The Gray Whale Advocate Newsletter

Contents, both editorial and photographic are:

copyright 2000

Keith E. Jones

except the aircraft photos which are

copyright Gus Calderon

Hi everyone:

Our newsletter now goes out to over 500 Gray whale supporters. This issue is really an update about our new flydown trips. There have been so many requests for the air charter that I want to let everyone know what’s up with it. This will be the last newsletter of the year that emphasizes the business aspects of my trips. Remainder of the year will be information about the areas that I travel to in Baja each whale season. Next issue I will discuss the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve and talk about the land area around the lagoons.

For a full itinerary of the flydown go to this page:

www.greywhale.com/flydown.htm

I flew down this weekend for our trial test flight. Following is a detailed summary of the trip. The flight was wonderful! Imagine this. You’re sitting in a sleek twin engine airplane, comfortably reclining in cushioned leather seats, flying at an altitude of 8,500 feet. You look out the window to your right and see the rugged Pacific Ocean coastline through a misty haze. To your left you can see the brilliant blue, sun drenched Sea of Cortez. It is amazing.

After leaving the home field at Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California we landed in Tijuana to clear Mexican customs and immigration. From there we had a straight uninterrupted flight to Guerrero Negro. The total air time is about 2 1/2 hours. Because of the time it takes to clear customs our total travel time from airport to airport was around five hours. A very easy five hours.

Here is a photo of our charter plane and the very competent pilot.

Here is a photo of the passenger seating area.

Also, many of you want to come along on the February 17th-21st trip. That trip has been marked as full on the website for three months now. I made arrangements and we do have 5 spaces available now to join us for that date. This will be a flydown trip departing February 17th at noon and returning February 20th at around 5:00 PM California time.

This flydown trip will be priced slightly higher than any of my other trips. The price for this four day trip, including three days of great whale watching, is only $1,550.00.

Here are some important details about the flydown trips. The plane is a sleek and comfortable Beechcraft Baron twin engine. The cabin is not pressurized. We fly at an altitude of 9,500 to 10,000 feet. If you have any heart or respiratory condition please make certain that you are okay to travel at this altitude. Because the cabin is not pressurized there is more air noise than in a pressurized cabin.

Because this is a smaller airplane, the total passenger load capacity can be a factor. We must limit the load weight per two people to 360 pounds. For a group of four this is 720 pounds. This weight limit includes people and all bags. If you decide to book a trip and you will exceed this weight limit we do have options. These options include carrying bags down ahead of time on one of my drive down trips. That way the weight of your bags is not a factor.

Another option is to alter our fueling schedule. We limit the amount of fuel we purchase in Mexico because the cost is so much higher than in the United States. Over double in fact.

For overweight amounts up to 75 pounds total per trip we can carry less fuel from the United States. We must then take on more of the costly Guerrero Negro fuel. We would then pass the overweight charge along to you. This would be approximately $3 per pound!

These flights will depart from Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California. Departure time for all flights is 12:00 noon. When we send your confirmation package it will include information about getting there and places to stay if you need to spend the night prior to departure.

To view the itinerary for a three day trip go to this link:

www.greywhale.com/flydown.htm

We plan on giving you three trips out onto the lagoon. Two on Saturday, one on Sunday. Our regular drive down trips generally do not do two trips in a day. So on this special flydown trip you will likely get out on the water as much as many of our five day trips do.

Of course all of our trips are affected by weather conditions. We do not expect "bad" weather. Even though it will be winter, the climate in Guerrero Negro is extremely mild. This is a coastal desert climate. The temperature is controlled in large by the Pacific Ocean. Rain is rare. It does occur, but infrequently.

Here is a recap of possible weather problems. Again, I believe that any of these are unlikely based on my past experience. Since we are not in an El Nino or La Nina global climate condition this year, that is a plus for us!

1.) The weather conditions at Palomar Airport, at our Mexican Point of entry airport, and at the Guerrero Negro airport are important considerations that the pilot alone is qualified to make go or no/go judgements about. It is unlikely, but always a possibility, that a trip might be canceled due to bad weather conditions that would make it unsafe to land or to take off.

2.) Sometimes wind will cause the whale watching boats to cancel a trip. This is rare for the morning departures. It is more common to have afternoon trips canceled by wind. I have only experienced a few morning cancellations in my ten years of doing this.

3.) Should it rain while we are in Guerrero Negro it would affect what we are able to do. Most of our activity takes place outside, so bad weather is a bummer.

I have never recommended trip insurance for our drive down trips, because we go rain or shine. Because the U.S. weather could cancel a flydown trip, I want to suggest that any flydown clients at least consider the options. Here is a website that sells trip cancellation/interruption insurance. I don’t know anything about the business operation of this website, so I cannot make a referral of character.

Here is a second website that sells trip insurance.

That’s all for now.

Keith (baja) Jones

Baja Jones Adventure Travel

and coming soon:

www.whalesforkids.org

www.whales4kids.org