In Bryan for my little brothers bday

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

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

Retirement, Ticking Clocks, and Bullshit

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

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

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

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

tickticktickticktickticktick

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

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

Anchored out for the 4th

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

Here is the proposed route plan I worked out

Brainstorming!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Congrats babe!

Working on police cars

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

Loosing Weight,Birthday Parties and Wierd Dreams

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

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

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

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

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

Total Money = 33K

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

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

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

Wrap up
--------

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back at Work!

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

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

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

Pauls mott - broken dolphin striker cable

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

Sailing is great... In port a

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

Texas200 and the skippers meeting

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

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

Headed to Port Mansfield

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

Your view for today

Looking west off the garage.

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

At sherlocks in cleeeeearlake

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

Me working!!!

A typical texas summertime storm

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

The trimaran

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

Been awhile

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.