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.

Summer 2018

26 February 2019 | Mazatlan Sinaloa Mexico
Pat Williams
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.

Starshine stayed in Mazatlan throughout the summer of 2018. We stayed onboard through mid-July, but were still unable to solve the fuel issue. Much of this was my hesitancy to dive into the fuel supply system. We decided we needed a break so we put the boat to bed and came back to Arizona and jumped in our truck camper. By the way it sure is hot in Mazatlan in July.

We had originally hoped to travel east and visit Nova Scotia. Our late departure from Mazatlan put a damper on that plan. We did head east, but only as far as Milwaukee where Melodie is from. We mostly made a bee line for her family home; stopping at a few sites on the way. Santa Fe and Taos NM were on Melodies list of places to see. It feels so remote in New Mexico with the open space and colorful sunsets. We took shelter from a tornado warning in a Kansas Walmart one evening. Think the Walmart would have been safer than a truck camper? Stopping to visit the first homestead site was interesting. They are trying to restore the prairie at the site, as the homesteading really destroyed most of the prairie ecosystem in the US.

We stopped for a nice visit at Melodie's sister in La Cross WI on the Mississippi. We spent some more time visiting family in Milwaukee. The real camping trip began as we made our way back toward Arizona.

We stopped in Minneapolis MN and saw some old friends from my Navy days. Then we made our way to South Dakota, where we spent a few weeks. We stopped to see more of my family in S/E South Dakota. We made Ellsworth AFB a base camp over the Labor Day weekend, plus some. We saw Mt Rushmore, the Badlands, Wall Drug, the Minuteman Missile Museum, among many other sights.

Melodie and I had both been to the Black Hills and South Dakota as kids and it was interesting to see it again as adults. The sites were much less busy and crowded many years ago, especially Mt Rushmore. We both prefer how it used to be. However, you can still find remote areas as you get farther from the national attractions. Camping on BLM land right on the edge of the Badlands cliffs was amazing. We stopped at the Wild Horse sanctuary in the Black Hills and saw how they care for herds of wild horses.

Our turning point was a visit to Devil’s Tower National Park. Then we began to head south. We camped one night at a little county park and learned that there are actual "wild horses" that hang out on some nearby BLM land. The next day we took a small detour on dirt roads to try and find them. Lucky for us, we saw several small bands. It was interesting how one horse deliberately walked over to a pile of Poo, turned, and deposited its Poo on top of the pile.

We stopped in Dinosaur National Monument and saw fossils still imbedded in dirt along the hike we took. We camped at various locations along the Colorado River; some with ancient petroglyphs and others with spectacular red canyon cliffs. We worked our way to Canyonlands NP near Moab UT. We were both shocked at the growth of Moab since we first visited there back in the 1980’s. We returned to Arizona and put the camper to bed in late September.

We returned to Starshine in Mazatlan in early October to begin to prepare her for the trip north to California.
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