laventana

LA VENTANA BEACH CLEAN-UP TRIP
Story and photos by Jenny Koehler

Before I begin with the details of my trip, I would like to thank Captain Kirk Robinson for making such a generous donation. I was little apprehensive about being a single female traveling alone in Mexico, so I would also like to thank Richard Welsh for accompanying me on such short notice.
DAY ONE My journey started early Saturday morning at LAX. Even with all the extra security, it really isn’t too bad of an experience. Of course I seem to get my bag searched every time I fly lately. Do I look suspicious, or do these men just want to see my underwear? With carry-on luggage and passports, we boarded the plane and were on our way. We arrived at the La Paz airport where we were greeted by Rueben, who drove us to our destination- Captain Kirk’s La Ventana Resort. There we met our hosts for the weekend, Jack and Sheila Stout. The wind was light so it was the perfect time to unpack and settled into home for the next several days- Trailer #1. I believe "Calvin & Louise", winners of the swap meet trip, previously occupied it. The afternoon provided enough wind to play with the Slingshot trainer kites on the beach. After hot showers, Richard and I walked down just past the campground for dinner and cervesa’s at El Rincon. The food there is muy bueno. I recommend the Camarones con Ajo.



DAY TWO I woke up and found myself at the beach watching a beautiful sunrise. I could see the bumpy water on the horizon and knew wind was on the way. I spent a quiet morning in the lounge reading and quilting. As the wind started to pick up, Aaron took Richard, Guy, and Devin off for kite lessons. The rest of the guests went windsurfing. Jaro Prochazka was first on the water, followed by his wife, Helga, myself, and then Brian Matlock and Doug Frank. Sheila got out briefly just before the wind died. Sorry no pictures, but the wind was blowing and the cameras were in La Casa!!! It didn’t really matter cuz we had 2 more days of sailing to come.


DAY THREE By this time I was beginning to adjust to the Baja pace. I watched another beautiful sunrise start my day. Jaro was up early fishing, but the fish stole his line. No breakfast for Jaro! As the day progressed, it was clear there would be no wind. Even "The Dude" was just hangin out in the lounge. I went for a walk on the beach. It appears La Ventana needs to have Beach Clean-Ups too. I met an eel I named Spot, and saw what appears to be the worlds largest fuzzy caterpillar.
I returned back at Captain Kirk’s, and as with any resort, there are many chores to be done. Today was Monday of course, so everyone was busy at work. Aaron made sure all the guys got the bottom of the boat real clean while he worked on the motor. As soon as the chores were done, Aaron rewarded the gang with an afternoon out wakeboarding, unfortunately Hunter had to be left behind. Ricardo was up and going right away. Next it was Doug’s turn. He was having a little trouble so to lighten the load, being the only girl, I was thrown overboard! They eventually let me back on, and gave me a turn. It took about 3 trys but I finally got up and going. After a hot shower and dinner, several of us gathered in the lounge for a evening of kiteboard videos.



DAY FOUR Day four began the same as day three. Jaro was out again at sunrise trying to catch his breakfast, Ricardo went for a mountain bike ride. We had another kiter, Jeff Smith, arrive this day. As with every Tuesday there we had a visit from el Donero- the donut man! Brian inhaled two, but Sheila bought an entire bag full. She claimed she was going to share with Jack. Hmmmm.

Jack and Sheila were busy with their chores when suddenly a breeze came to us along with some whitecaps. This got everyone buzzing. We no sooner got down to the beach and Jack got the slingshot up when the wind backed off. About this time Aaron showed up to save the day again. He assured us we did not need our wetsuits so we boarded the Shred Bus and drove the Catamaran down the beach to launch. We all piled on only to find there was too much weight. I don’t know why I get into these predicaments but some how I ended up, without a wetsuit, on the Cat along with the only two guys with wetsuits. We had a blast, but I got soaked. Looks like I was set up again! Sorry guys, no wet t-shirt pictures.


After four days of too much sun and cervesas, Aaron drove us back to La Paz airport on Wednesday morning. I may have had only one day of wind, but it was warm and I didn't miss any wind here. There are a lot of other activities and we all had a great time.