Changing The Game

Hola Amigos,

The Trip Without End has found one... or at least an extended stop. Vamos a veer.

Sometimes a wave of fate overtakes you and completely redirects your flow. Powerless to swim against it, you can get swept along... or stand up and enjoy the ride. Mack and I are dropping in.

Amongst the hundred new friends we've made on this trip, three stand out, both in stature and drive.

Kyle, Mike, and Dwight are three former NFL players stoked to kite. They snowboard and surf so the folks at Elevation Kiteboarding should have no problem getting them riding.

Kyle is a hell of a guitar player too.


When not getting after it, they enjoy the good life here in Bahia De Los Sueños (The Bay of Dreams), aka Ensenada De Los Muertos (Cove of the Dead).

I prefer "Cove of the Dead", but it doesn't flow with the general vibe here, so "Bay of Dreams" is it.

It fits.

We've been offered the opportunity to start my dream business, offering boat-assisted, guided downwind kiteboarding excursions. We'll also be setting up and managing a rental fleet of stand up paddle boards, kayaks, snorkel gear, and other toys for the bay.

This is paradise. The sky's the limit.

Everything we need has been handed to us. The boat. The jetski. The truck. We've even got a place to stay, but I'm insisting to remain anchored out in the Bay on La Sin Fin.

My title? Director of Fun.

The company name? Downwind Kiting.

A temporary website should be up tomorrow.

I guess the oilfreefun has been postponed. Big whoop.

YIP YIP!

LOBSTER BISQUE A LA SIN FIN

Homeless, jobless, and away from civilization for weeks at a time, it is the little LUXURIES that keep us safely nestled to the bosom of consumerism-based society.

What LUXURIES do I speak of?

Comfortable seating? Nope.

Socializing? On a good day we didn't have to talk.

The company of exotic women? We didn't see a woman under 40 for three weeks.

Long showers? We rarely had enough water to DRINK. Three weeks without a bath... check the hair.

Alcohol? We ran out three miles South of Playa De Caca. I found myself singing hymns from childhood after 18 days of forced sobriety.

Electricity? The generator works "when it feels like it"... just like us. I guess that's fair.

Music? Mac's ukelele rendition of "Wish You Were Here" is heartwrenching... but only the first 300 times you hear it. These albums saved our lives.

Food? Bingo.

Max set off exploring in hopes of a few hours of solitude. The king of all crabs led him to a lobster trap on the other side of the mountain. Now we eat well.


Plus, a man can only stomach so much oatmeal.

Our cooking methods left a bit to be desired but dankness was achieved.


Big things went down in the middle of writing this post. So its done.

I'll explain.

MOVIE TIME!

Yesterday I watched a movie for the first time in two months. It was pretty awesome to be able to totally zone out for a few hours.

"The Perfect Storm" starring George Clooney and Marky Mark.

Apparently, I can't get enough of this ocean shit.

Here's some videos we made.

Mexican dolphins off the bow.

More hot naked dolphin action.



This is an old one... from off the coast of NORCAL... and nowhere near as SHAKEY... almost pleasant to watch.

We were rolling over MONSTER swell... so big you can't even tell. The wind was pefect and we were running with it. The boat was hitting 11-13 mph on every face. It felt like a mellow rollercoaster.

Mavericks broke for the first time of the season the next day. We were still hundreds of miles away... fast waves.

It kind of shows the perfect vibe on the boat... much of the time things are really shitty... a floating NAUSOLEUM/FEARFACTORY... but once in a while its pretty fucking pleasant.

You'll see.



Later.

SO GOOD...

Hey All,

After three weeks hunting for wind and waves and drinking buddies in the middle of nowhere, we've arrived in the epicenter of the kiteworld... LA VENTANA, B.C.S... aka PARADISE(?!).

I'm rudely blogging at BAJA JOES while great folks chat. There's no time for internet nonsense when there's life to live everywhere outside this screen.

We made it.

It was awesome.

Made some great new friends.

Caught some fish.

Swam with friendly rays and grumpy sea lions.

Didn't miss a sunrise or sunset... and even did a little kitesurfing.

Gotta go.

MAX

Bienvenidos De Playa De Caca!

Hey All,

I give up trying to make these Mexican computers do my bidding. You'll see what I mean.

Good sleep, good kiting, and good times have made things a lot less scattered but technologocal monkeybusiness will make this post semi-nonsensical. Here goes, anway... in no particular order thanks to technologia fea.

We've gotten to kite the last few days and today looks to be similarly windy. Bahia de Tortugas is pretty good for SURVIVAL KITING if you don't mind swimming in water reminiscent of piss... I think there are just too many birds pooping in the water... at least that's what I'm telling myself.

There is a good reefbreak at the mouth of the Bahia if you have the cajones to go there... any technical problems or lack of wind and you're looking at a three mile swim and prickly eight mile hike (at best). Scaling cliffs slippery with eons of accumulated pelican poop is more likely.

We're getting our boatlaunching down, as you'll see in this exceptionally lame, disordered, lopsided, "sequence".

Away you go!

Pull and pray.

Sort the tangles.

Nice and easy...

All set? I hope so.

These Canadians apparently know even less about sailing than us. This gigantic Mexican fishing boat brutalized their hull and mast because they anchored way too close to everyone... us included. I had to get up and move us in the middle of the night to avoid them. I gues this kind of crap is pretty typical.

The Bahia San Quintin "Yacht Club". This was the only other sailboat in the bay... aside from one permanently beached. It is mastless, motorless, and heaped with bird poop. A far cry from San Diego Bay.

This is our friend Miguel. He is a pervert who did our laundry. We paid him with a blowup doll and tube of lube. He was beyond stoked. From what I gather, he'll be able to "fiesta" with BETTY VISCIOUS, punk slut, while is wife is at "la inglesia". I'd say he's shameless but he made me give him a black trashbag to avoid a walk of shame through the pueblo.

Actually, he's a great dude and a heck of a businessman.

I speared one of these before I knew you weren't supposed to... not because they're endangered... just because they're orange. There were thousands of them and he tasted pretty good so I'm not kicking myself over it.

Spearfishing is the funnest thing ever. So far this is my biggest catch. We made him into fish tacos.

After giving him three shots of expensive, delicious Sailor Jerry Rum, this Bonita still wasn't dead so we had to resort to more drastic measures. It looks brutal but I guarantee he felt no pain... plus, doesn't Mac look happy! Hooray for fishing!

With no moon lately and 13 hour nights, sunrises are a welcome occurance. Shortly after, the wind picked up to 10-12 and we had the best day of sailing yet.

Nothing beats sipping tea with honey while looking forward to a day of perfect cruising.

Mac doing his Spanish homework on the anchor here in Bahia De Tortugas. I sleep in the cockpit. Mexico has great sleeping weather.

Frying fish in the middle of the ocean on a little Coleman stove can be stressful.

But we've been eating pretty well. Honey-glazed, spicy-mexicitalian-style Bonita bites go well with pesto parmesean pasta. I cropped Mack's head out of this picture to protect him from the fashion faux pas he was committing.

Where does one find such a shirt? Abandoned in the laundry room in Two Harbors, Catalina Island. What a score!

We'll kite here today and set sail tonight. Our next stop is Bahia Santa Maria near the monsterous Bahia Magdalena. The forecast looks light throughout Baha but it looks like great surfing for the next five days.

From there, if all geos well, it'll be Cabo San Lucas... a mere 100 miles from where friends await in La Ventana.

It'll be great to see some familiar faces.

Sailing Is Sleep Deprivation

Hey Amigos,

Well... we´re in Mexico... NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. Everything else is a blur.

I´ve got some great photos but they are unpostable at the internet cafe/furniture store here in Bahia De Tortugas.

Incidentally, fisherman, upset with a failed negotiation, dumped hundreds of thousands of rotten sardines in the Bahia... now there are hundreds of pelican, thousands of seagulls, and millions of cute little newly hatched flies.

We left San Diego with PERFECT conditions and the miles flew by... as did the days. We caught (and speared) some delicious fish. The dolphins came to visit. The wind died. Then the wind blew so strongly La Sin Fin felt like a cheap plastic EasterEgg. We anchored at Isla San Martin and Bahia San Quintin and now here at Bahia De SARDINEFUNK (sic Tortugas).

Most importantly, I haven´t slept in a week. I´m too tired to make sense. Plus, we haven't gotten to kite for about a week and a half so the boat is feeling pretty small.

On the bright side, we did get to surf a few times. And our anchorage here is snug enough to relax. And the flies will probably subside in a day or two. And, it is supposed to NUKE for the next four days...

... sideoff... in the middle of nowhere... a six mile kite and mile walk south of where we´re anchored looks like the best potential.

So here we are. Gotta go.