Puerto Penasco

Arriving in PP we quickly set about exploring the town, countryside, beaches and a local bar or two. We found that in many ways it met our expectations. Bath-warm water at white sand beaches, plenty of tourists, at least a couple of RV parks, what seemed to be communities made up entirely of American and Canadian retirees, and a thriving marina and fish market.

We arrived on Friday just after lunch and by dinner had made friends with a couple of friendly Arizonans who gave us the lowdown on what`s where and when`s what. October is one of the slowest months as the summer tourists are gone and those who will stay the winter have generally not arrived and are not likely to arrive until after American Thanksgiving or even until after Christmas (these assertions were later verified by various peddlers, hustlers, innocent bystanders and our inn-keep Oscar). Not only that, said they, but the recession has hit rather hard and for the past three years, nowhere close to as many people had been spending the winter as in years previous.

We had, in our explorations, come to remark that there were an awful lot of for sale, for rent and under construction (I use that term loosely, as it looked as if many had not been worked on for some time) properties. We began to doubt.

By Sunday afternoon I had us sorted out with regards to a shop where we would be able to build a couple or three Vestas, a steel supplier, a list of possible rental houses in the neighborhood, groceries and fine accommodations for a week at the Dreamweaver.

That done, we continued to explore the city and the environs, but in doing so remarked to ourselves that it had been at best mostly sunny, but that by 2 in the afternoon the sky would go to haze and even in the morning would not regularly exceed 80% clearness. This, in addition to the lackluster economy had us thinking about exploring further down the coast. Grandad told me that Puerto Penasco had not been his first choice, but that being so close to the border, it seemed a logical one if we were to decide to run any kind of solar dried produce exporting business. He told me about a town roughly 5 hours south that is considered a gem by the sizable ex-pat community that inhabits it. Fraser bade me do a comparison of the available solar data, and using a handy dandy NASA database of more information than I know what to do with I was able to determine that Guaymas is in fact at least 10% sunnier than Puerto Penasco. Further research indicated that Guaymas is closer to productive agricultural regions and that by comparison, Puerto Penasco is something of a party town filled with rowdy teenagers.

That settled it. We would venture to explore Guaymas before planting firm roots in Puerto Penasco. Buuuut.... seeing as we`d paid for a weeks accommodations in advance, we figured we had earned a bit of a break and so have been reclining, reading, drinking Bacardi Anejo, playing cribbage and going to the beach.

We go to Guaymas tomorrow.

The Trip

In six and a half days Fraser and I made our way 4400km to the beautiful, if down with the times, seaside town of Puerto Penasco. We didn`t touch the radio hardly at all and entertained ourselves by playing guessing games and observing the countryside by day and with cribbage by night.

The trip was uneventful and for the most part without adventure, the most exciting deviation being to explore a large wind farm we passed through on the way down.

Near Clinton, Oklahoma at the Blue Canyon Wind Farm, one of the largest wind farms in the US. That wind turbine is 220 feet tall with 115 ft. blades generating 1.65MW!

A refresher on Solar Fire etc.

Visit http://bit.ly/cf1ozx for a quick read about the technologies, the vision and to see some pics of the tech.

Symington Solar

A new chapter in my solar saga is beginning! The originator of the Solar Fire technologies, my grandfather Fraser Symington, has asked that I accompany him to Mexico for the winter so that we might a) escape the Canadian cold (he is 90 years old, after all) and b) establish if/how someone can turn a profit using his Symington Solar Arrays.

The case being thus, my first priority is keeping granddad safe and well and second is to facilitate whatever it is he decides to do. He has been tinkering with and developing the technology for close to 20 years but this is the first time he has been free to really pursue a long term initiative where utilization of the tech would be the central focus.

As evidenced by previous blog posts, essays and websites, I had gone a slightly different direction with the technology than my grandfather advises; he says “Make money with it and the technology will spread automatically.” Fair’s fair and I’m now willing to give his way a shot. Based on our discussions preceding our trip I would most likely do things differently than he plans to, but I really want to see his ideas tested, his theories proved or disproved and I want him to have the satisfaction of seeing his invention fly according to his designs. That being the case I plan to merely act as an extension of his will though I’ll certainly play devil’s advocate when the inclination arises.

Fraser’s plan is to head to Mexico. Reasoning: a) close enough to Canada that should medical problems arise, we’re not pooched, b) we can drive there and so bring down prefab pieces, tools and more gear than we would otherwise be able to c) I speak the language, d) American $. Though we are not married to any idea in particular, we have set our sights on Puerto Peñasco, a town 60 miles from the US Arizona border that is sometimes called “Arizona’s Beach” due to it being the closest seaside to Phoenix and Tuscon.

PP lies near the apex of the Sea of Cortes which is a deep bay formed by the Baja Peninsula. The waters are warm, the tourists and American retirees are numerous and we figure we just might be able to make a buck there.

Off we go in our little Kia Spectra, full to the brim!