Baja Shoot: Done!

If you've ever wanted to know why we named this show Breaking Down you'll want to watch this episode - you will be left with no gap in your understanding of the title.  Thank god we had our fearless guide (seen below).

Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye!  Venturing the "Junk Yard of the Sea" - a barren, wide open, wind slammed beach that's filled with every imaginable piece of merchandise that ever had the ability fall off of shipsand float in the water.  We had to do some beach combing to see what we'd find!  Only problem is it's impossible to get to.  What could go wrong?  To this day I haven't shot an episode that went so far beyond the expectations of the original intent.  This had turned from a 10 - 20 minute show into what I imagine to be enough to fit an hour time slot on television.  For 7 straight days we filmed and in each 7 of those days something was happening.  I am, to say the least, exhausted and recharged at the same time and anticipating editing 13 hours of footage.  Baja California!

Whenever you're planning for something to go a certain way you try so hard to make contingencies for the unexpected.  This was one big contingency.  The idea that I would travel down to the home base town of Bahia de Tortuga (Turtle Bay) just off the Pacific coast of central Baja, sleep for the night, jump in my 2 wheel drive vehicle, muscle our way through the sands of the jerry rigged road along the caost, and eventually get to the fabled beach was by far the dumbest thing that I could have ever dreamed.  Upon arriving to Tortuga it was very evident, almost right way, that we would NOT be able to tackle this road.  GETTING to Tortuga was an episode within itself but figuring out how to get to this blasted beach turned this into an epic!

Baja is a very raw place.  There is basically one good road that stretches through the entire 1000 mile peninsula.  Other than that you have to have some moxie to get around.  The friendly fishing town of Bahia de Tortuga is far removed from the main road and poses a fair amount of difficulty getting there.  For the most part people have it figured out and you can get around relatively safely but there is a very good reason why the people of Baja are VERY good at fixing their cars and VERY good and patching up flat tires.  Almost everyone who drives has a car-jack and some sort of tool chest in their vehicle.  Lliving in this fast, sleek, LARGE country of ours I forget that aspect of ruggedness that exists in Baja and planned the trip based on my feeble understanding of this very special place.  And the best part is, the people of Baja understand that us Americano's, for the most part, have no $*&#@!^ idea what we're doing. 

--J.O'Ly.