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….

Carizal, wow, what can I say? Pic is of the actual place I put my pick down and did not move for a week. I watched as multiple boats came & went, even had a couple days totally alone with my thoughts and without other boats; BLISS!

My days consisted of swimming, paddling, high speed dingy runs to cool off, fishing (no joy) and the dreaded bottom cleaning. Let’s just say I was glad to have a multitude of instruments to remove the ecosystem that was growing below the waterline. Mini barnacles, worms, baby crabs, grass, brown scum that came off in a cloud of grossness (I had quite the audience of free loading fish grazing on the all you can eat buffet). Thinking I could get the whole project done with one tank (wishful thinking) the first day about 2/3 of one side pretty much wiped me out. I rewarded myself with one (spin control) icy cold Modelo in the cockpit before rinsing off all the gear and having a much needed siesta!….and I thought I was getting in good shape :(

Next day was recovery day…and new game plan for the finish line. With only 700 psi left in the tank, I did all the deepest stuff first knowing that the rest would have to be done while holding my breath combined with laying on the paddle board and scrubbing off the 6” of grass growing around my waterline…yes, absolute 10 on the fun meter! Alas, I finished the next day & did a repeat in the cockpit with aforementioned Modelo & siesta! Good times.

Because us sailors live & die by the weather, I saw a good window to get me north & had to make a tough decision to leave paradise and head back to the hot & stale marina while the getting was good. Knowing there was a change coming I decided to make the 32 hour trip straight thru at about 10 miles offshore, easy peasy.

It was bitter sweet leaving my little secret hideaway but hell, that’s just cruising man! Motorsailed mostly, making water & power, reading books, napping at 30 min intervals at night, same ol M.O.

My last night at sea was a cali da scope of emotions. The white hot moon combined with a thousand blinding stars created a symphony of fiery ricochets on the inky black surface of an otherwise nondescript sea. As my yar little ship sliced through the void it left trail of excited bioluminescence in her wake…this truly magical experience marked my last night at sea, like Aladdin, it was my magic carpet ride back to civilization.

Once I rounded the cape (FISH ON!….) another catch & release, all sails up I was able to get some rockin time behind the helm as a final hoorah before checking into my new slip at Marina La Cruz.

Howard & the security team were waiting for me at the new slip…blowing 26 knots outside the marina & gusting inside the breakwater, I pulled a bonehead move & went down the wrong fairway…SHIT! How the heck am I gonna stop this turd…AND back out of danger without hitting anything?!??…needless to say, with a little luck and my expert helming skills (sarcasm) I made it back out safely and into my slip….oh, yeah, and more of those Modelo beers left my fridge.

Thanks for reading-
Capt. LB!

Hello All! It was a fine few days in Melaque…as rolly as it was, the silver lining was NO BOATS!!! I literally had the place to myself…guess everyone else saw the ocean swell and said…”that dude is NUTS!” Clearly they didn’t see my dual flopped stoppers deployed, more about that in a sec!

Alex left at the butt crack of dawn…no goodbyes…just the way we cruisers do it! I stuck it out another day and left for Melaque in the morning….this is a place less travelled due to proximity to Barra de Navidad…most people go there…but, as you know, I prefer the lesser travelled spots. It was a non eventful motorsail in light winds, Making water, power via the fossil fuel burning “back up” Kubota (thank goodness for the repower!) and listening to some cool jazz, reading a new book (#10) and just letting the boat do all the work.

Arrived Melaque early afternoon…it was an empty bay….on the way in...my eyes bugged out at the biggest freaking surf I have ever seen from this boat….I mean….like Hawaii type big breaking monster waves on the shoreline….uh oh….the waves from my viewpoint…had the sun illuminating from behind, the shellacked vibrant green angry waters were topped with a fluffy sweet cream froth that was intoxicating….I could not take my eyes off of the ocean’s fury….literally the energy and power of these breakers could be felt thru my hull….yikes, respect!

As I was hand steering around the outer break…it crossed my mind how badly this could end for me and my ship if anything failed at this moment….gulp…saying a few hail mary’s I trusted my hand at the helm and went for it…spoiler alert, everything was fine…in fact, I had to get over myself as I was pumping up my chest and letting out Tarzan yells…swinging from the rigging in my underwear….I look over and see a lone panga fisherman…like…ho-de-dooo….no biggie…it’s good fishing….get over yourself poorly tanned white guy with the shiny sailboat….u ain’t nothing special :). I just cracked open a cold Modelo and kept on with the fantasy that I was Captain Cook discovering new lands, come on, makes for good content!

Well, I spend several days here, doing surf landings, eating amazing beach palapa food, go for long beach walks, shop at the “Hawaii Store” (go figure, in Mexico?) It’s just a name, but damn!, they had everything any cruiser could yearn for! Two trips later, I was fully stocked to head out.

0800, everything is stowed, Kubby warmed up, route set, I’m ready! No drama, I’m underway in 15 min. Both fishing lines deployed and water maker going, we are off to the races. It is only a 17 mile trip with little wind so again we are motorsail it. I am blown away at all the new mansions (casa grande) along the beaches…so much development down here. One strike and two gray whales later, I am rounding the corner to Carizal…my Dads favorite anchorage in all of Mexico when he used to come visit me on the first trip in 2009-2012. It did not disappoint. Still undeveloped, raw and absolutely gorgeous! I find a great spot in the middle of the cove in 32’ of water, only one other boat…SCORE!…..well, for now.

As there was some residual rolling swell coming into the anchorage I decide to put out the flipper stoppers….these things are SO cool! Thanks to my buddy Johnny the fabricator I have these STAT cool racks these things just hang on my rail….all lines at the ready. One side I put out the main boom, tied fore & aft….drop the unit over the side and tie it off….other side I use the spinnaker pole the same way. Takes like 5 minutes compared to 30-40 min’s before….they are stabilizers that flow up & down with the boat movement….like two hands making a church and then the steeple and here’s the people…seriously…they actually work like that! It reduces the boat roll by 2/3, thanks Dad!

Only one boat besides me, turns into 5, and 3 local tour boats with drunken locals and loud music…one bachelorette party (no, I didn’t go over there…..or maybe I did?) and others were just snorkeling and drinking. they left before nightfall.

I will leave you with this visual, I have never experienced before, ever.

I’m in a gorge, open to the ocean from the south, surrounded by big hills otherwise. The sun goes behind the hill to my left (west) early…like 6pm….but, I see the moon…mid sky, I mean, there is no mistaking it is a full moon, but a waxy, sexy orangish red brown, due to all the burning going on around here….I’m transfixed by it’s awesomeness when I realize the show is just beginning….the hillside to my east looks like one of those crazy artists who crank heavy metal music…dance around in bare feet and coveralls with a huge canvas on the wall…with bare hands launch gallons of fluorescent orange paint tinted with earth tones at the hillside…BAM!….the sublime colors are literally dripping from the trees and granite walls of the cove….only sentineled by the moon….it was the most moving thing I have ever experienced from the decks of my mighty little ship.

It only made sense to salute this majestic experience with my last rib eye steak, roasted garlic & rosemary potatoes and my last few sprigs of mexican asparagus….any maybe just a couple glasses of Vino Tinto!’

Thanks for listening to my introspection….sometimes it just flows.

Be well my friends!
More to come :)
Capt. Humble.