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.

New Video

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

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!

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

Didnt do too much.... Mostly this.

Hobie Sailing!

I finally sailed the hobie! Basically... it HAULS ASS! We sailed in about 15kts of wind and we had her on GPS doing about 11kts! Not bad for my first time.

In other news... Im about to head to Kemah because tomorrow morning we set sail for Port Aransas! We are going to head about 80 miles offshore into the gulf to check out one of our favorite bouys (The main bouy I use for surfing!) and then head back in. Total trip 1 way should be around 240 miles. We will hang out in Port A for about 2 days before we head back out to sea and return to Galveston. I cant wait!! Im bringing the fish and a wetsuit as well and there should be some small surf later on in the week. Yeeehaw!