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.

Still in La Cruz, but looking to sail south

23 January 2018 | La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
Pat - Cloudy
Today is Tuesday January 23, 2018.

Melodie and I had a good holiday season. She visited family back in Milwaukee and I made an appearance there during the week of Christmas-New Years. Temperatures in the single digits and below….it was COLD. But it was good to see family and we had a nice visit.

I returned to Starshine in the Marina at La Cruz and continued to troubleshoot a problem in our fuel system. We were seeing bubbles in our Racor fuel filter. The internet said it was a supply side vacuum leak. I had a very difficult time trying to locate the leak. Several other boaters we know had a similar problem, that was tracked to the shut off valve at the fuel tank. I was able to blow air past our shut off valve, so I thought that might be the culprit. I changed the valve, but it didn’t make the bubbling go away. Finally we switched out the entire Racor unit, going from a fancy dual unit to a simpler single unit. That solved the problem. We will either rebuild or replace the fancy dual unit sometime down the road.

We finished our time in the marina, and with the fuel issue solved we moved to the anchorage. It’s been a little rolly, but we deployed our “Flopper Stopper” and it has attenuated the rolling somewhat.

We’ve been enjoying the many restaurants in La Cruz and going out with friends, both land based and other boaters. The photo was taken from the balcony of one of our land based friends.

I got some dental work done in Bucerias, the small town between La Cruz and Nuevo Vallarta. The cleaning was $36 USD and two cavities filled was $75. All done in a brand new facility by an English speaking dentist.

We were going to head south last week, but got waylaid by the weather. A large “swell train” came down from the north and caused there to be some really big waves in the area. We chose to stay here in La Cruz to let the weather pass. That was a week ago today. It’s looking like we may have a window this coming Thursday or Friday. We’ll have to see.

My friend Rich from my Club Nautique days came to Puerto Vallarta for a vacation with his sister. He gave me a shout via Facebook and we were able to get together for lunch down in Marina Vallarta. It was good to catch up, having been about a year and a half since we last saw one another. I was also able to have dinner with my friend Arnstein. He delivered a brand new Jeaneau 54 from San Diego to Nuevo Vallarta. Club Nautique is opening a charter base at Paradise Village. It was their first boat to arrive for their estimated 4-6 boat fleet.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here almost three months so far this season. We are enjoying the warm weather, but wish the water was warmer too. It was in the low 80’s when we first arrived, but now it’s in the mid 70’s. It makes for a brisk jump in the water, but it’s not too bad after a swim around the boat.

That’s all for now. The next big thing on our calendar is finding a place to watch the Super Bowl.
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