The Life of Dave Rich

Been AWHILE! Im in New Mexico!

2011-06-26T22:45:00.000-05:00

Well Well Well, where do we even try and begin?????

The short story is, my girlfriend Adriana is visiting me from Monterrey, Mexico for the summer and I decided to take a big road trip with her through some states I have never been in. We left the Houston area on June 20th and headed for the border so she could renew her permit. After we got all that straightened out we headed to camp for the night in one of my favorite places; Bandera.

We stayed a night in Bandera then another night with a good friend from Mexico who has a 120yr old ranch house around Medina Lakes!!!! Then we hit the road again for west texas and New Mexico and it was quite a drive through some very beautiful ranch lands. I took her to see the famous Luchenbach, Texas (of the song "lets goto luchenbach") and some other cool things. We made it to Hobbs, NM around 12am where we crashed out in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

We headed out to Cloudcroft, NM the next day but most of the national/state parks are closed right now due to serious fire hazards and currently burning wildfires. We found a small RV park on the Apache Reservation that let us camp for $15 so we decided to stay the night there. We parked high up on a hill with a good view of 3 mountain peaks and warmed up some chili with red wine, romantic I know! We left again in the afternoon after a run through the mountains with Adriana that almost killed me.

After Cloudcroft we headed out through some beautiful areas of new mex and visited some ancient ruins of the Anasazi Indians. Then we headed north to Moriarty, NM and jumped on old Route 66 into Albuquerque,NM. We had dinner that night at a fantastic "New Mexican" restaraunt that just blew our minds, especially with the chili sauce. We listened to a really cool musician play who gave me a cd for giving him a $3 tip! The owner of the restaraunt came and personally talked to us about the food and to Adriana because she is from/lives in Mexico. We camped that night again in a damn Wal-Mart.

We arrived in Taos sometime the following day and promptly checked out the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge which definently made both of us nervous walking on. Around 680ft above the river and some 1200ft across, its a doozy of a drop!!! We camped again in a Wal-Mart (Im not advertising for them I swear! Cheap camping sites are a little hard to come by around here) and in the morning we headed out to check out the Taos Pueblo, the oldest continually inhabited place in the USA. Some of the adobe buildings are over 1000yrs old! The Tewa indians are great people if not a little secretive and guarded over their history and lore but who can blame them after the suffering the Spanish and later White settlers inflicted upon them. They claim to have started the revolution against the Spanish with freed all of the Pueblos in NM until the spanish later re-conquered them. Then when the US Govt had control, they assasinated the then Govenor of the territories.

We checked out the Earthships (sustainable livng homes Ive been researching for awhile) and plan to do a tour tomorrow morning before we head out to Colorado. In all its been a pretty awesome trip and we will be at it for the next month or so before we head back to Texas and then Adriana heads back to Mexico. Ill try and get this thing rolling again and see where it may lead and I will try and blog as much as I can from the road!

Boat Work and Thinking About Surf

2011-03-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

Been thinking about all that surf Ive been missing lately while Ive been working on this boat. Heard the Pacific is still strangely quiet or so and Mexico hasnt been producing much except for known big spots. Bleh...

I really need to hurry and finish my work here and get this boat to Colombia so I can start working on my summer trip. Ive decided to take a big road trip through the Four Corners area and the pacific coasts of Oregon and Northern California if there is time (and money for the all the freaking gas).

Frankly, Im going stale again. Im drying out. I need to get moving.... do something... see somewhere new. Dammit.

Been Awhile... Yet Again

2011-03-05T01:08:00.000-06:00

Been awhile....

Things are going well with the boat, just one day at a time. Its hard not to be totally overwhelmed on a boat this size with work that needs or could be done so Ive just forced myself to take it slowly.

I need a surf soon.... my gills are drying out. Water is warming quickly here, approaching trunkable range in another week maybe so I might be able to start getting some Florida Panhandle beachbreak ... .Until I get over to east coast at Jupiter Inlet, where I here there are several good warm water breaks!

Formulating plans....

Gotta get rolling again soon...

Too long in one spot.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2011-02-17T21:39:00.002-06:00

Work on the boat has been progressing quite well and Im pretty confident I will hit the deadline for everything that is very important for our trip. It has been a long and often cold road but I see light at the end of the tunnel.

The first leg of the trip will be me taking the boat to Jupiter Florida for some serious overhaul work where we will disassemble the boat to rebuild beams and such. I should learn a lot during this time about rigging and boat building in general, especially about Wharrams. After all of that fun stuff, its south to Colombia!

Im pretty excited lately because I have a bunch of fun things coming up. This weekend Im headed to Biloxi to stay the weekend with my brother and his fiancée. We will be attending BeerFest, which is a big festival put on for all the local microbrews to show off their work and products. It should be a full on drunken fest which I wont lie, Im pretty excited about that and hanging with my bro. I need a break from this boat and it will be good to get out of Florida and back around familiar faces for a while.

Im also excited because my love from Monterrey Mexico will be flying in to stay a few days with me while I take a small vacation from boat work. Adriana will take a bus from Monterrey to Houston and from there will catch a flight to Panama City Beach, FL on Saturday afternoon in a few weeks. I wish she could stay longer but she has some commitments back at home to work and school so that’s ok.

I have been working on some plans for this summer and it looks like Ill be taking a 1.5 month road trip with Adriana so we can both see the western United States. Ill be heading through New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Oregon and Northern (possibly southern) California and then back to Texas. Im pretty excited about this but I wish I had more than just 1.5 months so Ill have to make due. It should be a fun trip and Im pretty excited about it.

Ive also been lining up some ideas for the fall like helping my buddy Chris rebuild his Crowther trimaran. We need to build an ama and do general restoration work including a new mast so it should be fun. I figured I could light a fire under his butt and get him moving if I volunteered all my labor for free. I mean, who in their right mind would turn down hundreds of hours of free labor?? Im hoping it will be enough and we can get her ready for a sail before I head off in search of my next great adventure.

I have been seriously craving surf lately and its driving me nuts. I have been watching videos and looking up places where the swell is good and ohhhhh man do I miss Mexico. I need to get back in some waves and soon!

It is amazing that now Im out and living my dreams, I have found that I still cannot get the time together to do all of the things I want to do. Being on this boat has really got my boat blood boiling and Im dreaming yet again of a small but capable multihull to do some coastal cruising and a Bahama run. We shall see! Financially Im doing well and I think I can maintain this for another 2 years before Ill be looking for serious work. I may have found a niche that I would like to slip into with consulting computer work and chasing a few seasonal type jobs. Some of the locals here in PCB have been telling me of the hundreds they make nightly working in restaurants etc. I mean, its not the work I want to be doing that’s for sure, but if I could make a couple grand quickly by working 2 months, that’s enough for me to run off and travel somewhere for the rest of the year or so. Like I said we shall seeeeeeeee!!!

Feb 5th was my 6 month anniversary since I quit my job from the city of Conroe, man how time flies! I took a look at my bank account and here are some numbers for ya!

180 days traveling

Total spent = $4500

Monthly = $750

Daily rate = $25

Not bad considering that’s not even factoring in the $1300 I spent on van repairs back in September in Zacatecas, Mexico!

Boat Work and Life Philosophies

2011-02-01T21:01:00.000-06:00

Ive been steady working away on the boat and trying to get my list of projects knocked out without adding too much to the list in the meantime. It has been very difficult for me to separate my emotions and just do the things that need to be done vs. things I would do if it were my boat. I have to constantly ask myself, is this necessary to sail and act accordingly.

Ive been tearing through the electrical system and basically it will be rebuilt in the upcoming days. The old electrical system was ok but monitoring batteries, charging and usage was really only capable if you know about electrical systems. The solar controller for the panels was old and basically worthless so everything is being updated. The panels will be separated into charging and breakers and will have meters showing incoming amps from solar/wind and outgoing amps via battery banks so the owner can try and keep an eye on battery usage. I found some digital voltmeter panels for not a bad price so I will be grabbing a few of these to indicate battery states. While not always 100% accurate (you must use a hydrometer to be 100%), battery voltage is a good indicator of where you stand and will usually suffice for the average person. For instance, observe the following.

100% 12.7v

90% 12.5v

80% 12.42v

70% 12.32v

60% 12.20v

50% 12.06v

40% 11.9v

30% 11.75v

20% 11.58v

10% 11.31v

0% 10.5v

To maximize the life of a battery bank you must never use more than 50% of available amp hours. One of the banks on the boat for instance is 230Ah, so we can use 115Ah before the voltage of the bank will indicate 12.0-12.06vdc, thus telling us 50% of the capacity has been used. Amp meters will indicate draw on a bank so you can guestimate your usage by hour. After some testing last night, Im a little worried about our draw when sailing at night during the trip to Colombia. I had the running lights on, GPS/Radar and 1 incandescent lamp in the starboard hull on and I was pulling 13A per hour! That’s a little high, especially to not even have the autopilot running either. If we sailed with all of this going for 10-12 hours, that pretty much depletes our bank every night (10hours X 13A/hour = 130Ah). The main draw of that was our running lights as they were pulling around 6-7amps alone. Ill work on a solution for this as time allows, possibly look into replacing our running lights with super bright LEDs.

As it goes right now, I will be taking the boat around to the eastern side of Florida to Jupiter Inlet sometime in early March. We have to deal with the rot in one of the beams and a bottom job so we have decided to take her to the Wharram experts at Boatsmith Inc. Im really excited about this because after speaking with the owner Dave, they are going to teach me some basic carpentry/wood working and boatbuilding, which is a dream of mine. Ive been dreaming about building a boat for some time now as my buddy Chris got me interested in multihulls and homebuilding. During the refit, many things will be checked and analyzed especially the rigging. Right now Im doing some research about rerigging the boat with synthetic standing rigging vs. stainless wire. The synthetic is now at a point where it is stronger and cheaper to rig with this so I might convince the owner to go this route. Some of the big advantages are no swaged terminals to trap water and you can visibly see problems with the lines, whereas with stainless it takes a special dye and a professional to see cracks before it snaps and the whole rig comes crashing down. I dunno, the jury is still out.

Tonight something special happened to me. I have basically 1 one warm pair of clothes to wear and I try my best to keep them clean. The good thing about the cold is Im not sweating hardly at all, so my sweat pants and sweater stay pretty clean overall. When I shower, I change boxers and undershirt and throw the original crap back on. The whole time Ive started this adventure of living in my van and traveling around, I occasionally see people look my way with weird expressions on their faces. I attribute these to my general appearance and living situation and basically shrug it off.

Tonight I was walking into the bathroom of the marina with 2 plates and a bowl to do some dishes. As I was walking, I passed by a mother of more affluent background getting into her mercedez with her kids and she goes “oooo looks… errr yummy”. I got inside and started washing my dishes and looking at my reflection in the mirror, walmart sweatpants and standard white t-shirt, hair wild from the 20kts winds but clean shaven. Im still carrying my Mexican tan so Im darker than most people around here but I guess that gives me the look of a beach bum or a person who labors outside. I thought about the look of pity on her face when she saw me walking to the bathroom with dirty dishes and I wondered what she must think of me. That is when I realized, I am becoming a strong person. Here I am, 6 months into this adventure of life and experiment on living and living at quite low standards at times. To cut back and save more money, I have been eating canned tuna/chicken with mayo and I actually love it! The craziest part of all of this, and what I realized when thinking about that woman and her Mercedez, I CAN END THIS ANY TIME I WANT TO! And yet, I trudge on.

Im very proud of myself tonight for another reason and that is because Im constantly being taught a lesson in humility. I used to be very vain when I was younger and I hated to be seen as “poorer” than someone else. Slowly but surely, I have been letting go of this and what a place to be taught! Im surrounded by retired and rich people, some of whom are living part time on 50+ft boats! Im squandering in the face of utter luxury, and yet I continue down my path and ever so slowly, Im letting go of my worrying about what they think of me. Cheers!

Good Day! Lots of work done.. but lots more problems

2011-01-13T19:52:00.012-06:00

Today was a good day for me and the boat. I was able to get the 2 remaining hatch frames scraped free of old sealant and caulking so they will properly glue down to the deck when I put them back on. It was a cold morning and I awoke to find a huge puddle of ice and icicles from where the marina turned on the water on my dock to keep the lines from freezing.

I got up and went straight to work on scraping and just trying to get it over with. Its hard work and with the cold weather my hands are in constant pain from being numb and working the screwdriver and utility knife. I made some calls and am now waiting for quotes to send in the hatch frames to a local company to have them sandblasted and then powder coated black again. The original paint is chipping off at a rapid rate and they don’t look as good as they could so if the price is right we will have them painted.

I made some calls to West Marine and had them do some checking on me for our Garmin GPS Chartplotter which doesn’t seem to want to turn on for me. I have checked at the plug in that I have 12vdc and I do but the unit refuses to power up. I tried the factory reset HOME+POWER keys for 30 seconds or so and still nothing. Im researching to whether or not Garmin can honor the factory 1 year warranty but I doubt it as the West Marine guy confirmed that the serial number shows a manufacture date of 2007. There is still a dim hope that this unit sat on a shelf for 2 years but I highly doubt it. The good news is Garmin will honor the fact that we purchased this unit and will take ours and send us a refurbished unit for $500 with a 90 day guarantee. That’s not a bad deal considering a brand new unit will set the owner back $1800 so I guess we are heading down this road.

I also undid all of the steering lines today to get ready to replace them. I demounted the wheel steering until so I could disassemble it but I ran into problems yet again. I need to disassemble the home-made unit so I can remove and repair the Raytheon AutoHelm that is attached to said wheel. However, a few of the set screws that hold the whole thing together are severely seized so I ran it to a local welding shop only to find they were closed. Im considering checking into having this whole thing remade or just making another one from glassed plywood. The drum that the tiller line wraps around is slightly out of sync with the wheel and I think the whole thing can be made to steer a lot better. However, Im trying to save the owner money so I will just try again at the shop tomorrow to see if they can heat the metal and get the set screws out of there.

My problem lately is my infatuation with this boat. Im having so much fun that Im forgetting its not mine. I want to redesign so many things and change this and that to make it even better but then I have to remind myself that this is not my boat and the owner is already throwing a fit over the money he is putting into her. I have tried many times to reassure him that this boat is worth much more money than he paid and anything he puts in is just an investment into the boat and her longevity.

Jason, the owner has paid local author, carpenter and boat builder Scott b. Williams from Mississippi to come out and advise us about some of the damage and rot I have found inside one of the main hull beams. Im pretty excited about meeting him because I have read 2 of his books and been following his blog for about 2 or 3 years while he has been building a very similar boat but at extremely high standards. He should be coming out next week sometime when the weather is supposed to be a little warmer and better. Im also excited about the warmer weather because I have literally been freezing here on this boat and working in 40F everyday with inadequate clothing. Sure I could go buy more but at the rate of pay which I am receiving it would be literally several days boat pay just to get some good working clothes so I have decided to rough it out. When it gets warmer next week I will start preheating my cans of epoxy and hardener and try to keep them at or around 70F so it should go on nice and smooth when I begin glassing the wooden deck frames for the hatches to sit on. A lot of water gets trapped under here and I would feel better if they were sheathed in epoxy before I reseal everything.

Well that about does it for this post. Im headed to my brother’s place in Biloxi this weekend so I should have something fun to write about afterward.

Cold and Wet!

2011-01-12T19:50:00.000-06:00

Today was a tough day to get out of bed. The weather has been horribly cold lately, especially this morning. I woke up around 7am and took a glance at my digital thermometer which was indicating a snug 36F inside the hull. I really had to pee and it took about 5 minutes of thinking before I was able to convince myself to get out of my shell of blankets and sleeping bags.

I returned to bed and woke up about an hour later and I promptly hit the deck to begin working on the hatches once again. I was surprised to find a decent amount of frozen water in containers that had been sitting out all night thus ending the debate of whether or not it actually dropped below freezing last night. I worked hard until 11 at scraping off the remaining 5200 Marine Sealant, which is a mixture of silly putty and badass glue. Its extremely difficult to make it come off in large segments and I found myself with a small flat head screwdriver removing bits and pieces from all the sections of a 24”x24” hatch frame.

I went to the nearby McDonalds for lunch at noon. Not so much to eat but to use their free WiFi they have. I sat in my van while checking my email, talking to Adriana and researching a few things for the boat. I made my lunch which was tuna and salteens and I highly enjoyed it! Amazing that such a cheap lunch can do it for me. I need to stick to this because I have been spending a tad too much cash here and I need to save as much as I can for when I get to South America.

The weather has been very cold lately and even just sitting in my van at noon was almost unbearable after half an hour or so. I decided to leave after I noticed my MorningStar SunSaver Duo solar controller flip out for a second and surge my house battery to near 16volts! This caused my inverter to overvolt and my laptop charger stopped working for a bit. My solar controller will “float” charge at 14.5v but this also depends on temperature and it was pretty cold today so 16v might be normal. I need to do some research about possibly some type of circuit protection to ensure nothing higher than 13v hits my lights and inverter.

The boat has been coming slowly as I have been finding a bunch of problems. It’s a 42ft boat and there are a ton of systems that need to be checked and repaired. Right now Im after the electrical system and deck hatches because they leak like crazy. The electrical is fine and working but I just don’t like some of the setup. I also have been doing some checking and it looks like the boats solar controller is on the fritz because it refuses to even try and charge the bank of batteries. The boat has a nice solar setup too so basically its tons of power just going to waste. The AIR-X Marine wind generator was cranking out high speeds the other day so I decided to check it with my multimeter. 5VDC?!?!?! It should be around 20vdc+!!! I isolated the circuit right at the generator and same thing, 5.6Vdc. I have to get her hooked up straight to the batteries because it has an internal regulator so that might have something to do with it but I highly doubt it. Right now I have it shorted and is self braking to prevent wear.

Ill try and get back on this thing because I know I haven’t been writing much lately and I can tell. I need to get these fingers moving again!!!!

In Florida, working on a boat!

2011-01-10T19:49:00.000-06:00

I have been here in Florida now for a week. I am working on a Wharram Pahi 42, a traditional type catamaran sailboat to get her ready for a long voyage to Colombia. Our tentative departure date is somewhere around mid March due to weather and other constraints.

I have been working hard on the first thing on my list which is to get the hatches on the boat sealed up. They are leaking water when it rains which means they will be leaking out on the ocean as well and no one likes a wet boat. It doesn’t seem like a big deal at first but when you are on a passage or even living on a boat in such a confined area, the smallest things can bring major discomfort and anger. I have been pulling the hatches completely from the deck and sanding down the deck areas. Next when the weather and temperature permits, I will begin reglassing the hatch frames to help seal and protect the wood below. Then I will reseal the hatches to the wood frames with 3M 5200 Marine Sealant. That stuff can glue/seal anything when it comes to boats. The next step will be replacing the hatch gaskets that we ordered from Bomar and then finally I will be resealing the plexiglass seams in the hatch lids. It’s a lot of work but its worth it to make a dry boat be possible.

Anyways, Im going to have dinner and a few beers and catch this Auburn vs. Oregon game everyone is going crazy about. I have a lot more to write about concerning the boat but that will have to wait for tomorrow.

Ramblings

2011-01-05T19:44:00.000-06:00

I wrote this when I was bored one night during a storm on the boat.

The rain patters down on the portlights and wood that makes up her hull. A slow drip from the hatch makes evident a leak in her defenses against the weather and the dark of the night. The storm heightens in strength and the wind howls through the rigging as the docklines stretch. She labors to protect me from the storm and the cold, biting wind.

Pitter patter goes the rain above my head.

Drip drop go the leaks from the hatches.

The dark night presses on as the creaks and groans grow louder with the wind. I lay snugly in my berth, listening to the torrent outside. Visions of wild storms at sea race through my mind, reminding me constantly of where I am and just how small and insignificant I am against the elements of wind and sea.

Ohh how dark it is!

Confined to my small space while this old boat labors on fighting the storm, I lay listening and watching the lightning. The winds howls again and the creaking grows louder. I pray the docklines hold for if not I will be surely blown off the docks and into shallow waters.
The night grows darker yet, thus casting a looming shadow upon my spirit. I pray for her strength and for my own. I pray she keep out the cold and protect me from the endless driving wind and soaking rain. The wind howls on as the hours pass.

The hulls grown with undue stress.

Drip drop go the leaks from the hatches.

Pitter patter goes the rain above my head.

WOW! Long time with no update! Im back in the USA

2010-12-29T23:44:00.000-06:00

Well, basically Im back in the USA!

I was getting a little bored living my dreams with no waves. OK, OK... basically I should have pushed on but I had been hanging out with the previous owner of a Wharram Pahi 42' catamaran that Im in love with. He hooked me up with the current owner who is moving to Colombia for awhile and the new owner needs a captain for the trip.

I have been talking with him and basically we came to an agreement about the trip and some work that needs to be done on the boat. So Im headed to Panama City, FL to live on the boat for a month or so while I get the boat ready. Then sometime at the end of Feb or mid March, we will be heading off to Colombia.

Im pretty excited about this trip and the timing is great. Ive talked to friends back where I was in Mexico, apparently still no waves!!!!!! This whole thing is about adventure so I will follow it wherever I have to go.

Im suffering a little heartache though. So many goodbyes and brief welcome homes. I got to see my family and friends for about 4 or 5 days and now Im heading off into the horizon once again. Im missing one of my best friends pretty badly as well and saying goodbye to her is always hard. But the thing Im finding it the hardest to deal with is not having my dog by my side. I left her back in Texas with my parents for awhile and its very hard after traveling with her for 3.5 months and being with her every single day and night. I love that dog... more than I knew. So with a heavy heart, I push on...

Daydreams and Ideas

2010-12-04T13:43:00.001-06:00

Today was kind of a slow day and I didn’t accomplish a whole lot that I needed to do. I talked with the mechanic for a little while on the phone and we tested a few things and he gave me a few things to check out but looks like I will be taking him my car on Monday morning. I stopped by the local welder who is working to put a water tank under my van but he pulled yet another Mexican Manana on me, meaning tomorrow. That is their favorite word down here and he has been using it a lot lately!

I stupidly decided to look at boats for sale for craigslist and I found myself totally in love with a couple. One of them was just perfect, something I have been looking for and right in my price range! Arrrrhhh why do I do this to myself? Gets the ole head rolling and the day dreams start working and pretty soon Ive got my whole story worked out as to how I can get that boat, where I will live while I work on it and how much money I need for this or that. You think I would learn from repeatedly doing this to myself but no… its fun to daydream right?

Project “reorganize the van” kicked off yesterday and we got a little done. I think I can save some space here and there and Im working on an idea to have a table mounted on my back doors so when I open them, I can swing the table up from each door and they will meet and lock in the middle. I can cook very well like this and I wouldn’t even have to remove my propane tank anymore! Ill explore more of this later.

There was another huge Quince last night. As I have written before these are celebrations for a girl when she turns 15 and it’s a huge party if the family has money. Well needless to say, this family had a ton of money and they rented out the dance place here in town and pretty much blasted music until 5am along with fireworks and the whole shebang. I got invited in when I was walking past for some tacos but I declined, opting for more of a quiet night. I kind of regret not going because those things can be a blast but it was probably for the better and I saved a lot of money not going so Im happy.

I started tossing around the idea lately of heading out to the Yucatan to Cozumel or Isla Mujeres and getting a job for a few months to put some more cash back in my pocket. I wrote in a previous post about how much money I have been spending and I would like to re-earn a little of that which I have blown so stupidly. I was talking to a buddy who sailed through that area almost 2 years ago and he seemed pretty confident I could find some work somewhere on a boat or a bar or something along those lines. Im not looking for anything crazy but Id like to make a grand or so in a couple of months before I move on. We shall see how this pans out.

Narcotraficantes and Van Fun

2010-12-03T20:59:00.000-06:00

It has been awhile since I have written anything. Not much has been going on as the surf has been next to flat for the past 2 weeks. Every surfer in town is starting to go nuts and if waves don’t show up soon, who knows what kinds of atrocities could aspire!

Lately Ive been working on my car and trying to get it fully ready for the upcoming parts of my trip. I have been working with a local welder about mounting my tanks under the van and this should be happening tomorrow afternoon. He is building a custom mount that will allow me to remove the tanks for refilling and inspection from the military and federales. By getting the tanks under the van I can start carrying a decent amount of water for cooking and cleaning which will be nice. Currently Im living out of water bottles and that is really starting to SUCK! I need to figure out some form of food storage because living out of plastic bags is just not working for me either. I was working on something in the van the other day and I sat on almost an entire loaf of good wheat bread and I smashed it to smithereens! Im thinking about getting a decent size cooler or a small bin to store food and other things I need when Im cooking.

Cooking is something I have been trying to do more of lately because its time I learn and its time that I get my spending back under control. Im not living horribly out of my means but I need to save cash and cut corners wherever I can and cooking is just too easy to not do this. I realize now that not having a table or some form of platform to cook on is a huge pain in the ass, so Ill be working to solve that problem very soon. I have only been cooking eggs and beans which is super easy but tomorrow Ill start hunting the internet for some good recipes to try out but I must build some type of a stable platform for cooking because right now working with vegetables or anything of the sort is just out of the question.

I have also been working on the van trying to solve my gas mileage problem. Currently Vanny is drinking gas like no other and Im not sure exactly why. I have been working hard on this problem but Im at a turning point where I can start buying unneeded parts or I can turn to a mechanic. I have put the car into diagnostic mode so Im watching the Open/Closed loop modes change and everything is ok. I have een testing sensors and so far they are all coming back ok save for my O2 sensor which is operating a little whacked. Right now that’s my main suspect but tomorrow I will work with a local mechanic who has an OBD1 reader and we can query individual sensors and get his opinion on what is wrong. This is one of the hardest problems I have ever had to tackle on a car and its tough to say the least without a good source of tools and information! Id like to possibly drop my gas tank and blow all the lines clean too but we shall see if I follow through with this.

The other night I was reading my buddy Tioga George’s blog and he mentioned he was heading to a place very near me and was going to leave his RV there while he flew back to the states for a few weeks. I dropped him an email but decided to go meet him on a whim and so I drove up to Penitas RV part in La Penita, about 1 hour north of me. He wasn’t due in until the next day so I stayed the night in the park and soon met some friends at the get-together all the RVers were having. I met the only 2 girls near my age in the entire park (32 &36) and we decided to head into town and check out a band that was playing bluegrass music. We had fun listening to them and I talked with the girls for a bit and figured out their stories which is always fun. One of the girls is from Canada and works seasonal work up there for 6 months and the other 6 months she comes with her parents and works in the RV park in Mexico. The other girl was from Germany and was just traveling Mexico for a few weeks alone and had seen some cool places.

We left the first bar and headed to a local karaoke place because the German girl wanted to sing. Listening to her sing in English was pretty funny but I gave her major credit for going for it. I couldn’t even imagine myself trying to sing some of my favorite Mexican songs in Spanish! There was another Mexican girl in the bar by herself and she was singing a few songs. I asked her if she would sing one of my favorite songs for me and she agreed and sang it pretty good. Later on she started talking to me and I asked her where she learned her English.

“I lived in Chicago and Los Angeles for awhile” she said.
“Ohh really? Why are you back in Mexico? Did you get deported?”
“Yes I did. I spent one year in jail in Chicago. I am a narcotraficante, so is my whole family”
“Mmmm, how interesting” I said feigning interest and scanning the exits.
“Yes… quieres una novia Mexicana? Eres muy guapo y quiero balair contigo!”. Which basically means ‘do you want a Mexican girlfriend? You are very cute and I want to dance with you!’.

We talked a little while longer and she wanted to come back to Punta Mita with me but I played it cool and avoided the topic. She was very pretty but messing around with girls who have a history in drug trafficking is not exactly my idea of fun. In fact I was beginning to wonder how in the world I could have such luck lately but that’s another story. I did think briefly about what could be the worst situation and I know tons of guys who would have gone for it anyways and just dealt with the problems as they come along. I figured this would be an excellent way for me to face my fears and try and regain some trust in myself and those around me, I mean… would they really want to kill a gringo just for hooking up with their sister? I left those questions unanswered and went back to the RV park with the girls I had come with. I went to bed as soon as we got back because I had to get up early and wait for George’s arrival!

I woke up the next morning and while walking around the van I noticed my left rear shock hanging by a thread. SHIT! The nut on the top mounting bolt had fallen off somewhere on the road and the shock let go but thank God the bolt was still hanging on. I unmounted the shock and threw it in the van figuring Id just deal with this later as my air bags were still supporting the rear end quite well. I took Chica for a walk on the beach where she made a new friend and they played for awhile chasing each other up and down the beach and through some of the waves until they both gave up in total exhaustion. Right about that time George pulls into the RV park and I let him get settled before I went to meet him.

I walked up the hill and saw the famous Tioga RV from his blog that I have been following for the past year. I introduced myself to George and I spent the morning chatting with him about his adventures through Mexico, life and the recent suicide of his son back in California. I knew he needed a ride back into Puerto Vallarta for the plane and offered him a ride back as I was headed that way anyway. He accepted and we left around 12:30pm just in case there was traffic on the bridge in Vallarta that recently collapsed due to heavy rains. We arrived at the airport right in time, shared a lunch of Carl’s Jr and went out separate ways. George is a very cool guy and Im glad I had the chance to meet and talk with him. You can follow his blog here.

Well its been an interesting couple of days but nothing more to write about, just the normal day to day life in Mexico. Ive been considering a new plan of settling in long term somewhere and getting a job and making it through the winter and saving my money for summer time. There has been little to no swell in the pacific so far and its getting old watching my bank account dwindle. I know Im down here living the dream and having fun but I need to get my spending back under control. I checked out a few numbers tonight and it looks like basically I have spent $3800 dollars in 3 months of living here and that’s just unacceptable. I need to get this back down to around $600 a month if I have any hopes of staying here long term.

Surf Movie I Made!

2010-11-23T16:14:00.000-06:00

Put this together with my GoPro Hero camera. Footage is all from Punta Mita and its relatively small but hey, still a ton of fun!

Video Work - Old post

2010-11-22T20:59:00.000-06:00

I didn’t do much today. The surf has been pretty small overall so today I focused on working on my surfing video I have been putting together. That led to other events and overall is was quite a busy day.

I finished the overall editing of the video last night before I went to sleep and it wasn’t too much work. I was quite happy with the overall product and after a few test renders I was quite happy. I couldn’t do the final render however because I needed an internet connection to check up on the latest Youtube requirements and recommendations for video encoding and I needed some software. I spent the entire afternoon working on the encoding process for youtube and getting some software I needed. I ate a can of tuna for lunch with a coke. I have been craving some fruit but the local shops have been severely lacking on the fruit front lately. All of their products are usually rotten after 3 days if you don’t catch the fresh batch.

I was working on my video when a girl I met the other day came inside the courtyard of the hotel where I camp and asked if she could have an old towel for a dying dog nearby. I got her a towel from Lisa (owner of the hotel) and I went with her to help her with the dog. The dog was the average homeless Mexican street dog and was in very poor condition. He was bleeding pretty badly from what appeared to be a wound on his neck and he was covered in ticks and in overall very bad condition. He was extremely malnourished and every bone in his ribcage and hip was showing. She called a vet and then went to find her while I helped the supposed “owner” move the dog into the shade and out of the sun. I got my muzzle for this task because I didn’t want to risk a bite from a street dog with no history of a single vaccination.

The girl returned with the vet and I tried to help the best I could The vet set out to rescue the poor dog but I had to intervene and ask if possibly euthanizing the animal would be the best option. Adoption for dogs down here is almost non existent, especially for a 9 year old Mexican street dog but the vet seemed positive about the situation so I let her work. Turns out the wound on his throat was some type of tumor or serious infection that had opened up. She had to give him a mild anesthetic so she could open it more and drain the fluid and blood and I watched this girl lance open this dogs very swollen throat with a razor blade. She took very good care of him and overall he seemed to just be happy for the attention he was getting. Its such a sad sight…

I finished working on my video and uploaded it to youtube only to find out that for some reason the youtube compression schemes changed what I sent in, and interlaced the project. Interlacing is more complicated than I can explain but basically, its horizontal lines, usually visible in fast motion on the screen. The video quality overall is pretty impressive but I have a better video that is de-interlaced that I need to upload in its place.

Me and the surfer crew all went to dinner at a local place and returned back to one of their rooms to watch Borat and that’s pretty much the conclusion of my night.

Good Waves and the Balance of Life

2010-11-19T20:43:00.001-06:00

Well we ended up going to Sayulita last night and boy did we have fun. We didn’t back to Mita until 5am so that meant I didn’t wake up until 12:30pm today, it’s a hard life let me tell you.

I ran over to Debo’s because I had to meet and talk to these two guys that wanted to discuss a small side trip with me to explore. I had hung up some business cards on her board as a joke and they wrote “Surf Guide – Have Van, Will Travel” and these two guys inquired. We talked for awhile about the area they wanted to go and they changed their minds. We are thinking now like a 2 day camping trip up into the Sierra outside of Vallarta, to a small town called San Sebastian. They came down to Mexico after crewing on a sailboat in the Baja Ha Ha regatta and have been boat hopping ever since. Currently, they are working on and watching (for room and board) the 62ft catamaran of the owners of Latitude 38 magazine! The cat is huge and has been anchored off the beach for awhile and I have been wondering about it.

I came back to catch Tim and we decided to head out for a surf. We chose Anclote because its close, easy and extremely fun on a longboard. It wasn’t that big out there, maybe knee to thigh high but it’s a long wave and it just peels for yards. I caught a few rides that were close to 100 yards even in the small conditions! The sets were few and far between though so we basically decided it would all be party waves and drop ins would be allowed due to lack of waves. I dropped in on Tim several times and it was fun to look back behind me and see him gliding along maybe 20ft behind. The sunset was absolutely perfect as I watched it sink behind the hills and condos, casting an orange glow over the water and the rest of Mita. I looked back at shore for awhile, everything being bathed in that orange glow. The palm trees blowing in the offshore winds and the fishing boats zoomed by to return and sell their catch for dinner in the restaurants. I could see Chica, sitting on the beach waiting patiently for me to return, occasionally playing with other dogs and barking furiously at innocent passersby’s. I realized that this is what I came here for. I relaxed some of the constant shit Ive been giving myself for staying here so long and realized that happiness is happiness. Good waves, good friends and a good town. Really, what more can I ask for? Im living my dream and in paradise with consistent surf. That is enough for me and Im working to tone down my constant bashing of myself and this place.

Tim, Christian (the newly arrived aussie) and I are heading out Sunday to a secret spot Tim and I know about 2 hours south of here. We are hoping to score some juicy powerful waves that will pick up the southern swell better than here and this place is known for pull in barrels and fast down the line beachbreak. I got my ass handed to me here about 4 years ago but my surfing has much improved since then so Im looking for a barrel to get myself into, even if I have to take a few beatings from mother ocean. That’s the price for hiding in the green room a little. With surfing and almost all things involving our mother ocean, you must give in order to receive from her and that is the balance of life I guess.

Mind Ramblings...

2010-11-16T11:28:00.000-06:00

My day started off pretty good. I woke up early around 8am and went to help out Debo with the opening of her restaurant. Turns out she didn’t need much help so I ordered some food and hung out. I ended up hanging out all day at her place with nothing else better to do but talk with some of her customers, friends and more friends. Not a bad day that’s for sure as I could think of a million other things I’d hate to be doing.

After a while my Argentinean friend Alvaro showed up and we hung out for the remainder of the day at Debo’s. We talked about many things, women, the world and traveling. He came from Argentina on a whim and ended up staying and working here. He used to work at a restaurant here in town but that didn’t pan out for him and now he is freelancing selling boat trips and renting kayaks to tourists. He also gets together with other spear fishermen like himself and heads out into the ocean and spear fish for money and sometimes they do pretty well!

Later that night a girl I met exactly 1 month ago on my birthday night showed up and by then we had started in on the beers. I have been taking it very slow the past 2 weeks so I decided to reward myself and step it up a notch with these good friends. We hung out until Debo couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore and we headed out into the night to Alvaro’s apartment where he had beers waiting for us. First we swung by his old work to pick up his girlfriend so he and I killed time on the jetty with my baseball bat knocking rocks out to sea which ended up being great fun if not a bit difficult due to low lighting and beers. We went back to his place with his girlfriend who is the chef at the restaurant. That girl is an amazing cook and is super cool and we spent a few hours talking and trying to convince her to quit her job and go work for Debo.

There hasn’t been much surf lately, I mean its waist high but I just can’t seem to get my shit together right now. I’m happy but not truly happy. I figured out some of the problem by thinking a lot into what it is that is bothering me. I spent 4 years dreaming of this trip and putting the money together to make it happen. That dream, that goal was my sole reason for waking up in the morning and keeping my life together. Without it, I was lost. Now that I am living that dream, that huge goal I now have a bad vacuum in my life. I no longer see the reasons for waking up in the morning to lounge around doing nothing. To some people this sounds like heaven, to me its almost hell at times. Without a purpose, a goal or a dream what the hell are we doing here and what the hell do we do when we accomplish that dream? I need to sit down and try and build a new goal system for myself. Ive never had a problem in my life making goals like so many people do but right now Im struggling for reasons. Im struggling for dreams. Im finding myself more and more stuck in the town of Punta Mita. Why move on? Why even be here? I love surfing but the stoke is dead right now. I did such a good job of killing my desire to ride waves for the past 3 years. I was working and I knew it was silly to keep filling my head with visions of surfing waves and desires to take side trips and now I find it very difficult to turn it BACK ON! Here I am in a prime surfing destination and I haven’t done a morning and afternoon session even once! I surf for a few hours and get my fill and that’s it for the day! What the hell is wrong with me???? Ive been talking to a surfing friend on the internet and he advised me to head to Baja for great cheap camping, cool people and great waves in the wintertime. Baja isn’t too far for me and riding the 18 hour ferry across the Sea of Cortez sounds appealing but I can hardly make myself stir at this thought. Truly stuck. What the hell??? I should be taking off at a moments notice and heading for new destinations and sunsets. I have the money, the means and sure as hell have the ability and yet I find myself unable to do anything more than drive 5 minutes to my nearest break. I haven’t even tried to surf any of the other 5 spots in this area!!! I need to get out of this rut. I need to find a purpose again, a good goal. Im not thinking suicidal or anything so please don’t be concerned. Ive always loathed suicides as such a waste of a good opportunity. When you no longer fear death and actually wish for it, you have become the most powerful person in the world and you should put it to good use or go out like a champ, not in your closet with a shotgun. Im just in a slump and I don’t really know why. I hate to sound like im bitching to all my readers but basically my blog is also my form of a journal and Im trying to get somewhere on the path of recovery by writing this and getting it out of me. This is very therapeutic for me and I enjoy it so just skip this post if you find it annoying to read about the kid who has everything and lives the dream in his van down in Mexico and is now depressed. Im at least waiting until I get my foam (should be tomorrow) to repair my surfboard before I move on because I do not know when I may be able to score some again. Anyways… Im headed to bed.

Small Surf...

2010-11-15T11:26:00.000-06:00

Today was an interesting day in the sense that I didn’t do a single thing all day long and man did it feel good! I woke up around 11am in the van parked out front of my friends place in Nuevo Vallarta and grabbed all my cooking stuff and made us eggs with refried beans and it wasn’t bad. The eggs weren’t anything special but the beans I decided to get a little creative and added some diced jalepinos and a few other things like some Salsa Huichol and boy they turned out great!

I sat around all day doing nothing but watching movies because I just could not bring myself to find a reason to do anything else. Finally I decided to go surfing and get out of Nuevo Vallarta and back out to Mita for some camping and alone time. Im really starting to like some of my time being semi alone most of the day. I pulled up at La Lancha and caught a friend walking out saying it was small and 20 people out due to the Mexican holiday and he didn’t even bother paddling out. Well crap, me neither. I know it sounds shallow but I was just not in the mood to fight crowds for small surf so I headed into Mita to check out Anclote, another surf spot that has long slow peeling waves, perfect for longboarding. I found it barely breaking with only one guy out so I decided that surfing was not going to happen that day. I swung by Debo’s and talked with her for a minute and got an invitation to join her for dinner. She had several large fillets of Castel or something and wanted to take it to a nearby restaurant.

I took a shower back at Lisa’s place and headed back over to meet Debo and we walked down to a local restaurant and had them cook the fillets in coconut with a side of mango sauce. The fish was incredible and I highly enjoyed it! We had way too much on our hands so I ate like 5 fillets and became totally sick of coconut by the end of that experience.

After dinner I retired to my van in my normal camping location. I started reading Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” for the first time. I have seen the movie but like always the book was just better. It did however make it a much funnier read because I could play out the movie in my head as I was reading the lines and I could picture the crazy insanity that was being described. One of my favorite lines in the book is “We had several narrow escapes: at one point I tried to drive the Great Red Shark into the laundry room of the Landmark Hotel – but the door was too narrow, and the people inside seemed dangerously excited.”. That line just makes me roll with laughter at the hilarity of the statement, dangerously excited? Really?

I also dug into an interesting book I had been wanting to start reading called “Sex, Drugs, Einstein, & Elves” by Clifford A. Pickover. It’s a book about highly complicated and at times esoteric topics like DMT and alternate universes, the concepts of language and if it limits the human ability to think. I love the book so far and you can read the mini topics easily and put it down for another night. I read about DMT and other mind expanding drugs and the debate if alternate dimensions do in fact exist and people can indeed visit them with the help of drugs, or if they are just really high and our super powerful brains are creating alternate realities and experiences. DMT is a chemical found naturally in the body in the pineal gland in the brain and some scientists believe it is responsible for the images and sights commonly described by people that have “near-death” experiences. It is highly hallucinogenic and mind altering and actually used with success to treat heroin addicts and alcoholics, often with the patients never having the desire to abuse their drugs again!

Well that’s about it for this journal entry.

Day of Exploring - No Swell

2010-11-14T23:58:00.003-06:00

Today was an awesome day! I spent the night at my friend Mar’s house last night with plans to show her some beaches she hasn’t had the time or energy to visit since moving to Vallarta almost 2 years ago. Its kind of sad really considering how accessible all of these beaches are and how close they are! Most people know that I try to encourage others to get out and explore their world around them. A lot of people complain that they do not have the money to go on vacation but they don’t know anything about the very world around them that I easily and cheaply accessible.

We took off to an unmentioned beach and when we arrived we were surprised to see the very small town packed out with Mexican tourists. This town and beach are not very big so it was super crowded and overall I don’t think she liked it. We sat in the sand and talked for a bit and then she wanted to go back to Rincon de Guayabitos, another beach town in the area. We headed out in the car back to the main highway when she mentioned offhand about going to San Blas, which I know a little. There is are several beautiful beaches on the way and Matanchen bay is just awesome with a great view of the sunset. I told her it was a bit of a drive, which it was and so we headed out through the country side. We had a great drive and when she saw the beach she was super excited. We caught an awesome sunset and are now back at her house where Im camping in my car out front. I thought I could write more about today but I just don’t feel like it.

Closeout Sets!

2010-11-13T23:56:00.001-06:00

I didn’t do very much today as I was slightly hung over in the morning from Tim and I’s trip to Sayluita the night before. We hung out with a bunch of people and met some cool people, including this crazy Chilean dude I met that probably cheerzed me like 50 times before the night was over. He just kept saying over and over, “Vive Chile!! Vive Houston!!!” hahahah, good times. We didn’t actually drink that much, it was just more of the late night and the 6pack we split of Bohemia Dark, and dark beer always hurts me the next morning.

When I finally woke up I decided I wouldn’t do much that day except for start a new book. I have been wanting to read this book by Scott Williams that I bought before I left. Its about his adventures kayaking through the Caribbean, literally crossing almost the whole thing in a 17ft sea kayak. It was very inspiring to say the least and when I say I couldn’t set it down, Im not lying. I read the whole damn book in one sitting! It really made me think about my future and what I would like my next set of dreams to be and now that I know its totally possible to cross through these areas on such a small craft, my ideas for a nice beachable 24ft catamaran might be doable.

I was heading to my friend’s house so we could go explore some beaches the next day and I decided that I HAD to get wet. I couldn’t spend the whole damn day just sitting in my van reading and resting right? I caught La Lancha right at sunset and I knew I had to make the most of the maybe 40 minutes remaining until sunset. I immediately started catching waves and working on a fear Ive been having lately in the water that cost me dearly the other day. I went to surf a very sketchy spot with a friend that I have been fearing for a while due to the rocks and reef in the line up. Even the paddle out can be a bitch but we made it out unscathed but I beefed it chasing a smaller wave to the inside and basically when right into the rocks. My problem is I have been fearing waves with super lined up walls thinking that they are about to pitch and closeout and catch me down on the inside. So that afternoon at La Lancha I started working on taking waves that looked like closeouts to me and tried racing the lips. I caught one that pitched so I told myself to shoot to the bottom and work around the closed section and sure enough it worked! I need to keep this up because these waves are usually the most fun anyways as they give a racy section to beat and surf up and down with long cutbacks after you make it. I surfed past sundown and thoroughly enjoyed the amazing sunset before I caught a huge closeout wave to the beach. I made it to Mar’s house where we hung out for a bit and crashed. And that’s the conclusion to that day!

More Great Surf and Car Troubles

2010-11-11T15:35:00.000-06:00

Today I woke up on a mission to get in some surf so I took off around 10am to La Lancha with my longboard in tow. I didn’t make it very far before I realized I had left my board shorts back at the hotel as they were drying from a washing the previous day. I finally got back to the break and decided to gear up the camera and see if I could get some decent footage of some good drops and nice down the line surfing without all the whitewater washing over the tail of the board.

I got the camera mounted and secured and tied off its leash to my leash just in case it decides to go for a swim. The break was a little packed and there were a few boats out with students, my perfect type of surf. Even though it looks crowded, a close observation reveals that no one is really catching waves on their save for a few guys and the instructors. Perfect. I paddle out right into the thick of it getting some odd stares for the camera mounted on the tail end of my board but I held my ground. I got a wave pretty quickly but I fell off going backside. I took a few on the head but Im getting my turtle roll down pretty well and slowly letting go of my fear of being in decent size surf on a longboard. See, with a shortboard or a fish, which are normally what I ride, you can go down below the water when a breaking wave is in front of you. We call this move a “duckdive” after the ducks that do it so well in the ocean! Just watch them next time you have a chance, the birds will duck just in front of big waves and go right below them! A longboard is a totally different story. It is almost impossible to duckdive a longboard so surfers have come up with several other methods for not getting annihilated in breaking waves. Sometimes you can paddle through some of the whitewater but mostly we do a move called the “turtle-roll” and that’s pretty much what you do. You roll the board upside down with you below it under the water hanging on to the board. Your body effectively acts like an anchor and you can kind of hold your position. Today I learned to hang on a little in front of the board to force the nose down through the whitewater.

I got a few more good rides before I finally noticed my camera wasn’t taking video like it was supposed to because the batteries were dead. CRAP! I took a few more good waves and my last ride was basically what every surfer dreams of. I paddled in for a semi late drop and made it with a nice long bottom turn off the bottom and shot down the line. However La Lancha is easy to outrun so I had a nice long cutback to get back into the curl of the wave and here I did another long bottom turn and shot off the line again. I did another long cutback and really felt it this time. I extended my front leg to the max and forced the board with my back foot to turn back the other direction to the left and really cranked on it and boy was it fun! I did another good bottom turn and practiced my pumping Im learning off the bottom. Pumping is the way a surfer generates speed in slow or flat sections of the wave and it is a concept Im finally getting the hang of and its pretty fun too! I made a small cut back straight to let the wave catch up and I noticed Im nearing the beach rapidly. I watch the wave line up and get ready to explode into a close out so I turn back straight and laid down and rode the whitewater straight into the beach, terminating the ride in 1.5ft of water. I unleashed and walked up the sand and noticed these 3 guys sitting there with dumbfounded looks on their faces as I had just pulled off the move every surfer dreams of, to practically step off your board from a long good ride onto the beach. I was so damn happy about the ride I totally forgot about the camera batteries being dead but I really wish I would have gotten that one on video.

I went into Nuevo Vallarta to pick up a few things for Chica and me, namely dog food and rechargeable AAA batteries for my surfing camera. Then I grabbed a burger at Carls Jr. and it was pretty epic. I went over to Mar’s house and chatted with her for a bit and she seemed to be doing well. I haven’t talked to or seen her in over a week so I was wondering how she was doing. We talked for a while and she had to run to a quincenera, or a sweet 15 party so I headed back to Mita. I went over to Debo’s and chatted with her for a second and got invited to this new place just a couple of houses from her so I joined her and her friend Dianne and Alejandro. The food was pretty good and I spent my time talking with Alejandro and it wasn’t until the end of the meal that I finally figured out where I knew him from. Some weeks ago I was drunk with Paul and Mel and we were driving through the main street of Mita when we happened upon some friends drinking on the street corner so we bailed out, paid our mariachi friend to play some songs and drank with them in the street for a bit. Alejandro and I laughed about this for a while as we both remembered at once and it turns out I know his dad very well. He is the security for the place we have been camping for the past 4 years when we come here!

I then met up with Alvaro, a friend from the restaurant Si Senor. I told him the other day I would sell him my wettie (wetsuit) for a good price and I let it go for $400 pesos, about $35usd which is what I paid for it anyways. He is a spear fishermen and his suit was donated to him and its old and torn, letting in more and more of the cold pacific waters every day. I hope this new suit will be good for him and keep him warm. He’s a cool guy, down here working and looking for adventure from his native Argentina. II wish him all the best luck.

Tomorrow there is talk of possibly heading to the paradise beach north of here so we shall see how that goes. Dianne also knows a great welder (they call him Juan, the man of steel) so I will talk to him about mounting my water tanks under the van and maybe some type of freaking table on the door or something so I don’t have to cook on the floor anymore. Who knows… more adventure coming soon though. Mita is getting old and im getting an itching to hit the road so I will be headed south in a few days. Im also considering heading back to Florencia for a few days and having the guys take a look at my van because the gas mileage has totally gone to shit, like 11mpg shit. I replaced my fuel filter the other day and it was pretty clogged with black crap and Ill try resetting the computer for the engine just to make sure its not stuck on a high elevation fuel setting but I don’t have much faith it will work. Eh, just another day in paradise!

Bleh..

2010-11-10T15:33:00.000-06:00

I made a promise to wake up early and surf with Neil and his girlfriend Laura today so I got my knock this morning at 8am, rise and shine. This doesn’t sound very early but it is the earliest I have had to be up in a long time so don’t judge me.

We hit La Lancha and I brought my fish as I was bound and determined to get back into some fun rippers Ive been having on that board. Well as it turns out, the ocean and La Lancha teamed up once again against me and had other plans. It was kind of small and the rides were short as observed from the beach and with the cold wind blowing and even colder water, I opted to sleep on the beach. I passed out for about an hour and it was a great nap sleeping on a log fashioned into a sitting bench and I actually got cold for a bit! The weather here has been very pleasant but a little chilly at times. Neil and Laura had a good session and that’s all that matters as they are flying out Friday morning. I have time so I wasn’t too worried about missing one session and trust me the nap was great. I cant imagine a better place to take a nap, sound of the waves, the surfers, barking dogs playing on the beach and the wind rustling through the trees. I laid there with a slight chill over my body from the brisk morning air and the wind and I let sleep overcome me and boy was it great!

We headed back to the hotel and they whipped up an awesome breakfast that could only be described as some sort of egg tortas (a scrambed egg sandwich with ham) and it was epic! I ran them over to Sayulita so Laura could sell her board. She ended up selling it to a shop, I think the same shop she bought it from for like $2500 pesos, about $200usd. We bummed around Sayulita for a little while and I fell asleep in a chair while they were shopping in a store. I guess it was just my day to sleep!

We came back and I pretty much went back to sleep for a little while. I met up with Debo and shared a beer with her. She put me on a mission to score some tortillas for dinner as she was whipping up some of the fresh tuna caught just a couple of days ago by some badass fishermen staying at Lisa’s place. These guys are nailing like 150lb yellowfin tuna with spear guns as they freedive to depths around 50ft and boy are they good. They have been nailing them nonstop and just giving all the meat away as they have no need for it and they are flying back to California in a few days. Anyways the tortillaria was closed down. This is a place where you go to get fresh corn tortillas and its dirt cheap, like 1lb of tortillas sets me back $5 pesos, about .50 cents. I swung by a good taco stand I know and saw the lady their making her tortillas by hand and I was able to purchase half a kilo (about 1lb) for double the price at $10 pesos, about .90cents. Debo created some amazing mixture of sautéed tuna with onions, tomatoes, jalepinos and bell pepers! It was incredible!!

I came home after that and watched a butt load of two and a half men, thanks again Mike! Then I passed out.

Debo is Back in Town!

2010-11-07T18:52:00.000-06:00

Today I didn’t do much. I was supposed to go to Chacala with Mar but things didn’t work out. She never made plans with me and didn’t start txting me about it until noon and I pretty much blew that idea off. She then wanted me to come to the pool with her and have carne asada tacos but I didn’t feel like making the trek to Nuevo Vallarta today. I didn’t wake up until 11 because the swell was dropping and Sunday the beaches around here just get packed out so there is no sense in fighting 20 people in the water for small waves. I have more time than them anyways haha.

I got up and headed over to talk to my buddy Debo and to recharge my cell phone because I used all my credit. I hung out at her place and talked to her buddy all afternoon and had fun. He’s a cool guy and has been all over Mexico for the last 25 years or so and it was really cool talking Mexico history with him. Ahhh how this place must have been back then! Dirt roads to almost everywhere, no major coastal development! He even knew some of the places I have been in Guatemala and told me what they were like 20 years ago! We headed over to the restaurant Si Senor for a few beers and watched the surfers and boy was it packed! 15 people and a few stand up paddleboarders (SUPers) fighting for knee high waves and it didn’t look like much fun. We returned to Debo’s where I bid my goodbyes and finalized plans for dinner at 7.

I got back to my campsite in front of my favorite hotel and started working on the sanding phase of my surfboard repair. This is the longest and hardest phase and can really take a considerable amount of time to complete. My process is usually starting off with a rough grit like a 60 to get all the rough edges smoothed out and try and get it near level with the board. Now where I go from here depends on a few things like if I need to actually “reshape” parts of the board. Im still learning the arts of fiberglass work and Im not sure how actually “shape” with it. For instance I have a bad hole in my rail and even though its now glassed and protected, the rail of the board indents about ¼ of an inch. Normally I think most people would ignore this but I want the rail back to normal so I must add thickness using fiberglass, a semi runny material and its hard. Sometimes I will seal the hole with a layer of glass and goup on a bunch of suncure epoxy resin because it is very thick like paste and can add density to my hole I need to fill. So if all is well and its just a patch job, Ill smooth it out with either 60 or 80 grit. From here I step up to 120 and really work out all the scratches the 60 puts into the board. Ill usually sand in opposite directions or perpendicular to the scratches to try and work them out of the surface. From there Ill step up just for a second to 180 and then the final is a semi wetsand with 220 grit. This really brings the shine back into the board and u can hardly tell there was ever a repair job done there but it does require time to complete all these steps correctly. With the amount of repairs Im currently doing to the Fish, this could take several days counting in resin cure times! The good news is, the board will look great when Im finished and should be ready for another round of action. The only problem is the board has a blue bottom with like a magenta deck and I don’t have cloth or resin color so all my repairs are white and are very obvious despite the quality of the repair. Such is life..

I went to have dinner tonight with Debo, her friend and my buddy Neil I met the other day. We went back to the same place we ate last night because its super good and only open on Saturdays and Sundays. I had two beef quesadillas (18 pesos each) and 2 beers and it was perfect. We all thoroughly enjoyed our food and she dropped Neil and I back off at the hotel. I took a walk for a bottle of water and to check out the town dance that was going on but the dance was just coming to a conclusion by time I arrived. It looked like some type of local band practicing and they were actually pretty good! I love the Banda music! Banda is a type of music here in northern Mexico that usually has a whole array of instruments. Good strong beats, Tuba, Trumpets, Clarinets, trombones and flutes at times and it really is a treat to hear it live as it throws the listener into the heat of it. I just got back to the van where Im typing this right now and considering going to bed except that it is quite early! Maybe Ill watch some more Trailer Park Boys and call it a night.

Best Surfing Yet!

2010-11-06T18:50:00.000-05:00

Today was the best damn day of surfing I have had in a long time. I woke up on a mission to make it happen even though I was a little late. I wanted to surf Burros and the rule is to get on it early before the crowds arrive, especially for a Saturday. I bought a bottle of orange juice and headed down the road but didn’t arrive there until 10am. The original plan was for 8:30am but hey, I was going to get some waves one way or another.

I saw Dave’s truck (the couple that own the hotel where Im camping) so I parked in front of him. I didn’t see many other vehicles and that was a good sign so I took off sprinting down the trail to the beach. Burros is a unique spot in that there is a damn resort just in front of the wave and many times hordes of gringos on vacation with surfboards will paddle out from the front of the hotel and just instantly crowd the wave, or insta-crowd as we say. It make me a little angry at times because I worked hard to get to these waves when these clowns flew in, taxied to the hotel and woke up and paddled out front. Just doesn’t seem right at times but hey, what can ya do?

The trail leading to Burros is one of the coolest I have ever walked on in Mexico and especially to get to a wave. It goes deep into the jungle following a small creek (arroyo in Spanish) and the sunlight is almost totally blocked at times from the thick palms overhead. I pity the hotel guests as they actually miss this quick hike through some of the coolest jungle in this area. I got through there as fast as I could and made it to the beach to find only around 7 people out. I talked to a guy on the beach who had a fish just like me and turns out he was a guest in the hotel where I was camping and rode down with Dave. The waves looked decent and there were some sizable sets coming through, around head high and clean… perfect!

I paddled out and let the line up take their turns on the next 2 sets of waves, after that it was my turn as is a common courtesy when first paddling out. You can be a rude asshole and paddle out and take the very first wave but it will not earn you much respect, in my book anyways. The first wave I took off on was a fast right and boy did I enjoy it! I raced along the wall for a minute before heading down into the flat to come back to the top of the wave. I made a big long carve and a small cut back to put me back into position as to not outrun the shoulder, or power section of the wave. If you shoot too far on the shoulder you will get into the parts of the wave that are still jacking up and they have less power, often ending your ride prematurely. The second wave I caught was perhaps my best with a nice racy section again and finally I smacked the lip on this fish. I went vertical and turned almost 180 degrees off the top lip and boom shot forward back towards the bottom of the wave with the speed of the pitching wave pushing me bottomward. My balance got a little wacked here because of the sudden rush of speed and after making a small bottom turn I fell backward off my board. My third wave was decent but my leash was wrapped around my back foot and I was actually standing on it while surfing, highly distracting me. The ride was good with 2 cutbacks to put myself back into position on the wave. The last ride was good enough to send me to the beach because I was just too happy at this point. This was some o the best surfing I have done in my short career and I was highly excited. Plus the sets were starting to become fewer and fewer with larger time frames in between so I called it a morning and went back to the hotel.

I started working on my fish which has been needing serious repair for a few months. I found a ton of things I need to fix and I started busting open crappy fiberglass and exposing the wet foam beneath and letting it dry. In all I found 6 major spots that needed some serious repair and Ive started on 4 of them. Two as of today are finished after much sanding and final touches but the others are going to require some more extensive work. Im a perfectionist of a sort when it comes to my board repair work and I will not call it complete until its damn near perfect. I don’t like uneven or rough finishes especially on the bottom of a board, after all if it was “ok” to have rough spots on the bottom then why would the shaper go through so much trouble to make sure the board was smooth as glass? Would it not interfere with the hydrodynamics of a planing surfboard if there were rough patches on the bottom? My guess is yes, it would interfere in little and possibly unnoticeable ways but it is only a tad more work to seek perfection and eliminate any doubt or wonder.

After the first layers of fiberglass were laid and curing I decided to go for an afternoon surf with Neil and his girlfriend Laura. They are from Utah and both have very interesting jobs/lives. They both work as river guides and in the winter Neil works ski patrol and Laura works as an ESL teacher, how cool is that? They are great people and have been exploring the Mexican coastline via bus for the last month and a half and actually ran into the Israeli guy that was with me a few weeks ago! Dave gave us all a ride to Anclote, the surf point right in front of Punta Mita. I haven’t seen this wave ever work as much as it has been since I got here. Every day is at least knee high and loggable if you want to get wet. Today it was about knee to thigh with occasional sets in the waist high range and boy was it fun! We started snagging long rides one after another and at one point an old guy tried to drop in on me but I fended him off with my hands. I talked to the guy who was with him and later found out that he was just learning to surf and tonight was his last night in Mita and the guy with whom I was talking to was his guide. So I told him Id back off and let him take his share of waves seeing as it could be his last time for a long time. I even blocked a bunch of people and made sure he got his ride of the day which he took all the way to the beach! It was cool seeing someone so stoked even at his age to be riding waves. I got a few more rides and then finally I took my last ride which was a waist high peeler. I took this wave to the maximum and almost ran into the jetti! I had so many nice little cutbacks and fast sections that I fell in love with surfing all over again. Ahhh… the art of wave riding, especially on a longboard. Right when I thought my day could not get any better from my session that morning I totally blew the day away with my afternoon session.

We walked back to the hotel and we all showered and headed out for some great tacos, quesadillas and a few beers. We concluded the night in their room watching a few of the surf movies I brought along on my trip and over all it was a great day!

Time to Clean Up!

2010-11-05T18:49:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning at my friend Mar’s house in Nuevo Vallarta and I knew that it was time to get out of there. I have been staying on her couch for the past 3 days and I felt like I was intruding a tad even though she assured me I could stay as long as I wanted. Ive been getting tired of the drive to surf from her house which is about 40 minutes through the mountains and it eats the gas in the van so here I am, back in Punta Mita camped out on the street in front of my friend’s hotel.

I have been trying to clean up for the past couple of days and just live healthier overall. I needed to take a break from beer and all that mess so I’m going to go a week or two with nothing and find some clarity in my mind and get back on track. I’ve noticed that I’m increasingly getting lost about what Im doing down here overall. I used to have a mission and now I just feel a little lost. I don’t want to return to a work based society yet but I need to find some form of a project or something. Im not really sure what is wrong, just a slump I guess. Ive had these before where I just kind of drop out but they usually don’t last that long. Ill fight through this and get my head back in the game.

I surfed out at La Lancha today and it was just a crapshoot. There were some big waves coming through and frankly I was pretty nervous. It has been awhile since I have been in surf with any size to it and La Lancha was definitely pumping them out. Just massive walls of messy waves coming through all disorganized and La Lancha doing what it does best, shift all over the place. I took my first wave which was kind of a late drop and I saw the wall pitching so I quickly shot to the top and tried out make it out but got sucked under and had a bit of a spill. It shook me up a little and I spent the next hour dodging a little. I set up perfectly for a few good ones but usually I got beat to them as the non closing out lines were not very common. Everyone took a wave in and I found myself alone out there to face my fears and I was a little unnerved. Big surf can be a but nerve racking but its always better to share the fear with fellow surfers. Here I was alone and waves were coming in sets, seemingly stacked to the horizon. That’s when you paddle your ass off and try and get out of the impact zone. I made it through a few sets before I worked my way back in a little to try and pick off some of the smaller waves on the inside. I took one which turned out to be an elevator drop and I missed the bottom turn and pretty much shot straight while the whole thing collapsed on my head as I fell off the back of the board. I only made one more wave and I got killed on that one too and that’s when I decided to call it quits for La Lancha for the day.

There was a strong longshore current running with all the water moving around and especially with the waves angling out of the west. I was being dragged rapidly toward a rocky patch when I noticed a Canadian couple I met the other day paddling just inside me. The wife took a ride inside and I got a chance to have a word with the husband when I noticed a large wave angling down on us. I raced for the outside and made it over the top just in time to turn around and see that 6ft wall of water collapse on his head. Boom! I watched him be dragged under water for a little ways before resurfacing and he caught a small wave to the beach. I gave up paddling against the current and instead turned with it and very swiftly cleared the rocky area when I bellied in (rode a wave staying on my stomach on the board) to the beach. Phew! What a day!

I drove into Mita and bought a loaf of bread and a coke and headed to my camp site to make PP&J sandwiches. I had 2, finished my coke and then pretty much passed out from exhaustion. I just woke up around 630pm and talked with the hotel owner a bit and about some other surf spots around here that work better with the large NW we have filling in. Im going to try Burros in the morning and maybe Anclote in the afternoon, but we shall see how all that pans out.

My friend Debo is coming in tomorrow after driving in from Texas. She stopped in San Miguel de Allende for a few days and she should be arriving some time tomorrow. Im glad she came back down because a few weeks ago she was thinking about returning to Texas for awhile to work and let Mexico cool down. I think she made a great decision and hopefully it will work out for her when she reopens her restaurant in a few weeks. Tourist season is here and its starting to pick up a little which is good because it was a really slow summer with all the travel advisories and the bad press Mexico has been getting lately. Its weird though because Ive been noticing a pattern in the vehicles Ive been seeing. It seems only people from California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Canada are coming in. I have one of the only Texas plates I have seen and Im one of the only Texas I have met up until this point. I don’t feel like getting into a big social rant right now so Ill leave that alone. Im sure someone will leave a smartass comment about it though.

It has been a little lonely and quiet with Joe and Paul both gone. I have been hanging out with Mar and she has been a great help in talking to me about my crazy problems Ive been having lately with anxiety and general paranoia. I read about some breathing techniques on the net that Im going to start trying the next time I feel it kicking in. Its something I have been struggling with ever since I got down here and I don’t understand it. I have never really had a form of mental illness (that I knew about haha) that I’ve had to deal with and confront on an almost day to day basis. It has been taking a toll on me mentally but I think Im starting to get a grip on it and control it. We shall see anyways.

My plan right now is to hang out a few more days and see what happens with the surf. I would like to go south but its just so good here right now with size I don’t see a reason to pull out just yet. Maybe Im avoiding the inevitable of facing my fear of driving through Michoacan and Guerrero but honestly the surf is just too good. I really want to hit south Jalisco and explore Bahia Tenacatita and Chamela as I have scouted some awesome looking camping sites using aerial photographs. Ok, Im off to read a book before calling it a night.

Surf and a Trip to Vallarta

2010-10-30T21:47:00.000-05:00

We woke up with a mission to get wet after being skunked up north even though we knew it was hardly worth but we were men on a mission. Joe whipped up some great scrambled eggs and we had egg tacos with some great salsa before loading up the van. When we hit the parking area for La Lancha I was extremely discouraged by the sheer number of vehicles I saw there and couple that with a dropping swell and you get pure drop in madness. A drop in is when a surfer drops into a wave another surfer is already riding and committed to, thus cutting him off and possibly creating somewhat of a dangerous situation. A drop in, snaking or whatever you want to call it is extremely rude and in some places in the world it will quickly get you a beat down back on the beach.

When we hit the beach it was packed. There must have been 20 surfers in the water fighting it out for waist high slop and I could tell the attitude would be aggressive especially with us three just showing up. The bad part of La Lancha is that you can see all the surfers coming in so sometimes its hard not to get a bad attitude. We paddled out and fought other surfers for the inside and next thing I know, only Joe and I are catching waves! Everyone else was fighting for the very rare “big set” that would come through so that left us on the inside with a few others to take our pick. The rides were fast and short but hey we were catching waves so I cannot complain. Then a pack of 12 surfers on longboards show up. Basically with a longboard, they can catch the smallest of small waves before any shorter boards can enter as we need a steeper entry to catch the wave. Shit….

They hit the water and immediately I figure out they are total beginners which changes things. Its pretty rude for beginning surfers to paddle out and crowd a good wave so I was not cutting them any slack. I motioned for Joe that it was game on and drop ins and blocks were going to be legal and he agreed. I started putting myself into positions right in the middle of them to make them nervous and I took my share of waves with no reguard to them. It may sound very rude and well, it is but we have all started somewhere and I started at the crappiest breaks until I could handle myself in the water. Every surfer knows the dangers of large fiberglass boards with razor sharp fins, especially a LONGBOARD (read 9ft boards) in the hands of a beginner. Someone is begging to be injured! So in exchange for their rudeness and totally obliviousness to the danger they were creating, I became an asshole and took what I wanted from them. In my defense, beginners are usually so happy they are in the water on the board “looking the part” they don’t even know what I was doing was rude and breaking all the major etiquette. The best was the blocking though, purpose diagonal paddling down in front of them into a wave so they are obligated to stop paddling or risk a collision.

Finally I calmed down a little and talked to them. One of the guys tried to drop in on a good Mexican surfer and that’s where I became vocal. “hey dude, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Dropping in on a Mexican local who is riding a 12ft Stand Up Paddle board (SUP) with a 6ft paddle in his hand? He’ll bash your brains in on the beach dude”. His reply was “ohh no, I was just paddling for nothing”. Right.. jackass. It became even more crowded and we were happy so we got out and headed into Puerto Vallarta for adventure and some great tacos I found in Mismaloya. I had been telling this guys for several days about this place and it was basically a 2 hour drive to get there but man was it worth it!

If you find yourself visiting Vallarta and you make your way to Mismaloya, stop right in the small town off the road to your left, heading up to Eden canopy tours. The place is called “Juan and Only” which I find hilarious and the tacos will leave your mouth drooling. A fish taco there is only 12 pesos, about 1.10usd which is NOTHING and I promise, they are some of the best tacos I have ever had in this country.

After the tacos we headed back into Old Vallarta because its much more beautiful than all that modern hotel tourist shit with Starbucks, Home Depot and Outback Steakhouse. We wondered around for a little while and finally found ourselves on the malecon or seawall in English. We watched a typical Indian dance where they swing from a tall pole by their feet while one gay stays atop and plays the flute and a small drum. I have seen it once when I was 15 and in Tulum Mexico with my dad so it was nice to see it again. Joe and Paul were pretty blown away so it was cool to show them a cultural experience from Mexico. We checked out the Huichol (pronounced WE-chole) art store and that was awesome. They are a major group of Indians that used to inhabit the coast line until farmers, government and hotels drove them into the mountains and out of their lands. Now they live deep in the Sierra Madre in several states and their land is somewhat protected. The story of every indigenous culture, we will take your shit if it is worth some money. Sad Sad story of the world but what can you do? Their culture places major importance on the use of Peyote to talk to their Gods and to help guide themselves and their peoples. They make amaaaazing artwork all based on their visions and its extremely cool.

We left Vallarta and swung into Walmart which was packed for Halloween and Day of the Dead (dia de los muertos) celebrations but we just needed a few items and got the heck out and got back to our hotel. It was a pretty cool day and a great adventure. Joe’s time is running out and Im sad to see him go and I imagine he is feeling the same. I hope that he has had a good time down here and things will get better for him when he returns home. Now is the time to think about my next plan of action, stay and ride this swell to the max or head south. Im leaning hard on staying for a few more days, as the guru Allan Weisbecker said, never drive away from good surf.

Went North... Now Back in Mita

2010-10-29T17:09:00.002-05:00

Joe, Paul and I headed north back on Tuesday to go look for waves and explore some of the northern areas of Mexico that I haven’t had the chance to see yet. We set out from Punta de Mita and stopped in on several spots like San Pancho, Santa Cruz, Aticama and Matanchen Bay. We checked out some spots for waves and really didn’t find anything working especially with the onshore winds we were having.

The first day was pretty cool as the drive was incredibly beautiful. We headed off into the mountains and soaring jungles that is the state of Nayarit. We noticed even more damage from the heavy rains that nailed this area about a month and a half ago. Bridges out, roads dilapidated and many landslides that were recently cleared plagued our drive north but we enjoyed every second of the fresh and beautifully green landscape. In Matanchen bay we found a place to stay for the night for a reasonable price and we set out to explore the long beach. This beach stretches almost to the horizon and reminded me a little of our beaches back in Texas with the hard packed sand and ability to drive down them without worry. We returned to Aticama for some supplies and hit the beach for sunset and our dinner which was tuna and avocado sandwiches. We hung out there for as long as we could until the jejenes (sand fleas) started tearing us a new one which we expected because this place has a long standing tradition of a horrible sand flee population.

That night we sat down and had a few beers with the guys running the place. I was pretty uncomfortable because the guy was some type of East LA gang member or something but he was sociable and generally pretty cool. Some of his questions seemed a little suspicious but I played them off with lies or general misdirection. Joe helped a good deal by firing back with some of the same questions to ease some of the tensions and in general everything was ok. My anxiety is getting out of control at times and frankly its really starting to ruin my trip. Ill talk more about this later…

The next day we headed back south to a beach town we stopped at because it is seriously one of the most beautiful beach towns I have ever seen in my life. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and there is only 1 road in and 1 road out. The beach is a beautiful color with soft grains of sand and the waves are pretty gentle, breaking in a fun body surfing shore break in one big closeout. The mountains are lush with jungle and orchards of various types and the town is shaded by high growing coconut palms that stretch out onto the beach and they blow gently in the wind. The town was small and the people are nice enough. It has a tourist feel but not the aggressiveness that plagues so many small Mexican beach communities and that makes it very peaceful and quiet. The vibe overall and from the people I talked to, they like their community small and don’t want heavy tourism, hence my restrain of mentioning the name. Just do some homework on the area and you can find it on your own, just like we did.

Joe and Paul (the Australian guy traveling with us) got a room and I parked on the side of the hotel and slept in the car. The first night we found a fantastic taco place, albeit a little pricey but the food was good and we got to watch the Baseball World Series and Monterrey vs. Cruz Azul in Mexican soccer. The next day we took a hike out to the point so we could fish. Paul had a fishing pole and I was going to share my snorkel gear and Hawaiian sling with Joe. The rocks and reef were beautiful and just bountiful with fish but I don’t know anything about which fish I can eat and which I cannot. I didn’t shoot anything because I didn’t see anything that I knew for certain was edible and of decent size. Joe went around for a bit and had the same conclusion. Paul’s turn came up and he was out for a bit then finally I see him snag something. He shot a large angel fish and we told him you cannot eat those and basically you murdered a beautiful reef fish but we were laughing and joking with him. He felt bad enough so only killing one fish isn’t too bad right? We got back to town and talked to some guys and they said NO! You can eat those!!! I showed them the picture of the fish and they confirmed that yes they are very tender and make great ceviche! DAMN! That day we just hung out on the beach some more and in general just lounged around. Paul got to see a fight on the street involving the owner of the taco place we ate at and some other guy, crazy stuff. That night we returned to the taco place and enjoyed the fantastic yet expensive tacos. We talked to the owner a bit and he was very drunk and riled up about the fight still. All of a sudden the guy he fought with shows back up to either make amends or fight again, we still are not quite sure. The owner goes sprinting out of the place to meet the guy in the street and I notice hes holding a large butcher knife in his hand and a very large brick in the other. Crap, this is going to get messy! I start thinking of the logistics of the place and basically the nearest police are almost 10 miles away through a long winding road in the mountains and that’s not good if this turns into a shootout at OK Corral. We pay our checks quickly and get the **** outa there. By then the fight had calmed down a tad but tensions were still high and with the owner sensing us being uncomfortable he quickly calmed down and put down the knife. We hung out on the beach and enjoyed a few beers and then we decided to call it a night.

Upon walking back through the madness, Paul noticed a family all sitting around a car with the hood up. He calls me over and I start talking to the guy who owned the car. He tells me he has no power in any gear and the car just sits there, like the transmission is slipping. I start checking under the hood and notice a large amount of transmission fluid that has leaked or literally been slung out. Hrmm, Im thinking and I know manual transmissions just usually don’t “give up the ghost” like this but listening to it in gear and watching it sit there motionless I was starting to be convinced that they had a heck of a problem on their hands. I keep thinking about the problem so I decide to check his axles and sure enough, it see the drive cv axle wobbling while the car is in gear. Bingo! I quickly jack the car up and remove the driver side front wheel. I climb underneath in the sand and start working to re-engage the drive axle. I work it from side to side pushing as there are splines you have to make match up correctly. Finally it slipped in and locked! We threw the wheel back on and lowered the car and whammo they had their car back! I jacked it up again and explained to the guy how I fixed it and told him this is not very common and should not happen. There are locking slip rings to hold the axle into the transmission and he should have it checked out as soon as he returned to Guadalajara. He understood everything and they thanked us profusely and then asked “How much for the work?”. When I told them nothing, “gratis” the look on their faces was indescribable. How and why had these 3 gringos just come to their rescue and for free?? That NEVER happens right? Well it just did my friends!

Joe and I followed them out of the mountains and back to the main highway where there is a large town just in case they broke down again. From there they decided to push on to Guadalajara and they said their goodbyes and thanks to us and again just totally astounded at what just happened. We were all running on a high of good deeds because neither Joe, Paul nor I could fully understand what just happened either! What a great feeling!!! I have been looking for ways to give back to a country and a people that have given so much to me and last night I was able to do just that.

Today we came back to Punta de Mita to try and get in a better swell window for what little southern swell is left in the water. There is a large north west swell arriving soon, I just have to be patient. I have been feeling shitty about this trip for a few days but I think I just need a change of scenery. I need to be alone again so I can think about my life and this trip and just slow things down a tad. My van is a wreck because we are constantly moving so there is dirt and disorganization all over the place. My anxiety has been off the charts lately too but I think that is just something Im going to have to learn how to control. I start thinking about all the bad shit that can happen to me down here and next thing I know Ive worked myself into a full blown panic. This is something Ive never dealt with and since I don’t believe in medication, its difficult. I have to control myself and bring myself back down to reality, a reality that these people are NOT trying to kill me and not every cop is looking to bust me for something Im not doing. One of the few things that makes me calm down is that I know I have enough money to buy myself out of a crazy situation if I were to get in one somehow. I have to control this because it is controlling me at times and I don’t like it. Maybe I should find a bilingual psychiatrist or something because quitting on my dreams is something that really bothers me. Although I have been thinking about many other places I would love to go and I wonder why Im down here putting myself through this, especially when there is little to no surf.

Heading North..

2010-10-25T23:41:00.000-05:00

Life has been a little hectic lately but its finally calming down. Birthday celebrations, meeting old friends and surfing. Joe is here with me and we have been sharing a room with this cool Aussie guy named Paul. He is a classic Australian and just lives to the max. If you have ever met Australians or hung out with them then you know what I mean, its never a dull moment. The best part is when we get him rolling with all of his crazy lingo and aussie words for things, basically non stop laughter.

We have enjoyed our time here in Punta de Mita but we are getting a little hungry for some waves. Don’t get me wrong, there has been decent surf every day but its not the best and it can get a little crowded at times. Im interested to explore north and surf some places I haven’t been yet and we have a decent size NW swell headed towards us. For all of my non surfing readers, the waves we ride are generated by wind and they form into groups and head towards somewhere in the world in the form of swell. Now, swell can be generated purely by a constantly blowing wind, like Texas, or from a large storm system somewhere else, which is what we really want. So during the summer months, large storm systems and cyclones in the pacific generate huge swell and it radiates outward for thousands of miles to a distant waiting coastline and its surfers, throw a rock in a still pond and you see the same effect. So right now we are approaching winter and this is the time large storm systems in the northern Atlantic kick up the waves and send them here, in the form of big West and North West swell.

Im pretty excited about the upcoming surf and it will be good to get back in the water a bit, Ive been drying out. I caught La Lancha the other day (a local surf spot which I have a serious love hate relationship with) and it was good. Joe and I paddled out but it was super crowded so we stayed over on the right side which people usually are not too interested in as they are fighting for the peak of the waves. I let Joe ride my fish and I rode the longboard and we both caught a few waves and called it a day. My last ride was going to be hard to beat so after a few bad waves I just paddled in. My last wave was great as I got an early entry and had a long face to carve on. Im still learning about the longboard (we never finish learning) and Im learning on how to get the best trip so I can walk to the nose. Well the wave walled up just as it was about to pitch in its final blast and this is usually when the surfer will exit the wave or make one last maneuver. I decided to do a suicidal walk to the nose and take my beating which I did. The wave shutdown on me and due to my proximity to the beach I went straight into the sand but boy was it worth it!

Ive been debating about a lot of things lately like heading south and all that mess. Im running solo down here and right now Mexico is having a few security problems. Its safe more or less but traveling solo sometimes can put you in situation, or maybe its just my stupid fear. The fear I have this time is still in slight control of me at times but Im learning to live around it and flat out tell it go away! I mean, its good to be precautious but living afraid is just ridiculous. Ive been thinking about changing the trip up a little and trying some new things and new places. I mean basically Ive been all over Mexico already and while I love this country, some of this is a little redundant. My friends in Monterrey are all flying to Chile to visit a mutual friend in December and Ive been contemplating joining them even though it will blow my budget by about 2,000 dollars. Im learning not to worry about the money as much, Im traveling and having fun and chanding up the plan or idea is not always a bad thing. Ive also been putting more and more thought into Australia and some other places but these are just thoughts. Im still playing it by ear so we shall see how it goes. That’s all for now…

Monday!!!!!!!

2010-10-18T13:16:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning with a fantastic feeling inside of me. It was Monday morning, nice and cool inside the van and to think I didn’t have to get up at 7am to get ready to commute to work. I did have work to do today but its work that one could hardly consider to be difficult. I decided to get out of bed around 9am and head into Nuevo Vallarta. I swung by a Telcel store to try and figure out why my cell burns through $10usd in credit in 2 days and basically it is because my cell is from Monterrey and Im roaming. I asked about national plans or deals and basically they told me to buy a chip ( a new number) for every place I stay.

In Bucerias I stopped at the Telcel store to inquire about chips and all that mess and I bought a new number/sim card for $10usd. The problem is activating it and now Im kind of stuck. In Mexico now you have to activate your sim cards through the government as they are trying to crack down on crime using anonymous prepaid cards or infringe on freedom, take your pick. The guy registered my phone in his buddies name because I don’t live here and I cannot register in my name. It was supposed to take only 10 minutes, that was 10 hours ago and Im still waiting.

I went to an internet café and took care of some business like canceling my cell phone and paying my final cell bill of $430usd because I used it here in Mexico. Damn they love to rape you don’t they? After that I headed to a Walmart and did some shopping for me and Chica (my dog). I got her some food and some much needed treats and I got myself some lunch. I grabbed a few cans of tuna, a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly and Valentina hot sauce. This is pretty much what Ill be existing on for the next few days to save some cash.

I headed to a fabrication shop after that in Mezcales to try and inquire about moving my water tanks under the van so I can have more room. The head guy for the shop was not in so I headed back to Mita to start putting my door back together and clean everything in the van. I worked in the sun for about 2 hours and did quite a bit. I put the door back together, cleaned and cut a custom length of chain for one of my spare tires and got it secured. After that I took a walk to find my friend Debo who just arrived back from Texas.

I drove Debo around a bit and helped her get back into a car and other such things. Then I met my friend Mar and I took her to my favorite surf spot, La Lancha and showed her around. She is just learning to surf and is still learning all of the complicated things most surfers take for granted like knowledge of swell and waves and wind. We watched all the surfers shred for a little while and then watched the awesome sunset over Bahia de Banderas and Punta de Mita. We returned back to Mita and she dropped me off so I could join Debo and her friend for drinks which I highly enjoyed.

So here I am back in the van en el otro lado, the other side… of mita. I met some more cool people at my favorite (but expensive) bar and they are all a cool bunch, maybe tomorrow night we will all go for beers after work. I will help Debo tomorrow morning with moving some furniture and after that, who knows. Im thinking of heading to Yelapa with Mar cause neither of us have ever been! We shall see!!

Dropped Dad Off...

2010-10-17T13:13:00.002-05:00

Today started off pretty sad for me because I had to take my Dad back to the airport so he could fly back home. Back into the grind, back to work and back to reality. We spent an awesome week together surfing, exploring and just hanging out. I got to show him a very cool and beautiful place in Mexico and I got to show him a little of the life that I love so much down here and I hope that maybe now he understands me a little more.

Dropping him off this morning I was filled with sadness and yet there was a twinge of excitement to be back on my own once again. Truthfully I will only be “on my own” for 24 hours as a good friend of mine who lives here in Punta de Mita will be arriving tomorrow and my buddy Joe will be here in 5 more days. Still, my father will be missed and Im happy he was able to come and share this with me.

Driving back to Punta de Mita from Vallarta I stopped at Walmart to try and get some wheel locks for my rims. These are something I should have purchased awhile back but totally forgot and now Im scrambling to get my wheels secured. I bought a set and tried them on the car in the parking lot only to find they were too small. I returned them and searched the others for the right size using one of my lug nuts as a guide but I wasn’t able to find anything. I will check some rim and tire shops tomorrow as today is Sunday and everything is closed.

I stopped by a restaurant where some friends work and talked with them for a bit. One of the guys working there, Alvaro is from Argentina and we got on the topic of spear fishing with snorkel gear. He told me how the other morning he snagged a 4lb fish off the reef out front with his Hawaiian sling. I got inspired and quickly grabbed my gear and ran to the beach. He gave me an overview of the reef under water and what route is usually the best to swim back and forth and a few special features to check like under water crags and overhangs. I donned my gear and waded out into the surf and started methodically checking the rocks next to the jetty. I saw a huge array of reef fish but nothing I thought was worth shooting especially for food. I checked all over the place but I just couldnt find anything worth taking its life for food. I saw all kinds of reef fish though, eels, ribbon fish, puffer fish and a huge array of the colorful little guys you see in aquariums.

I finally got into a school of fish I thought were worth shooting at and I believed to be edible. I fired a few times with the new technique Alvaro showed me and I was missing badly. I finally saw a good looking fish, sighted in and BOOM, I had him! I pinned him to the sea floor as my sling does not have barbs and often a fish can fight there way off of the spear tip. I felt the fish fighting to free himself and the spear jerked in my hands. I could feel every movement me made as he desperately tried to save himself but I held fast and kept him pinned to the floor. Alvaro dives with a knife to finish the fish off that he catches so I was unsure what to do at this point so I tried to surface with him and he got off! He was swimming very crooked and I shot again and nailed him, this time dealing the card of death to him. I felt amazed at my feat and yet saddened when I surfaced with him to learn my first lesson of spear fishing. My mask had increased his size in the water by easily 40%, so my fish was a baby of about 6 to 7 inches… not even a pound I bet. I killed this poor fish for nothing but it was a vital lesson of this new form of fishing.

I kept hunting for another but I found only one and I made sure he was of accurate size. I found this guy swimming along lazily and he was about 3 or 4 times the size of the last fish I had shot! I dove under and pulled my sling tight in my hand, rubber band stretched to the max. I held it out in front of me like a rifle and I slowly eased towards him. For the first time I could I feel the rush of the kill taking over me. I could feel my heart beating rapidly and I noticed my senses all numbing down to what was essential for that moment. I was a hunter and this was my prey. I eased in for the shot and he turned and swam and I gave pursuit but my lungs were beginning to burn and my body cried for oxygen so I resurfaced for a breath, dove hard and never found him again.

I just woke from a great nap and now I must go hunt for a cheap dinner as I cannot afford to spend too much money and in Mita that’s very easy to do. The average plate here in this town at a restaurant will set you back at least $14usd and I cannot justify that. Im waiting for a few taco stands to open or I will goto plan B and just eat some fruit tonight until I can get to a store and pick up a few items to live on. Im reworking the van at the moment and Im getting some ideas for better storage by moving the water tanks under the van and secured to the frame. Ill have to have some mounts built but it shouldn’t be too bad. The van is just to cluttered for me right now and I hate the way it is. Its very difficult to move around and stay organized and clean at the same time. On another note, when I picked up my dad my passenger side window got stuck all the way down and the motor refused to operate anymore. I quickly disassembled the door and tested the electrical connections to the motor and it showed I had a solid 12volts all the way to the motor. The next morning I went to a window and windshield shop and a kid of about 17 years old worked fast to repair my window. The motor was fine but the window was jammed, hence why the motor refused to do anything. He realigned the window and reassembled the internal raising mechanism for a total cost of $13usd. They quoted me $75usd to have both doors converted back to manual if I get tired of the electrical crap. I love Mexico!

Back in Monterrey...

2010-10-05T00:49:00.001-05:00

I was finally able to escape the horrible and paralyzing grip of the paradise that is known as Florencia. I took flight early thursday morning last week and I made it to Monterrey after 10 hours of long hard driving through semi arid desert and mountains. The van ran great the whole way and I hope I dont have any more problems from it for awhile.

A breakdown of the total costs...

Total in USD $1300

This includes the cost of labor at $5000 pesos, rebuilding the transmission $8000 pesos, new axle on passenger side, new axle bearings, repacked front wheel bearings, new brakes, change motor oil, change diff fluid, new transmission fluid.

That would have easily cost me $3000 USD back in the states.

So now Im back in Monterrey and hanging out with my friends and just learning to live around some of the violence here. Im learning to be like them, you just turn your head and look the other way. There have een several attacks since I have been here but nothing I saw or heard. Only one attack I passed on the main avenue on the way to my friends house about 15 or 20 minutes after it went down.

I went to my first real Mexican soccer game the other day and that was awesome! I went to a Rayados game, which the fans are rabid and super patriotic to their team. I was with my friend Salas and we were sitting in his seats for his season tickets, on the elevated deck. One of the seating sections to my left and down low is where all the super cheap seats are and Im talking CHEAP. Like $2 cheap. Beers in the stadium where at a horrible price of $2.50 a pop (easy $8 to $10 in Houston) and we didnt even have to pay up front, the guy in our section was just handing them out! I asked my friend and he said I have been sitting here for 3 years, he knows me and everyone in this section... we will settle at the end of the game, which we did when he asked how many beers we had. He didnt even know!!! The cheaper seats were a crazy band of mosh pits and singing for the ENTIRE game, and Im talking loud. They were singing songs about the visiting teams goalie, our team, all kinds of stuff with big drums and loud cymbols. I give these guys a super A+ for effort and spirit and Im talking 90 minutes of non stop singing (read yelling) and jumping and going insane.

I have been getting more brave and driving a little in Monterrey in my car and trying to learn the city. I met a really cool guy who is the neighbor of Adriana. His name is Oliver and he speaks english almost perfectly and studied at UT in Austin Texas where he finished with a bachelor in socialogy. He is an incredibly smart guy and runs his own business creating amazing tshirts with art, I think the name is Arte en Movil (Art in Movement).

Last night I faced some of my fears and took a taxi at night by myself to where Adriana works. Ive wanted to see it for quite awhile and last night was as good as any. She works for one of the large media corporations here in Monterrey and edits all the news with some pictures and videos for their websites. So I got to see all of the reporters, the media studios (even saw a live broadcast of a debate show) and their editing, news and radio sections. It was very cool and I really enjoyed it. I was a little nervous being there because the media is under constant attack and threats here in Monterrey and it wasnt too long ago that they threw a grenade into the building where she works.

After the tour we grabbed a taxi to downtown to meet her family for dinner for their customary sunday night dinner at restaraunt "AL". Now there are several funny stories behind this classic little place in downtown Monterrey. This restaraunt is pretty old, around 70 years which is pretty good for a restaraunt and it resembles something I think I would see in New York or some older city. All white classic tile and the building is shaped very long and narrow. Her family has been coming to "AL" for sunday night dinner for over 50years!!!!! Her grandmother and grandfather used to go there when they were just dating!

Now the funny stories about this place. AL in spanish means "to the". So when you say in spanish that you are going to this place, you say "Yo voy al AL"..... al AL. Or literally, to the to the. The name actually comes from the other funny story. It used to be called "Alaska" but after a big storm many many years ago, half of the sign was blown down and all that remained was "AL". So it was much easier (funnier?) to rename the restaraunt which is exactly what they did. I thought that story was one of the most "mexican" stories I have ever heard and I really enjoyed learning it.

Anyways, I gotta get my butt to bed. Im going to try and start running again and tomorrow might be my start. Ugh... who starts an excersize routine on their vacation?????

Im Loosing My Mind... In Mexico

2010-09-26T13:06:00.000-05:00

Well, paradise is taking its effect on me slowly and Ive noticed that my mind is starting to go wild. Too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing and that is exactly what is happening.

Boredom is starting to rear its ugly head and Im getting an itch to get on the move. The only problem is, the van is still in pieces. I had them check and work on all the basic maintinence which God only knows the last time it was done. They changed the breaks, repacked wheel bearings and checked the rear end and whammo we ran into problems. Upon checking the passenger side axle, they noticed it was leaking differential fluid through a faulty bearing. After a closer inspection the axle was also damaged and had been scored significantly from this faulty bearing so they went to Guadalajara for parts. Well the axle that came back was slightly different, maybe for a 1ton van/truck. It will work but they are determined to return my van to close to original as possible, so they are heading back to Guadalajara tomorrow to exchange the axle.

Yesterday I had a cool adventure all day though. I was super bored so I headed over to a friends restaraunt for a beer and chit chat. He has a big yard in the back and was mowing the whole thing with a weed-eater, so I helped with that process and I learned that it is very difficult to mow with a weedeater and make it all level, basically impossible.

The next adventure was a little later in the afternoon. Isidro, the husband of the family Im living with (also my main mechanic, along with his brother Pedro... all brothers of Medardo who I know from Texas) is building a house on the outside of town. The Mexican process at times to is build a little by little, until you can get all the money. Sometimes you will see 3/4 completed houses, missing furnishings and windows... waiting on money to come. Anyways, the project was to pour some concrete for the cistern. His cistern sits down in the ground and we had to pour concrete along the sides to keep it from shifting later.. eventually the sides will be higher than the tank and a lid will be put on to seal everything. So I learned how to mix concrete the hard way, or the Mexican way if you will. We cleared some ground and starting loading sand into the wheelbarrow. 3.5 loads... then we mixed the bag of cement into the sand, constantly shoveling to get the proper mix.. moving the pile from side to side. Added a ton of water and mixed more... and we had concrete. We made 2 bags worth, so 7 loads of sand... tons of shoveling and moving buckets. It was quite an adventure and I actually liked it. I imaged that I was pouring the concrete for my own little casa here in Mexico, a nice day dream but I quickly put an end to that as it is dangerous for the roaming tribe in which I belong.

Today Im finding that Im getting angry.. angry at stupid things. This is a small town and sometimes I cannot get to the internet cafes because they are closed for random siestas. There is only 1 cafe in town which has the machines and the proper versions of internet explorer to chat and work efficiently on facebook to get messages out and he is closed all the time! Im also getting angry at spanish, I dont want to speak it or understand it. Its a phase I go through when Im down here on long trips and it will pass. I believe it has something to do with my mind just being overloaded with all of this stuff, new culture, false deadlines, spanish, new foods... crap where is the closest bathroom I have 30 seconds. Its been fun... but its starting to feel like a Tom Petty song, Im getting tired of this town. Ready to move on....

Vanny, Florencia and all that is Mexico

2010-09-21T11:13:00.000-05:00

I got some new about my transmission yesterday afternoon when Pedro returned from neigboring Tlaltenango (sp?) and told me they decided it repair my transmission instead of swapping for a different one. They talked extensively about my trip and what my needs will be so they are putting some extra effort and parts into this one. The cost should be around $700 to $800 for the rebuild and right now they are quoting $150 for labor because I am a friend of the family. I will pay more for labor than this because indeed I am a friend but I want to help them as well. The transmission "might" be done today, but in Mexico that usually means tomorrow. They have a saying in spanish, mañana mañana, or tomorrows tomorrow.

Yesterday I was talking with the owner of the restaraunt and we were talking about my problem of paying for all of the work to the van at once. See I can only withdraw $300usd each day, so I need like 4 days to get all the damn money without going through some complicated scheme of someone sending me money in western union or something. He offered to front me the cash to pay but I declined. Later on he picked me up and drove me 20 minutes to the neighboring town that has a bank/ATM so I could begin the process. There are no banks or ATMs here in Florencia, just a cash society. After we got the money and a package he was waiting for we headed back into Florencia. I met up with Isidro (Medardo´s brother, who Im staying with) and we took a long walk out into the outskirts of town and he showed me his lot and his house that he is bulding for his family. Its a beautiful lot with a great view of the cerro (mountain, like a mesa) in the distance and surrounded by corn fields on all sides.... hidden. They are laying foundations right now and the cistern is already in the ground but the work is only being done as he has the cash, little by little. Thats how Mexico works, pay what you can right now, and we will put it on hold until you have a little more. The USA should take a lesson from this when it comes to homes that apparently no one can afford anymore.

Last night I went back to the restaraunt for some tacos and beers. Normally I eat on the street but here food is so affordable that sitting down and talking with friends is nice and Im choosing that option lately. So I had 4 steak tacos with 2 beers, total price? 50 pesos, or about $4.25usd. On the street, we will call it 30pesos. Joe and I discussed something about Mexico when he was here, you may be poor but you will almost never go hungry. Here food is extreamly important, and lots of it. It is the main focus of the day it seems and Im still trying to get used to that!!!

Well, I better get on back to the van. It was interesting sleeping in it last night with the front up on jackstands! I had a bed in a private room but sometimes when I return home kind of late (10:30 - 11) everyone is asleep and I dont want to wake them walking through the house with my dog etc. Well thats all for now, I will try to do something interesting today to starve off some boredom. Ive been noticing a heavy fact, without a project or work of some type in a man´s life... there is no need to wake up. I gotta find something to do....

Florencia...stuck

2010-09-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

Well we came up here for a vacation from a vacation. Joe (the guy that came with me back in 2007) introduced me to another guy at work awhile back and he has been telling us about this little town in the mountains of Zacatecas that he is from. So they decided to take a trip and I decided to meet them here. Ok, now the fun stuff...

We pulled in at around 9:30pm and basically the town was buzzing with people getting ready for the celebrations of Mexico´s bicentennial of the revolution. I witnessed the coolest(dangerous) Mexican fireworks display ever! Then a guy with a mock bull costume that shot freaking rockets and crap chased people around the town square.... I love Mexico. We went back to a bar and had drinks with the whole family and the bar owner. Someone a couple of streets over decided to express his joy with 4 or 5 shots from what sounded like an automatic so that was kind of cool.

The next day we went all around town meeting people with Medardo (the guy who works with Joe). His family is well known around here and so is he and we met all kinds of cool people. That night we had a big party at his uncles ranch and he cooked shrimp and mexican squash and all kinds of good things.We had mariachis playing all night and whole shebang, it was nuts.

The next morning, we headed over to another rancho nearby and had a favorite tradicion of this town. Fresh warm milk from a cow poured into a glass with a type of Nestle Quick or something and then mezcal is added. Rancho Escondido... a decent mezcal. After that we packed up and headed back to his parents house where we were preparing to go on a waterfall hike through the mountains. After 1 hour of beating down a rough road (I rode on the back of a motorcycle!!!) we got to the walking point. Medardo showed us how to get the fruit from the cactus, water from some plants in the trees and other things we could eat if need be. After some walking we came to a big mountain where there was some debate about where the falls actually where and how to get to them. Thats when we started climbing.... and boy did we climb. My dog couldnt make some of the climbs so in the toughest parts I had to carry her and let me tell you, that was some scary crap climbing with no hands and holding a dog. On the other side of the mountain we ran into some cowboys and they told us about the road that ran right around the side lol. Onward!!

We passed some extreamly old ranching houses, all made with brick and trees, still standing. At the waterfalls (2 hours later) we jumped in and enjoyed the fresh cold water. Its a little dry here right now so it wasnt at full potential but there was about 1/4 flowing with a 30ft-40ft drop.... basically a great massage!!!!! We swam for a bit and enjoyed the canyon walls all around us, chica even took a dip before a serious nap. We hiked back to the cars (another 2 hours) and came on home, all of us seriously tired and in desperate need of a nap.

A lot more has happened, like tequila and coke with the vice president of this town in his house, not being able to pay for one single beer or thing if someone is watching. This is the most hospitable place I have ever been to and the Salas family has accepted us like their own sons. For this, I will forever be greatful and have Florencia in my heart. I have already been scoping land and places to rent, and I have a handful of offers of places to park my van and live for free or next to free. There are also several standing offers of horses to the waterfalls next time.

Yesterday when we hit the road to head back, me to monterrey and Joe and Merdardo to USA I noticed the van driving a little funny in the mountains. Three hours later in a small town called MalPaso (bad pass) outside Zacatecas city, I noticed I had no reverse. Neutral is grinding and whining like hell and drive is slipping badddd! So I decided not to risk the 7 hour drive through the desert back to Monterrey. Its a semi arid desert but there is NOTHING. Just ranches. The bill to get towed to Monterrey should there be a problem would have been astronomical. So I returned to Florencia where almost the entire Salas family are mechanics, and good ones (ASE certified and all that jazz). Right now they are removing the transmission and checking out the damage and my options. Hopefully, I can be on the road in a week. I have been offered around 4 places to stay long term for the work and even offered money to help, like I said these are great people. Thats all for now, pictures soon when I get back to my laptop in Monterrey.

Im Here... Monterrey Mexico

2010-09-13T15:17:00.000-05:00

The past couple of days have been a total adventure and its great to be back in Mexico.

I left Saturday for Laredo where I was going to meet my friend Adriana. She rode a bus across to meet me so she could help me get back to Monterrey where she lives. Its a huge city, about 2 million people and finding her house was going to be next to impossible so Im very glad she met me.

We crossed the border on sunday morning, at around 10am. I was filled with horrible thoughts of being murdered or shot and the anxiety was just filling in my brain and body. It was heavily taking effect on me and starting to affect my dog as well. We got a little turned around looking for the car permit building (Aduana) and I made an illegal u-turn, which promptly had me pulled over by the police. I was a little nervous about the police because here in this city, a battleground, you do not know who is a friend or foe. He talked with Adriana for a minute about how dangerous the illegal U-turn was but then said "well, we are both Mexicans so I will not write you a ticket. How about some money for some cokes for my friend and I?". I was about to hand him $10usd when I remembered my lesson about being a cheap ass in the wrong moments, so I handed him $200 pesos (about $17usd) and he was happy. He then led me the proper way to the Aduana where we got our permits and got back on the road to Monterrey.

Once here, Adriana had to leave for work as soon as we parked so I just hung out with her mom all day. She is a sweet lady and I quickly had to start remembering all of my spanish becuase she speaks no english. We took a walk to the park in their neighborhood and Chica (my dog) played and pee'd on everything. Back in the house I watched spiderman in english, had some chicken tacos and then went to sleep. I felt great!

Today Adriana woke me up and convinced me to go on an adventure with her. She had to do a favor for her professor she works for so we had to goto the other university across town and get some copies of some newspapers. We took a great city bus that got us there in about 40 minutes and I got to see all of downtown again. The university was nice and the library was very cool. The architecture was all concrete like most buildings in Mexico but the lighting was perfect and it made for a very "cafe" type of feeling.

After leaving the library we took the subway back to downtown! I have never been on a subway before and this was very cool, not to mention cheaaaap! It goes pretty fast and we were in downtown in no time! From there we jumped in a taxi back to her house and now here I am! Im sitting here enjoying the sounds of Xavier Rudd and the cool climate that Monterrey is having today. It is probably 88F today which is a nice break from the high 90's Houston has been having. Im about to take my dog for a walk to the park and I will take some pictures of this nice little neighborhood.

Ahh... I love Mexico. Im glad my fear and anxiety is finally dissapearing and I can enjoy myself.

Van almost finished...

2010-08-31T21:54:00.000-05:00

le Van is almost finished! Well, the basics anyways. I started thinking about all the things I would like to have in the van and then I realized that I will not really know how to use my space effectively until Im living in her. So Ive decided this will be a learning experience and I will stop stressing!

Im actually excited right now about heading down there. I have been dealing with a ton of anxiety and other crap but it is finally making way to apprehension about just getting on the road. Im ready to be there!

Joe, from my previous trip, will be heading down there with a mutual friend Madardo to his family ranch in a little town in the state of Zacatecas. We will be camping for a few days on the ranch and celebrating Mexico independance day (from Spain) and hanging out. The town sits at 7000ft up in the mountains! Im ready for the cool weather!!!! Its been a scorcher this summer in Texas.

Been Awhile...

2010-08-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well.. what can I say? I took a little break from the blog to deal with the craziness of leaving for a 3 year trip into nowhere.

I officially quit my job on August 5th and that was quite a roller coaster. I thought I would have second thoughts and all that mess but it turns out I really was just sad about leaving a great job, great co-workers and new/old friends. I left my job behind to start a new life, a life of open doors and unexplored trails.

Ive been busting some serious ass on my van and just trying to get everything ready for the trip. I set a deadline for myself, which ended up being a horrible idea, because I was trying to make it to a friends going away party in Monterrey Mexico. I was highly stressed as I had merely days to say my goodbyes, get the van ready, get papers for the dog and take off. I finally had to say screw it Im not gonna make it because the stress levels went through the roof! I was freaking out, literally thinking about cancelling the trip due to all the anxiety and fear.

Im writing this knowing I should be hitting the road next Tuesday, 5 days from now. Fear has been a huge factor this time around and its starting to annoy me. Ive been letting all this damn news and people around me get to me and it has me frrrrreeaked out about going into Mexico. Thank the Lord I have received some very good news from friends down there and my insurance guy who basically told me everyone is full of crap and its a media blitz to hype it as much as they can. A tourist from Georgia was found shot to death in southern Mexico the other day on the very same stretch of highway I will be driving looking for surf. I freaked out about this for a few days and finally decided to email a guy I know who LIVES there literally right where this guy was shot. Turns out the dude fired on a military checkpoint!!!!! That is rule number one in Mexico, you do not do shady things with the military because they have the same policy as ours does, shoot and ask questions later.

Fear...

What is it really good for? Rami and I talked about this the other night. Fear is such a useless emotion to the human. I must try and fight my fear. I know I have deep beliefs about life and living and now it is time to commit to them.

"Its not an adventure until something goes wrong." - Yvon Chouinard

Update... Never Gonna Finish!

2010-07-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

Thats how Ive been feeling lately! Im not gonna finish the van in time!

Ive been rushing with projects but truthfully Im getting a little burned out. Right now is not the time to get this feeling but Im getting it nonetheless. I have a few major things to complete and then, well whatever. I need to finish up the electrical which is being worked on nightly. I just purchased my deep cycle and built a box for it and now I am choosing a location of said box and my fuse panel. I need to vent the box from the outside because my lead-acid battery puts off explosive hydrogen gas as it is charging (discharging?). Ugh! So much work to do!

The van still looks stripped inside, whatever... Im just gonna keep it basic. screw it. It feels a tad more comfortable with the carpet though...

this post is just an update. Ill write longer/better later.

Solar Mounted and Roof Vent Installed! Road test!

2010-06-28T17:33:00.000-05:00

The last of the big projects is done! This one took some time and thought and frankly, some cajones! I was very nervous about cutting holes and drilling into my perfectly good fiberglass roof on my van but hey, it had to be done.

The roof vent has an exhaust fan that runs at around 200CFM @ 1.10 amps. Thats not too bad, a little more than I wanted but hey it is what it is. I tried emailing the company before I bought it to get an idea of power draw but they never responded and I ended up just measuring with my multimeter. So anyone out there looking at the Ventline Ventadome, it uses around 1.10amps @ 12vdc. I purchased mine from here Eastern Marine. I havent had much of a chance to test its effectiveness at expelling heat but Ill have plenty of time for that in the future.

The solar panels are the upgraded panels I snagged off of craigslist. I sold my old harborfrieght kit that produced 45watts and picked up these two 80watt panels producing a total of 160watts! Power shouldnt be an issue anymore especially coupled with the battery isolator I will be installing soon. The panel mounting was a little tricky with my roof because it is not flat but curved on the outer edges. So we decided to mount the L brackets to the outside which allowed them to conform with the roof curve but still held the panel flat. Ill try and post a close up soon!

Still a decent amount of work that needs to be done but most of this can now be accomplished in after work hours where solid daylight isnt that important. I also installed my shelving in the rear (pic coming soon) which will double as storage and a solid mount for my longboard to ride inside the van!

On a side note, I drove to Kemah saturday night to hang out with friends and sell my Hobie Cat sunday morning. I filled up the tank to try and get a mpg test with all the newly mounted roof equipment and round trip I did 137 miles by time I filled up again last night. Guess what?!?!?! I averaged 19.5MPG on the highway with a bit of stop and go city driving by keeping my speed around 55mph and not racing from stop light to stop light. Ive been working on my method of "hyper-miling" for awhile but this is the best I have been able to achieve. This gives me high hopes for the trip and I might save a bit on gas! I really hope so because when I was in Costa Rica back in 2005, we were paying $5usd a gallon for diesel, and we paid $4 a gallon for gasoline in Guatemala in 2007. Gas prices have since dropped globally and Im hoping they will continue to stay low!!! Gas prices will have a huge effect on my trip and Im constantly re working my figures and trying my best to guestimate just how much I will spend. Some rough numbers I did today come out as follows.

35,000 Miles
/ 15mpg
----------
2333 gallons of gas X $4.50/gallon = $10,498 just in gas!!!!!!! Sailboats dont look so bad after all!!!!

Im working to revamp this blog with some form of Google advertising and some donate buttons. We shall see how this pans out.

Stuff that needs to be done...

1) run all electrical, install lights
2) paint and pad shelves, rattle like hell
3) build mount for my breaker panel, run wiring
4) install isolator charging system and wiring
5) install switch to change electricity source for stereo
6) install car alarm
7) install multiple kill switches
8) install security cage over window where my head is when I sleep!
9) stove/kitchen work
10) build solid base for Wonderwash (portable washing machine, hand crank)

bleh... this list could go on :) what happened to simplicity David????? ugh!

The Apprehension of Accomplishing Your Dreams

2010-06-24T10:49:00.003-05:00

The time is getting close to departure. Im nervous. Am I ready for this? Is the van ready for this? What will I do for money when I return? Will I be able to stay on my budget?

The apprehension has been building steadily over the past few months and I often find myself completely unexcited about my upcoming trip. Ive been trying to conjure the memories of my trips past, the people, the food and the good waves but so far nothing has really been working. Ive even started re-reading "In Search of Captain Zero" by Allan Weisbecker to try and rekindle my fire of adventure.

In truth, I think everyone must go through this phase before taking the final step of your dreams. Accomplishing dreams can be a scary thing especially when they have uncertain futures in store for you. Maybe this is all the last bit of negativity and the world trying to pull me back, to keep me from doing what I want to do with my life. Either way, its weighing heavily on my mind.

Other parts of me think that Ive just started to become too "normalized", if there is such a thing. Ive become semi comfortable with the 8-6pm schedule, working mon-fri, health insurance and the money. Ive slowly let down my guard and bam I got blindsided by what I refer to as American Mediocrity, on the onrush of living a life unexamined and unadventurous. I must fight these urges at all costs for they are the very thing that will destroy who I am. I am unwilling to roll over and die the death I watch so many go through, struggling to find a purpose in their lives and some sense of being. Life is what you make it and Im trying to regain control over mine after being apparently asleep at the wheel for a tad too long. That was my safety mechanism at first, just be barely functional and hardly conscious in my day to day goings and time will fly by. That was true and worked for the most part but what I didnt see coming was the slow but steady degradation of my beliefs, confidence and dreams. Now is the time to get this train back on the tracks.

I refuse to let myself be frightened anymore by American media, political scare mongering and frankly everyone around me including my family. "They'll kill you down there!" my Mom said. "I dont know why you want to throw away your life for some silly adventure" - people at work say. "They dont even have functional police down there!" - says the uninformed masses. "Do they have hospitals? How will you stay healthy??" - says the other group of uninformed masses. American media has done a fantastic job of making everyone in this country afraid of their own damn shadows and frankly its just sad. Couple that with a blind patriotism and belief system that teaches us from birth that we are indeed "BETTER" than everyone in the world and you get a soupy mix of misguided advice from people who dont know anything about anywhere Im headed, much less a major city a couple of states over in our own country. I find it hilarious that people continue to riddle me with advice and horror stories about places Im headed that they themselves cannot even find on a map! All of this has taken a heavy toll on me as one can only ignore so much, especially when I throw my life on autopilot for a few years to bide time. Id like to thank those that read this that have contributed to the behaviour I outlined above, you have done nothing but scare me and attempt to ruin my dreams. Ill remember to piss all over your desires and dreams, when and if you ever have the balls to form any.

Im still searching for that feeling I used to have when I would set out on adventures. Hell, Im searching for the feeling I should be having about finally accomplishing my dream, a dream some 5 years in the making! It has been a long and hard road filled with bad direction and shitty side streets. But here we are, 49 days from departure. Im sure my anxiety and apprehension will give way to the ultimate high that is living your dream, I just have to get rid of this mental block and constant negativity around me. As my best friend Rami told me the other day, this close to leaving and possibly never returning again.... You're either with me, or You're not. In the latter case, get out of my way.

Van Update... Bed Finished

2010-06-03T13:25:00.014-05:00

Solar panels for the van

Frame sizing

Fiberglassing even more holes!

Frame installed

Bed in place! Look at the mess underneath!

My new dog Chica, enjoying her spot. Notice the walls???

Phew! Its been a while since I have last posted! I was reminded recently that I needed to update my blog and when I checked I saw the date of April 6th!!!!! That is just totally unacceptable! So much has happened since then that it is literally impossible to recount.

I picked up the solar panels on sale at Harbor Freight for $160. They provide 45 watts of power which is not very much but I figure like this.

Stereo @ 50 watts / 12volts = 4.16amps per hour x 5 hours = 20amps

Laptop @ 50 watts / 12volts = 4.16amps per hour x 3 hours = 12amps

Lights @ 80 watts / 12 volts = 6.66amps per hour x 2 hours = 13.3amps

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

= 45.3 amps/day

IF I run everything listed and for as long as I have estimated. Trust me there will be DAYS at a time I will not power on that laptop! Anyays, the panels will pump out 3.5amps X 8hours = 28amps if the conditions are right. I have metering setup on my battery to watch it closely as drawing it below 50% greatly reduces the number of cycles (times) it can be discharged and recharged. I know my panels are a little undersized and I have been considering selling them to pick up something larger (130watts = 7~8amps per hour roughly) but its very $$$. The average 130watt panel will cost you around $600 new but I have been able to source some used bulk panels for about $350. The problem is, you have to buy 2 most of the time and I DO NOT NEED 260watts of power and the roof space it will consume. ugh... decisions. The good news is I am installing a battery isolator which basically allows my "house" battery to be charged by the altinator as the engine is running WITHOUT affecting or drawing power from the main starting battery. If I run my house battery dead, I will still be able to start the engine with the main starting battery.

Enough battery/solar talk! The bed install went pretty smooth other than the bed being too close to the frame rails that run up the walls (check the pics closely). Basically, every drill we owned was too big to fit in this gap so I had to do a lot of hand screwing of 2.5" wood screws through 2x6s and that my friends was NOT fun. Ive been monitoring the temps inside the van with a little gadget I picked up and they are pretty close to ambient when I have the windows open during the day. I have seen her hit 117F inside with all the windows closed!!!!!!! I will be installing reflectix insulation on the ceiling and windows soon. Then I will install some new carpet over the reflectix in the ceiling and paint it black as it is not quite the color I want. Floor carpet is also coming in soon.

I also recently purchased a roof vent with a built in 12v exhaust van, RV shower head with a start/stop button on it to conserve water while soaping up and washing hair, and a DPDT switch. The switch will allow me to run power to my stereo in a special way. I can run power from the main starting battery (woops, I said no more battery talk didnt I?) and from the rear house battery to this switch. As Im driving I can tell the car stereo to run off of the starter battery but when Im parked/camped, I can switch the power source to the rear house battery so I wont draw from the main. The switch even has an OFF position to totally kill the radi o from any type of power draw!

Well thats been about it that I feel like typing. Ill keep you guys posted on my progress... just 70 more days to go! Wooo Hooo!!!

Air Bags Installed... Took her beach camping

2010-04-06T10:13:00.007-05:00

Exhaust rerouted out the side to clear the bag

Bags installed

Well I got the airsprings installed! These have greatly improved the ride and the support in the rear. My leaf springs are old and worn and instead of replacing the springs, I got these adjustable bags for the same cost as a new set of leaf springs. They can support up to 5000lbs of weight at 100psi. I run them at 15psi under normal driving and I love they way they ride! They have also raised the rear ride height by about 1.5 - 2inches as well! I ran my air valves out the rear right next to the license plate so I can air up both bags in the same spot, however they are NOT tied together. So far I have been airing them up with a small handpump commonly used for footballs and the like and it works great!

I took the van down south to Kemah/Galveston this weekend for a surf and just to put some miles on her and see how she would drive. I have to admit, I was very nervous taking her back to the location she last broke down and subsequently stuck for 2.5 months but she performed flawlessly.

The surf was a little better than I expected and with the sun we had on saturday I was actually able to trunk it in 67F water. It was a little chilly but I just decided my hatred of wetsuits would motivate me to get over it and paddle out. This is only the 3rd time Ive been in the water in 2 years! Ive decided I need to get back in the water before I leave, mostly because I was VERY rusty! My surfing was seriously lacking and my paddling strength was nil. Ugh... I just shudder at the thought of starting all over again.

Well.. the Interior is Coming Out!

2010-03-22T11:09:00.007-05:00

All the carpet gone!

Walls and insulation coming out!

Ceiling piece/headliner out and finally all the wiring exposed. My sted dad Wesley helps in this step as I needed it and so did my soul. I hate hurting vehicles like this.

Wall and window frame gone, Insulation stripped.

The pile of debris :)

This weekend I worked to get the van ready for her conversion. I had been going back and forth on this decision for a long time because I just couldnt bring myself to strip a perfectly good vehicle. I started with the carpet because it needed to come out anyways. It just was going to be way too smelly after years of living on the beach and with a dog at that!

I also started stripping the walls and the ceiling headliner as well and got most of it out. Im happy I went this route because I need to cut in a roof hatch for ventalation and I need to rewire everything and make it more accessible. As it was, wires were almost impossible to trace and repair.

Ill keep you guys posted as I move forward with this.

Another Long Weekend (Working on the Van)

2010-03-15T15:02:00.002-05:00

Well it was yet another long weekend for me as I worked to get my van ready formy trip to the southern latitudes. As of this weekend, I have exactly 5 months until I hit the road, not much time for something that is going through a total overhaul.

We started saturday morning with getting the van off the jacks to get the rear wheels off to start mounting my airbag kit (thanks to those for the awesome recomendations). Well, we quickly found out the lug nuts were seized so I ran her over to a shop to have em busted loose. He had to bump the air gun to 1kft/lbs but we got em off without busting anything. Got her home and started dry fitting the airbag on the drivers side... no bueno. Exhaust pipe passed within 1/2 an inch of the bag and causing some concern from my stepdad and I... so bags delayed until exhaust is worked out. We removed all lug nuts and lubed them with axle greese to prevent future seizing.

We then turned out attention to the stuck window on passenger side as it would only go down half way before a horrible buzzing sound and same going back up. We quickly discovered the gears were stripped in the motor so I picked up are placement ($42 bux lifetime warrenty) and got her working great, especially after the silicon spray in the window tracks. The we fixed the power door lock too!

Sunday I tackled the heater control valve that was leaking a serious amount of coolant. I had suspicions that the heater core under the dash was out anyways from the strong antifreeze smells when heat was on, so I totally bypassed my heating system and just hooked the return line back up to the radiator (evenrear heat was bypassed)... problem solved for free! I took off down the road and thats when she started dying again... CRAP! I couldnt get her restarted and I assumed I was out of gas (after replacing the fuel pump, I only put 5 gallons or so back in and I had done some driving on that) so we dropped in 2 gallons.Problem is.. she started WAY too fast for a car out of gas, usually they take a few cranks. Nope she fired right up. So... I swung by the parts place and bought the last piece of a full tune up, the ignition coil, $20 bux... worth the piece of mind. Dropped it in, got to a gas station, 10 more gallons of premium with a fuel treatment and she is running fine.

This project is slowly moving forward but I feel like for every 3 steps forward I take 1 back (better than 2 and 1 right?? ahaha). I plan to take her out west before I hit the road so I can really test her limits, Im thinking Taos or something, good 2K miles round trip from me. I need to see what is going to break before I can trust her again.

Vanny Update

2010-03-10T16:16:00.008-06:00

Carpeting going up to insulate and clean the look up a little

All of this came out! This is where the TV went. Good thing I HATE TV!

Tons of room in the back.. this board is 6'2"!

All... a semi blank canvas to work with. Now the fun starts

Look at all that room!

So a lot of work has been done to the van. I started ripping out the TV and all of that mess above the drivers area. There is a good amount of space that I freed up so Im pretty excited about that. I tried to hunt down a fabric that was the same type/color as the interior of my van and I quickly gave up. Its just incredibly hard for some reason to match this stuff! I optioned for the greyish outdoor carpet and now I have been laying it up on the roof of said storage area.

Ive also removed all the passenger seats and rear bench/bed so that I can build out what I want in the van. I was thinking hard about keeping the back bench so I wouldnt have to build a bed but after some long thought I decided building something I wanted vs. accepting what I had was a better option for me. The bed was just not long enough for me and I think it wasted a good deal of space in the van, especially underneath it with all of the metal bracketing involved.

I took a look at the suspension of the van and realized my rear leaf springs were a little flat and causing the rear of the van to sag. After looking around, I finally found a place on the net that sells new ones but they were $300 for a pair. I talked with some guys on the Yahoo VanDwellers group Im a member of and they turned me on to a long forgotten option... airbags! So I purchased a set of Firestone Riderites for $300 and they will arrive tomorrow at my house to be installed. They can support loads of up to 5000lbs and takea great deal of the load and weight off of the springs and place it back onto the axle. They also have the advantage of raising the ride height of the van!

I went ahead and bought a cd player for the van too as this tape deck was just killing me. I didnt go overboard and I only spent $100 bux, a number Im willing to accept as a loss when this unit gets stolen. I picked it for its ability to allow USB sticks to play through it, which is much easier than connecting a laptop to the AUX port on the front. Speakers will be coming too as mine are just too damn old.

Much work is about to be performed on the engine and brakes as well. Im looking to go ahead and flush the radiator and all the coolent, replace hoses (buy spares), replace all belts (buy spares), pick up a spare heavy duty water pump, resurface rotors and install new pads and replace the lower brake lines after a suggestion from my grandfather. Apparently Chevy/GMC trucks/vans from this year range have a bad habbit of their lower lines disolving in the brake fluid and eventually this will lock the piston down, possibly causing a bad situation if driving.

Work still to be done....

1) front air bags to stiffen and support the worn springs. Keep her from hitting the bump stops on the suspension of this beast so much!

2) design and build interior layout!

3) cut hole in roof for air/ventalation

4) work on cabin lighting! This is a huge one.

5) get battery banks worked out and isolators ordered and installed

6) get different rims if possible, and new tires.

7) get good used tires for dual spares, paint rims to match.

8) sand rust spots and paint

there is more im sure :)

Van Update...

2010-02-25T08:50:00.010-06:00

First mounting hole drilled... a little nervewracking

Outside view of the mount

All finished! This is just a spare carrier flipped upside down

Dual spares! Yeaaa!

Ladder relocated to the side where it will be more useful

Last weekend I was able to get some work done on the van. I had been dreaming about this epic expedition style dual tire mount on the back that I had seen on a youtube video somewhere. The video had some VW Syncros (4x4 VW vans) somewhere in the desert in Africa and they were carrying dual spares and I really liked the look.

I took a look at the current spare carrier on there now and realized all I had to do was get another and flip it upside down and it would be the exact same thing. I priced them online and I found some for about $75 new. I decided to be resourceful and check out the local junkyard and there I was able to score the mount AND a rim for $35 total! Yeeaaa!!!!!!!

The mounting was pretty straight forward but after drilling the holes I realized they came a little close to the inside of the door and the bolts would likely have a problem. Nothing a little hammering couldnt fix. I used the back mounting bracket to act like a flat punch and with the help of a rubber mallet I knocked the inside of the door in just enough to give the bolts room. This is a super easy mod and took me maybe all of 1.5 hours with some serious jacking around.

As I was sitting on my porch and pondering what to do with my ladder I removed from the back door, it hit me that I could hang it off the rain gutter on the van. I mentioned this to my friend Rami and he said why not mount it on the side door, even better! So thats where she will be mounted this weekend. It ends up getting me near the roof in a much better place when it comes to strapping surfboards down.

Last night I started the process of removing the TV and tearing out of the interior of the van. This proved to be a little harder than I thought. Im not exactly "tearing" it out... just removing pieces and remodeling them for my purpose without damaging them, therefore removal is difficult. I was able to find a ton of extra space being wasted in the forward part of the van so thats good news. Tonight I will try and take some pictures of the work.

I am still going back and forth with the interior design. For the most part, I could stack and bungee some large plastic bins for my stuff and just leave it at that but what is the fun in that? My boredom and desire for a project is taking over and Im doing more work than is probably necessary.... is that insanity? Im also laying out some groundwork ideas for an awning system on the side... that should be fun. I dont feel like buying one for $300! Yikes!

A conversation between Ravs

2010-02-22T10:56:00.003-06:00

This morning I pulled up to a stop light and noticed that the car next to me was the exact same model, a first gen Toyota RAV4. I had an amusing (psychotic?) moment imagining their conversation if they indeed had one.

My Rav: "Hey whats up? Your the same gen and model as me!"

Other Rav: "Yup, How cool! So Have you gone anywhere fun or just a car? Notice my mud???
My owner took me to the beach this weekend!"

My Rav: "Awesome! I love the beach. My owner used to take me all the time when he was surfing a lot. We still go traveling quite a bit but mostly on-road now."

Other Rav: "Ohh thats cool. Ive been to a bunch of states too. Have you been out of Texas?"

My Rav: "oooo yea. only a few other states but about 3 years ago my owner took me 7000 miles through Mexico and Guatemala... camping everywhere and going on some serious backroads to beach and forgotten places. We were gone 2.5 months and I still have my badge of honor, my Guatemalan Vehicle Import sticker!"

Other Rav: "Wow... I am impressed. Ive never been out of the country! In fact most of the other ravs Ive met haven't either."

Hahaha.. I know Im retarded but I wonder if my car is ever "proud" of her accomplishments... hell she should be. I took her through what most people wouldnt even ever consider doing AND she had 145K on the clock when we did it! Ravvy... Im gonna miss the hell out of you.

Pics of the Van

2010-02-10T20:44:00.007-06:00

Look at the gas that came out!

Notice I took off the running boards? Looks MUCH better this way!

Got the Van Running!

2010-02-10T12:54:00.004-06:00

Well we got the van running! I had to drain some 21 gallons of gas from the tank to make it happen but that was pretty easy, just time consuming. After we finally emptied the tank my step dad and I dropped it from the back of the van. This was pretty straight forward and overall was not that complicated or hard. The inside of the tank wasn't too dirty so we just flushed it several times with fresh gas and decided to just replace the fuel pump. There was a hole in the pickup screen/strainer and the small piece of hose that connected the fuel pump to the line was totally corroded and even had a small hole in it!

After purchasing a new OEM Delphi pump and strainer for 90 bux and a few other misc items we returned home to reinstall the whole tank. We picked up 5 gallons of premium (93 octane here) and some fuel system cleaner to throw in there once we got it all hooked up. My step dad and I assaulted that tank and got everything reinstalled and hooked up within an hour! We put the 5 gallons in and the fuel system cleaner, lowered the van and started it.... VROOOOM! She started right up and purred the whole time... no sputtering and dying.

We took her around the block and to the store and she ran fantastic or VANtastic as I have been saying lately. I'm super excited to have my vanny back. For those that didn't know she had been broken down for over 2 months while I was trying to find a way to get her back to my house to work on and waiting on warmer weather. We've been having a pretty cold and wet winter this year in Texas and its pretty prohibitive to working on vehicles if your working outside.

Now.. as I am awaiting yet more warm weather, I'm trying to find projects for me to work on the van. I finally have her home in my driveway so I have time after work... Problem is.. I didn't know what to tackle next. Electrics? Stereo? Lights? Camping layout?? ugh...

Why I Plan to Quit Everything to Travel...

2010-01-23T18:28:00.005-06:00

This seems to be a recurring question in my life lately from friends and family and its becoming quite an annoyance. So many people just refuse to believe that there is any other way than our pattern...
1) finish highschool
2) goto college or learn a trade
3) get married
4) buy a house
5) have kids
6) work 30 years paying for said house (usually falling down by now) and children
7) retire and hopefully you aren't too old to do the things you used to when you were young.

I however argue that there are many many more paths of life than the one that 98% of the population choose. Those paths can be opened by doing some basic reading and just learning to open your mind to something other than the normal or what is accepted as normal. When you really let go of everything... you see that there is no normal or "right" way. I even have an argument for the criminal up in my mind somewhere...

The path I have chosen for my life extends from several things I believe in. The entire cookie cutter existence just literally makes me want to puke when I think of the massive amount of mediocrity that it is. I believe people choose the above path because its easy. Life is easy when you just work and slave away, paying the man and buying into every single trend out there; a revolving door of payments if you will. Most people's argument for working 30 years to retirement is based upon the fact that most secretly hate it and regret how successfully they have brainwashed themselves into believing working is the key to happiness. Just remember kids, the things you own will end up owning you.

Another scary thought for me is marriage. I come from a family so huge because of divorces and remarriage that I would need a king size bed sheet to draw you a tree and that's working in a size 10pt font! Every Christmas I have to meet and relearn the names of some shithead new additions to my family when I really want to pull them to the side and politely inform them to enjoy it while they can, they probably wont be around next year. I plan on doing the world and my family a favor and never marrying. Another scary marriage thought for me is all the work that is now suddenly necessary to keep the wife happy. That is all I see from my friends... "I have to install this"; "I have to fix this"; "I have to go shopping for...". They have traded their personal time and freedom for a relationship which is supposed to be fair and balance... and all I usually see is work work work work work. Here is a note to the female readers... we don't want to spend our entire weekend fixing shit for you. I enjoy my freedom to the max and relish every single second of it... I don't plan on giving it up any time soon.

Children are another thing I'm avoiding like the plague. Much of this stems from my previous argument of time (if you haven't noticed a trend Ill point it out, I'm EXTREMELY selfish with time) and a huge belief that the world is horribly overpopulated. Every time I use Google Earth searching for waves and I just see massive amounts of deforestation, even in our own great country, for cash; crops and room to expand I just want to run away. There isn't much left out there people... and I challenge you to explore Google Earth and just see for yourself. Check the Azuero peninsula of Panama, look at Indonesia and you will see whole islands stripped.

A home is something I consider to be the biggest waste of time out of all of these things. When I see the construction methods we use in this country I cannot help but think that these homes are thrown together as fast as possible and they will last just long enough to be paid for... then its time to spend another 150K (Texas has wonderfully realistic and UNinflated home values for my California readers, 150K will get you 2500-3000sq/ft in the right area around here) and do it all over again. REVOLVING PAYMENT/DEBT CYCLES ARE WHAT THIS NATION IS BUILT ON! Buying useless shit. The "must have this" disease is rampant in this nation and we all could live such simpler lives if we didn't believe or invest in such stupid ideas. Doesn't it preach this in the Bible for all you do gooder Christians out there??? I could live the rest of my life in a camper and be happy with that. Is there something wrong with me? Maybe. I look at "living", the actual acts of sleeping, showering, eating, and breathing as just things we have to do. When you realize you can sleep in anything that is 6ft long and reasonably comfortable, a 3000sq/ft home suddenly isn't necessary.

Ok.. so you don't buy into any of the arguments I have just posted right? Fine.. here is a simple list for those of you looking for a simple answer because...
a) thinking and learning this much just makes your head hurt
b) your favorite TV sitcom they have you addicted to (instead of living life and educating yourself) is on and you need to finish this quickly

1) I'm getting old.. I know I know, I'm only 25 but its just a feeling ok? I KNOW I cannot do some of the things I used to when I was 16...

2) Most people don't know this about me but when I was 21, after some intensive testing it was determined that I needed back surgery for some shit in my lower vertebrae. The doctor advised I wait as long as I can for this... and there isn't a day I have that it doesn't hurt. I'm in a loosing battle with time on this one. Sure, I could work and retire at 50, but will I still be surfing? Doubtful

3) Ready to live my life as I see fit. No one can tell you how to live, so why do we all follow an imaginary road with as far as I'm concerned, some pretty shitty road signs and paving.

4) Because a whole world of adventure is awaiting me out there... and I just KNOW I'm going to be horribly angry when I get killed commuting to work, never getting my first retirement check.

Free Charlie Toups

2010-01-14T11:08:00.002-06:00

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14158633

"
GEORGETOWN — Charlie Toups is Colorado's ultimate ski bum and a relic of a fading era.
Since 1976, the 63-year-old has skied 120 days a season, shoveling snow and doing other odd jobs for a few bucks and skiing every day. What affirms his title as ski bum supreme is the fact that at night he retired to his car, parked close to the lifts.
But now Toups' brawny 6-foot frame is wedged in a jail cell in Georgetown, imprisoned for the past 57 days on misdemeanor federal charges of camping on public land, possessing marijuana and assaulting a Forest Service officer.
He could walk free with time served if he admitted his guilt. But Toups won't do that.
"I've lived this life for 33 years and now all the sudden I'm supposed to admit I'm guilty? I can't do that," he said from jail last week. "I don't know what changed after the Forest Service tolerated me for all these years. I thought we were just respecting each other. Let me ask you, is it snowing?"
Toups' tale is the embodiment of ski bumdom. Since the 1970s, he has bummed at Mammoth in California, Snowbird in Utah, Oregon's Mount Hood, Aspen Highlands and all the ski areas in Summit County. His home — for nearly a decade — was a Volks wagen Beetle, the passenger seat torn out so he could sleep.
"He had a little tunnel down to it like a snow cave," said Halsted Morris, a longtime Loveland skier.
"He was the real deal"
After a few years at Loveland, where Toups worked in the ski area's kitchen, he moved on to Aspen Highlands, where every morning he stomped steep snow as part of the ski patrol's avalanche mitigation. A few hours bootpacking earned him a day's lift ticket. He haunted the mid-mountain cafeteria, munching food from abandoned trays. He stocked shelves at the local grocery at night.
"He was the epitome of ski bums. He was the real deal," said Mike Tierney, a veteran ski patroller at Highlands. "He was just a totally eccentric individual who was here to ski. We don't see those kinds of ski bums anymore. And that's kind of sad."
Mac Smith, the longtime director of the Highlands patrol, spent a few seasons in the 1970s camping at the base of the ski hill. He remembers Toups with fondness, as a "gentle giant."
"He was a really intelligent person," Smith said. "He just had a different drum beat, and he followed it."
Toups first ran afoul of the Forest Service, which prohibits living on public land, in 2007 when he was back living in Loveland in the ski area parking lot.
So, he fired up his most recent home — a tired Ford, its hood and doors closed with ropes, its bed topped with a dilapidated camper. He rattled over Loveland Pass, towing a trailer full of old skis and a rusting Honda motorcycle. He landed in the Colorado Department of Transportation utility lot on Forest Service land next to Arapahoe Basin ski area.
On Nov. 14, five months after a Forest Service cop issued Toups a ticket for camping on public land in the CDOT lot, they came for him with a warrant for his arrest.
Toups had missed two mailed summonses, sent to an Aspen-area post office box he never visited.
Forest Service law enforcement officer Jill Wick and a Summit County sheriff's deputy found him, naturally, skiing. He grew irate when told he was under arrest.
At a Nov. 20 detention hearing in federal court in Grand Junction, Forest Service special agent Travis Lunders testified that Toups "became actively resistant in the sense that he tensed up."
"Officer Wick described Mr. Toups as shrugging his shoulders, bending his arms, flexing and putting his knuckles together near his stomach, at which time both officers took Mr. Toups to the ground, the snow covered ground, and placed him face-first down," Lunders testified, according to court transcripts.
Toups said he was trying to make a call on his cellphone before he was taken away. He said he was under the impression he had a "gentleman's agreement" to stay near the CDOT utility shed, based upon his camaraderie with CDOT employees.
When officers searched his pockets, according to Lunders' testimony, they found "misdemeanor level paraphernalia and marijuana."
The day after Toups' arrest, Lunders testified that Wick suffered a "post traumatic condition or disorder . . . that caused her heart to enlarge after the arrest." Doctors later told her, Lunders testified, "she did not suffer a heart attack and her arteries were in fact good."
Lunders wrote in his report detailing the arrest: "At no time was she (Wick) struck by Toups, nor did he attempt to kick, punch or strike either officer."
Still, Toups is facing charges that he "did forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate and interfere with an officer." Add the illegal camping and marijuana charge, and Toups is facing more than two years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines.
Toups is scheduled for a jury trial in Denver District Court this month.
Toups' attorney declined to comment, but Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the Colorado U.S. attorney, said the charges are appropriate, "given his conduct."
"Danger to this community"
U.S. Attorney Michelle Heldmyer is prosecuting the case against Toups. At his November detention hearing, she argued successfully that Toups be held without bail on three misdemeanor counts.
"This defendant has shown he is dangerous, that he has no place to go," she said. "Being that he — all he wants to do is apparently ski and not work and live this alternative lifestyle, makes him a prime candidate for flight, not to mention he has exhibited himself now as a danger to this community, openly hostile to the government."
Calling Toups "hostile" and "dangerous" dismays Toups' friends.
"Charlie has been harassed most of his life, but even though he can be a bit of a curmudgeon, he's a really sweet guy," said Michael Cleveland, who has known Toups for 30 years and paid $1,700 to get his friend's truck out of impoundment. "He's just a ski bum who never grew up."
Toups proudly explains that in all his years of homelessness, he has never collected any public money. In the past three years, he's earned about $20,000, mostly from shoveling snow and moving furniture.
Still, he admits he has struggled to keep jobs.
"I guess I have a personality that conflicts with some tenets of management," he said.
Decades of negotiating (or violating, say the feds) federal, state, county and municipal boundaries and rules has taken its toll on Toups. When he parked near A Basin in 2007, he was at the end of his rope. He needed to be close to his work shoveling — where his boss, Bob Towne, said he never missed a day in two winters. He could no longer keep his truck running to move it daily. And he needed to be close to his beloved ski hill.
"I ski because it is a portal, a gateway to health," he said, noting that in all his years on skis he has never been injured. "But when I moved into that lot, I was desperate. Sure, I may live like a bum, but I do not behave like one."

My email to the US Attorney prosecuting him..

Mrs. Heldmyer,
After reading the article in the Denver Post, I thought I would email you and let you know just how dissapointed I am at you and Georgetown Police Department.

It is a sad sad day in this nation when being prosecuted for being an individual living outside the constraints of the system is a crime. This nation as you of all people should know, was founded on the basic liberties and the freedom to pursue happiness and self determination. Charlie was a man that was doing all of those things and yet here he is caught up in a legal battle with the system. The system that does not approve of his lifestyle and now seeks to incarcerate him for living "dfferently". In my eyes... you and the Georgetown police department represent one thing, the interests of big money. Charlie and other ski bums like him are an eyesore and you seek to rid the slopes and towns of them per the wishes of big money and whatever racist/judgemental ideas you have.

You can continue on your path as Im sure you will but eventually one day, you will have to answer for your poor judgement and frankly picking on people who cannot afford to defend themselves. There is a large and growing movement of people like Charlie... people interested in the roots of life and this great country. We will not stand by and let big money and misaapointed attorneys like yourself push the small people around. The revolution is coming.. maybe not in your lifetime or mine.. but it is. You can arrest him, but you cannot arrest us all.

Predicament

2009-12-14T21:46:00.004-06:00

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

2009-12-09T18:20:00.005-06:00

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!

2009-11-10T20:18:00.003-06:00

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!

2009-10-24T12:24:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-23T22:04:00.001-05:00

"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

2009-10-23T09:24:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-10-15T21:04:00.001-05:00

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

My Bday!

2009-10-15T17:36:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-01T09:52:00.001-05:00

yeeehaw

Pre-Harvest Moon Breakfast

2009-10-01T06:58:00.001-05:00

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

2009-09-22T20:10:00.003-05:00

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

2009-09-06T20:48:00.001-05:00

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

2009-09-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

Bandera, Texas

2009-09-05T17:30:00.001-05:00

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

2009-09-05T12:52:00.000-05:00

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

In Luckenbach!!

2009-09-05T11:41:00.001-05:00

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

2009-09-05T08:27:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-09-04T12:52:00.000-05:00

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

2009-09-04T11:07:00.001-05:00

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

2009-09-04T09:30:00.000-05:00

Hitting the road :)

Pics of the bike - Post 149 forrest run

2009-09-01T10:30:00.000-05:00

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

2009-08-25T17:02:00.000-05:00

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

2009-08-25T15:35:00.000-05:00

rainbow

2009-08-25T13:13:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-08-14T15:59:00.004-05:00

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

2009-07-23T17:49:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-11T16:17:00.000-05:00

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

2009-07-06T13:10:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-04T20:22:00.001-05:00

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

2009-07-01T18:20:00.001-05:00

Brainstorming!

2009-07-01T17:54:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-06-28T22:44:00.000-05:00

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

2009-06-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

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

2009-06-22T08:44:00.006-05:00

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

2009-06-18T09:46:00.010-05:00

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!

2009-06-15T12:42:00.001-05:00

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

2009-06-11T06:56:00.000-05:00

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

2009-06-09T21:53:00.000-05:00

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

2009-06-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

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

2009-06-07T02:22:00.001-05:00

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

2009-06-03T19:37:00.000-05:00

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

2009-05-30T23:11:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2009-05-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

A typical texas summertime storm

2009-05-11T18:13:00.000-05:00

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

The trimaran

2009-05-11T09:49:00.000-05:00

Just looking at her for right now...day dreaming.

Been awhile

2009-05-11T09:48:00.001-05:00

Man, i was doing so well with blogging this time around but i fell off again.

I went and looked at a boat this weekend that was just amazing. Its a Norman Cross 38. Thats a 38ft trimaran and its super badass! They are asking for 25k and i have half of that already. The problem is, because of the size of trimarans, the slip fees in marinas are very expensive. Typically in the kemah area id be looking at 300-500 a month to put her in a marina! Thats insane! If i bought her, id have to work another 3yrs or so before id have enough cash to set out. Ughh...... I cant ever make a decision.

Ive had a few accidents on the hobie lately. Ive flipped her a few times and the mast keeps filling with water making it literally impossible to right her. So ive purchased a few new parts (300 worth) and she should be in good running shape for the cruise. I dnt know if i mentioned or not but ill be sailing her on a 200 mile cruise of the texas coast on the bays and intracoastal waterways. www.texas200.com Is the link and I can be seen under the "whos coming" section of the site under David Richey, Hobie 14 Perdido.

Well im at the dentist office right now doing all that fun shit so ill have to post some pictures of the trimaran later.

New Video

2009-04-21T18:29:00.009-05:00

Here is a video I have been working on the past few days. This is when I sailed down to Port Aransas with friends back in March 09. Make sure ya click the HQ icon in the corner for the supa dupa high quality.

Not much else has been going really. Ive been gearing up for the texas 200. I had some crazy sailing in the Hobie last sunday and Im super sore because of it. I sailed over 30 miles and just blasted across the bay on that thing. Its amazing how much ground you can cover when your running 10+ kts occasionally hitting somewhere near 15! I need a GPS confirmation but Im pretty sure Ive been there a couple of times but we shall see what the GPS says.

Texas tea party

2009-04-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Well today they had the texas tea party across the state (nation?). We went over after work and checked it out. It was pretty decent but i still felt like there were unanswered questions. I mean, what was the point? At the hours of 4pm-8pm all the elected officials were at home and what not. We stood and listened to some readings and other things yet i feel like they accomplished nothing. Its time to rally the people against big government. Against big spending. Its time to hold elected officials responsible and make them play by the same rules us "normal folk" do.

Anyways.... This week Garnett and i havebeen providing assistance to Chester, the guy who hitched a ride with us when we sailed back to Galveston from Port Aransas. He won a 30ft gemini catamaran in a hurricane salvage auction and is taking it down the ICW to port a. The boat wasnt ready but deadlines had to be met. They are in Matagorda as we speak with about 90 miles to go.

Well thats about all folks...

Catch Up!

2009-04-06T17:19:00.003-05:00

Well its been a while since I have written anything and now Ill have to play catch up. You know.. I have noticed that when a lot starts happening in my life and I havent blogged in a while, I actually dread blogging everything. So, I procrastinate and just let it build up a little more and then the next thing you know, I havent written in a month! So, Im going to take it easy on myself and recap quick and dirty and well, skip a bunch of parts.

I went sailing a few times on the hobie cat the past couple of weekends and its safe to say Im really addicted to it! The speed is hard to describe and when you get everything trimmed perfect and your body weight is perfect you just flyyyyyyyyyy!!! I really want a Hobie 16 so I can take another person in comfort but it just isnt in my budget right now. We shall see what happens :)

So... I went sailing down to Port Aransas like 3 weeks ago and we spent 2.5 days offshore on our way down and about the same on the return trip home. This was my first bad trip offshore and it showed me just how crazy it can be out there. I realized just how hard single handing is going to be and just how important certain things on a boat are ie. an engine. Near the coasts the commercial traffic is just incredibly dangerous and engines and other people on board help make it a tad safer... I dont know. The other thing is just how violent the world seems to be getting. Cruisers are being killed everywhere and that makes me nervous too... imagine that? Me... Dave Rich actually a little nervous by all the cruisers getting chopped up with machetes.

Ive decided to focus a little effort back into just driving for my getaway and I already feel like Im betraying the faith. I love the ocean and I love sailing... I dont know.. Maybe its just not my path for right now. I found an awesome mini-bus for sail in the Kemah area that has been converted into a small motorhome. Its a 98 chevy 1-ton with 36K miles on her! The owners are asking $3500 and it has hot water, sink, stove/oven, small bed, fridge with freezer, and rv ac! The problem? around 10mpg...... UHHHH!!!!!!!! I plan on driving over 100K miles and at 10mpg and $3/gallon, thats $30K JUST IN GAS! So, now Im looking a little more "15-20"ish.... that will help a lot! Plus the van simply will not fit into a shipping container for shipping overseas when Im ready to get off this continent. Just have some thinking to do....

DAMMIT... I always say that! thinking is just getting me no where! Ugh... I need to start acting instead of thinking. Ive got 12K stashed... and by this time next year Ill be sitting around 30K. So Ive set may 1st as my tentative quit date... we shall see how it goes.

Last weekend

2009-03-31T22:53:00.000-05:00

Didnt do too much.... Mostly this.