Ready...

[bajafshrman]

Our first shake down...

After spending some time getting things oriented and functioning (hopefully) we decided to do a quick long-weekend trip.

Here we are ready to depart:



It's about a seven hour drive to our destination - Bahia Los Frailes on the East Cape of the Baja Peninsula. We had some business to attend to on our way so it ended up taking us all day to get there. No worries, driving through the desert in baja is a vacation in itself.

We arrived just as the sun was setting so we just pulled everything out, popped the roof, made some dinner, and crawled into bed. That's the beauty of these rigs - quick and easy. I really like the fit of the Bobcat on my Tundra - just big enough for the two of us but she still drives well, the Tundra can barely feel the weight on her back. With the suspension upgrades the truck handled well on and off the road. It did slow me down a bit on the dirt road - I was a bit worried about pulling an eyebolt or turnbuckle but everything stayed right where I put it - no movement from the camper at all.

It's such a beautiful, peaceful place. It feels so good to relax on the beach and just let time slip by. We hooked up with some friends for some paddling, fishing, snorkeling, and exploring… I'll let the photos do the talking:

Our first morning:


All set up:


The view:


Our goal:




We have a few things to tinker with… the fridge didn't work on 12v and didn't get very cold on propane, the sink has a tiny pin hole, outdoor light, etc. But, we slept well, the view was amazing, and it felt so great to be back on the road!

Thanks for tagging along.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for the trip.
Looks like nice and sunny for your turkey day.
Enjoy.
Frank

 

[GroovyDad]

It's great that you can park right at the water's edge. Looks like you had a blast.

 

[bajafshrman]

That's another great thing about baja - you can camp just about anywhere. You don't want to drive on the beach too much cause the turtles come in to lay their eggs - the beaches on the cape are protected and you aren't allowed to drive on them (not supposed to anyway). The friends we were camping with know the folks that own the house just behind us and we had permission to cross their property to camp so it was all good.

We don't have far to go to put our feet in the water at home either, here's another photo of us just about to get underway - beautiful sunrise send off.

 

[takesiteasy]

Looks like a great trip. Thanks for the report! I'm interested in your awning- especially the framework and poles. I like the looks of it. Do you have any closeup pics showing how it goes together? I made a framework out of electrical conduit but I'm always looking for ways to improve it.

 

[SunMan]

Los Frailes....what a great place. I have good memories of swimming in that bay many moons ago on my first trip to the tip.

 

[bajafshrman]

They sell these shade set ups at the hardware stores down here. They are pretty robust with welded corners and an easy set up. They can stand alone and they withstand some pretty good wind. The only issue is all the parts and poles. I was looking at other awning solutions but I've been using these for years down here - inexpensive and well tested - so I bought a new set last week. Less than a hundred bucks for the whole set up. It's 10' x 10' but you can build it to any size.

I'll see if I can post some pics of the welded corners later.

Oh, and I'm gonna fab up some type of side mount on the camper so I can eliminate a couple of poles.

 

[Alley-Kat]

Does the shade set up have a company name or a model name?
Perhaps it is available outside Baja and with the company name we could do some internet searching.

 

[bajafshrman]

No name down here that I know of. They use these canopies at swap meets, I did a quick google and there's lots of companies that sell them.

Try:

http://marksbolts.com

Look under shade systems.

I googled swap meet shade and a bunch of places came up. These are sturdy canopies but, like I said, it's a ton of gear. The 10' poles are the toughest to carry. Not the light weight solution. I'll probably throw a long ABS tube on the top or side of the camper to carry them.

Good luck!

 

[d tree's]

I've never camped there, but I have caught lots of tuna right off beach in that canyon , in the late 80's there was nothing there but one house on a bluff if I remember correctly, Cheers

 

[ski3pin]

Great first trip!

 

[ntsqd]

For an entirely different need (8' long collapsed telescoping antenna mast) I used 3" ABS with a cap on the front end and a threaded adapter & threaded plug on the other. I used two footman loops per end on the underside of the right side overhang of the camper. Threaded a hose clamp thru both loops and around the ABS pipe. In hindsight I should add a third such mount to the middle of the pipe.

10' is a little tougher. If it would work in the end use I'd go with double the number of 5's and some couplers.

 

[takesiteasy]

No name down here that I know of. They use these canopies at swap meets, I did a quick google and there's lots of companies that sell them.

Try:

http://marksbolts.com

Look under shade systems.

I googled swap meet shade and a bunch of places came up. These are sturdy canopies but, like I said, it's a ton of gear. The 10' poles are the toughest to carry. Not the light weight solution. I'll probably throw a long ABS tube on the top or side of the camper to carry them.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info. I just bungie my poles to the yakima rack. Has worked well so far. A tube would be more professional looking for sure.