Burrows

I've been staying a lot in Burrows, which is a surfing spot in between Punta Mita and La Cruz, in Bandaras Bay, which is also home to Puerto Vallarta. The surfing is pretty good even when it is too small other places (like at Punta Mita) and there are no sea urchins, for which I am very glad. I have several small puncture wounds that still are adamantly refusing to heal in my feet and hands from the little spiky bastards.
This new place came about when I was at Punta Mita and decided to paddle over to another boat that looked like a Pierson Triton, so I went over to ask. In fact, it was. The owner, Stefan, was cleaning the bottom and then invited me over for a visit when he was done. It might be that he is from Germany, so I get to practice mien Deutsch, but we've become friends. He lives at Burrows, anchored out, and working at a resort that sits right next to it. Anyways, we've been playing chess, and I understand the saying in The Matrix, "You never truly know someone until you fight them." Anyways, playing chess against him is a good game, because if I play the best of my abilities, I can win, but I have to be on my toes. So the score is 4-3, in his favor right now.
I went and anchored out in Burrows after that, and I've been surfing there mostly ever since. And the surfing has been pretty good.
A few days ago we had a race. He is very competitive, and the boats are about the same size (the triton is 28.5 ft long, and my boat is either 27 or 34 ft long, depending on what you count. Another contest of wills. Actually, the first one wasn't a race, but a rally of sorts, where we sail alongside and get pictures of each other's boats, but anytime that two boats are sharing a direction and the wind it seems to turn into a race.
But what is this? He is very protective of his rig, and refused to fly all the canvas he could, so, despite his shiny clean bottom, (mine is covered in crap right now) I was pulling ahead!
Then at the corner he put up his mainsail and got to the anchor first. But that wasn't a race, because we hadn't agreed on it beforehand. So the next day we sailed back, and this time we laid down the terms.
Foolishly, though, he traded me a spinnaker in the night. So now I have a spinnaker again.
And when dawn broke and the wind blew feebly across the waters, I put up all that I could and pulled ahead for a victory. So the sailing is 1-1 or 1-0 depending on how you count it.
He's sailing to Costa Rica in a month, and I will probably stick around here for a little longer and then go to Hawaii.
In this second picture I am flying the spinnaker and the jib at the same time, of which I am very proud. This new kite is nicely star spangled, and I guess it is fitting that it will take me and Altair back to the USA.
As for the surfing, Burrows is a point, mostly a right, but there are lefts to be had as well. It is warm enough right now to go without a wetsuit, but I usually stay in the water for 4 hours or so, and for that amount of time I need to use my suit. It has been pretty small the last week, and of course when it is big I didn't bring my camera ashore to take any pictures, but here is a decent shot of one of the guys I met in the water hanging five. I like that you can't see the board.
I've been working on a new video, but I'll have to post it when I am completely done, which is not quite yet. As a result, I am burning through lots of electrical power, and its been cloudy lately, so I need to get a wind generator, I think. Also it will help on the trip over to HI and back. I hope. There has been some fun clouds and some rain, and I got this morning shot a few days ago when the sun beamed through. Unfortunately it didn't turn out like I wanted it to.
And here are some shorebirds, I am not sure the species.