Destination reached - Week One Rancho Conejo

Rancho Conejo

This particular part of the Baja peninsula has not changed much at all. Some parts of the shoreline carry rocks where before there were none but the point break still turns out some of the finest lefts I’ve ever ridden in my life. We were greeted Thanksgiving Day with fun surf about chest high. We surfed for three days in perfect conditions with a handful of others. It got a bit bigger the second day and maxed out the third in solid 6’ or well overhead surf. We also met up with some old friends in the lineup and it was a real honest to God treat to surf with them that first morning. Two of our friends married and are now parents of an sweet child named Emily. I imagine I’ll see her in the line up one day in the future.

One characteristic of Conejo is hard onshore winds that buffet the coast. We had a good one on our fourth day and it found us battening down hatches and waiting for it to blow itself out. There is particular loneliness to this area that may have to do with the ruggedness of the coast where the desert meets the sea. It may also be the fact that a handful of folks are out this way too. The water is crystal clear and it seems as if you are sitting in an aquarium as the mullet jump all around you. Today I even saw a seal in the inside break, about the size of a grown man. In its desolate loneliness, there is exquisite beauty and peace. The rhythms of the sea, wind, marine life and the people who live here are graceful in their simplicity.

So after surfing this morning in smallish surf (by Florida standards it would have been outstanding) we headed into La Paz which is 50 miles from our spot at Conejo. Once a week we’ll head here to provision, fuel, launder and connect with loved ones and then back out for another seven days. La Paz has grown and now sports a Wal-Mart that is stocked with Mexican goods with Mexican prices, nothing from China here. Haas avocadoes are going for 18 pesos a kilo and spelled out that is 60 cents a pound. I’m loving it. Give me a bag of those and two big old papayas and lime and I’m ready to head out for another seven days. We are quite content and counting our blessings. 

Vaya con Dios amigos… until next week.