After waking up from my nap, Chuck, Val and I, went for a walk along Matamoros Ave. and there were a lot of kids around, locals as well as USA, not as much as in past years, but certainly more than last year, a little disapointed to find that a couple of the bars raised their prices for the occasion and couple other bars serving draft bear in 6oz plastic cup for $2 bucks, come on!!! for repeat tourism there needs to be a little more Mexico flare and a little less USA biz.
I brought 9 college kids, all ready to party and as we were coming down the most common frase I heard from them was "I hope I brought enough money to have fun", which leads me to believe that they might end up short with the USA prices in Mexico!!! the majority were bearly 18, geez, my 14 yrs old looks more 18 than them!!
Unfortunatelly, I guess, this one might not stay in Mexico, meaning how expensive is getting!! or is just me?
Depending how I feel tonight, even in Sundays I found myself building this shuttle service, I might take a strol down Calle 13 and the Sandy Beach area and check it out. :eek3:
In the road down from Tucson there were a lot of cars coming down and once we connected to route 85 the numbers double and it was almost a steady line of cars coming down, so the kids area here, defenitely need more and also Mexican prices for a better turnout next year!!
Inks... sorry I missed you guys last night... Barb didn't get back from the states until late last night... when are you all heading back to the otherside??? I would like to get in a visit before you all leave...
Chuck and Val are leaving this morning and I am here until Tuesday morning, I'll stop by later on, going to the Mayan to talk biz this am, we could have a drink at Jim's
I need to see you too, Eduardo. Let's meet up today if at all possible. Don't just swing by the office, though, because I'm out running around. You can stop by virtually any bar/restaurant and they'll do you the favor of calling me for you if your cell doesn't work here. Please do! This can be of great interest...
I was down all this past week. It was pretty quiet. However, starting Friday the ASU and UofA kids were rolling in. Saturday up and down sandy beach it looked pretty busy. if i were guessing about 60% of past years.
Hey Joe... I just got back from my bike ride to the malecon (playin Dodge Cars & Trucks)... the Sharkbite had a good crowd in front, they were doing 2 story beer bongs... not too much of anything else going on... but hell it's only monday afternoon... I'm sure Garret is happy at the Sharkbite...
I wonder how busy it's been down on the Mirador....Manny's/Pink Cadillac?
Sat with Manny for awhile last night watching the crowd in his place. Not like the old days, of course, but still a good turnout. Real good compared to some others. The event at the beach didn't do well, but Manny's, Baja and Ice House seemed packed.
I talked to several Hotels and restaurants yesterday, the over whelming voice was that things are not too bad as a matter of fact one owner told me that this was his best spring break in 3 years. Joe told me he is smiling a lot these days as the crowds have been good out at Cholla Bay. I will be posting some numbers to several sites this week to substantiate my unscientific poll.
I can't help but wonder if it is deemed busier simply because all three AZ Universities are having Spring Break this week. Typicall they never tend to have them on the same week.
I can tell you that I went to make my reservation for June at the Penasco Del Sol and they are totally booked this week and Semana Santa. I can't remember the last time I saw them totally booked for anything, especially given the number of people who stay out on Sandy Beach now.
Semana Santa has been a very busy time in Penasco with Mexicans the last few years....particularly at hotels, etc. that are less expensive. My rv park fills up that week....I believe last year there were about 20 staying in one of the sites!:stir::evil:
I was looking at some photos on azcentral and felt myself longing for the days when camping on Sandy Beach was 6 rows deep of trucks and tents. The Reef looked empty and I see they have hired dancers now...never used to have to do that!
I know that the whole 'gang' thing seems to be the style now, but I couldn't help noticing in the pictures that it seemed like everyone was doing it. I wish we had archives from the 'old forum' where probably many of the same people here used to decry Spring Breakers but now covet them. Going over my old Spring Break pictures it was all pretty much Whisky Tango, not Gang Banger. I wonder if this doesn't contribute to the negative image?
Bring back the Wife beater, the Mullet, and Neon Oakleys!
I agree...I was looking at those pictures too and it looked like a bunch of thugs! I seriously would be nervous to be out and surrounded by most of the people they showed in the pictures. What happened to the kids man?
Thats what a lot of the young people look like in Laughlin too! Maybe we're just getting older Jamie....next thing you know we'll be all crotchety like most of the codgers on here!
Hey all, I have had very little time this week and haven't gone over to check out the photos. I'm stealing a minute just to see what's happening here in the forum. But let me add that I've been running around Penasco, stopping by the hangouts late at night sometimes if needed, been to the RV parks too, and I'm impressed with how nice the kids all are. Well-mannered, respectful and very, very nice. Could it be that reporters are cherry-picking what photos to take just to give a certain impression? Nah...couldn't happen...forgive my cynicism...
I'm not saying everyone down here is a liar. I'm just saying that sometimes, truth can be as elastic as the ties on a sting bikini.
Here's a look at a few of the most common:
1. "I can stand. I can stand. I can stand," young man crawling on the sidewalk after nearly capsizing his three friends who were struggling to hold him up.
2. "I do business in Phoenix, but I thought, rather than hang out there for the weekend, I'd come down here. I didn't know it was spring break," self-described married Mormon man who took off his wedding ring and was sipping a shot of Johnnie Walker.
3. "Let's just cuddle. Come with me and we can just cuddle," spike-haired blond man with his arms around a mini dress-wearing woman whom he was imploring as they walked down the main drag in the Mirador.
4. "I can drink all night and not get drunk. Like, all night. Like right now, this is, like, my fifth beer, and I'm fine," drunk woman.
5. "It's going to get crazy in here. C'mon ladies, wet T-shirt contest is going to start in just a few minutes. It's going to get crazy in here," emcee at the Ice House nightclub, where the crowd was sparse and at no point did it look like it was going to get much of anything, let alone crazy.
6. "Hey you guys, the Sand Sluts just got here. Things are getting crazy," same emcee describing a short bus painted "Sand Sluts Party Crew" out of which came no sand, four crewmembers and three women who were not dressed provocatively and appeared to be crew girlfriends.
And the one comment was supposedly from the DJ who said: ummm.. how would u know what did and did not happen at the ice house... only the photographer was here... !!!!! i would know... i was the DJ !!!!...
I can not say really much about this weekend, since I have spend the past couple of days returning U of A students back home, well, there home, anyway, I spent from Friday to Tuesday in PP and what I personally saw were hundreds of college people hanging mainly between Baja Cantina and Manny's Beach Club, some at Pink Cadillac, but they all left in a matter of a second somewhere else, since Mirador is my "hood" I did not have to drive anywhere.
As I was able to see the sunset cruise ships were doing pretty good, 2 or 3 at a time on the water.
Most defenitly the numbers of people is not the same as 4 or 5 years ago, were all the bars were practicaly packed, it will take time for that to happen again, however most of the guys and gals I have spoken to they all say they will be back and not necesarely for Spring Break, specially now that they have lived it themselves.
However two different groups complain about the Taxistas overcharging, $20 buck from Sandy Beach to the Old Port/Malecon.
By the way while I was checking the bars last weekend I did not notice a single photografer anywhere, but then again I can not be at all places at once and neither can he!!
I had a 14' Hobie, and then an 18' Hobie copy that I built. I absolutely loved 'em. I had both over 30 mi. offshore in the Pacific. To my way of thinking, they are a thing of beauty. Speeding across the water at high velocity with nothing but the sound of water against the hull is an indescribable rush to me. A motor was the last thing I wanted on my Hobies.
I had a 14' Hobie, and then an 18' Hobie copy that I built. I absolutely loved 'em. I had both over 30 mi. offshore in the Pacific. To my way of thinking, they are a thing of beauty. Speeding across the water at high velocity with nothing but the sound of water against the hull is an indescribable rush to me. A motor was the last thing I wanted on my Hobies.
When I Had my Hobie 16, I was living back east...and had to launch somewhat inland, and sail several miles down some channels to get to open ocean.....actually considered rigging up a small kicker outboard to get to the open water. Wound up driving about an hour further to launch in the bay (Great South Bay....Long Island, NY).
If you were able to rig a 7.5 or 9 hp Merc on a Hobie 16, that thing would scream!!!! Once you get the hulls up a bit out of the water, there is almost no wetted surface.... Just under sail power, I used to wiz by the power boats in the channels....since I had no speed restrictions under sail. That close to the water, zipping along at 12-14 knots on one hull is unbelievable!
I picked up a used Prindle 16 last summer for $700.Most of the used cats have bad tramps though. I had a Hobie 16 for years. Jury is still out for me on the Hobie vs. Prindle argument. I think both boats have good and bad. Took mine down ,plunked it on the playa and gave the trailer away with the old Hobie. There is almost no resale value to these things.
I picked up a used Prindle 16 last summer for $700.Most of the used cats have bad tramps though. I had a Hobie 16 for years. Jury is still out for me on the Hobie vs. Prindle argument. I think both boats have good and bad. Took mine down ,plunked it on the playa and gave the trailer away with the old Hobie. There is almost no resale value to these things.
If the Prindle had asymetric hulls...then I'd say they were pretty equal....but if not, you'd need a centerboard/daggerboard on the Prindle, which would give you additional drag, therefore slower.
The problem with resale, particularly in the hotter states was the hulls getting soft spots and the tramps deteriorate....
As for sailing a catamaran is the sports car of sailboats. My current cat is a Trak 16, which I keep in Cholla in my boat house and take out on the bay when ever I get the chance. I've owned both the 14' & 16' Hobbies, and about the only down fall with them is nose diving when flying. The Trak has a very simular hull design as the Prindles, but what set it apart from all others is the ease of its rudder control. Running, flying or just crusing there is no need for the death grip to stay on course. The only design modification I can think of is couzie-beer holders.
As for the "death grip"....I never experienced it on my Hobie 16.
The one thing I really disliked about the Hobie (and I'm sure it held true for any of the small cats), was the mast stepping. There were aftermarket gizmos that were developed to make sure you didn't destroy your vehicle or kill someone if the mast popped out of the socket while stepping it. I was fortunate to have the trunk open on my 72 Chevelle when mine popped out and went sliding forward...into the trunk! It could have taken out my rear window!!!
Hey...it wasn't a '69, but what the hey...it did ok!
I saw a fantastic restoration of a 72 in Penasco, one night on the Mirador....bright red....driven by one of the kids hanging out....by the time I went to take a closer look, it had left...
So...in an attempt in getting the thread back on topic, ( and I've been guilty of going off topic here too:rofl: ), does anybody have numbers on the turnout for this year's spring break? Did all the "good" PR help?
Sub, what are you saying? I thought the lady with you at La Curva was your girlfriend!!! :eek3:
LOL she still is! I just think the colorful Hobie sails look like a gay-pride parade when they're all out there. It didn't help that the first Hobie I bought was from a guy of questionable orientation and his 'partner'. Hey, don't ask; don't tell! Whatever floats your boat. Different strokes for different folks ya know?
Since many question statistical information and I do not have any, all I can say is that many people has been saying that it has been the best Spring Break of the last 3 years, and it kept me pretty busy I might add, so next year I might have to rent a couple of vans, an as they say when in doubt......contact RockyPointRides.com