Locks, Docks and Barges, Oh My!

Well, we did it! We finally took our boat out of the Kemah area for the first time. We went down the ICW to Rockport with our new friends, Jim and Connie, and Rick and Becky. It was such a wonderful experience. Jim and Connie lead this Whooping Crane Cruise nearly every year through the Texas Mariners Cruising Association and if we were staying in the area we would sign up for it every time.

We knew that this trip would be a learning experience, at this stage every sail is, but we learned so much more than we anticipated, it was the ultimate hands-on classroom. But before I delve into it, I‘ve read that attention spans are short and people lose interest after three sentences. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I am not really a three-sentence kind of gal. If you wish I were, and are still with me, then you might just want to skip to the very short summary here. If you want the ad nauseum version, then please, by all means, read on!

We left our slip in Kemah on March 1st and motored along the Houston Ship Channel, into the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) and under the Galveston Causeway Railroad Bridge. After communicating with the bridge, we made circles in the waterway while we waited for the trains to go by and the bridge to be raised. It was slow motoring as we were quite nervous about sharing space with large ships considering the shallow depths along the sides of the channel. We were also dealing with diesel fumes and leaking pipes. It was a long and stressful first day.

Our destination for the night was Offatts Bayou, where we anchored out just outside of Moody Gardens. It did not go as smoothly as it did when practicing with Jim and Connie. There were harsh words said on both sides and hurt feelings. Now I know why so many cruisers drink!

waiting for the train to pass and the bridge to be lifted

anchoring spot near Moody Gardens

Rick and Becky were already anchored and stopped by in their dinghy to say Hi, and their little dog, too! Jim and Connie showed up in due course in their boat Mischief Managed, (which we would learn later from one of the barge captains on the ICW is a Harry Potter reference).

It was getting late. Chris and I had said our apologies to each other, made our peace and were watching the sun set. All was serene. Finally. Then Chris looked at the news app on his phone, and we discovered that we were at war with Iran.

We all headed out together in the morning. This day was a sharp contrast to the previous one. It was peaceful and serene, the sun was shining and we were greeted by pelicans gliding silently by in V-formation and seagulls screeching and diving, seeking their daily bread.

That, I think, is the reason this day was so different. Our daily bread. This morning, before we got underway, Chris pulled out our devotionals and our Bibles and as we read, we were reminded of how trustworthy our God is. How big He is and how utterly in control He is. Our hope isn’t like the hope of the world. We aren’t crossing our fingers and wishing for a good outcome. Our hope is waiting for an assured promise, that when we decided to trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our future for eternity is secured in Him. We need not be tossed about and driven by doubt, as a wave being driven by the winds. We do not fear, regardless of the political climate, but we wait with confidence in the sovereignty of our Heavenly Father. And while we wait, we pray for wisdom and understanding and ways to show His light and His love to this hurting world.

Speaking of hurting, the Coast Guard was asking ships to be on the lookout for a 64-yr old man who might have jumped from the Fred Hartman Bridge. We prayed for his safety and for his family. It is a reminder that we never know who God may put in or path to encourage or witness to. I pray I don’t miss the opportunities He gives us. That I fail to see or fail to act is a much bigger fear than barge traffic, bridge clearances or anchor drift.

Mischief Managed in Offatts Bayou

Pulling Anchor

Heading Out

As we made our way down the ICW we were very happy to follow along after Mischief Managed, it was comforting to see them ahead of us and to have Jim make all the radio calls that needed to be made as we passed through gates and under bridges, hailing this barge and that with a “passing on your 1”.

But sailboats are slow and motorboats are fast, so we saw the aft end of Holiday only for a little bit before they sped off. Already parked in a slip or leaving the marina were the only other times we saw Holiday after that! But that’s another great thing about being the last one to get to the marina -there is always someone there to help you with docking! I really don’t know what to say about docking. Chris is really good at it but throw in a bit of wind and it’s scarier than barges, shallows and anchoring all rolled up together, oh my!

A rare sighting of Holiday in its natural habitat out on the water!

Help at the dock is always appreciated!

We would have been last even if it had not been by choice since it was necessary to keep our motoring speed way down as our engine kept overheating. When we pulled into Surfside Marina that afternoon, Rick mentioned to Chris that he thought our Yanmar was putting out an excessive amount of steam. I was too, because I had mentioned the same thing when we were first leaving Kemah, but my concerns were immediately dismissed, and I was assured everything was perfectly normal. But now that Chris was hearing it from someone else, he decided it might actually be a problem we needed to address! Isn’t that the way of it, ladies?! Whatever it takes though, I am just glad Rick spoke up.

Chris discovered that our raw water intake strainer was missing a strainer basket which filters out debris from the sea water before it circulates through the engine. There was not a nearby replacement to be found. Following a walk down the beach and a group dinner at a seaside restaurant, Chris got to work fashioning a temporary one. I suggested he use one of the window screens from one of our hatches. He rummaged around the boat for 30-40 minutes looking for another option before deciding to use one of the window screens from one of our hatches. Are you seeing a pattern here?

We were up early in the morning, before dawn and headed out in the fog because they were working on one of the locks and we had to be there at 7:00 to make it through. No breakfast for us, but the mosquitoes sure had their fill! In all my years of living in Houston, I’ve never seen anything like that swarm of blood-suckers that plagued us that morning.

Despite the challenging start, the locks were cleared, and so was the fog. It was a leisurely motor sail that gave us a chance to soak in the sun and the scenery. We arrived in Matagorda Harbor and we all gathered on Holiday for some welcomed camaraderie. Becky, who is as open-handed as she is big-hearted, made sure we all left with doggie bags of the mouth-watering stew she threw together. We devoured it as soon as we returned to our boat. Chris said if I ever cooked anything that delicious, he wasn’t going to share it. No worries there though, because that isn’t likely to happen!

Since there was no need to rush out the next morning, we thought we would sleep in, but no such luck. Unfortunately, we had miss-calculated how long we could go before having to pump out our black tanks, failing to consider that Chris generally doesn’t use the head on the boat. Two words can adequately describe our predicament: poop deck. Yuck!

We may have started the day hosing down our boat, but obviously things can only look up from there. And they did. It was a beautiful, sun-shiny day. The kind that makes me want to grab binoculars and a book and sit near the bow of the boat reading and birdwatching as we cruise along. That’s how we noticed the frayed rolling furling line to the headsail. Chris replaced it enroute as we headed down the ICW. just in time for a sail across Matagorda Bay. It's always nice to be able to turn off the engine and run with the wind.

Our next stop was Port O’Conner. Not much happening here. But you know what we did that afternoon? We put up our sails and zipped back and forth across San Antonio Bay. It was glorious! LaurAlee is a sailboat after all and she sails magnificently. Just might've been one of the Best Days Ever!

This is also the day we saw Whooping Cranes I don’t know if you know anything about these birds, I didn’t before this cruise, but they are pretty amazing. They are huge! They stand as tall as a 5’ man with a wingspan of 7-8ft! Their numbers were reduced to near extinction, with only about 20 Whooping Cranes in existence in the 1940’s. They are still endangered but have increased to a population nearing 850 with breeding and conservation programs.

Not only did we see Whooping Cranes, but we saw Herons, Ospreys, Egrets, Black-necked Stilts and 12 other species of birds (according to this nifty app I downloaded just for this trip -Merlin Bird ID). As I was scanning the coast with binoculars, I even saw an American Bald Eagle just sitting on a post looking so near it seemed I could have reached out and ruffled his feathers. And lost a finger.

There were of course all the regulars you would expect to see, lots of seagulls and pelicans. Pelicans seemed to always be accompanied by a seagull. Standing next to them on shore, floating by their side in the water or even perched on their back like little Pelican wranglers. I enjoyed seeing the Whooping Cranes, especially with their wings spread out as they flew ahead fighting to be out in front of the flock, but I have to say, Pelicans are my favorite. I love how they swoop so low to the water all in a line, perfectly uniform in flight, looking like a row of soldiers.

Our last stop was at Rockport. This was my favorite; there is lots to see and do. We toured the Texas Maritime Museum, went out for coffee and visited the local shops. We bought fresh, jumbo shrimp for dinner and homemade eggrolls at Flowers Shrimp Market. We all grabbed an Uber and went to the Oyster Festival in Fulton. If the weather had been a tad warmer, we would have walked to the beach and played in the ocean or taken the free bus to Aransas Pass.

Instead, we caught up on chores, cleaning the boat and doing laundry. With some help from Jim and Rick, Chris was able to flush out the heat exchanger and change the impeller on the raw water intake. That put an end to our engine overheating.

When Chris got annoyed with me for “sneezing too loud” I realized we may have been having a little too much togetherness time and suggested he go out for burgers with the guys. They opted for Mexican food and it gave us girls a night to gather on Holiday. We were sad that we would be parting ways with Becky and Rick the following morning as they had to head home.

We headed out the following day. We did meet with some minor weather delays on the way home, but we were in no hurry to reach the end of our trip, so we didn’t mind. We enjoyed an impromptu navigation lesson on Mischief Managed and had Jim and Connie over for a game of Quiddler.

Thankfully we skipped tying up at the fuel dock and anchored in Matagorda Bay instead. Anchoring out is fun, but anchoring is hard because the anchor is at the bow and the helm nearer the stern. You can’t hear someone yelling down the length of a 42” foot boat so you rely on hand signs. But you also must remember that when you are standing at the bow your partner can’t see your hand signs because the dodger and Bimini block their view. We are going to have to invest in headsets when we get back because some of the hand gestures are starting to be not so nice!

We left the ICW at Freeport and sailed back offshore into Galveston where we anchored again right off the ship channel in the Tea Cup anchorage. Third time is the charm, right? Well, we seemed anchored well but at about 3am I decided to leave the stuffy cabin and sleep in the fresh air of the cockpit. I totally panicked when I saw the anchor light of Mischief Managed far off in the distance and began yelling to Chris that we were adrift! He jumped out of bed and flew up the stairs only to stare in disbelief, at my stupidity. “That is a light onshore,” he said. Then pointing in the completely opposite direction, added, “That’s Mischief Managed, right there!” Yup, right there in the same spot at the same distance away as when we anchored 6 hours ago.

We arrived back in our slip on March 14th. It was an incredible 14 days! This trip taught us so much more than we ever expected. We learned a bit about boat maintenance, the need to make sure you have spare parts and to inspect and change things like your impellers and filters regularly. We learned that provisioning is not just about having enough food and toilet paper on board, but also enough clothes. Less T shirts and more underwear (unless you like wearing your husband’s boxers). We learned how long we can go without emptying our black tanks, the hard way. Two words: poop deck. Yuck.

All these experiences have helped us to broaden our skills and has made a considerable difference in our levels of confidence, both in ourselves and in LaurAlee!

Bonus…we also did get to see the whooping cranes! Quite a lot of them. And many other birds. And dolphins, too!

But the very best part of the trip was getting to know Jim and Connie, and Becky and Rick. We had fun going to the oyster festival and just hanging out on Mischief Managed and Holiday. And all the extra help during docking was much appreciated too!

It was all a blast, such tremendous fun, and I am so very glad that we got to be a part of it!

Pyramids of Moody Gardens

I Love Anchoring Out!

Connie took the photo on the left (below if you are reading this on a cell phone) and the one above is just so you can see how tall these birds stand!

What was left of our impeller and the pieces of many others that perished long before, which Chris flushed out of the heat exchanger.

Mischief Managed

Replacing Furling Line

Tied up to this fuel dock for the night because the slips were too shallow for our draft. Slightly traumatized still. Don't even want to talk about it. LOL