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!

La Cruz: First day back H & P invite me to go shopping at the big store…I’m out of beer AND pesos so decide to pump the brakes on my morning power walk and go do some power shopping instead. Afterwards I springed for lunch and went back to store my treasures in the bilge!

Then, it began. Rooftop BBQ’s, parties, dancing at the club, pool time, dinners out….meeting new people of their condo assoc., and drinking…and not just water if you know what I mean? Fortunately, I have plenty of time to shake it off & get serious putting the boat to bed. AND…almost everyone I know here are leaving this week, either to go back home for the summer or jumping across the pacific to far off islands to spend the summer.

To help shorten my list, I’ve decided to hire a local guy to manage my boat while I’m gone…as an added bonus, he does detailing & bottom work, so mark polishing stainless & fiberglass off MY list and add it to his! You cannot beat the value down here for good work, allowing us boat owners to focus on more important tasks which may or may not include cold items in the fridge or possibly some local Tequila! I digress….

As a first project, Armando & his brother are here to climb the mast and clean all the rigging & mast & fittings with a soap & vinegar solution to remove salt & general gunk that gets built up while underway…this is something I am more that happy to hand off the baton to him…a zero on the fun meter :)

Howard had told me in the past about how to make a double filter in order to run the nasty dock water through my water maker and pump pristine tasty water back in the tank using the membrane…fortunately, he was willing to run me all over to hell & back trying to find all of the fittings to put it together. It works beautifully, and alleviates me from having to go out into the bay where the water is cleaner and spend 10 hours making water…AND it’s portable! Super stoked! Thanks again Howard…for saving the day.

So that’s about it folks! Pretty much gonna be groundhog day around here until I fly out on the 25th of April….getting projects done, purging the boat and removing everything off deck. OH! as an added bonus, H & P gave me the keys to the city! I have full access to the condo, pool & hot tub & a beautiful fully tiled & glass shower…oh my! Life just doesn’t get any better!!!!

All for now, gotta go pretend to supervise the boys on my mast!

Capt. Lazy Pants….