Go Back   Cruiser Log World Cruising & Sailing Forums > Cruiserlog's Yacht Club > The Tavern | Welcome Aboard
Cruiser Wiki Click Here to Login

Join Cruiser Log Today

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-02-2012, 07:00 AM   #1
Admiral
 
Auzzee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Home Port: Darwin
Vessel Name: Sandettie
Posts: 1,917
Default G'day

I’m sort of new, but then again, sort of not. I was a frequent contributor several years ago. I lost my best mate, sold my boat and spent some time feeling sorry for myself. To remain a part of the CL community would have been a little fraudulent. I got stuck into work and, when I got tired of that and decided that there was still of laughing left for me to do (and catch up on) I sold my business, sold my motorbike, flew to South East Asia, bought a new motorbike and, since the end of July 2011, I have been touring far and wide in lands where no one understands what I’m saying.
It has been a lot of fun and totally cathartic. During my travels I read a book by Fatty Goodlander which stirred strong emotions. I realised how much I missed the sea, boat people and boats, and decided to commence the search for a new vessel. It also seemed to mark to start of a personal renaissance.
As my dream to sail across the Pacific has not yet been realised and as my base is in Oz, I started looking in the US. The searching process alone was a real experience which I may cover as time goes on. However, after some time I managed to buy a new craft. It had been made ready for a circumnavigation by its owner and had been sailed from San Diego to Mexico when the wheels flew off a personal relationship and, as so often happens, the boat was listed for sale. That’s where I came in.
I will soon sell my bike in Thailand, fly to the US and Mexico and relaunch the boat. It needs little. A new dinghy and motor, cutlery, crockery, linen, charts, pilots, perhaps some updated safety equipment; then I shall buy a brand new pair of shorts, undies and a shirt, reduce my shaving routine to just 4 times a week (I’m a rebel) and spend some time afloat and exploring the Sea of Cortez whilst I await the weather and then as they say in the classics.....VOOM!
I am currently in a little Thai town, near to the Thai Burma border. The mountains are beautiful, the motorcycling sensational, but now that I have made the decisions and committed the dollars, I can’t wait to begin the transmogrification from mountain dwelling bikie, to ocean dwelling gypsy once again.
It feels good!
__________________

__________________
"if at first you don't succeed....Redefine success"!


Auzzee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2012, 10:31 AM   #2
Admiral
 
haiqu's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Home Port: Bundarra, NSW
Vessel Name: None
Posts: 1,556
Default

Awesome post, welcome back mate.

Working through life's issues can be pretty tedious, so glad you came through it with new focus and a plan of action. Hope to run into you one of these fine days.

Rob
__________________

__________________
"The cure for anything is salt water... sweat, tears, or the sea" -- Isak Dinesen

I've Contributed to the Cruisers Wiki: All sections
haiqu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2012, 03:40 AM   #3
Admiral
 
Trim50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Home Port: Who cares really...
Vessel Name: T
Posts: 1,215
Send a message via Yahoo to Trim50
Default

Hey Dave!

Like I said, make sure you spend time in Old Mazatlan and climb to El Faro evey morning for exercise. The food and beer are cheap, anchoring is free, bus transport is $1 to anywhere in town...laundry is $2/kg washed and folded!

We broke our tranny there and stayed 2 months...looking back it was one of the best times in our lives. Just be sure to be off your boat at 4pm everyday ;-)

Cheers,

Ken
__________________
[
Trim50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2012, 04:04 AM   #4
Admiral
 
Auzzee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Home Port: Darwin
Vessel Name: Sandettie
Posts: 1,917
Default

I'll do it! What's the significance of the 4pm checkout?
Cheese
Dave
__________________
"if at first you don't succeed....Redefine success"!


Auzzee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2012, 04:13 AM   #5
Admiral
 
Trim50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Home Port: Who cares really...
Vessel Name: T
Posts: 1,215
Send a message via Yahoo to Trim50
Default

Well, the Mazatlan Old Harbor sits next to the sewage waste processing facility. At 4pm everyday, they flush waste out to sea. The only thing that happens in the harbor is smell. The waste is flushed on the seaward side of the breakwater. It takes about 2 hours for the smell to dissipate.

Also, our other favorite place in Mexico is Zihuatanejo. If you recall in the movie The Shawskank Redemption, Zihuatanejo was Andy's dream place to escape to...and rightly so. Be careful, you may never leave. It makes my mouth water just thinking about those margaritas and fresh chips and salsa!
__________________
[
Trim50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2012, 04:29 AM   #6
Admiral
 
Auzzee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Home Port: Darwin
Vessel Name: Sandettie
Posts: 1,917
Default

Ah, the old poo shooter. So, turn off the watermaker, head up the hill then nick off to the boozer. Sounds like a plan.
__________________
"if at first you don't succeed....Redefine success"!


Auzzee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2012, 04:42 AM   #7
Admiral
 
Trim50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Home Port: Who cares really...
Vessel Name: T
Posts: 1,215
Send a message via Yahoo to Trim50
Default

What most people don't know, neither did we till we arrived, is that Mazatlan is one of the worlds largest producers of shrimp (prawns for Aussies). You can buy kilos for a couple dollars. By the time we departed Mazatlan we couldn't eat another shrimp. We would meet other cruisers everyday for lunch at the Shrimp Bucket in Old Town and eat shrimp platters till we couldn't see straight.

Man you're gonna love Mexico! If I were you, I wouldn't bother crossing the Pacific if you've already been here. Stay in Mexico! I can't wait to get back.
__________________
[
Trim50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2012, 04:00 PM   #8
Rear Admiral
 
Coyote's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Home Port: San Jose, CA
Vessel Name: Coyote
Posts: 215
Default

The Sea of Cortez is a beautiful place and you will love it. It is cheap, the people are beautiful, the food is good, there are a million empty beaches you can enjoy, the fishing is good, dolphins are everywhere.

Good luck and have fun. If you stop by San Francisco, say hi.
__________________
I've Contributed to the Cruisers Wiki: San Diego
Coyote is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2012, 07:37 PM   #9
Moderator
 
redbopeep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Home Port: Washington DC
Vessel Name: SV Mahdee
Posts: 3,236
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Trim50 View Post
Hey Dave!

Like I said, make sure you spend time in Old Mazatlan and climb to El Faro evey morning for exercise. The food and beer are cheap, anchoring is free, bus transport is $1 to anywhere in town...laundry is $2/kg washed and folded!

We broke our tranny there and stayed 2 months...looking back it was one of the best times in our lives. Just be sure to be off your boat at 4pm everyday ;-)

Cheers,

Ken
Sometimes the places we end up "stuck" end up being absolutely great for us to experience.

We've got a friend with a fishing boat that he used to tow with his truck down Baja to Loreto. One year, as the passed through a little village, something atop the boat snagged a power line. They took out the power to the village. For a week. Well, they immediately offered to pay for the damages and the local sheriff/police chief said they'd just have to stick around--in jail--until the damage was fixed.

They were really worried all that day as they sat around the little office of the police chief. Then, as he closed up shop, he said something along the lines of--oh, we have no real jail, you have to stay with my family while you're "in jail" with us. So, they stayed for a bit more than a week. They met everyone in the town. They were teased mercilessly about being the gringos who took out the power lines. They drank a lot, they had fun.

When it was all said and done, they paid for the repairs and left town driving back up Baja to the USA thinking they'd had the best vacation ever and had spent less money than any previous year for that matter! This all happened about 15 years ago--they still stop every year in the town, spend the night with the police chief, catch up on what's happened to everyone in a year, before they continue on to their fishing.

Mexico is an amazing place. We've done three one-month-long trips of back-road driving there and camping on beaches from just north of Guaymas up in the Sea all the way down to a coconut grove a couple miles outside of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo

My favorite memories:

Finding the tortilla factory in each little town we camped near (usually on the afternoon drive through the town on the way to an empty beach nearby) and the next morning at the crack of dawn buying fresh tortillas there. The little children are sent to buy tortillas for the family so I'd be in line with the 5 year olds.

Lots of afternoons snorkeling from our canoe which we'd take out to the rocky islets and reefs for this purpose.

Camping by the beach in a grove of coconuts. The cost? An agreement to buy the coconuts we consume during our stay from the owner of this grove and not other growers.

The snorkeling is good, the diving is good, the food is good, the people are good, the cost is low, it's a beautiful place. Enjoy yourself.
__________________
"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

What we're doing - The sailing life aboard and the Schooner Chandlery.

redbopeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2012, 02:03 AM   #10
Admiral
 
Auzzee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Home Port: Darwin
Vessel Name: Sandettie
Posts: 1,917
Default

All these narratives are good for the soul. I can't wait to get there. I met an engineer and his wife who were travelling through Thailand and who are from San Francisco. I hope to get to say g'day to them. If I can make it there, I'll also call to say 'hi' to Coyote.
__________________
"if at first you don't succeed....Redefine success"!


Auzzee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2012, 02:34 AM   #11
Admiral
 
Trim50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Home Port: Who cares really...
Vessel Name: T
Posts: 1,215
Send a message via Yahoo to Trim50
Default

Some of our favorite pictures from Mazatlan...
Attached Thumbnails
old_maz_anchorage_small[1].jpg   Mazatlan_OldTown.jpg   MazatlanOldTown5.jpg   MazatlanOldTown1.jpg   EspirituSanto4.jpg  

__________________
[
Trim50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2012, 02:54 AM   #12
Admiral
 
Auzzee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Home Port: Darwin
Vessel Name: Sandettie
Posts: 1,917
Default

Beautiful!
__________________

__________________
"if at first you don't succeed....Redefine success"!


Auzzee is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
G-day everyone anthonyedlin The Tavern | Welcome Aboard 1 02-20-2012 02:11 AM
G'day From Down Under HNickN The Tavern | Welcome Aboard 2 09-08-2009 01:04 PM
G'day spiv The Tavern | Welcome Aboard 2 04-26-2009 10:10 AM
G'day oldhairy The Tavern | Welcome Aboard 3 04-15-2009 05:41 AM
G'day All Qldcruiser The Tavern | Welcome Aboard 3 11-06-2008 02:47 PM

Our Communities

Our communities encompass many different hobbies and interests, but each one is built on friendly, intelligent membership.

» More about our Communities

Automotive Communities

Our Automotive communities encompass many different makes and models. From U.S. domestics to European Saloons.

» More about our Automotive Communities

RV & Travel Trailer Communities

Our RV & Travel Trailer sites encompasses virtually all types of Recreational Vehicles, from brand-specific to general RV communities.

» More about our RV Communities

Marine Communities

Our Marine websites focus on Cruising and Sailing Vessels, including forums and the largest cruising Wiki project on the web today.

» More about our Marine Communities


All times are GMT. The time now is 09:46 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
SEO by vBSEO 3.6.0
×