Space Shuttle in Houston Ship Channel -what a way to end our 20 day trip!!!

Space Shuttle in Houston Ship Channel -what a way to end our 20 day trip!!! Posted: 01 Jun 2012 02:46 PM PDT After yesterday's failed attempt at returning to our home port due to the bridge being close from 0700 to 1700, we took no chances by getting an early start. We left Moody Gardens at 6:18 a.m. headed for the Galveston Causeway Railroad Bridge. This was not without some trepidation since I had tried unsuccesfully 4 times the night before to call the bridge keeper on the VHF radio... As we approached the bridge, it went down, but there clearly was a train on the causeway approaching the bridge.

Ultimately, we made it through the bridge and were finally on the last leg of our 20 day adventure.  The picture (left) shows the base of the SE (Galveston) side of the new bridge. The base of the new bridge is formed by vertical steel pilings. Once the base of the old bridge (red barge) is removed, the new channel will be 300 feet wide instead of the older and much more dangerous width of only 105 feet.

When we were about 4 miles from our turn from the ICW into the Houston Ship Channel, I noticed the unmistakeable silhouette of the space shuttle crossing our path up ahead... Sure enough. We had heard on the news last night that the shuttle was about to arrive in Galveston on its way to the Johnson Space Center. About the same time we heard the Coast Guard announcing that there was a 500 yard exclusion zone around the barge carrying the shuttle. We were going about 3 knots faster than the "shuttle" so we caught up to her entourage in the Ship Channel (picture above).

There were 3 tugs (one pulling, one pushing and a "spare") and at least 7 small Coast Guard boats forming the safety zone around the shuttle. We proceded to pass even though we were well within 500 yards by virtue of being in the Houston Ship Channel.

We were allowed to pass, but several of the patrol boats (photo to the left) kept between Lucky Us and the shuttle. Just a friendly reminder...

This really was pretty exciting! Neither of us had ever seen a shuttle launch, landing, etc., but this special opportunity was a pretty cool substitute!    

Here is yet another picture of the shuttle taken during our point of closest approach. I love this view of the shuttle complete with "UNITED STATES" in big bold letters on her side.

...and oh yes, we arrived safely back at our dock on Clear Lake about 2 hours later.  On the way from Galveston Bay into Clear Lake boats were starting to gather to watch the shuttle arrive along with seemingly dozens of patrol boats from several state agencies as well as various counties and cities.  There are 10,000 boats on Clear Lake, and quite a few of them were going to create a huge traffic jam. Personally, I just smiled to myself since we had already had our own special moment all alone with the shuttle.

     Well, that's it.  Our 20 day trip to Brownsville/Port Isabel consisted of 15 days with at least a few miles travelled on the water.  We covered about 800 miles and saw lots of beautiful scenery, wildlife, etc. Yes, we are happy to be home, but I am not at all sure that we were ready for the trip to end.  I guess that all is well.