We had suspected that perhaps Reno was an outlaw who had gone south. But no, he was the son of bajacaliforniado's. Perhaps his parents had been outlaws? Perhaps the grandparents? It didn't seem to matter, because in Baja, records are erased.

I asked Reno about the road from Chapala to Puertocitas. He said, "Stop by a tire store first." I said, "Even with clearance?" He drank Tecate, and said, "I've known guys who've lost three tires on that route." "Cars?" "Careful drivers. Monster four-by-fours." When the sun went down, I paddled to Bahìa de Los Angeles with a headlamp for light.

I passed grounded Pangas, and people grilling fish or drinking beer under Palapas. Everything was scattered, each giving space to the other, the way it should be. Some people would get up from their chairs and wave, or tell me to catch a fish, or "look at the guy out there!" Fish were jumping, I couldn't tell what kind, only that they were relatively large, and making my trip rather wet.

Since I was paddling just three or four feet from shore, I was protected against the violent winds howling through the canyons of Bahìa de Los Angeles and out into the windswept islands of Baja's most picturesque bay. But I learned quickly that if I paddled on the edge of the wind line, and lifted the hull wind-side, my kayak would jet five miles per hour faster.

Since a Naval architect designed Sonora, her entire hull is like a centerboard, and she holds a line steady. There was no wind to my right, and blaring to my left. I traveled on a line so smooth and silent that the only noise was the hum of the wind, the rattling of the water against my bow, and the fish jumping.

From here I could see the white lights and flickering neon of Bahìa de Los Angeles - reportedly named for the white islands in the distance which resemble angels, but the city itself hasn't grown since Steinbeck griped about too many new buildings in 1940. A thousand people, if that. The Angel Islands; fifty-mile long Isla de la Guarda, for example, is one of the most pristine and untouched islands in the world; but sparse and void of little other than reptiles and scrub.