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Extremely High Diesel Prices

The pier at Turtle Bay, with Enrique’s fuel dock at the very end. The boats in the background are from last year’s Baja Ha-Ha. 

latitude/Richard
©Latitude 38 Media, LLC

"I want to give everyone doing a Baja Bash a heads-up on what Enrique has been charging for diesel at the pier in Turtle Bay," writes Leonard Lee of the San Diego-based Hunter Legend 40 Mi Casa.

"I’ve bought fuel in Turtle Bay for years, and usually paid the national fixed rate, plus an additional $1/gallon or so more because Turtle Bay is so remote. And I tipped.

"But on my way north this summer, Enrique charged me 35 pesos per liter —about $8 per gallon. I opted for just 100 liters, about 25 gallons. But when he came to deliver it, he had a huge jug that he said was 135 liters. And he said he had to pump it all into my boat because he didn’t have any way to measure a lesser amount.

"I told him that in that case I just wanted to have my five 5-gallon jugs filled. Well, he barely had enough fuel in his supposed 135-liter tank to fill my five 5-gallon jugs. Five gallons is just under 60 liters.

"To top it off, he asked me for a tip! 

"I got a little nervous about my fuel situation, so I walked up the hill in town to the Pemex station. I bought five gallons of diesel at 17 pesos a liter — less than half of what Enrique had charged me. When I walked down the pier to go to my dinghy, I was stopped by Enrique, who told me that I wasn’t allowed to bring ‘outside’ fuel on ‘his’ dock. I apologized for not knowing the custom, and he let me pass. Next time I come north, I’m going to carry a few more gallons so I don’t have to stop in Turtle Bay at all.

"By the way, I want to thank the Grand Poobah and others for the wonderful job of making last year’s Baja Ha-Ha such a great event. I hope to do another one someday."

Hans Petermann of Vamanos reports that Enrique charged him about $10/gallon for diesel. Fortunately, Petterman had pesos with him, because Enrique was going to use an exchange rate of 13 to 1, far from the official rate of 18 to 1.

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