La Cruz, Punta Mita, Home to Seattle 1-30-13

Moved to La Cruz anchorage – Friday 1-25-13 

Silly Boat Name

  I spent the morning scrubbing Mariah’s topsides with fresh water from the marina.  My reward was another swim at the resort pool and an afternoon of reading and resting in the shade. Life is good!!

    “Mariah” and I departed Paradise Marina about 3 pm and actually sailed for 2 hours to our next anchorage at La Cruz.  While putting up the main sail in 10 knots of wind I realized I haven’t sailed since arriving in Banderas Bay over a week ago.  There was still a reef tied in the sail from my sail from La Paz.  I’ve been either anchored or motoring due to no wind during my visit to Banderas Bay.  I was nice to be sailing at 3-4 knots in gentle breezes and sun.

    I dropped the hook in 25 feet of water along with 51 other boats.  My mistake was anchoring downwind of a 30’ yellow sailboat covered with pelicans and a years worth of bird poop – sinky!!!

Traditional Junk Boat Design

   I dingied over to a 68 year old solo sailor in his home built 40’ catamaran from San Francisco.  We chatted until sunset and traded stories and philosophies. I forget his name but the catamaran was yellow and named “Feet” as in “Feet don’t fail me now” which apparently has not let him down in 6 or so years of cruising.  He did report losing all his electronics and being holed by a lightening strike some time ago but patched the leaking hole with  underwater epoxy. 

  I also took photos of some interesting boats like a traditional Junk boat and funny boat name (see photos).

 

Marina La Cruz and Boat Swap Meet – Sat 1-26-13   

   The morning radio net reported my favorite yet financially dangerous event which is a boat swap meet.  I

La Cruz Anchorage

buy almost all of my boat improvement parts at boat swap meets for a fraction of new costs.  I think of it as treasure hunting.  So at this swap I bought an outdoor shower kit for our motorhome at home for $15 and a large solar panel for $160 ($600 new).  I kinda regret not purchasing the marine sewing machine for $400 ($1200 new) but I was trying not to spend too much.  However a heavy duty sewing machine is extremely useful for the repair-it-yourself boater. Oh-well.

   I also took a stroll through the town of La Cruz which was filled with local homes and businesses.  I think I missed the upscale waterfront shops and restaurants but that’s okay.

  I planned to search out some live music at night, which La Cruz is famous for, but I was so at peace reading and relaxing at dusk that I just stayed on Mariah for the night.  No regrets.

Departing La Cruz and returning to Punta Mita – Sun 1-27-13

Punta Mita Anchorage Sunset

   I was looking forward to returning to Punta Mita for a few final days of warm weather surfing before returning home to a frigid Seattle.  While motoring back to Punta Mita I passed through many turbulent areas of what appeared to be feeding frenzies of game fish on schools of bait fish.  I still had tuna in the fridge so I didn’t attempt any fishing but I’m sure it would have been very exciting and successful.

   After dropping anchor and relaxing a bit, I dingied over to “El Faro” to surf.  This was my first time at “El Faro” so I anchored the dingy next to an anchored panga also there to surf.  The waves were slow and gentle at take off but became steep and faster on the inside, which was filled with many rocks both just above the water and well above.  It was quite an obstacle coarse on the inside I had to avoid jumping off the board feet first and instead tried to belly flop to avoid the rocks and sea erchins shallowly below.  There were mostly local Mexicans surfing short boards in the inside while I was catching the outside waves with my 9’ longboard.  The other surfers were were happily cheering on their fellow surfers in Spanish.  I met Solano who was a friendly younger surfer from Salutitas.   Out of respect, I tried to stay out of the other surfers way.  It was an exciting day of surfing and it felt good to be back in Punta Mita.

Punta Mita: Packing Mariah and Surfing – Mon 1-28-13

El Faro Surf Break

   I spent the morning beginning prepare Mariah for my departure.  I spent 2-3 hours scrubbing Mariah’s bottom and propeller with a snorkel.  It takes a lot of effort to hold your breath while scraping barnacles and scrubbing moss from the entire hull.  The propeller also accumulates barnacles that need to be scraped away.  The task is made easier by the warm 77 degree water.  I didn’t even need a wet suit.  

   In the afternoon I returned to “El Faro” by dingy, which is now my preferred mode of surfing transportation.  The waves were again a gentle 4 foot face takeoff on the outside with a long left and steep inside ride around many rocks.  It was another great day of surfing.

   I met Chris who was stand up paddleboard surfing on the outer waves that a surfboard could never catch.  Chris is from Vancouver and spends winters in his Sayulita’s home.  Not a bad gig!!

 Punta Mita: time is running out – Tue 1-29-13

  I again spent the morning preparing Mariah for my departure.  It’s quite a task because cruising boats have LOTS of gear and toys.

Punta Mita Anchorage Moon Rise

   In the afternoon, Chris and I took took the dingy to “El Faro” which had no surfers or waved to speak of.  We continued around the point to “La Bahia” which also had no waves so we return east past Mariah to “La Launcha” which still had surf and about 7 surfers.  We anchored the dingy just off the break and paddled over to catch some waves.  The wave sets were inconsistent but decent surfable 4 foot breakers passed through on occasion.  I was able to catch some left rides which is my preferred direction being a “goofy foot” (right foot forward).  Between sets we had fun chatting with the other surfers some of which were with surf instructors that helped guide them to the better waves and take off points.  My final day of surfing was saved by the fun waves and camaraderie at La Lancha.

Mariah prepared for hibernation

   At 6pm we had happy hour at Mariah with the folks who will be keeping watch while I am gone.  Tim and Jane from “Midnight Blue”, Leonard and Marie from “Mi Casa”, Derek and Sissy from “Octavia”, and surfer Chris were all present.  We had a few drinks and chips and salsa.  It was great visiting with all these experienced cruisers on my last night before departing Mexico.  I felt like I was leaving Mariah in good hands.

Hasta La Vista Mariah and Sunny Puerto Vallarta,  Hello Cold and Rainy Seattle – Wed 1-30-13

Trash and Carry On Baggage ready to go

  

 Today is the big day!!!  Time to say “hasta la vista” to Mariah, Punta Mita, Puerto Vallarta and all the great cruisers.  Leonard and Marie gave me a ride to shore on their dingy where I dumped my final trash and caught a public bus to La Cruz.  At la Cruz I stopped by the marina office to pick up my Ipod which Ben from “Kyanos” left there about 4 weeks prior.  I caught another minivan type public bus ($1.00) for the 20 minute ride to the airport.  Luckily my flight was on time and it was nonstop to Seattle.  I chatted with Lor (Lorenzo) who is an artist living on the Sunshine Coast in BC who often visits Yelapa.  We talked almost the whole flight which helped pass the time.

    

Home in Seattle: Final Thoughts and Perspectives – Thur  1-31-13

Final Thoughts at the computer with Lila

   I am typing on my laptop on the kitchen table at my home in Seattle and trying to assemble words to summarize my incredible cruising adventure which spans from July 2012 to January 2013. 

   I would first like to thank Vinnie, Maya, and Dylan who supported and briefly shared my lifetime dream to experience cruising on my own sailboat.  They “held down the fort” and were my steadying keel while I was gone.

  

   A heartfelt thanks to the following crew who trusted in Mariah and I enough to share in the experience and helped make this trip so successful:  

Rhys and TR (Seattle to San Francisco)

Dan (San Francisco Bay)

Vinnie, Maya and Dylan (Delta Do Dah, Catalina, and La Paz)

Dave (San Francisco Bay and the Delta)

Erick and Geoff (San Francisco to Los Angeles)

Doug (Catalina, La Paz)

Andrew, James, and Brittany (Baja HaHa)

Mayne and Matt (La Paz)

   

   I would also like to thank “Mariah” who was ever dependable and forgiving of my mistakes and faithfully carried myself and crew roughly 2500 miles from Seattle to Puerto Vallarta Mexico.  

Ken enjoying the freedom of the sea

   Lastly, I would like to thank the “the spirits” for looking over me and Mariah on this voyage.  I am not a religious man but believe that some “spirit” had a hand in supplying me with this opportunity and such good fortune during the trip which I hope continues through my return voyage planned in April 2013.

   I enjoyed the simple life of living on the sea on Mariah.  I found that I ate healthy, exercised often, met scores of wonderful people, and was truly at peace.  I found the cruising life truly fitted me.

   I realized that living on a boat is forced minimalism and conservation; two ideals that I appreciate but find hard to follow at home.  On board Mariah, I generated electricity mostly with solar panels and a wind generator.  I conserved water and electricity.  I ate simple and healthy, wasted little food, and produced little trash.  I was able to catch and eat fish (mostly tuna).   My toilet composted solids.  I mostly anchored for free but occasionally paid for a marina slip.  I used the wind to sail when possible but still motored about 200 hours using 150 gallons of diesel to travel about 1000 miles out of 2500 miles.  So overall, I felt like I was living a life that was simple, inexpensive, and healthy with minimal impact on the environment.  Not a bad combination. 

The Tuna that "got away"

   My adventures with Mariah reinforce my thoughts of the “meaning of life”; to find ones passion (sailing and water sports for me) and to give and receive love in its many forms (to family, old and new friends and even strangers). 

   I also gained an appreciation for those who are able to create a lifestyle that balance work, home life and adventure.  I guess that has long been my goal and will continue as such.

  This adventure has far exceeded any of my expectations

   So at this point, I hope to find work as a physical therapist in the Seattle area for the next 2 months before returning to Mariah in Puerto Vallarta for the long voyage home.  Beginning in April, I hope to sail back to San Diego and then truck Mariah home to Seattle.  There are still adventures to be had on the return voyage and I am in need of crew so if any of you readers are interested or know of someone who is interested please email me at kennethpainter@hotmail.com

   Peace, Love, and Coconuts from Ken and SV Mariah