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Not exactly a Whaler Tale, but I did see one Whaler on my recent trip to Baja, Mexico, to pit with a crew for the Baja 1000 off-road race. The Whaler was being used as a sign!
As part of the trip, I spent a couple of days on the way down, and three days on the way back in a little fishing town called Mulege ("never a bad day in Moo-le-HAY"). Down there, the ubiquitous boat is the "panga" (say "ponga" not "panga") which is pretty Whaler-like, without the foam. Not unsinkable, but it is unsoakable (hee hee) Most even sport a Whaler-like blue interior, strangely!
They also take out gringos for fishing trips.... $150 - $180 a day in Mulege for three people on a panga.... it's more in La Paz and way more in Cabo.
We saw the launching of a sailboat one morning where we were camping by the beach in Mulege. The idea was to drag the sailboat, trailer and all, into the water with a panga with an old 40 HP motor. The guy on the panga tied directly to a corner of the transom rather than making a harness to "V" it to both corners, therefore he scooted on one side each time he took a run. Then he'd foul the prop with the tow line. He did this several times until I suggested that I jump aboard and handle the line for him.
That's me on the right. It was one of many humorous adventures we experienced on the trip. The deed was done, and the sailboat floated. The trailer was retrieved via a rope that had been tied to the tongue.
The worst adventure was losing the trailer of our pit rig (pictured below) out in the desert and not realizing it for over 10 kilometers.... all our fuel was in the trailer, as well as our dirt bikes, and many tools. The ball had snapped clean off, as did the safety chain.
That's a shrimp boat in the background. Lots more pictures of the trip in the sub-albums of "Baja1000" on my photobucket site. With my Whaler project on hold until Spring, I thought I'd post this... it would be a pity to drop off the "top 10 posters list."
Very cool DelawareDan. I love Baja and have stayed in Mulege. It's beautiful down there. I drove to the end of Baja a couple times and road my Harley another.
Those Panga's are great Ocean boats. I've been out in them a few times.
Simple but does the job.
Good luck with your retirement plan.
Sounds and looks like it was a great trip! I've always wanted to go to Mexico. Hopefully, I'll make it there someday. Interesting, they would use an old Whaler as a sign. Looks repairable, can't imagine its waterlogged and being supported by those poles??
Jeff.... our pit was at Race Mile 1,056, with about 250 miles to go. (The actual miles varies from year to year, because the course changes. This year the Ensenada-to-Cabo race was 1,297 miles.) Few did the "ironman" thing, where the same driver/rider goes the whole way. More often, team members take turns and only the bike/rail/truck/bug goes the whole distance. My heart was with those ironmen. I plan to pit with my buddy Tommy a couple of times between now and 2010, when the race once again goes the whole length of the peninsula. Then I'd like to do my own pit and Tommy and I can choose "adjacent" pits (about 60 miles apart.) So I have three years to learn Spanish better, and to learn to weld.
I'm assembling my team already for 2010... I need five people. Wanna go?
Mike... can you weld?
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The keel on that Whaler-sign was completely worn through to the foam, but it rains very very little in Baja, and I'd wager the foam is drier than mine! Definitely repairable.
The pangas do indeed handle chop pretty well with their V-bow throwing water out and away from the boat.... much less of a "palm-slap" than my boat, and probably better than even the smirked hulls.
Sounds like a great trip and maybe now we all know how to dry out any waterlogged whalers. Strip the hull, drill some holes in the bottom and leave it in the sun on stilts for a few years. Wonder if you could sell advertising space on the sides
Well, I've been to Mexico, Calif, and AZ, but I'm also in transition, moving to Pennsylvania for "a year." (We'll see.... it's too darn far from the water!) I'm not changing my name to PennsylvaniaDan, that's for sure. Since I've been back, I've been doing a little catch-up on the site... great to see that projects are ongoing, new members a-plenty, and that Kamie's even picked up a project boat!
