high resolution images ended at the far end of the runway, by Hwy. 1... I just looked and now the entire ranch is high resolution...
out past Ralph's place and the road to Santa Maria, as it climbs out of the arroyo...
Rancho Santa Ynez, from space
[Edited on 12-6-2007 by David K]
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BajaSedoso
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 4-3-2006
Location: Orange, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dreaming of Baja
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Hello Steekers,
I spoke to Marv and he might have some stories to share with you but he said the person that probably knows most about the Ranch and Josefina would be
Fred Hampe. I will try to send you a U2U with Marvin's e-mail address and phone number
David K, I printed a satellite image that showed Marv's cabin and showed it to him and Aletha, they were thrilled. Thank you for letting us know about
the high-res.
BajaSedoso
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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De nada... we missed Marv and Aletha at the Discover Baja party, last Friday...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64749
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Bump... 'steekers' (Michael) will likely meet up with the Nomads going on the Matomi run Feb. 17th... He is building a home at El Dorado Ranch north
of San Felipe and is racing a Score Lite 1835cc buggy in the San Felipe 250.
A really nice guy... I have been helping him a tiny bit on his new book project and introducing him to you all... So, please welcome 'steekers'!
Photo of 'steekers' (tallest), Dave Deal, David K:
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3710
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
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Not sure how true this story is.....
The (supposed) reason that the 3500' strip is paved is an interesting yarn.
So the story goes, the paved carreterra was put through a corner of the property without getting proper permisos from Dona Josefina.
So, to mollify the good lady they paved the strip as compensation for the land appropriated for the Trans-Peninsular.
I spent a night in the old bunkhouse in November 1971 en route to El Arco to support a local team in the NORRA Mexican 1000.
Finished second, myself, in the 1972 version.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8942
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Bump... 'steekers' (Michael) will likely meet up with the Nomads going on the Matomi run Feb. 17th... |
Bummer, I'm hosting a Joshua Tree 4WD run that weekend... You guys have fun out there! 
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