**pic is of me…oblivious to next 17 hours!!**
I slipped the lines Saturday morning at 0630 hrs, silently ghosted out the breakwater…waving goodbye for now to the town of La Cruz, a crimson orange wallpaper against an otherwise normal morning…random silhouettes of early morning dog walkers and stoic palm trees…listless in the morning calm before the storm….ignorance is bliss, I was all jacked up to get underway…motoring with the main up for stability.

Now, please understand, I am diligent about everything weather. Watching patterns, downloading the absolute most current predictions (what a croc that is…please read on) and making sure my yar little ship is in fine tune. I decide to motor sail to the cape in order to get clean air before trimming the sails and engaging my Monitor self steering vane (thanks Howard for tuning it in) (see aforementioned pic) I was just plugging along expecting to see maybe 20-25 knots of wind MAX according to my weather sites which are not free…no sir, you pay for their theoretical top notch algorithm….it was only blowing 12-15 NW…fine by me!

Before reaching the cape (outermost point of Banderos Bay) the thought occurred to me, hmmm, can’t believe I haven’t seen any whales or dolphins…so strange, then like someone waved a magic wand, yup, you guessed it, POOF! massive whales 3 of them! 5 minutes later a huge pod of my favorite mammals were jumping in my bow wake…squeaking and clicking like they do, my world is right.

Round said cape, reel out the headsail, dial it in, douse the main, engage the Monitor who I named “Marcus” after my Broski…and we were off to the races!!! Wades Aweigh was in her element…as was her captain…probably wasn’t a good idea to put out to the universe I was expecting more wind….OOPS!….

Readings were nearing low 20’s, no biggie….then I could just see it; conditions changing rapidly. Though I had no basis relative to clouds and their changing demeanor because it was clear! It started getting gusty. My inner alarm went off when my knot meter went from 22-35 knots in an instant…then back down, waves still nominal, a freak thing? Don’t overthink it dude, it’s the ocean, she’s an unpredictable task master…chill man, go with da flow! Ok right said Fred, pull your head out…things are building. So, did first reef (bring in some sail area for better handling) and things quieted down at my helm, but not the water under and around me….within 45 minutes wind readings were nudging 40 mph….that ain’t nothin! Ok Neptune, you have my attention. On went my harness and line, clipped in I did, yes Mommy as I promised (insert smiley face here)

Now about 2 hours later sustained winds were over 42 mph…this is serious sailing! Fun? you bet! Am I alert and aware? Bet ur ass! Totally calm and in control, we just hunkered down and enjoyed the ride….until -

Waves are building, 10-12’ at 5 second intervals. Boat is yawing back and forth so much autopilot wont recover, I go to task hand steering, winds now gusting to 50! Oh, sorry predictwind.com…YOU LIE! 20-25 knots max my ass! I digress.

Now headsail is nothing but the size of a handkerchief and we are still raging downwind at 7-8.5 knots with bursts to 10 knots while surfing down the face of now 14-15’ seas with ugly white frothing breaking tops…sometimes directly into the cockpit: FUN? be real! Experience? Hellz yeah, all that came to mind was,
‘this will make great content on my blog!!”
too bad my action cameras weren’t charged up.
I can’t believe my eyes….60! yes, 60 freaking mph gust!

Howard was following my tracking and pinged me just as I was thinking about dousing what sail I had left up…all text says is this, “bare poles?”. meaning…did I douse all sails and running under bare mast…answer was,
“doing it now” Started up the engine for stability for autopilot but still had to hand steer. Talk about exhausting! Waves are now breaking all around me but boat is fine. There is a major garage sale going on down below, deal with that mess later. Kinda busy.

At about sunset as the land mass cooled down a bit, so did the wind and seas, autopilot finally engaged again, cold beer in hand, I just collapse in the cockpit, everything engulfed in caked salt water including self….now winds are sustained at 30-35 mph…and I laugh at myself thinking…wow! winds really lightened up! Normally that would be big winds for sailing south.

Oh, almost forgot! During the mayhem, I hooked a MARLIN!!! thankfully he lived to bite another day, caught & released a Jack Cravalle & killed a nice Bonito and made fresh ceviche…my GOD! so delicious.

Due to my unexpected speed, my arrival estimate to next anchorage went from next morning to 11:30 that night. Arriving at night is not my favorite for safety concerns but no way to slow this ship down that much…so with all nav aids glowing including my new LED flood lights on the bow, in I came, one wore out mariner, dropped the hook, stowed the boat, downed a shot of tequila and literally passed out.

10 hours later I woke up to the same view I enjoyed for 2 days, hello Chamela!

Hope you enjoyed my story, and no, I wouldn’t recommend those last 17 hours to anyone!

ok, second times a charm…last entry is still floating around out there on the inter webs somewhere!

My last days in La Cruz are a blur! Dinners out, last minute provisioning runs (thanks Howard) getting boat cleaned up and bottom done (thanks Armando), drinks in the cockpit with friends…stowing stuff (didn’t do a good job of that…story to come) and, a final performance with Tracey the amazing guitarist and vocalist who so graciously give up the mic to me….more on that in a minute.

The night before the morning before the last day before my morning departure….follow me?…I was blown away at how many friends showed up to the La Cruz Inn for my last singing gig. Brigette & Fritz went to work putting the word out that I was leaving and the entire circle of friends I have been welcomed in to the inner circle all showed up! Howard & Pam, Fritz & Brigette, Loren & Suzanne, kids & grand kids, my friends Tim & Gretchen,
and others…3 long tables put together…I had my cheering section!

It wasn’t long before Tracey called me up, my fans all cheering me on…and many strangers…it was packed to the gills…tables even being brought up from downstairs! GULP! First we sang a couple that we had been practicing before….then he just said, “I got wifi dude…knock yourself out! Have fun…”
HUH? what the…..???? ok, searched his tablet for some Buble & Sinatra, ok, I got this….
a few songs later…the requests starting coming in, all kamikaze runs for me!…nobody cared, especially after I had everyone join in on my stock toast….everyone raised their glasses and I told them it was only 2 words…but we had to say it so loud it would wake the dead….it went like this….”CHEERS BITCHES!!!”. we brought the house down!

Many tequila shots later and lots of hugs and well wishes,..I made my way back to my mighty ship….slept it off and had a recovery day on Friday (sailors never leave on a friday). One last dinner with H & P and I was off to bed early.

Of course heading to bed and actually sleeping before a departure are to entirely different things!!!

I departed the next day at 0630 still dark out…little did I know what layed ahead of me….the ocean can be a cruel and unforgiving master….wait till you hear about that!
Stay with me!

Well, guess I better do a test run now at anchor, just spent time writing another entry & hit post…POOF. gone in the abyss. what a bummer.

Yes, it’s true…I finally gave in and became a space-x groupie with all the other sailors out here….It cannot be denied that Starlink is amazingly fast, affordable & the new “Mini” takes up no space at all…it’s static mount (doesn’t move like the gen2) AND runs on DC power which is a huge win when away from the dock!!!

I promised the fine folks at darkstarhardware.com that I’d give them a shout out as they were a huge help getting me the killer mount FAST before I flew on down here. Their customer service is exemplary, Nick always answers his phone & Marley loaded up the 3d printer special for my order…got it out same day! Check them out, lots of cool mounts if you are looking for something else than stock. Ok, enough propaganda for now :)

It’s been quite a ride past couple weeks with dinners out, parties & live music! Been able to sing on stage with my new friend Tracey who plays some sick guitar & sings at different venues. Even got invited to his rooftop concert for new years! No, of course I didn’t drink much….boom boom boom goes my head-

Not much else to tell ya’ all just more boat work & evening shenanigans! Finished last dirty dusty construction project yesterday so interior is put back together and I have some really cool new hardware for sailing!

Happy New Year to all! 2025 is gonna be AWESOME!

Spoiler Alert! No, not that kind of swinging….sorry to disappoint, learning the fine art of “click bait” from the almighty Youtube:).

Last night I had the pleasure of being invited to the second annual roof top garden fiesta with all the fine people at Howard & Pams building + other friends from different condo down the street and others. It all started around 5 pm with Margaritas in the penthouse overlooking the anchorage here in La Cruz…then Pam & I prepared our makeshift charcuterie board with different cheeses, crackers etc…of course sampling was paramount before serving - good thing too because I hadn’t had any scraps all day! Once we got the green light on presentation we set up tables for all the food being brought by others (price of admission plus we all pitched in for the band)

Band started at 7:00 sharp, super fun dudes…great music and totally included us poor victims in dance and laughter, my kind of thing. Gotta admit it’s something magical being on the roof, looking out over the entire Banderos Bay (where Puerto Vallarta is as well) good food great company and crazy awesome music. Fortunately I wasn’t the only one tripping on myself :). Another plus, walking distance back to the boat! NO DUI for this sailor! Finished off my evening sitting in the cockpit with only shorts on, totally warm & suffering through one more glass of pretty decent Malbec…someone’s gotta do it-

Since we talked last, it’s been daily chores of putting my mighty ship back together after an 8 month hiatus. i totally strip everything before leaving. All lines, canvas, sails, anything that could get damaged by sun, wind, rain & general harsh Mexican environs. It’s pretty much back together. Now to service the engine, install Starlink, some other sailing hardware I muled down here and then, the big purge. My v-berth is loaded with stuff that has to go away for now as Broski will need a place to sleep once I pick him up in Zihuatanejo for a month of booze & debauchery sailing back north to Sea of Cortez. Thankfully, Howard has offered up some temporary storage solutions in his bodega, thanks Howard!

It’s been a non stop parade of get togetherness, dinners out (this town is great for that) trips to the big Mega & La Comer grocery stores (most of that food is going to waste) and re filling my Modelo supply as needed. I’m hoping the daily morning power walks for 5-7 miles and lawnboy boot camp on the point in the hot sun will help mitigate the Modelo habit, come on guys….one’s gotta hydrate!

My sights are set for a 2nd or 3rd week of January departure to head south to new horizons & experiences…never been to Zihuat, pretty stoked about that!

Thanks for reading! Time for modelo #1.
Capm Lawnboy!

Hello All!!! I am finally back on board Wades Aweigh in La Cruz Mexico, yes, it is HOT! What a change from the cold wet PNW. It's always a transition. Mid 80's every day and about 90 degrees inside the boat...ugh. Can you say hydrate?!? Getting back into the routine of walking every morning, going out in the evenings with friends & slowly ticking off things on the "list" which seems to always grow.

First, a quick re-cap of the season off (summer back home)

After finishing projects at the rentals, I loaded up my moto and did two trips to the tune of just north of 10,000 miles on two wheels. Such epic fun! First run was all over Vancouver Island, then catch a ferry up to Prince Rupert (about 5 hrs south of Alaska!) then rode the interior back south and east to Bonners Ferry ID to visit my buddy Dave where we perused over maps to figure out a way to take mostly gravel back to Winthrop and home.

Second trip: Rainier to Oregon, Cali coastal camping. Then from Bodega Bay to Lake Tahoe to visit my long time friend Kimmie for an incredible few days in their magnificent home with a killer pool & hot tub...Thanks again Kim! From there visited friends Terry & Dianne in Ontario, Ore on a cool ranch (learned so much about farming and cattle). Then off to Bozeman to hang with old college roomie Glenn & wife Yoshi for some great cooking and stories. We took down a tree and cleaned up the mess...screwed around in an old apple orchard & talked about future plans.
Back to Bonners (Dave) then to Winthrop to finish part of dirt trail that was closed prior, and connected with my friend from High School Monica (and met hubby Larry) at their super sweet Mazama home....BTW Monica, still sorry you have to look at that crappy view every day LOL! She had rode her bike down to the Mazama Deli and got fresh baked goods....and super good coffee....oh, man! Then my last leg home, in the beautiful company of Washington Pass and North Cascades splendor....EPIC summer!!!

So, here I am writing to all you fine folks who follow along...and thanks for that....and leaving a quick comment to keep me motivated!!! More updates to come.

Thanks to Howard to picking me up at the airport and helping sherpa all my shit down to the boat. I have no idea where to put it all...

Capm Lawnboy!