Bahia de Los Angeles.......

Bay Of The Angels...... Having had a little "casita" in Bay of L.A. for the past 25 years I thought I'd devote this BLOG to giving the cruisers that are lucky enough to be visiting Mexico this winter a little insider info. It's a 500 mile drive from Newport Beach to L.A. bay. The roads are good but narrow, lots of big truck traffic and a cross on practically every curve. L.A. Bay makes a good place for crew changes and if you hitch hike out the 40 miles to Hwy #1 you can grab a bus back to San Diego. Two main families pretty much run the place and if you are a boater, these are are the people you want to know. The Diaz family and Gillermo's. Sammy Diaz has been my landlord for 25 years, speaks english, has a fleet of sport fishing pangas and is a JEWEL of a person. His son is a mechanic and recently opened an attractive auto parts store. I was going to put some boat gear in his store for you guys but Mexican red tape has pretty much discouraged me from doing it. Gillermo's compound is where most of you guys will spend your time. He recently built a Tahitian style palapa overlooking the bay, his food is great and margaritas even greater. He has a fleet of "super pangas", usually monitors VHF 16 and will be the closest thing to the U.S. Coast Guard you will find in the L.A. Bay area. He's the guy that salvaged the 40 footer pictured in my earlier BLOG. According to him that salvage effort almost cost him his life. He borrowed a big landing barge that had been doing construction work in the area. Some how got the sailboat aboard the barge athwart ships and headed for home. A heavy north wind came up, the big barge was down in the bow with the ten ton sailboat aboard, he was taking on water and the only thing that saved him from sinking was the "Angels of The Bay". Gillermo's a great guy, if you have a problem, he can help you. While having a drink in his patio take a few minutes and visit his sister Lucy's new store. In my mind, she the real angel of Bahia de Los Angeles. She's an artist, and will give you a personal tour of her store if you ask. There's 2 new Pemex gas stations in the village that also carry diesel. Lots of grocery stores, and a great produce store up by the traffic circle with the big white steel sail in the middle of it. A good internet store across the street from the bright yellow market thats name starts with an X. You guys will love this place but not the weather in the winter. Heavy north winds can blow for days sometimes. You can also get heavy westerlies. I watched 60 k winds blow all the furniture off Gillermo's patio and a 26' panga on the beach roll over in the heavy winds. Don Juan bay is the only all weather anchorage in our area, it's about 8 miles east of Gillermo's cantina. Mexican billionaires are buying up the area so enjoy Bahia de Los Angeles while it's still unspoiled. Pictured above is a lovely señorita sipping a margarita in Gillermo's patio and the view from my little casita at an area we call Ricon that is in the south end of L.A. bay. This picture is looking north from the south end of the bay. Happy Thanksgiving. Any questions about L.A. bay drop me an e-mail at capnernie1@aol.com