Joining the Hidden Port Yacht Club

What an amusing an interesting morning! Yesterday when we met Bill and Tey, they told us about the Puerto Escondido Yacht Club which operates out of the marina 3 miles down the road where we go for internet every day or two.
http://www.hiddenportyachtclub.com/


 For $20/year you can get a laminated membership card. For $90 you get a HPYC (Hidden Port Yacht Club) burgee to fly on your boat, two t-shirts with the yacht club name and insignia, and two memberships with laminated membership cards. This membership, of course, gives you reciprocal privileges to most all yacht clubs in the U.S., which is the main reason we joined. However, the yacht club is also a non-profit organization which, among other activities, pays for scholarships for many children from ranchos in the vicinity to attend the Internado (boarding) school nearby, provides sailing lessons for free to any local kids, and other things. The kids attend school during the week, then return to their homes every weekend to work on the family rancho. The Yacht Club holds a LoretoFest event at the end of every April and raises money to continue their local works. Last year they raised $14,000, which goes a long way down here! See the photo which includes Dan Beck, the yacht club commodore, Tey, the Vice-Commodore, Cathryn, and Brenda Beck, Dan’s wife. We sat on the porch at their home for two hours getting acquainted, filling out the paperwork for membership (which only took 5 minutes) and discussing the local community. Dan tells us our membership will be announced on the morning marine radio broadcast tomorrow – ha! We’ve been invited to their home for dinner Thursday night, and Brenda plans to make chicken enchiladas for the occasion. Tey will bring dessert, and I’m to provide an appetizer.




Early this afternoon while we were sitting outside our RV reading, a nice pickup truck drove up with signage saying “Municipalidad de Loreto” on the side, and 3 men piled out. Using Cathryn’s limited Spanish and their limited English, we came to understand they wanted to collect $15/night for our stay on the beach. Knowing this was an outlandish rate for a place with no amenities, Cathryn said that was “too expensive” and that we’d leave if we had to pay that much. They then asked how long we intended to stay (one week, we responded), and said they’d let us stay a full week for the 3-day rate of $45. We paid. They gave us a completely official looking receipt with stamps and signatures and went on their way. Cathryn then wandered over to the next campsite where Manuel, on hearing our story, rolled his eyes (he works for the federal government) and said the City of Loreto has no jurisdiction whatsoever, as it’s a public beach owned by the federal government. He lamented “Oh, I’m in the wrong business!” Other nearby campers had also paid these same guys, and apparently it’s an ongoing dispute between the Feds and the City and the campers. We still feel it’s a good deal ($6/night) and they do provide garbage pickup and pit toilets (which we don’t have to use this year!) We just hope the money goes to some municipal use rather than to line the pockets of these fellows. If so, we don’t mind at all.