Sailing on Starshine

Vessel Name: Starshine
Vessel Make/Model: Outbound 44
Hailing Port: San Francisco, CA
Crew: Pat and Melodie Williams
About: We have been "working the plan" since 2004 when Pat began taking sailing lessons. That lead to a few sailing vacations on sailboats. Melodie took some classes too. We purchased our boat in 2011.
27 February 2019 | Alameda California
26 February 2019 | Mazatlan to San Francisco
26 February 2019 | Mazatlan Sinaloa Mexico
01 May 2018 | El Cid - Mazatlan
09 April 2018 | Marina Mazatlan
07 March 2018 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
23 January 2018 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
04 December 2017 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
24 October 2017 | Oakland, CA
04 September 2017 | South Lake Tahoe CA
04 September 2017 | Culver OR
04 September 2017 | Culver OR
04 September 2017 | Redmond Oregon
17 July 2017 | Polson Montana
31 May 2017 | Our new Camper in Ira Texas
04 May 2017 | Nuevo Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit Mexico
04 April 2017 | La Cruz Anchorage
12 March 2017 | Chamela Bay
12 March 2017 | Tenicatita Bay
18 February 2017 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
Recent Blog Posts
27 February 2019 | Alameda California

Goodbye Starshine

Melodie and I have accepted an offer on Starshine. We close escrow on March 8, 2019.

26 February 2019 | Mazatlan to San Francisco

The Baja Bash

Preparing for the Baja Bash (the trip north from Mexico to California). They call it “The Bash” because the prevailing winds and waves are from the northwest. So you are basically going uphill (if that makes any sense).

26 February 2019 | Mazatlan Sinaloa Mexico

Summer 2018

As many of you who have followed our blog over the last four years you’ll note that I have not given it any attention since last spring. So let me fill in the blanks.

01 May 2018 | El Cid - Mazatlan

Marina El Cid - Mazatlan

Today is Tuesday May 1, 2018.

09 April 2018 | Marina Mazatlan

Marina Mazatlan

Today is Monday April 9, 2018.

07 March 2018 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

Leaving Banderas Bay

Today is Wednesday March 7, 2018.

Anchorage in La Cruz

29 January 2017 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
Pat and Melodie
Today is Sunday January 29, 2017.

We have moved from the Marina at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle to the anchorage outside the marina. We made the move yesterday and had our first night at anchor this season. Even though the La Cruz Marina has quite a bit of surge, there is much more movement at anchor. Melodie had to go up top for a while to avoid feeling sick. We deployed our “Flopper Stopper” to help minimize the amount of roll we experience. We use our whisker pole to accomplish this. The whisker pole is normally on a track on the front of our mast. We run the pole down the track until the pole is parallel to the water and sticking out 90 degrees from the boat. The flopper stopper is a hinged square of stainless steel about 3 x 3 feet in size.

We had a good week exploring some of the local sites here in La Cruz and the next town closer to Puerto Vallarta, Bucerias. On Tuesday January 24th we went into Bucerias for a celebration and the Blessing of the Fleet (fishing pangas). There were indigenous Indians performing dancing at the church, horseman with dancing horses, and marching bands. The church was decorated with tons of fresh flowers and smelled of lilies as soon as you walked in. We watched the fleet of about 20 pangas (large open boats about 30 long with a large hand tiller outboard motor). The fleet were decorated with ribbons and balloons and they came ashore to receive their blessings. They just drive their boat full speed up onto the beach. Tons of spectators about; including on the beach. No safety barriers in Mexico…..better move! We stopped at a great restaurant near the beach and had an awesome lunch. Tons of delicious food for the equivalent of $5 US per plate. It would have been about $15 in the States. The restaurant was 90% locals and had only one other table with gringos.

Later in the week we’ve met a few other cruisers and either had lunch or dinner with them. Our Canadian friends Susan and Brian have joined us for dinner and we went out to dinner with some of their other Canadian friends. You might be surprised, but a nice dinner for two with a glass of wine or beer is only $15 USD here. That’s how we can go out to dinner so often. Melodie and I had dinner in AZ earlier this month and it cost us $65USD! During dinner there was a very enjoyable group playing great music. After dinner there was a live band playing in the main square. We listened to the music and even danced to a few songs. It’s nice to see the local community get together every Saturday evening for Music and dancing in the square. The music ended about 10:00 pm and we called it an evening.

On the ride out to the boat (in the dark, except for our flashlight) we snagged a fishing net just outside the marina. Why would a fisherman put a net just outside the channel when there are 25 boats anchored in the area? Anyway, it didn’t foul our prop and I was able to lift the motor and get it untangled. I’ll announce the hazard on the radio net tomorrow morning so others are aware of it.

Our schedule has changed. The boat is staying in La Cruz for a few more weeks. Melodie is going back to the States to take care of some things. We really wanted to get south and enjoy Tenicatita. That said, we feel blessed that we have the flexibility and the resources that allows for changes in plans.

Starshine is looking good. We washed her on Wednesday. We often pay to have her washed, but it’s good to do it yourself too. It allows you to find little things that need fixing. I found the same thing back when I rode motorcycles. That loose screw or crack in an important screw or bolt.

We rode the dinghy into the farmer’s market this morning. Now that we’re at anchor we’re using our dinghy as the family car. She started right up and is running good. We bought some eggs, coffee, baklava, and fresh bread. Melodie had a chicken taco and I had a pork tamale. Melodie always gets about a quart of fresh squeezed orange juice to drink. They squeeze it there in front of you…delicious. There is another Outbound here in the anchorage. We stopped by to say hello and see the changes they recently made to their boat. It’s always fun to see the variations of the Outbounds out there. There are only about 60 of them built so far. There are three here in Banderas Bay.

Well that’s about all I know.
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