Predicament

Well... Im just sitting here looking over a few things; numbers, timing and a few other blogs of people who have made "the drive". The two blogs I have found both went through Mex and Central America around Jan-March and they found empty flat beaches at places I was scoring goooood waves.

So.. we have come to a cross roads you could say. I plan on jetting south in August.. when the last of the good southern swells will be filling in. I will be hitting all the same places at roughly the same damn time they did and I will possibly get skunked just as bad as they did or I did before. Well.. DAMN! This is CERTAINLY an issue.

Im trying so hard to maximize my dollar and wave counts but its almost impossible... I will indeed be heading through these places in the dead of winter, not a southern swell in sight. On the return trip I could time it just right but still... damn.. back to the drawing board.

OZ (Australia) is out right off the beginning because Im pretty sure Id blow all my cash within a year and never return to the states... or be brrrroooke as hell when I did and Id never make it to Central America... or maybe this is a better plan in the long run? August... the end of the aussie winter.. the beginning of the good surf season and warm water. Shit!!!!!!!!! My plans just went to hell.

The New Van

Well.. I did it; I bought my van! Im having major second thoughts right now but Im sure they will go away after awhile. Here she is in all her glory....

STATS:

make: GMC

model: 2500 Vandura

year: 1993

miles: 78,000

engine: Chevy 5.7l (350)

amount paid: $1900

Headed to Monterrey Mexico this weekend!

Yeaa! Im headed out to Monterrey to visit my friend Adriana. Im super pumped because I have never met her friends and family while she has met most of mine. She is a good friend I met on my first trip when I was on the bus from Monterrey back to Houston. We have kept in touch since that day and she usually visits me while on trips to Houston to visit her other friends.

I havent been to Mexico in 2 years almost to the day when I depart this weekend and I cant explain how excited I am! Ugh Ive just been feeling so damn stuck these past few months and Im ready to get outa here. It would have helped if my damn boss would have let me enjoy a few weeks of vacation but she blocked me on my 2 week request.... apparently I work with a bunch of workaholics. Ill be taking the bus thursday night from the southside of Houston and should arrive in Monterrey by 9am friday morning. Yea its a 12 hour long haul but the $41 ticket sure beats the $350 for a plane ticket... shiet.

I finally got my bike running too. I completely wore out the front tire because I had it a tad overinflated and there was no telling how many miles were on it anyways when I bought the bike. I also had to replace my flywheel gasket as I developed a bad oil leak here but she is running like a top now and Im glad to have her back on the road. Two weeks of being off of her just felt wierd and it was like starting all over again when I finally got to get back on.

I have been searching like a damn madman on craigslist lately for my van. Im looking hard but its tough when I have such a high standard and so many criteria. Im looking for a 90-95 Chevy Custom van with no more than 120K on the clock and less than $2500 bucks. I have found a few Dodges meeting that criteria but they both smoked heavily when running! WTF!?? Well the search continues but I have been pricing batteries and solar panels for the roof along with some roof hatches I plan to install for ventallation and lighting. This is going to be an awesome experiment and Im super excited about this project.

Officially on the Downhill part of my Goal!

So today i offically came over the hill on my trip goals. I have reached the summit and now i start my decent.

My savngs account goal calculator puts me at 51% now... And couple that with less than a year to go.... Things are looking good! Wooooo! Feels awesome!

Damien just said this

"nothing says ur a toolshed like a moped"

"mopeds are like fat grls... Everyone wants to ride onebut they dont want their friends to see"

awesomeness

My Latest Battle

So I found a Youtube video from this developement company planning a large "low impact" developement in one of my favorite pristine parts of Mexico. I have cherished this area and my knowledge of it for quite awhile and Im sad to see this kind of stuff moving in. So... here is an overview of the battle I accidentally started with the company...

Their Video....



The comment I left on their channel...

2far2drive (19 hours ago)
Spam Marked as spam
leave the cabo the way it is! stop ruining mexico and the lives of the mexicans with your desire to live in a mexican locale!


Their reply....

Thank you for your commentary. I am glad you saw the video. Unfortunately, we cannot allow your negative comment to be posted. Please research our company before making such blatant claims about real estate development. We are a Mexican firm with over 35 years in the area. The ENTIRE Mayto area was once Ejido Land (which you should also research) and was sold off by the Ejido Committee over the last 15 years to Spanish, Italian and Canadian companies.

This firm will be the first group to develop the area, where 10,000 people live, almost abandoned by their federal government with no telephones, sporadic electricity, and no paved roads. We will be employing hundreds of local people to construct an eco-friendly minimal ecological footprint development using regional materials and government and local cooperation. We have 100% backing by the municipality of Cabo Corrientes to go through with this project.Please take a moment to research before leaving hateful comments.

Thank you.


MY Reply.........

Thank you for your prompt reply, I didnt think I would hear back so quickly.

Im semi familiar with the situation of the Ejido land in this area and I have read that electricity was brought in around 2004 or thereabouts. I know there is no phone or other utilities availble that far out into the backcountry, mainly radio phone with a local operator.

On my last great Mexico trip I drove out there from where I was camping in Punta Mita (another classic example of Mexicans being overrun by their government at the insitance of foriegn governments and the chance to make a buck) and I entered the Cabo in El Tuito. I was amazed at the rich and lush vegetation and farm land in this area and immediatly fell in love... and wanted to leave it that way. I enjoyed leaving the hussle of Vallarta and all the tourists behind. I made it to Ipala before I had to turn around and get back out before dark to avoid being hopelessly lost. On another trip I camped at Lost Peñitas, which is close to where your developement will be according to your google maps. The rocky outcropping with un faro on top of it? There are many beach palapas and a small shrine for the fisherman and the people there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/astraltx (pages 1 and 2 are pictures of the Cabo) http://www.flickr.com/photos/astraltx/page10/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/astraltx/page9/ those last 2 are pictures of what I understand to be Los Peñitas,

Im aware that you will be the first, like I said Ive been out there... and I knew as soon as someone got their hands on some of this Ejido land it would be over for one of the last pristine places on the Mexican coastline (Ive driven the ENTIRE pacific hwy 200 from the turnoff to Tepic to Guatemala, and from la frontera en Guatemala to El Salvador). This is one of the last places untouched by modernization and Americans. Being a Mexican firm as you stated, dont you ever get a gut feeling your selling your own country out so rich Americans can play on your land? Sure they want to LIVE in Mexico, but a Mexico without MEXICANS! Your company is enabling this sick mindset. Im sure not all of them are like this but believe me, Im American and they dont want anything to do with you. If this is an American Im repsonding to who is working for a Mexican company then I say stop selling yourself out so you can spend more time south of the border.

When you say that you will be eco-friendly and this will be a minimal eco-footprint development, how do you plan to accomplish these goals? We both know that the beaches of the Cabo are turtle nesting grounds, which you will encourage your owners to tramp over unknowingly. How do you plan on dealing with sewage and garbage facilities? We have both obviously been out there, like you said, there is NOTHING out there.

Do you plan on improving the quality of life for the people who live on this desolate coast? Do you plan on paving and improving the road in from Tuito or from the Peñitas turn off? And of course you have the backing from the local municipality, how much did you pay them and how much money in taxes will this bring in? They dont worry about the effects this might have on the culture and the environment, they probably just want to be a part of the Vallarta and especially the North Banderas Bay (think Mita to La Cruz) housing boom.

I know most of my arguments are based on opinion and I know there is no stopping this housing developement.... but you will find it very very hard to change my opinions about foriegners buying and living in little communities designed for them in other countries. You are catering to the American disease.

Today is my Bday!

Yeeeeeeeeaaa!!!! I made it to 25!!

My Bday!

Today is my bday! Yeaaaaa!!!!!!

So I havent written in quite awhile yeta again and I hate that. I have been mobile blogging from my phone but when I just checked today its obvious the emails have not been making it, so now I get to figure out that mess. Yay.

Hahaha... so what has been going on you may ask? Well... nothing lol. Same shit! Riding the bike, working, saving money. thats about it.

I did goto Bandera again after the sailboat race that we lost. We had to withdraw along with 74 other boats, 1 boat sank and a trimaran lost its mast. It was a heck of a storm that nailed us out there, a very strong early season cold front.

Ive hit a new high in my savings and its looking AWESOME! Lets just say... half way there baby!

Ive been looking at vans for my trip and I almost bought one last weekend but I didnt like some of the things that were wrong with it. Ive kind of settled on a Chevy custom van from the 90s , early 90s. Think a-team almost but that was 80s, they all look the same. I want to strip the back and build it out the way I want. Im talking solar panels, mobile wind gen im trying to build and a nice place to live. Im really excited about this project and I feel like this whole thing, now 2 years in the making, is finally starting to come together.

Heading down the houston ship channel

yeeehaw

Pre-Harvest Moon Breakfast

We are chowing down at Skippers in Clear lake Shores. Excited like you have noooooooo idea! Im ready to go! T win this thing! Ill write later if i can.

Eeesh... Fell Off Again

Ok well... damn I have to stop that, this whole falling off and not blogging or finishing a story type of thing. I made it home from that ride that night and it sucked bad, especially after a huge buck decided to try and take me out about 5 miles from my house. I did make it home around 12am or so and slept for like 14 hours to try and recoup. It was a long but immensly fun ride and I cant wait to do it again.

About that ticket, I paid it already and I got them to drop a the no motorcycle endorsement charge. The speeding 90 in a 60 and the passing in a no passing came to the whopping amount of $551 bux and that pissed me off. This thing is really starting to eat into my money and I need to be more careful because this is valuable trip money im blowing here! That $550 was basically a months worth of living on the road accoriding to my budget!!!!

Lately there hasn't been too much going on except some sailing here and there. I was going to do the Harvest Moon Regatta (sailboat race) again this year but my work cut me off with a planned network upgrade for that weekend. Well... the good news (for me anyways) is that Cisco, a huge networking company, delayed all of our core equipment until november or early december! Soooo... Im headed to Kemah wed night (sept 30th) because the race starts on Oct 1st. We will be racing 150 miles south to Port Aransas and expect to be there saturday at the latest. Then its parrrrttyyyy time! This year I also got the time off to help bring the boat back so I will be sailing back with Greg (double handed) on monday morning. Im super excited this year and Im hoping we will have a good chance because we wont be 40 minutes late for our start this time! Im also hoping we will have equally amazing winds like we did last year (20kts from the NW, making it a very broad reach, surfing at 10kts) and we will stomp the competition.

Anyways.. this has been my catch up blog. Ill write some more later... thats all I can muster right now.

Outside of san antonio

Im 160 miles from houston and im hurting. Th twisted sisters really took it out of me and thn i rode for almost an hour in pouring rain, i was incredibly soaked and extreamly cold. I got nailed with a ticket outside Leakey, cnt remember if i mentioned it already or not but 93 in a 65, no moto license, and passing in a no passing zone lol. Soo... Thats gonna hurt but what the fuck ever. Just dollars right?

Im hurtng bad right now. My shoulders nd throttl hand are on fire and im still over 2 hours from home. Ugh, i shoulda just camped in bandera again. I swung by and said goodbye to th indians again and they gave me a beautiful necklce as a parting gift from my (apache brothers). I was very moved by this and i cant wait to see them again in novemer when they come to traders village in houston.

Ok, ima finish my wtburger ndget on the road. Ohh, one last complaint, my damn MP3 player just went dead lol. arrrggggg

Some pics from my ride and the campsite

Bandera, Texas

Wel i made it to bandera alive. sh16 was totally fucking crazy with twists and turns and super steep grades, I mean i wasin heaven. I saw signs in kerrville for trucks to take a different route and thats when i got pumped! I rode through Medina and on into bandera. I had plans to return to a ranch outside kerrville tha i stopped at along the way. There is a folk/hippy fest going on and i wanted to check that out but as i wasgetting back on the road the rain set in. SH16 is no road to ride in the rain so i headedback into bandera and found a campsite along the river in the town park. This is where im staying tonight and i later i think ill walk up the street and check out the bars. Earlier it rained here and i took refuge under a tree and i dunno, maybe the sound of the rain but all of a sudden i got super tired. So i leaned across my tank bag and passedout for an hour!

Lunch in Fredericksburg

I just finished lunch and now im about to hit hwy 16 ad blast towards kerrville. Update later.

In Luckenbach!!

This place is awesome! I wish i could stick around for the hippy country jam fest but ive got to make it to bandera tonight and find somewhere to sleep. The ride so far has been beautiful and id love to do it again as soon as i get the chance. But... Thenext time im out here, i will be partying in luckenbach

San Marcos

I forgot to write yesterday because as soon as i got to san marcos i headed out to canyon lake nd went sailing with some friends. We had a great sail and i showed them a few small tricks. Shane is becoming a pretty good sailor and im happy to see him just rush into it. Its a pretty small lake so as long as he is decently careful he should be fine, in summer anyways lol. Hes even taken it out without and engine before but ended up having to be towed back!

He let me crash on his couch lst night and that was awesome because i didnt have to camp. I love being back in the hill country and ill try and take some pics today. K gotta hit the road im running late. More later.

In Giddings!

Well, im having a blast so far! I rode my fav. Route and i just blasted it!! Its so beautiful out here in this part of texas and i dont think there is anything that beats seeing by motorcycle, especially a sport tourer. I was pushing corners semi hard but would just blast the gas on exit and go from 65 to 100 in a matter of seconds. With no cars or police, u have nothing to worry about. My favorite part is a sweeping right hand turn that at 50 will have u banked hard, and u go up hill... Boom straighten out for 40yards then back downhill in a sweeping left.

Im running late to be in san marcos though, i got a super late start! Im not pushingmyself or the bike too hard, just enjoying the ride. More later....

In navasota

Well i just finished the 149 route through the forest to navasota via 90/105 outa Anderson. Its been raining but now finally clearing and drying out. Good thing too because i was getting a little cold back there. Im stopped to top off my tank and grab some grub and then im back on the road.

Heading out

Hitting the road :)

Pics of the bike - Post 149 forrest run

Here are some pics I took of the bike while taking a break on the side of 1375 and I45 in New Waverly. I rode the forest after work but I never make it to Anderson due to the animals. Tooo many deer!

Run to Burton

The other weekend we did one of our now famous "Burton Runs" and we invited some friends.
From L to R

1. Wesley (my stepdad) - Yamaha Vmax
2. Juan (neighbor) - 75 Honda 750four
3. Greg - Yamaha FZ1
4. Rami - Yamaha R1
5. Josh - Kawasaki ZX6-R
6. David (me) - Suzuki Bandit 1200S

Realized i forgot the pic

rainbow

This is a rainbow i saw the other day on the way home from work. I took this driving down the road.

Had to replace the back tire on the bike yesterday. I took a 400 mile ride on saturday by myself and it was amazing. The only downside was that i wore my tire to the thread. I found this out on monday as i took off work to ride another route i wanted to check out. But after a friend called and said she had a horible nightmare about me dying in a bike wreck i decided id seen enough omens. The omens wereher dream, my worn out tire and both my chain tensioners were magically loose. Not just loose but totally unscrewed.

I spent the day getting a new back tire and getting the oil changed in my car and getting her inspected. Was a ton of fun and expensive let me tell ya. I need to get some pics of the bike for the blog.

Wow! Im falling off bad!

Ahh well.. where the hell have I been you might be asking? The truth is riding the living shit out of this motorcycle! Ive put somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 miles on her in the short month Ive had it. My car is starting to get jealous!

Ive been sailing a little but mostly Im waiting till the end of the "summer" season in Kemah because its a total bitch to try and launch the hobie cat right now while fighting weeekend beachgoers. We are getting closer to fall and better surf though... God I need to get back in the water.

Ive been talking with a few friends on the net and it looks like I could possibly have some friends along for the ride on the trip for a little ways. They wont be able to hang out the whole time but it will be cool nonetheless.

Other than that, nothing much has been going on. Im just saving and watching time tick by. Im eager as hell to setout and get moving. Ive also been working on some ideas for when I return and how I can continue a life of being on the move, surfing, sailing and just enjoying my time. I dont want to go back to the office life for as long as I can stand it. Ill work odd jobs here and there ... whatever I have to do. I do know that I would like to try my hand at building a small sailboat when I return, somethign I can camp cruise the texas coast on. We shall see!

Update

I havent written anything in quite awhile! Wow... a lot has happened in the 2 weeks since my last post. The biggest thing is my new "bike". I bought a 1997 Suzuki Bandit 1200s for a fantastic price to give me something else to bid my time here until I leave. Im almost certain I will be able to resell her when Im ready to leave for possibly more than I paid bar any wrecks.

Ehhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Im so excited about this thing! I love riding it and Im taking my riders safety course very soon so thats cool too. Ok Im outa here... time to go ride :)

In Bryan for my little brothers bday

Thats my little bro William in the pic. He has been up here for a month with my dad but he leaves tomorrow for mississippi to go back home to his moms. We are all headed out for pizza, video games laser tag. He's pretty excited! He doesnt know just yet that i got him a game for his xbox 360 that he has been wanting. Should be a fun time!

In other news... Ive been reworking the numbers and finances for the trip and its looking good. I might have an extra 7k or so that i miscalculated. I was basing my mileage wrong so ive been taking the numbers off of a few websites and i dont think i will drive near 65k miles. Im thinking more like 20k now, which as u can imagine is saving a ton in gas. We shall see :)

Retirement, Ticking Clocks, and Bullshit

Im about 3 seconds away from knocking this damn clock off my wall. I have been listening to and watching this thing since December when it was put there after our office remodel. Ugh!

TICK!
TICK!
TICK!
TICK!
TICK!
TICK!
......

BOOM! *sound of a shotgun blast to the clock*

that thing just reminds me all day of the seconds of my life ticking away that I can never get back.

tickticktickticktickticktick

Im having a bad monday if you cant tell. I mean, everyone has a bad monday but this one is exceptionally bad. At this point... I just want some waves. I will wear a wetsuit if I have to and for those that know me, they know that I HATE cold water.

My boss shutdown all possibilities of a vacation before October. We are restructuring our network with the help of a company. It will be a MESSSSSS! The summer swells in october are starting to dwindle so no point in traveling south... just save your money David. Im selling 40 hours of my vacation back to the city to get a little more cash on the books. I think I might have overestimated my driving miles so basically... I have a small surplus of cash. Maybe I can stay longer??

Anchored out for the 4th

Well we are anchored out in galveston bay getting ready to watch fireworks. We had a great day of sailing and the winds were fantastic. Fun fun

Here is the proposed route plan I worked out

Brainstorming!

Ive been working hard the past few days on my trip. Basically Ive been trying to decide what would be the best all around vehicle for me. Im looking for all the right thing that just cannot be combined... as we all know, everything is a trade off. I want decent gas mileage, truck clearance, big enough to sleep comfortably in, yet small enough to navigate the cities.

Ive been exploring options like VW bugs and Honda Civics to Chevy Vans for the ultimate in sleep and living comfort. I like the Toyota trucks and old school 4-runners but we will have to see. Im hearing from some people they tend to be targets due to their popularity. ehh... the search continues.

You know.. I have been thinking that just taking a damn honda civic and a biiiiig dog would do me a lot on the cheap front... well other than the dog eating possibly more than I do. The car would run forever (I can work on 89-99 civics with my eyes closed) and it would get killer gas mileage. Imagine me planning my entire trip around 15-20mpg and then settling for a car that would score 30mpg no prob, talk about a surplus in my budget! Maybe I should run for Senate!

Ok... Im signing out. I need to go home and work out.

And she makes it, congrats Ravy! 200k miles!

This post is dedicated to one of thebest vehicles ive ever owned, my 1997 Toyota Rav4. She just rolled over 200k miles tonight on my drive home.

For those that remember, this is the very same car that took me safely through Mexico and the bottom of Guatemala and back and doing that trip with already 145k on the clock.

Congrats babe!

Working on police cars

Here i am working on some police cars.... Yes i just had to hit the lights and shit.

Loosing Weight,Birthday Parties and Wierd Dreams

So Ive been trying to get on this health kick and get my ass back in shape and its working out ok. Ive seriously cut my caloric intake and totally 180'd my diet and so far with just that Ive dropped about 7lbs in 2 weeks. Now I get to bring some exercise in and start toning up and Im pretty excited as its been awhile since Ive had a good workout routine. I wish I was closer to the surf because I would just surf every morning before work but thats a wish. I also got myself on a no alcohol for 1 month kick but then I had to break it because of a friends birthday party this weekend.

So we decided to throw an all out bash for Matt saturday night as he and Adam drove in from Austin. It started at Mollies around 8ish and around midnight we migrated to a friends house. Wow! It was getting full on crunk and I didnt sleep until somewhere around 7am.... trashed. I went oldschool and picked myself up an Old E 40oz from the store along with some sparks and an 18pack of budlight. It was a total blast and I got to see a lot of people I havent seen in years. Hell its been almost 2 years since I had seen Matt or Adam. Gotta start spending time with my homies... im not gonna be in the US much longer :) countdown in progress...

So I had a very wierd dream last night about some NASA styled boatyard that was being built. I accidentally got in the way and caused a huge trainwreck of machinery (18wheelers, forklifts, and my truck)and it reaaaaallly sucked. Then they were setting up these huge like oil platform leg things to raise into the air. I happened to be standing on one when it "shot" up into the air and I was stuck for a few hours like 150ft in the air. I finally jumped and lived but dont ask me how but I clearly remember having a HUGE fucking fear in the dream because I hate heights and something like that would probably just kill me from fright. Then I went on to party in Vegas (just saw "The Hangover" last night) where I met some girl. Like always in my dreams.... the deal was never closed and I awoke with a longing feeling like I had really met this girl and I now have a crush on some fantasy girl I created somewhere. Maybe in another parallel dimension she exists from my thoughts.

As for that countdown I mentioned.... yes... its coming. I have set a tentative date for May 2010 but I might bump by a few months for some more cash. Here is my basic breakdowns for right now.

Main Idea
-----------
Spend 2 to 3 years driving to at LEAST Panama and maybe further south, then return home, sell everything I own, fly to Australia and live out there for a while.

Total Money = 33K

Breakdown
------------

1) Least Expensive
65k Miles driven at 20mpg = 3250 gallons of gas
3250 x $4/gallon = $13,000 gas total
13000/36 months of travel = 361/month in gas
$361/$4(gallon) = 92 gallons/month
92 gallons/month x 20mpg = 1840 miles/month allowed to drive
so basically $13,000 for gas

2)Middle Expensive
65K miles driven at 15mpg = 4333 gallons of gas
4333 x $4/gallon = $17,332 gas total
17332 / 36 months = 481/month in gas
$481/$4(gallon) = 120 gallons/month
120gallons x 15mpg = 1800 miles/month alowed to drive
so basically $17,332 for gas

Wrap up
--------

travel/month option 1
Hotel = $100
Food = $180
Car maint = $50
Misc = $100
-----------
total $430 X 36 months = $15,480 + $13,000(gas) = $28,480

option 2 = $15,480 + $17,332(gas middle expensive) = $32,812

These are some high numbers so Im going to have to work with some of this. This also doesnt include getting some gas money from other traveling surfers so its based on a 3 year solo trip. I guess I could cut down on the amount of time Im there but why in the world would I want to do that????? Still crunching numbers....

Texas 200 - Day 2 recap - Or How I Lost 1st Place

So after my first day and a screaming sail through the land cut (picture included) I decided to start a little earlier this time and maybe have a shot at finishing towards the top 10. I left about 2 hours after most had already left including some of the other multihulls. I knew it would be a challenge catching them but I was curious to see what my boat and I were capable of so I was up for it.

I pushed hard through the morning and around noon is when the winds really picked up. 20-25kts from the SE and they really created some challenging chop when in the open bays. I had to surf around them carefully and sail somewhat conservative to avoid a capsize and possible damage to my boat. I was blowing by boats left and right and having a great sail when I finally saw the front 5 boats. A quick check of my charts showed I had roughly 10 miles until the finish, a measly 1 hour or less at the rate I was sailing.

I was hiking out all morning trying to keep the boat on her feet so I decided to rest my back a little and save it for the last miles where I knew it would count the most. As I was resting/sailing my damn hat blew off and I quickly jybed around to grab it. A Texas200 with no hat is just short of suicidal so I really wanted that cap back. I sailed close to the wind with the mainsheet loose, effectivly hove-to (about as much as you can on a hobie cat) and forereached back towards the fleet looking for my hat. As I was looking and I wasnt paying attention to my sideways drift and I drifted out of the channel and hit a shoal, kicking up both my rudders. This is an issue with hobies, especially mine as it is extreamly difficult to get them to lock back down if the cams dont pop properly. The boat was trying to sail too much for me to jump out with a screwdriver and re-open the cams for the rudders so I decided to sail on, no rudders and no hat. BOOOM! Thats the sound of the boom, a part of the rig on a sailboat, slamming against my head. It almost knocked me out so I sat down before I fell off. I finally got her turned around and headed back for the yacht club after giving up vital positions and watching my victory get away. Upon entering the yacht club channel I blew a tack which caused me to backflip in the high winds funneling through the channel.

What a day right???? Thats how I blew my first place (at least top 5) finish.

the image of landcut shows its amazing position to top speed a sailboat. perfectly flat water in a deep channel cut through the low lying land. winds @ 20kts from the SE. PERFECT!

Back at Work!

back to work.... back to work....

Hard to focus when I just spend a week sailing up the Texas coast on a small 14ft Hobie Cat. Close to 200 miles in total! My fastest run was 30 something miles in 3hours 31min. with a top speed of 15.1kts!

Just letting everyone know Im home fine... Ill post pics as they are sent to me.

Pauls mott - broken dolphin striker cable

Well i noticed yesterday when i pulled into pauls mott that the cable that supports my mast beam had totally come apart in the constant beating and 12kts downwind runs i was having yesterday. Winds 22kts gusting to 30kts according to NOAA. It was hard sailing but i made it. We lost 1 boat.... And i found it. I was cutting through shamrock cove when i noticed an overturned hull. I sailed up on it expectingto find a body but no one was around. It was the guy who didnt finish his boat in time to start so he met us in padre, totally untested just completed boat. My radio is broken so i continued on and made my way to stingray cut where i found several pdracers taking a break. We radioed coast gaurd and they sent several boats and a hellicopter. Both captain and boat were recovered. Ok thts it for now.

Sailing is great... In port a

So the sailing has been fanstastic! I hit a record 15.1kts!!!!!!! I sailed some 40 miles the first day in 3 hours and 31min!!! Im flying!!!!!!!!! I flipped in the padre islnd yacht club channel. I write more later....

Texas200 and the skippers meeting

Here are some shots of the skippers meeting this morning and 2 boats, one badass homemade proa and a homemade cabin cruiser. Quite a turnout!!

As i was setting up last night more and more boats started arriving. 4 anchored off the bach after launching in the marina and 5 (including me) await the start tomorrw as we sit on the beach. My immediate neightbor and awesome source of ideas and warm budlight is in a PDracer. Basically a boat about the size of a dining room table, 8ft overall. Its awesome to be surrounded by all these small boat cruisers and even moreawesome to know that around half the boats in the fleet were owner constructed!! Ill post more later.

Headed to Port Mansfield

Headed down for the start of the cruise. Im geting there slowly but im worried that ill be setting up in the dark. O well, ill figure it out. Feels good to be driving this route again, feels like im headed back to mexicoooooo!!!!!

Your view for today

Looking west off the garage.

Ahhhh its been too long and i need to update! Ive been frantically trying to get ready for my cruise coming up in like 4 days. Not a cruise cruise, im talking sailboats. Ive mentioned it before but im sailing my 14ft hobie cat up the bays and intracoastal water ways of texas for 200 miles with around 50 othe boats. Ive been rerigging everything and making sure she is up for the trip... Man i sure hope so. Ill post more later. There is work to be done.

At sherlocks in cleeeeearlake

Here is a mobile blog. I havent blogged in a bit and i have some very interesting tails to write about including a trip to jail!!! Yes! Ur host Dave Rich did some time, a measly 8 hours for inciting a riot/public intoxication. Yup yup. Anyways.... Have a good a good night my fellow surfers and hackers and geeks and sailors.

Me working!!!

A typical texas summertime storm

A small front from the ENE. Cool air collides with warm air.