The “San Felipe” is my 2022 Yamaha FXHO watercraft purchased and named for a future adventure of a lifetime; a ride from San Felipe, Baja, down to Cabo San Lucas where the Sea of Cortez finally meets the Pacific Ocean.
But not just yet. As I pen these words a storm named Kay has formed off the Pacific shores of Mexico and is slowly moving up the coast of Baja California and threatening to bring unstable weather closer to California. We could use the rain. Our weather this past week was over 100 degrees daily. Extreme heat and a drought in California yet, not far away is a perfectly usable hurricane with winds nearing 85 miles per hour and dropping 15 inches of rain. I guess when it rains, it really pours.
My Gpskevin Motorcycle riding friends, starting with Roberto, Joey, Jeffrey and a few others were originally part of this adventure of a lifetime core group. I guess this story is now not only weather talk but, documenting how we got here.
Our Covid year in 2021/22 and supply issues plus a few real life emergencies (Roberto motorcycle collision) in Baja, has yet again delayed our San Felipe to Cabo watercraft trip till 2024/25?
We chose April on account of the best weather month according to the local port captains. The shrimping panga boats are also in port during the month of April. By the time we depart my new watercraft will be possibly two to three years old and the others have yet to purchase theirs.
In 1940 Steinbeck, the writer and his good friend and marine biologist, Ed Ricketts had a similar story and idea. Theirs was to do a research trip down the Baja California peninsula. They took off with a crew aboard a sardine boat called the Western Flyer for a six-week scientific expedition. We aim to do something similar only down the inside part of the Sea of Cortez starting in San Felipe and ending in Cabo.
After their voyage, Steinbeck and Ricketts wrote the story of their trip. I’m hoping to do something similar on a less than stellar and less grander form. Or perhaps I’ll just blog about it.
The Sea of Cortez, and the Western Flyer (the boats name) became a celebrated icon of American literature. You can easily find the book today.
Over forty years ago a guy named Michael Hemp started a Cannery Row Foundation. Soon thereafter, a local resident of Salinas named Bob Enea approached Hemp and said, “How’d you like to have the Western Flyer?”
Enea as it turns out was the nephew of both Sparky Enea and Tony Berry, two of the original crew that are in the book the Sea of Cortez. Enea had been looking for the boat for years, and by back-checking the boat’s radio call sign WB4404,2 which stays with the vessel forever, he found that the name of the Western Flyer had been changed to Gemini.
Now don’t you just love a story behind a vehicle, any vehicle be it a boat, a motorcycle or even a watercraft like a 2022 Yamaha FXHO.
Perhaps our adventure of a lifetime trip will one year happen and perhaps it won’t. And perhaps that little hurricane called Kay not so far away now packing winds nearing 85 miles per hour and 15 inches of rain will drop down on us ending this godawlful extreme heat and drought.
Two co-workers walk out of their office and into the scorching summer afternoon. One said to the other wow, it’s really hot today,” making some small talk about the weather.
“It’s always hot in the summer,” says the other yes I know but, now you have climate change.
Today it’s much more complicated talking about things like the weather or why’s that person still sporting a full head of green or other not normal color hair?
We used to talk about the weather to break the ice or to have an excuse to not do something. Today it’s not really called weather talk anymore it’s called climate change.
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