More Weather!

Did I mention it is getting warmer? I must have, right?

Way south of us there are currently two tropical storms, Boris and Cristina, twisting away, pushing warm water and air up our way. The battle between the cold ocean water (gloom) and the warmer, clearer tropical influence is slowing being won by the tropical powers. Days are noticeably warmer and nights are only cooling down to about 70 F. In La Paz, 100 F temps have already arrived. One morning we have fog and grey skies and the next two we have sunny hot sunrises. The trend is clear to see.

Not to worry about Boris and Cristina as this time of year all the storms go west and don’t come near us. But this is about 2 weeks early (by my recollections) for this type of weather to be here in Todos Santos. Could be a long hot summer coming our way. Let’s just hope the hurricanes stay away from our coastline.

Bikini Contest Photos

Finally!!! PG rated photos below.

If you want to see when the t-shirts came off, click on the above photo. (R rated!)

Odds And Ends

Just a couple of quickies with perhaps photos to follow tomorrow.

Over the last week, I have seen a large number of small dead fish on the beach along with 4 large squid. My friend Kaia informs me that the squid are known as Humbolt squid. I wouldn’t know the difference. Yesterday there were two freshly dead squid (3-4 foot long) on the beach as I walked in the early morning fog. They looked alive and I wished I had my camera but I didn’t. This morning I took photos of the “not so fresh” squid as well as many of the dead small fish. One of the odd things about the fish is that the birds don’t seem to be eating them, leading me to wonder what killed them and if the birds know something we don’t.

There was a road race yesterday, from La Paz to TS back to La Paz. I was again unaware of it, had no proper camera to photograph it. Oh well. After some pondering I remember that last year there was a June race named “Pato Rojo” (red duck) so perhaps this was the same race. Guess I need a photo op calendar!!

And I have not forgotten the bikini contest photos. I believe I have figured out how to post them so only those who desire to see female nudity will see it.

Los Cerritos Surf Contest – June 7, 2008

The contest was held Saturday, June 7 at Los Cerritos. There was a good sized crowd on hand and many hopeful surfers drawn by the prize money, $500 US 1st place, $300 US 2nd place and $200 US 3rd place. I understand that Irak Collins took the first place prize. As promised, some photos from the contest.

The scene at Los Cerritos for the contest.

My French friend, Josolyn, and his very large lens. Yep, I am jealous.

The changing of the heats.

Roger Pollock’s HUGE home construction project on the rocky point at Cerritos.

Claudia, Mario and Aaron. Mario made it to the quarterfinal heats.

The judges and the sweet chicas!

The little sign in front of the Cerritos Beach Club says “Private Guests Only” – hmmm, a “sign” of things to come, i.e. the Caboization of local beaches. By law, the beaches belong to the people who are guaranteed access. But everyone in Los Cabos knows how that works.

Los Cerritos Beach Condo construction, a really scary sight!

Jimmy from Cabo Extreme, our contest announcer.

The ladies were competing also, though there was only one heat.

Mas chicas surfing!

Even Colm and Emma showed up for the photo ops.

There was even an old guys heat!

Let the main event begin!

Yes, he made it!!!

The best barrel of the day!

The Red Bull girls were having a fine time!

This sequence of 4 shots rocks!

The pre-bikini contest scenery was top notch!

Future bikini contest entrants and one lucky dog!

That’s it for now. The astute among you may have noticed the incorrect copyright date on the photos. Canon Factory Service reset the date/time on the camera and I just now noticed it. Ni modo.

New Mayor and Rain!!!

Okay, hard as it may be to fathom, it rained today. Not a lot, not for long, but around 1 pm it rained. Big fat drops fell for maybe 90 seconds. Then it went away. The sun took over so the first day of the Music Festival at Los Cerritos had good weather. I was unable to attend. I’ll miss the Reggae tonight also. But with luck, I’ll attend the Jazz portion tomorrow afternoon.

Once again I heard about it after it happened. The new mayor was sworn in last night in the main plaza. I guess it was a big deal, with chairs and a podium setup. Not sure how I was supposed to learn of it and I didn’t. My friend Alvaro stumbled across it and got some photos that he will hopefully share. I am told the new mayor, Jose Luis Castillo, spoke energetically to the crowd and harped on the fact that the Todos Santos’ road grader, purchased and paid for by the community with large contributions from foreign residents, was in La Paz not in Todos Santos where it belongs. He said he would retrieve it. Let’s hope he does. The dirt roads here need grading frequently.

Always Happens

As soon as I wrote about “June Gloom” it went away. We have now had three sunny mornings in a row. This means it gets hotter a bit earlier in the day. Mornings are still cool so don’t misunderstand. But if the gloom is gone, then the heat isn’t that far behind, just waiting for that next tropical storm down south to stir things up.

Todos Santos Mayorial Elections

How could I forget this? Just goes to show.

Last Sunday, June 15 was local election day (as well as cock fight day). At stake was the position of mayor (delegado) of Todos Santos. Competing for the honor (and monetary gains that go along with it) were Jose Luis Castillo and Arturo Martinez (aka “Papule”). I was talking with some Papule supporters and got an interesting story about how the election went.

The voting encompasses not only Todos Santos, but also Pescadero and as far south as Elias Calles. The Todos Santos proper voting put Papule about 170 votes ahead. After calling the Pescadero election office, Papule was certain he had won the election. But a while later, another call from Pescadero revealed the necessity of a recount as some uncounted ballots had been found. At the end of the recount, Papule had lost the election by 33 votes.

A closer look at the statistics reveals some interesting numbers. In Todos Santos, about 50-52% of the eligible voters came out and voted. Historically this is right on track. In the Pescadero area, over 70% of the eligible voters came out and voted. Historically this is 20% higher than other elections and perhaps the largest turnout ever in the southern area. Was there hanky-panky involved? Quien sabe? The Papule camp decided not to contest the election.

Jose Luis is our new mayor beginning sometime in July. He has worked in the municipal office for as long as I can remember. He is the official who shows up at weddings to make the marriage a legal civil union. I have no doubt that he knows how to make things happen here.

Just so you know, I have no bone in this tussle. I didn’t think there was much difference between the candidates. Both are young and energetic and want the best for Todos Santos. Vamos a ver que pasara!

June Gloom

There really isn’t much happening right now. This weekend brings two days and one night of music at Los Cerritos and Buena Vida still has movie night on Tuesdays and Fridays and there were cock fights on June 15, but otherwise it is quiet. Michael Cope’s last night of tapas at La Copa Wine Bar (in Todos Santos Inn) was last Friday. So far all the other restaurants are still open but by August, some will be closing for 1-2 months.

The recent home burglary wave seemed to be over but just this week I have heard of two more home break-ins out in the north end of Las Tunas and La Pastora area. We will soon have two security companies operating in town, Milan and MG2. I have not attended any of the meetings, so I don’t yet know what each is offering.

The weather continues its inevitable creep towards summer. When Tropical Storm Alma formed near Central America a few weeks ago, temperatures spiked as the ocean warmed rapidly. But that passed and temps returned to normal. The ocean is cool to cold. The land is warm. This leads to grey sometimes foggy mornings that we call “June gloom” – it’s normal this time of year. Before long the ocean will begin to warm up and that will be it for the cool nights. This week there was a subtle rise in temps. The nights went from 60 to 65 F and days just seem warmer, perhaps mid-80s. We still have a breeze. Everything is dry and dusty. A good rain would be welcome but likely won’t arrive until tropical storm season gets further along.

I haven’t had time to process the surf / bikini contest photos yet. I should soon. Seems getting back into the flow of life and work here has taken me longer than it used to. Wonder what that means?

Hope all you Dads out there had a Happy Father’s Day, I know I did!

5th Anniversary Baja Reggae Festival

Just a quick note to let you know that more info is available on their now fully operational website:

Baja Reggae Festival

Be sure to check out the photos from past years, all taken by yours truly. Sadly, I am not certain that I will be able to attend this year. I am trying to sort out the complicated logistics.

The reggae portion of the festival will be late at night, June 21. During the day on June 21 and June 22 there will also be a Jazz portion of the festival on a separate stage at Los Cerritos.

Hotel California, Todos Santos Baja Mexico Website

I just wanted to announce that the Hotel California now has a real website online, with photos, info and a reservation form. You can check it out here:

Hotel California Website