Local family goes for thrilling boat ride in Sea of Cortez...

Thursday afternoon, October 2, 2008, I was doing what countless other visitors do on a hot (101 degree) afternoon in San Felipe: Hang out at the malecón, try to stay out of the burning sun, sip a cold Pacifico beer, and observe the activities at one of the most beautiful beaches that I've ever had the opportunity to see. (Read: Watch beautiful women frolicking on the beach.) By the way, you're not supposed to drink beer, or any alcoholic beverage unless you're on the beach, but I was being very discreet in my unlawful activities. As I touched on in the article I published about San Felipe's beautiful beach, I could stay on the beach forever...

Photo: Ramón pilots his boat to the shore, and shows off his raft, and begins to make his sales pitch to the family relaxing on the beach in front of me.

So here I was, overlooking San Felipe's beautiful, sandy beach, attempting to dodge the hot sun, people watching, and especially watching a group of people on the beach, only a few yards from me, as they relaxed on the beach, and seemed to be having a good time. On this particular day, there were many "marine entrepreneurs," which is my-speak for locals with boats, trying to make a living off the tourists, criss-crossing the blue water, pulling rafts, inner tubes; anything that could carry people and help the operator make a living. So when I saw one of these entrepreneurs approach the beach, and hail the group that was in front of me, I got out my notebook, primed my digital camera, and allowed my journalistic instincts to take over.

Photo: He seems to captured the attention of two of the daughters, and a son, and now he's making his pitch to the men of the family.

Mind you, I was just a bystander, not a participant, but I was only a few yards away from the action, so I was able to hear most of the particulars, and able to capture what happened using my camera, and my voice recorder.

The entrepreneur immediately attracted attention of a couple of the party members, and they left their shady spot under a beach umbrella, and walked to the water, where Sr. Ramón, the marine entrepreneur, had beached his boat. Ramón's boat was loaded with an inflatable raft-like contraption, and apparently he was offering to give them a ride, for a fee of course. After much gesturing and animated conversation, one of the ladies called a gentlemen, who I assume was her significant other, to discuss the transaction. More gesturing, nodding and smiling, and I assume that price negotiations had concluded, as the guy yelled at everybody to come to the beach, except for one gentleman who appeared to be about 300 pounds overweight; he stayed on the beach and produced a camcorder, presumably to record the event.

Photo: Having closed the deal, Ramón hands out life preservers, and makes sure that everybody has put them on correctly. I was impressed with his "Safety First" ethics.

Sr. Ramón proceeded to unload the inflatable raft from his boat, Las Brisas II, put it in the water, and make sure it was secured to the rear end of his boat. Brother and two sisters strapped themselves into the raft, which had four seats, and mom, dad and little sister piled into the boat with Ramón. The entrepreneur fitted each passenger with a life vest, checked to make sure that all was well, and then turned his bow toward the open sea. With a mighty roar, his 115 H.P. Yamaha Enduro outboard motor kicked into action, the boat's bow pointed toward the sky, and Ramón and his delighted passengers were headed into the wild blue yonder, of the Sea of Cortez.

Photo: Now it's time to remove the inflatable raft from the boat, so everybody can climb aboard and enjoy their ride.

It was quite a sight, and must have been a thrilling ride, especially for the two girls and one guy riding in the raft, behind the boat, as the boat went past, maybe 40 knots or so, as it kicked up all sorts of white water and left quite a wake behind it. They headed for what appeared to be about a mile or so out into the open sea, and then turned south, toward the commercial harbor of San Felipe. Soon, I lost sight of them, so I put down my camera, picked up my beer, and resumed what I do best: Relaxing in the shade with a tall, cold one.

Photo: Off we go, into the wild blue yonder of the Sea of Cortez, with Ramón at the throttle!

After about 15 minutes or so of relaxing, I noted a yellow boat with aqua trip, towing an inflatable raft speeding towards the part of the beach where I was relaxing. It was Sr. Ramón and his passengers, making their final approach to the beach... With a flair that seemed to be his trademark, Sr. Ramón didn't slow his boat until he was about half the length of a football field from the beach, then he cut his power, and put the helm over hard a port, and with a mighty swoosh! ... the boat turned sideways, kicked up a large wave, and abruptly stopped, much to the delight and amazement of his passengers. Then at a very low speed, Ramón maneuvered the boat to shore and beached it.

Photo: Ramón's boat, with passengers, and passengers in-tow in the inflatable raft, head in the direction of the Port of San Felipe. It looked like they were going 40-plus miles per hour.

Photo: After a 15-minute ride around the bay, Ramón brings the boat, and his passengers, up to the beach.

As the passengers got out of the raft and the boat, by their animated expressions and the looks on their faces, it looked to me like they had a good time. It looked like a lot of fun, and for a moment I regretted that I didn't strike up a deal with the family and Sr. Ramón and take that vacant seat that was in the raft, but the thought had crossed my mind when I saw them boarding the raft: My camera. Salt water and cameras don't mix. I suppose I could have left my camera with the guy left on the beach, but I would have wanted to photograph the ride. Oh well, at least I got to watch!

Photo: Dad gets out to help Ramón beach the boat, and get all of the passengers ashore safely.

Photo: Everybody is safely ashore, as Jr. helps Ramón stow the inflatable raft on to the boat.

After Sr. Ramón had made sure his passengers had safely disembarked, he cast away and sped to the south, no doubt looking for additional passengers. What a way to earn a living!

Photo: Ramón speeds away, looking for more customers.

I have no idea what the family paid for their 20 minutes or so of pleasure, but it certainly looked like a lot of fun, and a way to beat the heat on a hot, October afternoon in beautiful San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.

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