We recently joined a local boating group – the Texas Mariners Cruising Association. As members we had the opportunity to sign up for a cruise from Kemah to Port Aransas led by our new friends Jim and Connie.

A couple of days prior to leaving for our trip they joined us on our boat so we could practice anchoring.

We were wanting to leave early enough so that we were not stranded by the low tide but late enough for the fog to lift. It was forecasted to burn off quickly, but of course it didn’t. It’s quite eerie to hear fog horns in the distance yet not be able to see the ships. We knew that they were in the nearby Houston Ship Channel, close enough for us to feel their wake, but separated from us by a narrow strip of dredging spoils known as Redfish Island.

While we waited for the fog to clear, Jim gave us clear instructions on what we would be doing and answered all our questions. We managed two practice runs with Chris at the bow and me at the helm and we felt it went exceptionally well. We ended the day with dinner at Lorenzo’s with Connie and Jim, feeling very excited about our upcoming trip, which would be the first time we would be leaving the Kemah area on our boat.

The next day I attended TMCA’s Women on the Water conference. There was a lot of hands-on learning tying knots, throwing lines and using the radio and some helpful breakout sessions. I decided to attend the trip planning and routing session since we would be leaving on our first multi-day trip in the morning. I also learned some useful information about safety from an attendee who used to be in the coastguard.

There was even a raffle. I never win at raffles. Never.

One should really never say never. Imagine my shock when the number they called off was mine! As I stared at my winning ticket, dumbfounded by the realization I had actually won, someone raised the point that some people had not received a ticket at the door. It was decided that the only fair thing to do was to distribute tickets to the few people that had missed out and redraw. And just like that I went from raffle winner right back to ALWAYS A LOSER! LOL

I don’t know what the prize was that I missed out on and didn’t really even care because Connie had brought her and Jim’s lunch to our boat in a cool, insulated tote yesterday and I had thought, “Ooh, I’d really like to have one of those”, and guess what the WOW organizers gave us as a goody bag? Yup, a handy dandy, insulated tote filled with goodies. Now I am as cool as both Connie and my ‘underway’ sandwiches!

While I was at the WOW conference, Chris had family members come visit. He wasn’t able to take them sailing because we were frantically trying to get everything ready for the trip, but they were able to tour the boat and have lunch together. We spent the evening rushing around trying to finish up our provisioning and preparations and feeling very excited about our upcoming adventure!!

Once the fog cleared we could see ships in the channel on the other side of what is known as Redfish Island

Connie

Jim

Whooping Cranes

...and our ICW adventure!