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.

End of the Season - Paradise Village Marina

04 May 2017 | Nuevo Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit Mexico
Pat Sunny
Today is Thursday May 4th, 2017.

Lots of things have changed since I lasted posted to the blog. Melodie and I moved to Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta which is half way between La Cruz and Puerto Vallarta. We changed our plan to summer the boat in Mazatlán. Starshine will stay in Paradise Village for the summer of 2017. This area has never had a direct hurricane hit. The dock we will be on is down an estuary so it should be well protected. Plus we have been enjoying the hot tub and pool. It is especially nice at the yacht club as it’s like our own private pool and hot tub since very few people use it.

We’ve been busy making Starshine ready to fend for herself. We have contracted with a local to look after her while we are gone, but we do our best to make her ready before we leave. We’ve done all the usual end of season maintenance. This year we decided to actually wash the sails, rather than just rinse them with fresh water. Wow! That was a chore. But we were glad we did it as the head sails were kind of dirty, especially at the tops of the sails. We got them all dried and have them folded away in their sail bags. They will be stowed inside the boat.
We’ve been trying to eat through the food we’ve purchased this season. That has led to some eclectic meals. We found that we’d eaten out quite a bit this season. It’s so cheap to eat out down here we figure we’d enjoy it while we could.

Our plans this summer are to tour the western US by truck camper. We’ve made a down payment on a big Dodge dually pickup and will travel to Dallas to pick her up next week. It’s a 2007 Dodge 3500 4x4 5.9 turbo diesel with dual rear wheels. We haven’t found the camper yet, but we have a short list to look at once we arrive back in AZ.

Speaking of AZ, we leave the boat on Sunday May 7 and take a red eye bus to Guaymas (near San Carlos) were the Acura is parked. We arrive at noon on Monday, then we’ll drive to AZ. Catch a plane to Dallas and go pick up the truck (assuming it looks the same in person and the test drive is satisfactory). Then we drive back to AZ and get the Acura. Then our search for the truck camper (sits in the truck bed, doesn’t have its own wheels) begins in earnest.

It is very quiet in the marina these days, most of the boaters have gone north. The morning radio net has up to 60+ check ins during the season, but now there are around 20. This morning only 5 boats checked in from our marina. Our friends on Wind Dancer have contracted with Mustad Marine to deliver Wind Dancer north to San Diego. I’m looking forward to having dinner with them tonight and to say hello to my friend Arnstein. Arnstein is the guy I sailed with in the fall from here to St John USVI via the Panama Canal.

This will probably be the last blog post this season. We expect to be in the SF Bay Area in June for some medical appointments. Then our schedule is very open. We are hoping to attend the BACC Snakes to the Lake again in the fall (no dates on that yet).

Hope everything is good wherever you are.
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