Zack Kruzins Experience Profile

We are off! Next stop French Polynesia!

zkruz — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:13:52 +0000

Crew from left to right: Zack, Steve, Michaela, Pam, Tom, Elena, and Louis

This is it! we have finally got all our things together and we will be off very shortly if all goes well. I will probably not be able to update this blog for quite a while. Likely not until we arrive in Tahiti, French Polynesia sometime in September. We will be exploring the remote islands on route until then. You can read more details about the crew and the trip in my previous post. You can follow our progress and message log through the MapShare feature from our Delorme InReach at this link:

https://share.delorme.com/ZackKruzins

Click here for more information about Karaka.

All the best,

Zack Kruzins

Back on Karaka: Provisioning and waiting for our new main sail

zkruz — Mon, 13 May 2013 02:31:25 +0000

(click any photo to view full album)

I arrived in Panama City on the 18^th of April by bus at Albrook Mall and had to talk to about five different cab drivers that would take me to the Amador for less than $5. The Amador is a causeway that jets out connecting three islands off the east side of the entrance of the Canal on the Pacific Ocean. Karaka was anchored as close as possible to the messed up dingy dock off the second island on the Amador, Isla Pericos. The dingy dock was broken so there was a crappy little red plastic boat with a crappy dirty string on a pully to get across to the wet slippery steps everytime we went to and from the shore to the boat. The water in the harbour was very disgusting with all sorts of things floating by, as soon as it touched your hands you felt like having a shower.

Lots was going on, making bags for kayaks, putting more puddy on the deck, lots of time on internet, making space for all our provisions, cleaning buckets, and of course fixing some of the many things that need fixing on Karaka.

The Crew

So the crew changed quite a bit since we had arrived in Costa Rica at the end of January. Simon and Cesar were both long gone back to their homes, Tara had flown back to the US for a job, and Eric had continued his travels north through central America. Unfortunately Kim’s dad was not doing too well so she is staying in Australia with him and not joining us again until sometime later in Polynesia. There was also Benedict from Germany and Marta from Spain who had been crewing on Karaka during my absence between Northern Costa Rica and Panama City but had left before I made my way back.

So current crew now is myself, Tom and Steve who had been on board since October in Mexico. New folks I just met were:

Pam, is a tattoo artist from the east coast of Canada. She joined Karaka a few days after I left in February. She had been in contact with Tom for a while and heard about Karaka from a good friend of hers who was a past crewmember.

Michaela, from New Zealand who sailed down the coast of Central America on a 23ft sailboat named Medusa with her other Kiwi friend Naomi. I actually connected with Naomi through couchsurfing while looking for a place to stay in San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua at the end of January. I told them about Karaka and how we were in Playas del Coco in Northern Costa Rica and should all connect. Unfortunately I left for work in Panama just before they arrived in Coco with the Karaka crew. I heard they had a good bunch of parties and good times. Naomi ended up selling the boat in Tamarindo, Costa Rica and Michaela decided to come join Karaka for the passage to the Polynesia at the beginning of April in Panama City.

Louis, a young French Canadian from Sherbrook Quebec who joined in Santa Catalina while Karaka passed through when I was working out at Coiba. Unfortunately I never got to greet him nor meet up with the rest of Karaka when they passed through because there was a short burst of good wind that they needed to use so when I got back from my kayak trip they were gone.

Elena, from Bulgaria I met through couchsurfing when she contacted me at the end of March in Santa Catalina. She had already been traveling for almost two years from Europe, Asia, Australia, NZ, South America and was planning on spending six months traveling Central America. Elena expressed an interest in sailing but had no experience and never thought it would be possible for her to be a crew on board a boat like Karaka. I had a good vibe about her so I mentioned to her that we needed one more crew for the trip to Polynesia and filled her in on all the details the first night she stayed with me at my apartment in Santa Catalina. She thought long and hard about the Karaka opportunity that I explained to her. The next day, I left for an overnight trip to Coiba and returned late the following day. That night she told me she had connected with Tom already and was keen on coming aboard with us and that was that.

The Trip

So that makes us 7: Tom, Pam, Michaela, Louis, Elena, Steve, and myself. So the idea is for all of us to stay on board for about 5 months and when our sail arrives and all our provisioning is done we will set sail from Panama City and head out to the open Pacific heading south of the Galapagos to catch the right currents and trade winds that will take us all the way to Polynesia. It would be nice to go and check the Galapagos but it is way too expensive and the procedures for yachts is very complicated so we will have to skip it and spend more time in remote areas of Polynesia. French Polynesia is divided into 5 different island groups: The Marquesas, the Tuamotus, the Society Islands, the Gambier, and the Australs. Most people heading from Central America go directly to the Marquesas Islands, which are steep, lush volcanic islands. Our plan is to head straight for the remote eastern Tuamotus which are remote atolls covered in white sand and coconut palms protected by giant coral reefs. Many atolls have clear passage at certain times to enter into the center of the lagoon and enjoy safe harbour for a while. In the eastern Tuamotus there are very few visitors and the authorities do not patrol many atolls so we can hopefully delay our check in and experience life with a remote community. Tom is from France and has a permit valid for 18 months in Polynesia but most of our crew including myself can only get a visa for up to 3 months then we have to leave. So the longer we can delay our check in time the more freedom we have to stay longer. Eventually we will have to leave either by plane or boat from Tahiti. Our tentative plan, which will probably change, will be to head to the remote atoll of Amanu in the eastern Tuamotus, spend as much time as we like there then head to the Marquesas, check in and spend time enjoying those islands and then make our way to Tahiti through the western Tuamotus Islands to make landfall in Tahiti sometime in September so we all have time to figure out our flights and/or find other boats heading further west across the pacific.

As for myself, I am really hoping to find another boat from there to other islands further west like the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, New Zealand etc and eventually end up in Australia. I have purchased a fully refundable flight for about $700 CND with Air New Zealand from Papeete, Tahiti to Aukland, New Zealand for September 15th. Other crew have done the same or bought non refundable tickets to their homelands. This will make it easier when we check in if we all have plane ticket receipts to show the authorities and we will not have to post a bond. I have already been in touch with a few different boats heading further west so i should be able to find another boat and cancel my plane ticket and get all my money back except a $25 service charge.

So that is that and now we are all together finally and ready to go shopping. We did several trips to all sorts of different supermercados buying all our non-perishable provisions. We started off buying lots of cans of vegetables, sugar, oats, pasta, rice etc. We took care of some personal things and bought lots of snacks, booze and the like for the trip because we all knew it was going to be long and once in Polynesia everything was going to be a lot more expensive. Some of us even bought lots of extra booze, cigarettes, machetes, Shampoo, Guitars etc to sell or trade in Polynesia. Tom particularly has invested in a lot for resale in Polynesia for this 18 month stay.

Within the first few days we had a pizza party and invited some couchsurfers. Some of us also went to Portobello and Isla Grande with them for a day on the Caribbean side. It was interesting to see experience the vibe on the Caribbean side, see different fish and coral while snorkeling too.

After about a week in the city we found out that our main sail that was ordered back in March was going to be further delayed. Instead of spending more time in the dirty harbour in Panama City we set forth to Isla Taboga on April 28th and then to the Isla Perlas overnight. Once again the engine gear box on Karaka started acting up but we had a nice northern wind that blew us the 40NM quickly to the perlas overnight. We went all over the islands and did lots of kayaking, fishing, coconut husking and relaxing. Click here for some info with map of Isla Perlas

I circumnavigated 4 Islands by kayak with other Karaka crew during days while anchored in the Isla Perlas: Isla Bayoneta, Isla Gibraleon, Isla Pedro Gonzales, and Isla Viveros.

sandbar off Isla Bayoneta

All of these islands are very different from each other. Bayoneta and Gibraleon are completely undeveloped and wild with several remote beaches for camping opportunities though the beaches here have lots of garbage washed up on them. Isla Pedro Gonzales is a very beautiful and interesting island. Lots of cliffed headlands with nesting Pelicans and remote secluded palm filled beaches. There is also a really interesting little fishing village of about 500 local Panamanian residents. Sadly this island is being developed for rich people to have more 3rd and 4th homes. They are even changing its name to “Pearl Island” So it is still a really beautiful and remote place but the sound of construction echos across the horizon and soon it will be very different. More info can be found here: http://www.pearlisland.com/

remote beach on Isla Pedro Gonzales

Our final anchorage was a beauty! off a small islet south of Isla Viveros there was this small little palm filled beach with beautiful rock formations all around the island.

some of the crew chillin on the beach
The north coast of Viveros is quite developed and lots of construction happening there too. We went and checked out what looked liked an abandoned hotel construction site on the far north peninsula of the island.

We struggled to get back with more engine problems and ended up tacking back and forth against a north wind. We anchored off one of the northern islands that was quite developed, Isla Contadora. That night we ended up running through a fishing net that night and getting it caught in the propellor but the gear box was still overheating as well as we tried to motor north against the wind the next morning. We tacked back and forth again not making much progress towards Panama City. It was getting dark again but we were close to Isla Chepillo. We anchored off the southern point of the island for the night. We were nearly out of fresh water in our tank at this point because we did not plan for it to take us so long to get back to Panama City. Steve and I kayaked into the fishing village and got some about 60L of fresh water from the Police folks watching over the village in the evening.

Friday May 10th we finally made it back to Panama City with a nice light wind by mid-day.

Karaka’s new main sail was in and we tested it out and it looks beautiful.

Tom is so happy the main sail finally arrived!

We had a nice couchsurfing party on the boat and now we are onto final provisioning and last minute errands (one of them being catching up on my website )

Click here to see photos from Panama City and the Las Perlas

Boquete, Panama: Volcan Baru

zkruz — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:51:03 +0000

I took a little break from the heat of Santa Catalina when i finally had a few days off the second week of April. I went to Boquete in the mountains of Panama. I met up with Steve from Karaka and we climbed to the highest point in Panama, Volcan Baru at 3,474m. We planned to hike up and camp overnight so we left at 12:30pm and got to the top just after sunset around 7:30am, saw the sunrise and we hiked back down. It felt so incredible to be up in the mountains again feeling the fresh cold dry mountain air. I was so glad that we decided to camp on top too.

Fluid Adventures Panama, Isla Coiba

zkruz — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:21:04 +0000

So i left the crew on Karaka behind and had a great time working guiding kayaking trips to Isla Coiba. Things changed rapidly as they always do and the decision was made for Karaka to go to Panama City and skip Ecuador all together. At first i was upset about this because i had bought a plane ticket to Ecuador but that is the way things go. So i ended up staying longer and there were lots of trips so i worked a bunch and really got to Know Coiba and the town of Santa Catalina. I had a great variety of clientele, mainly from the US and Canada but some other countries in Europe and South America. There were even a bunch of Outward Bound Canada folks that came down who were friends with Michael and needed a vacation away from the cold of Canada to take in the heat of Panama. It was great to have these folks on the trips. I had a small apartment and I pretty much just went and relaxed in the air-conditioning in between my trips and then either had a day or two off in between to chill, surf and do my laundry then I was right back out on another trip.

Paddling in the tropical heat was a whole different experience. It was wonderful but very different to paddle for over an hour so most of the time we paddled very little and spent a lot of time snorkeling. The weather changed from really hot and muggy with tons of bugs to just sunny and hot to sunny and hot with a nice breeze. Camping at the base camp site at Playa Machete was fantastic. We either stayed their or we stayed in the Cabanas at the ranger station depending on what the clients wanted. Coiba is a whole other world to explore! and i felt fortunate to have connected with Michael for the opportunity to work and live in Panama for two months!

Campsite at Playa Machete, Isla Coiba

Kayaking the coast of Isla Coiba

Santa Catalina, Panama

zkruz — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:23:04 +0000

So all along, I had been in touch with Michael McKenzie, who i had worked with at Outward Bound Canada in Toronto. We had talked about the possibilities of me working with him down in Santa Catalina, Panamá where he owned and operated Fluid Adventures Panama guiding kayak trips to the tropical paradise island of Coiba.

It just so happened to work out that Michael needed another guide for the peak of his season and invited me down to work. I just needed to work this out with Tom and after chatting we figured it could work out fine for me to leave and work until the end of March then meet up with the boat again in Ecuador.

I struggled with the decision to go out to Playa Petrero Grande in Santa Rosa National Park with Karaka but decided timing was too tight so i left Feb 13th and made my way to Tres Rios outside San Jose, Costa Rica to meet up with my friend Carola whom I met at Outward Bound Mexico. We went the next day to Turrialba to stay with her family for a night. Turrialba was a nice place in the heart of Coffee and sugar cane country.

I finally had a real Costa Rican experience outside the gringo mess in Playas del Coco. On Feb 16th i boarded the bus in San Jose to Panama City but of course left early in Santiago. I met a guy named Jeff from the US who sat beside me and was also going to Santa Catalina and who also was coming from a Sailboat that was in Belize. We both met up with my Couchsurfers Lena and Rodier late in the night in Santiago and walked 45min to their place from the bus terminal and went to bed.

The next day Jeff took off early but i stuck around and hung out then made my way by bus to Sona where i met Julio a local farmer type Panamanian who invited me to a cantina across from the bus terminal where they had 750ml beers for $1.10! I then got on the bus to Santa Catalina and tried to find Michael. Eventually met up with him and stayed the night sleeping out at Rancho Estero and left the next day for Coiba!

Nicaragua: Isla Ometepe & San Juan del Sur

zkruz — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:22:45 +0000

So we had finally arrived in Northern Costa Rica after one hell of an offshore passage of 42ish days at sea. We had a great sail into the Golfo de Papaguyo with strong winds we were cruising at over 8 knots. We arrived in Playas del Coco at like 3am January 23rd. It was much drier than in December 2010 when we were here before on Karaka. There was even fires on the hillsides. We spent a few days chillin and exploring the nightlife in Coco. It got old fast. We planned a trip for my birthday weekend out to some islands with a bunch of friends and it was awesome! Simon got some last shots and interviews for the film and i did a kayak tour with two cool Italians who joined us deep into some mangroves nearby.

Upon return to Cocos, Simon left, Eric left, myself and Cesar wanted to go to Nicaragua and Steve and Keri joined aswell as Jenny and Danny. Keri, Jenny and Danny were supposed to join us for passage to Ecuador but plans changed for them as the SPOT beacon didnt always work and they thought we were heading directly to Ecuador. Anyhow, we all decided to go to Nicaragua for a week for an adventure away from the boat. We spent the first night in Liberia as it took a while to co-ordinate everyone to leave and went to a nice Peruvian restaurant. The next morning we were off to Nicaragua and Isla Ometepe. Upon arrival Cesar and i bought a meal that was equivalent to $2 and it filled us both! We were so excited to be in Nicaragua and how cheap it was. We took a taxi from the border to Rivas and then to San Jorge where we caught a ferry to Isla Ometepe. A great rustic wooden boat carrying a mix of random supplies, locals and backpackers. The ferry was something in and around 3 hours but we arrived with no clue as to where to stay but asking around led us to a bus which led us to Playa Santa Domingo and we stayed there for a few days. First night we met up with this local guide Jonas who said he’d take us to the top of one of the Volcanos for $7 each. Usually I’d just do something like this without a guide but it was nice. He woke us up crazy early at like 4 am and we started the adventure to Volcan Maras.

It was a great hike but muddy as hell and rainy, wet and cold but it was beautiful. It cleared up when we got to the Laguna near the top and had clear spectacular views on the way down.

We finished the hike at like 5:30pm after leaving at 5:30pm. It was a long day but fantastic! We hung around the next day and went into town, and chilled on the beach. We ate lots of Coconuts with Rum as there were trees absolutely full of them everywhere around the place we were staying. After 3 days on Ometepe we decided to take off to San Juan del Sur because Cesar had to go back to Costa Rica to catch his plane to Mexico.
Originally i was going to go with him to San Jose but it didnt make sense at this point in time so i stayed in San Juan del Sur another day and then made my way back with Jenny and Danny. I decided to go straight back to Playas del coco and spend a bunch of time helping Tom work on the boat. We replaced all the windows with new glass, sanded, painted, and grinded rust in the deck and a few other odds and ends. We did some spear fishing out at the islands from the kayaks, chilled out, lived cheap and ate well. It was a nice change to have so few people on the boat.

42 Days at Sea! Los Cabos to Isla del Coco to Playa del Coco, Costa Rica!

zkruz — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 18:20:25 +0000

It has obviously been a very long crossing to Costa Rica, 36 days to Isla del Coco which was still 250-300 nautical miles southwest from mainland Costa Rica. It took us 6 more days from Isla del Coco to finally arrive in Playa del Coco, Costa Rica.

As for the Crossing, overall we have just had horrible luck with the winds and currents. We started off on a good track with a storm 2 days in off of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico, which gave us some good strong northerly winds that took us about 700 miles south in the 1st week or so. Then we got becalmed with absolutely no wind for over a week. It became very frustrating especially as a 2-3 knot current developed that was always pushing us W-SW further out into the pacific.

We eventually decided to motor for a bit. Since there was some engine problems with the gear box overheating it was too difficult on Karaka’s engine to motor for long. Soon enough we found some wind and made SE headway towards Costa Rica but this didn’t last for long. It was great for a few days but the current got stronger against us and even if we got a little bit of wind we had trouble making headway spending continuously spending more days drifting W-SW into the pacific.

The days and weeks all kind of blended together out there as we are each in our own trance, its just a constant battle to find the wind or sit around and wait for current to start moving in our favor. There are some general consistencies with ocean weather, wind and currents but due to the sheer vastness and complexity of the oceans it is nearly impossible to know exactly where the currents are and what is going on where because the sea state is always changing depending on the weather, season, and lunar/solar cycles.

There has been a lot of low moral amongst our crew because of our extremely slow process but we have managed to get along well. It is hard to spend so much time in close quarters with 6 other people without irritability forming, usually over food and water portions. We had some fuel leak into the bilge and then into our second months food storage locker and a bunch of rice, lentils, oats, chips, crackers etc have been contaminated with the taste of diesel. We went through and did a thorough clean, salvaging what we could. Another issue we are facing from being out here so long is our fresh water supply. The tank holds about 2000 litres plus another 100-150 litres in the bow and 50-100 litres in jugs on the deck. With 7 of us using the water for drinking and cooking everyday and having no idea exactly how long we will be before we can get to land and replenish our supply we had to be as conservative as possible using salt water for making bread products, pasta, rice etc in combination with the left over water in our canned veggies.

We have caught a decent amount of fish, yellow fin tuna, bonito, skipjack, dorado but only when we are sailing over 3 knots and usually in the early morning or evening. With our bad luck this hasn’t been as often as we’d like.

After a while of drifting around day 20ish we finally saw a tanker heading from the South to North and we spoke on the radio with them finding out that the current we were looking for was around 5 degrees North Latitude so we managed to motor for several hours when it was calm. Over the course of a few days we finally made it into this current that would take us towards the central american coast. At this point we were over 500 miles south of Guatemala/El Salvador, about 500 miles north of the Galapagos and over 700 miles from our destination in Northern Costa Rica.

It felt really good to finally find this easterly moving current to help us along. We still had day after day of calm weather or very light winds slowly making headway. We were on the edge of what is called the doldrums where weather and wind is always changing, lots of squalls where heavy rain would come in short burst and the wind would blow sometimes really hard and then die completely. This was frustrating but when it rained we reefed the main sail and collected lots of fresh water to put in our tank. At the same time when it rained we had to deal with water leaking in through an assortment of places causing some people’s beds to get wet.

On board, we kept ourselves busy by sleeping lots, reading, writing, watching movies, repairing ripped sails, and an assortment of other projects.

Our course starting taking us into range of Isla Del Coco we we struggled for another few days to a week to make it there for a little rest, fill water, do some further sail repairs, ask about getting some special oil for the gear box, more fuel and maybe some food.

Isla del Coco – January 16-18th, 2013

We finally made it close to Isla del Coco on January 15th and we were around 20 NM that morning but with our still aggravatingly slow progress were we not going to make it there before dark. It was also frustrating because we finally had good wind but we hove two for the night and just drifted around within a few miles of the island. At first light we sailed in. The island was absolutely beautiful! There were boobies flying everywhere and there were countless waterfalls with big lush green cliffs. We pulled into Chatham Harbor on the NE corner of the island at around 6am. There were 3 other boats there all commercial dive boats out of Punta Arenas. Within an hour or so of picking up the mooring, the ranger boat came to talk with us. As we expected we were not permitted to stay but were granted 24hrs to repair our sails, get water etc. We were also told we couldn’t partake in any touristic activities because we didnt have a permit. Even if we wanted to buy permits for $25 a day per person plus a boat fee the only way we could get them would be in Costa Rica beforehand but if you come directly from any other country or just show up without pre arranging permits you can’t just check in and get them on the island. Silly rules but the park rangers were pretty relaxed they just said what they had to as super attendants to to island.

Immediately upon arrival we were in the water swimming with the abundant fish a few small sharks who were checking out our boat. Soon enough we went to meet the attendants in the cabin on shore where we could get fresh water. They were really nice and relaxed and we chatted for a while in Spanish it was good to practice again. It felt so good to walk on shore for the first time in 36 days! They had a beautiful coconut palm surrounded cabin with satellite internet and all. They gave us some fresh bananas and we returned to the boat. It started to rain pretty hard and continued for several hours through the afternoon. It was frustrating because we wanted to go back and enjoy whatever we could of the island. Eventually we decided to put the kayaks in the water and we went back and checked some email to make sure our families/friends all knew we were fine. So apparently the spot tracker cut out again on this trip as we were out of range for about 2 weeks.

We hiked up to the lookout on our last day and did some more paddling around the Chatham Bay on the northeastern side of the island. It was absolutely beautiful! So many waterfalls at every corner and such lush jungle everywhere. There are wild pigs and cats and even deer on this small extremely isolated island we saw a few of them on our paddles and hikes.

We ended up buying some fuel off one of the dive boats in the harbour and Cesar traded some tequila for a ridiculous amount of meat and some fruit, bread and eggs. We ate a lot for the last 6 days, too much meat because we had to eat it before it went bad since we didn’t have any refrigeration on board.

The last week just flew buy, we motored a lot so we would arrive in Playa del Coco as soon as possible. The final night we had some intense winds to help push us through the counter current and we arrived at 3am the morning of January 23rd, 2013.

stay tuned for pictures, i hope to be able to upload them here. Internet is slow though.

La Paz to Cabo San Lucas December 6-11th

zkruz — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:34:53 +0000

So Kim had booked her flight for the 9th of December from the Los Cabos airport back to Brisbane, Australia to see some family. She plans to return to Karaka in Costa Rica at the end of January 2013. This changed our plans to sail to the overdeveloped tourist resort town of Cabo San Lucas instead of Mazatlan. For some reason it was a lot cheaper to check the boat out of Mexico in Cabo or Mazatlan than in La Paz.
With everything going on I wished to spend more time in La Paz as it is such a great place and I have so many wonderful friends…but we had to get going or we wouldn’t have ever left.
When I got back from my kayak trip Greg had left and Steve made it back as well as Tara another old crew who was back now for longterm after crewing a few years back with Karaka in the carribean. Tara’s a microbiologist from Northern California who specialized in the study of wild mushrooms. After a few days of intense provisioning we were set to go. Dylan decided to stay in La Paz and persue some potential work so we said our goodbyes to her, got the boat ready and were off for one final stop at the Marina Palmyra to fill up water and fuel tanks. Our friends Susanna and Frank came to say goodbye and Frank being a doctor, helped us organize some of the meds in our first aid kit and what we should buy in Cabo before heading offshore.

Simon wanted to get some shots with Kim while sailing for a few days on Karaka but it was tight. We had poor winds and ended up motoring, something in the engine overheated and we stopped in Cabo Frailes about half way. It was the morning of December 8th and Kims flight was the afternoon of the 9th. We decided it was best not to risk the chance of no wind the rest of the way to Cabo so Kim asked around the small fishing village and found a couple heading towards San Jose del Cabo and could give her a ride that day so she took it. Things were a bit rushed but it all worked out and we said bye to Kim and she was off.
Simon, Tom and I went for a paddle around the big cliffs down towards Cabo Pulmo the next point north. It was a great paddle and saw a bunch of sea lions on some rocks.

We spent the night in Cabo Frailes and left the next morning for Cabo San Lucas. We had some light winds and saw lots of whales some humpbacks came really close to the boat and it was amazing. We made it into Cabo San Lucas fairly late around 1am. Cesar came and met us the next day on Monday the 10th of December, him and I went shopping, got some more fresh food and supplies. Tuesday morning I went for a paddle out to the arch off Cabo San Lucas and Tom went to the port captain and we were checked out.

We got the boat all ready, went to shore for last minute ice creams and a few other last minute items and we were off around 2pm!

Isla Espiritu Santo kayaking December 1-3rd

zkruz — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:30:52 +0000

So I had been chatting with my mexican couchsurfing friends Alex and Eduardo Ysla about taking them out kayaking for a few days to Isla Espiritu Santo. They had helped me out with so much the entire time in La Paz and had become really good friends. It was a good way to spend some time with them and get away from the city and really enjoy all those beautiful kayaks. Our good friend Cesar gave us a ride to Playa Tecolote where we set up to do a fairly significant crossing of about 8km across to Espiritu Santo. We had a great 3 day trip and completely circumnavigated Isla Esperitu Santo paddling nearly 65km.

La Paz November 19th-December 6th

zkruz — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:30:16 +0000

So we had a fun but hectic few weeks in La Paz, getting things organized, having some parties with friends, working on the boat, doing a big food shop etc.
Steve went back to San Diego to take care of a few things on the morning of the 21st. Greg an old crew who came up with us on Karaka from Golfito Costa Rica to La Paz 2 years ago came to La Paz from Dallas Texas for a visit and stayed from November 21st to December 3rd almost the whole time we were here. It was great to have him back on board with his ukulele and all his classic songs. Greg and our filmmaker Simon came in at the same time on the night of the 21st. I’m not sure how much I mentioned about this or if I had even mentioned it at all but Simon is a Slovenian film maker from Berlin, Germany who caught an interest with Karaka and has been in communication with Tom, Kim and myself over the past year or so. He has successfully raised enough funds to come and join us for the passage to Costa Rica as a crew member and start the filming of “Karaka: The Seed of Change” for more information please visit his site by clicking here. He has also set up a page for Karaka merchandise if you are interested in a Karaka t-shirt, mug etc. and all proceeds go to supporting the film.
So we are constantly a full house on Karaka now with Tom, Kim, myself, Eric, Dylan, Simon and Greg. It can get a little crazy organizing rides to shore and co- ordinating rides back etc.
So when I was in La Paz at the end of October before heading up to Puerto Escondido to meet everyone, I bought a orange Necky Zoar 14ft sea kayak for $6,000 MEX which is about $460 CAN/USD. It was a pretty good deal but unfortunately it had to stay in La Paz for a month until we arrived. Now I have it and can make trips to shore on my own without worrying about the dingy and lock it up under a palapa (beach shelter) or a catamaran. I’d usually take my 4 part paddle with me to be safe since that is an easy item to steal.
A few days into our stay in La Paz, Tom and I encountered 2 more kayaks for sale from a nice guy named Allen from Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada who had sailed down with them on his boat. They were Delta Kayaks, same brand as the kayaks I used for my big 50 day kayak expedition on Lake Superior back in 2008 except each kayak was only 12ft long instead of 18.5ft. These were particularly appealing to Tom and myself. He had brought down 4 total and wanted to sell two of them and was making a catamaran out of the other two. The kayaks were in good shape and a good fit for Karaka along with the other 14ft kayak the little leaky sit-on-top, a foldable paddle board the aluminum dingy and an assortment of other stuff. They are the Delta 12.10 model and are great for storage on sailboats but are still great in surf, great for week long kayak expeditions and were all around great kayaks. The thermoformed plastic is something I wasn’t crazy about after some problems with cracking when they are stored in below freezing conditions for long periods of time. We didn’t have to worry about freezing so we were in good shape. He wanted $850 each which was a lot of money but a great price considering their condition and the fact there wasn’t anything close to this available in Mexico and if there was there is like an 20% tax or something on bringing things like kayaks and equipment across the Mexican border but since Allen sailed them down we were clear. Tom and I sat and chatted about this for a while. It was a big decision because we had to put a lot of money down but we decided to buy one each and now that we had 3 decent sea kayaks on board we could offer some kayak tours/trips with couchsurfers, friends of other travelers we meet in different places we will travel with Karaka for a good deal and soon enough recover our money for the boats and perhaps make a little extra to help pay for some boat costs, food etc.
The thought of buying these kayaks stressed me out more than it should have but when it was all said and done it felt good to have them.

I spent a lot of my time in La Paz hanging out with my friends Eduardo and his brother Alex where I got to practice my spanish and share some good meals and get away from the craziness on board. These boys were originally from Monterrey in NE Mexico but have recently in the past few years lived in La Paz. I spent a lot of time with Alex as he helped me out with some Mexican bank problems, showed me around town etc. I learned a lot about customs in Mexico and the Christian faith. They helped me out so much while I was in La Paz, I just can’t thank them enough but I really enjoyed spending time with them.
I also met up with some other friends from my previous visit in La Paz 2 years ago, met some new people and went to a variety of events including a traditional te mescal (sweat lodge), an organic salad making class, open mic nights and a few other good get togethers on the boat and in town.