We finally finished all of our projects in La Cruz and stocked up on provisions. We were ready to head south but decided to make a detour to Punta Mita. Mike really wanted a surfboard as we are going to hit lots of surf spots south and in Central America this year. After talking to our friend Merle on Kenta Anae, Mike decided he wanted a stand up paddle surfboard. We have two SUP boards on the boat, but they are inflatable and not exactly what you can surf.
Banderas Bay was probably the last chance we were going to have for quite a while to find a surfboard to buy in Mexico. So, we headed up to Punta Mita, where there is some surf and lots of surf shops. Now, these surfboards can be pretty expensive, so we were really in the market for a used one. We found some surf shops with some used ones for sale that Mike tried out, but none were really what he was looking for.
Then, we found an American couple living in a condo just off the beach that had one for sale! It is a bit less “floaty” than Mike would probably have liked, but it really is perfect for him to surf. It’s just going to take lots of practice. As Mike has quite a few pounds on me, the board has no problem floating me. It is a bit more challenging to paddle than our big inflatables, but a challenge is a good thing! So, we ended up with this awesome board at a totally reasonable cost. It was definitely worth our stop in Punta Mita.
Part of what we wanted to do by setting sail was to push ourselves and be adventurous. It wasn’t just about sailing for us, which is why a good part of our investment in this project was in non-boat related gear. Or, as I sometimes call themtoys.
When I met Mike, he had more “toys” than anyone I had ever met. Two cars, two boats, snowboards, wakeboards, a mountain bike. You get the picture. What else did I expect from a very active 40 yr old bachelor!
In loading up Adagio, we had to trade in some of our old toys for new ones that would work on our adventure. So, here’s what we ended up with on the boat:
Fishing – Mike had lots of fishing gear that he acquired over the years. (He used to take charter fishing boats out of San Diego every year and bring back enough tuna and yellowtail to fill my freezer for a year!) Rods, reels, lines, lures Mike adds some new little things here and there. But, his birthday/Christmas present this year was a new speargun! After our adventures with friends in the Sea of Cortez this last year, Mike REALLY wanted one, and we found a great deal on Ebay for a Riffe speargun when we were back in the States over the holidays.
Snorkeling/Scuba – We have lots of masks, snorkels, fins, etc. for snorkeling, but our real investment was in the scuba gear. You might recall that before we left California we got our scuba certifications. But, we wanted to be able to dive wherever we were, even in a remote place without a dive shop. So, we picked up the BCDs, dive computers, regulators, etc. And, we put four steel Fabor tanks on the boat. Getting tanks filled can also be a challenge in remote places, so we added a gas powered dive compressor to fill our tanks. It really is cool and totally worth the cost, which wasn’t really all that bad.
Bicycles – Mike and I both liked cycling. I had a road bike, and Mike had a mountain bike. We liked the idea of having bikes on board for both exercise and transportation. After some research, we found the Dahon Mariner folding bikes. They fold up pretty compact. The tires are the size of a kid’s bike, but the frame is larger for an adult size person. The seat and handlebars are adjustable. You can go back and read about our adventures on the bikes in San Jose last year.
Canoe – I know this one sounds funny. We had two rigid kayaks that we used for years back in California. But, they take up a lot of room and created a lot of windage strapped to the rails. So, we sold them and started looking for inflatable kayaks that could fold and store easily. Then we found the 14 ft inflatable canoe from Sea Eagle and decided we had to have that instead. It is pretty big, but it is lots of fun and gives us good exercise rowing when we don’t want to throw the dinghy in the water.
SUP/Surfboards – So, that brings us to the stand-up surfboard we just acquired. We also have two inflatable SUP boards from Tower. They are lots of fun and easy to paddle. They are very “floaty” and wide, so not very hard to keep from falling off even in rough waves and surf. But, I’m really excited to paddle our new Starboard surf/paddleboard.
I think that is about it for the toys. Mike has talked about getting a kiteboard, but I think I’ve convinced him he needs to master the surfing before taking on another toy to learn.
It’s all part of what makes this our adventure!
~katie