> -> On 06-11-95  16:33, Bob Hirschfeld got back to Jackson Harding
 
> Sorry to go off topic, Bob, but it seems my feeds to aren't
> getting through to you, either here or in the echo
> you moderate..
 
Actually, I moderate LAW, PARALEGAL, CIVLIB, DADS, VFALSAC and am 
co-moderator of RIGHTS. Which one????
 
> Please send a response to this message. Thanks!
 
OK. This is it.
 
> BTW, hope your trip to Mexico went well!
 
It did. I'm trying to get down there several times a month, at least. It's a 
460 mile round trip from Phoenix to Puerto Penasco, Sonora. The boat is 
stored there. Midsummer weather there is beastly: almost as hot as Phoenix, 
because the desert extends right up to the ocean, but, of course, higher 
humidity. Puerto Penasco is an almost unique ecological location: the desert 
meets the shallow ocean, producing unique species of flora and fauna. Annual 
rainfall is very, very low.
 
Because of the huge tide variations, there are no floating docks for pleasure 
boats down there. (There are some huge concrete-piered fixed ones for the 
shrimp boats, with long lines; one climbs down ladders to board the shrimp 
boats at low tide.)
 
Thus, every pleasure boating expedition from Puerto Penasco requires taking 
the trailered boat to a commercial launching ramp, where they attach a wierd 
tractor  (*) to the trailer hitch, you get everyone on board, and they launch 
you. Later, when you come back, they come back down the "ramp" with your 
trailer to pick you up, passengers and all. There is an enormous difference 
in the actual ramp location, if, as I seem to be doing, one launches near 
high tide, and stay out long enough so that return is at low tide. Phases of 
the moon being what they are, the tide schedule slips each day, and we're now 
in a period where it is convenient to launch as we're approaching high tide, 
and come back in on the other side of the max, at about the same tide level.
 
Low tide at the launching ramp is a challenge, because the dredged out 
channel where the ramp is located, at the mouth of the shrimp-boat / Mexican 
Navy harbor,  gets much narrower, and maneuvering is tight. Two trips ago, I 
forgot to release the steel cable which ties the rudder in the down position, 
before trying to approach the ramp. The rudder hit a rock and obligingly 
swung up and out of harm's way. But the steel cable snapped. I've replaced 
it. On that same trip, I had the mast up and was nearly on my way before I 
realized that I had forgotten to attach the clip-on mast-top windvane. So I 
went out without it. No problem, lots of other ways to sense wind direction. 
But next time, I'll try to remember that step in the mast-raising drill 
sequence. :-)
 
(*) Wierd Tractors: Four truck wheels on a submersible chassis; about ten 
feet higher than the wheel chassis is an old car engine (exposed), a steering 
wheel, pedals, gearshift and a seat. An angled driveshaft goes down to the 
differential. This contraption allows the tractor to go way down the ramp 
even at high tide, keeping the Mexican driver dry.
 
I would guess the ratio of ramp-launched power boats to sailboats at Puerto 
Penasco is about 10 to 1. Lots of folks, however, launch Hobies, Prindles, 
sailing dinghies, etc., directly from the beaches.
--- DB 1.58/004910
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