Return trip from Port Isabel -Day 2

Another early start! We left the dock at Port Mansfield at 6:25 am enoute to Port Aransas. It is about 88 nm  and took us almost 11 hours.  The big event of the day was being boarded and inspected by the Coast Guard.

They told me to maintain course and speed although I did slow all the way down to 6 knots from our "break neck" cruising speed of nearly 8 knots... The inspection took about 15 minutes, which was enough time for 3 of them to be fairly thorough. They separated both of us by leaving me at the helm while the Admiral showed them around. I answered "no" to the question about firearms on board, but I then qualified that by adding that we do have a flare gun (for signalling distress). Technically it is a firearm since it fires a flare that is the same size as a 12 gauge shotgun shell.  That perked their interest enough to want to examine it. The flare gun lives in the "Emergency-abandon ship-ditch bag". When they left, they put the ditch bag in the aft cockpit away from us.  They said that we could take it back to the upper helm where we were AFTER they were gone... Obviously, they do consider it to be a "firearm" and took caution. The picture shows the Captain displaying our copy of the inspection. 

     After putting the boat to sleep, we rode our electric scooters to a great seafood restaurant that the Admiral had found. Great way to end a long day on the water.

    The photo shows Lucky Us resting comfortably at our very good floating, concrete dock. A nice looking condo that faces the main shipping channel is in the background. Tomorrow is a "lay day" when we plan to relax in and around Port Aransas before continuing our homeward journey.

Return from Port Isabel Day 1

After 2 nights in Port Isabel, we decided to start a slow trip home. On our extra day in Port Isabel, there was shopping, some work on the boat, a dingy ride and a really fine dinner out.

We stopped at the first fuel dock that we passed.  Wow, diesel fuel for $3.39.9...  We have not seen diesel that cheap in ages so we pretty much filled up. We have 4 fuel tanks with sight gauges only so the measurements are not all that accurate, but a quick calculation determined that we could take on 220 gallons without over filling any of the tanks...  It was a little bit of sticker shock when I paid, but we can travel quite a distance before we need to fill up again...

We left about Noon after having to wait for nearly an hoour for a bridge that only opens "on the hour" during the week. The first picture is Lucky Us docked at the T-head (end of the pier). We stopped at the same marina on the way out and their regular docks were too narrow (although we did squeeze in). We took our electric scooters out to tour the town after dinner.  There were deer everywhere! Herds of 10 to 20 in vacant lots with scattered deer elsewhere. No wonder the locals have 6 foot high deer fences around their gardens.

Tomorrow we plan a long day back to Port Aransas, but if we spy a nice anchorage along the way, well, who knows...

Trip to Brownsville Day 6 -on the water

The "Welcome" to the area is provided by the sight of the bridge over the Intra-Coastal Waterway from Port Isabel to Padre Island.

The ICW goes under the bridge and then bends to the right (West). After the bend, the ICW becones a cut channel and one of the first sights is another swing bridge. This one is bright yellow...

Here we go... The bridge is a yellow barge that pivots on one end and is pulled open/closed by cables. The bridge swung away from us, and we are about to pass through the opening.  Great fun!

We arrived and were docked by 1:30 pm.  After checking in with the marina office it was time for a nap for the Captain.  No nap for the Admiral as she was busy doing things that Admirals do???

     What better way to end the day than with shopping in some local "arty" stores followed by dinner with the pirate himself?

Trip to Brownsville Day 5

Port Arthur to Port Mansfield (long day/early start; 88 nm or about 100 miles)
In nearly 6 years of boating on Lucky Us, we were boarded today for the first time. Personally, I think that they thought that the Admiral looked "suspicious". The Texas Parks and Wildlife Ranger was very courteous and left quickly after checking life preservers and the registraton (sticker).

There were many dolphin along the ICW, and they "played" both in the bow wave and along side. They are difficult to photograph, but the Admiral spent a lot of time watching them play. She did capture their antics in the attached video...

http://youtu.be/HiWbgOHpHeU

We arrived in Port Mansfield, TX after our longest ever one day's run of 88 nm (or about 100 miles). The marina only had small transient slips. So we managed to fit the boat into a slip that is only 9 (nine) inches wider than the boat (see picture). As you can see, we actually overhang the dock at midships, and of course, the stern is sticking out about 10 feet.. We would hope to never do this again!!!

At the end of the day we did have a really good dinner, which can make everything look better...

Trip to Brownsville Day 4

We got to Port A. about 1:00 pm. One of our nicest days on the water ever!. It was a short day with only 14 nm plus a stop as we left Rockport for fuel and a pumpout. After tying up and checking in at the marina, I took a nap for about an hour. Then we took the electric scooters and toured the area.

    
They are lots of entrances to drive on the beach along the Gulf of Mexico side of the barrier island. The tires on the scooters are narrow - about the width of a moutain bike tire. However, the sand was damp and very well packed so we went about a mile along the beach.



Then we went into two souvenir stores and one hardware store. As you can see, I was nearly eaten by a shark at one of the souvenir stores...

     At the hardware store I bought a nut and lock washer for 27cents.  We had yet another "event" this morning where the ground wire on the starter on the starboard engine was loose. When I went to tighten the nut on the ground wire, the old lock washer fell off in several pieces.

The Admiral had to stop on the beach to do some wading.

      We are docked at a marina in a small harbor just to the left as you exit the ferry from the mainland. Across this harbor there are 4 or 5 nice looking waterfront restaurants. We had dinner in one, and then as we were just about back to the boat, the battery on my scooter started to die... I got slower and slower until I was hardly moving at all when we reached the boat. The manual for the scooter says "up to 12 mile range"... So I guess that we really had seen a lot of the area even if not quite 12 miles. We could easily spend several days here in Port Aransas, and perhaps we will on the way back.

     Tomorrow we plan to leave the dock at 6:00 am since it is about 88 nm to Port Mansfield... The marina where Terry wants to stay has a pool which would seem nice after a long day on the water.

trip to Brownsville -Day 3

In spite of predictions of a 40% chances of rain for the entire day, we had a delightful, dry trip from Port O'Connor to Rockport. It is "only" 45 nm so we were docked at the Rockport Yacht Club by 2:00 pm.  Our route went along the Aransas National Wildlife Refure where the whooping cranes winter, but unfortunately they had already headed North. We have passed through here in the winter, and the "Whoopers" are a truly magnificent sight!

Rather sadly we will lose our able crew member Jim Gould (Terry's Dad) as Rockport is home. Tomorrow will be a day of rest and relaxation before we continue on to Brownsville.

Cruise to Brownsville

On Sunday, May 13 we departed from our dock on Clear Lake at 8:00 am for a vacation/longer shakedown cruise. Terry' father (Jim Gould) joined us for the first few days until he gets home to Rockport.

Day 1.  After 6 inches of rain on Thursday and again on Friday, the weather turned very good for our departure on Sunday. Our route was down Galveston Bay to Galveston where we entered the Gulf Intra Coastal Waterway to head South and West to Brownsville at the U.S.-Mexico Boarder.  We stopped for the first night in Freeport for a daily run of almost 70 nautical miles.  We celebrated Mother's Day by taking Admiral Terry out to the Seafood Restaurant.  It was about a mile to the restaurant so Terry rode her bike while Jim and I followed on the electric scooters.

Day 2. This can be an interesting day because we must cross two major rivers.  When these rivers flood, they can send enough sediment into the ICW (that is the Intra Coastal Waterway) to block the waterway.  To prevent this situation, the Corps of Engineers has installed flood gates across the ICW at the Brazos River, and actual locks on either side of the Colorado River.  When there is no flooding, the gates/locks are left open and traffic is normal.  When the river floods, they are closed and long delays result as barges are locked through one barge at a time....

     I went on line the night before to check the status of the rivers.  No flooding, but the Brazos Flood Gates were going to be closed for 12 hours starting at 7:00 am.  The picture above is a pre-sunrise view back at

Freeport as we departed at 5:40 am in order to cross the Brazos River before 7:00 am.  THIS IS NOT my idea of a fun day with a start this early, but it was necessary to avoid "wasting" a day. 

The next photo shows us lined up to transit the lock on the east side of the Colorado River. The gates were open, and all we had to do was wait for any traffic inside the lock to exist before we could enter.The last photo shows us putting the Colorado River Locks in the rear view mirror.  Althought neither river was in flood stage, there are eddies where the flowing river water passes the stationary water in the lock.  These eddies trap logs and sticks from the river. At one point we had to gun the engines, then quickly put them in neutral as we "crashed" through one of these swirling eddies of debris...  The boat pushes the smaller pieces of wood aside, but it is not a pleasant sound to hear a long log bouncing along under the keel! Fortunately, we came through this experience with no damage.  All in all, it was a beautiful weather day, and we coverd nearly 70 miles on the way to Port O'Connor where we are spending the night.  On the way into the town, Terry sat on the bow and leaned over to watch dolphin surfing in our bow wave. As she put it, she was totally mesmerized by this experience...