One should not go to the boat show. All you see is boats you cannot afford. But they sure are nice.
Boat Show
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Came back to the boat the other day to bird shit...everywhere
Some bird had a bad case of diahrea and decided to use our boat as it's dumping ground. I spent the next hour washing the crap off. We have spent 8 days here and no bird has bothered us...but this day, while we were out...they made up for it. Marina did notice that it seems to be the Crows that are the culprits and not the Pelicans. The crows like to sit on masts and poop. The pelicans just fly around and head right back for the tree to do their business. We head to the hotel across the street to do our business. Those damn crows need a place.....
Took the damn sink apart for the 3rd time.
I glued it shut. It better never leak again.
that damn drain would leak and leak and leak. I siliconed it....I plumber puttied it, this time I 3M 4200ed it. That shit should work.
we went to Home Depot to get a new drain for the sink...they don't carry that size drain. went to Lowes...same story. tried to get a new sink...none fit. Only thing left. Glue!!!!!!
I have taken it apart 3 times. I know how to freaking plumb a sink. something else is wrong with this piece of doodoo.
that damn drain would leak and leak and leak. I siliconed it....I plumber puttied it, this time I 3M 4200ed it. That shit should work.
we went to Home Depot to get a new drain for the sink...they don't carry that size drain. went to Lowes...same story. tried to get a new sink...none fit. Only thing left. Glue!!!!!!
I have taken it apart 3 times. I know how to freaking plumb a sink. something else is wrong with this piece of doodoo.
Went to the boat show today...
We had the day to spend so we went to the boat show.
Took the hour long bus ride to St petersburg. They like to keep it cold on those buses. Also noticed, buses are predominately populated by women. Very few guys ride buses. I guess we just walk. Took the bus downtown, walked to the boat show. It is right next to the Dali Museum. Saw lots of boats we can't afford and sat through some seminars. These seminars hinted to us that we are ready to cross the Atlantic. Did I mention we have not sailed too much since we started this adventure. Ok ...we need to sail more then maybe we can go in June.
Took the hour long bus ride to St petersburg. They like to keep it cold on those buses. Also noticed, buses are predominately populated by women. Very few guys ride buses. I guess we just walk. Took the bus downtown, walked to the boat show. It is right next to the Dali Museum. Saw lots of boats we can't afford and sat through some seminars. These seminars hinted to us that we are ready to cross the Atlantic. Did I mention we have not sailed too much since we started this adventure. Ok ...we need to sail more then maybe we can go in June.
Figured out why the Tracking system does not work.
Well...this might seem like something I should have known, but...I didn't. The AIS tracking/reporting system works through the VHF Antenna. (That is where I hooked it up) and VHF only works line of sight (about 10 miles)....so...once we go past that...the AIS does not get out and report any more. The Garmin guy at the St Petersburg boat show told me this.
But this still does not explain why we have been in this area for 3 weeks and no signs of us on the reporting web sites...oh well...it is should work again.
But this still does not explain why we have been in this area for 3 weeks and no signs of us on the reporting web sites...oh well...it is should work again.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Mississippi to Alabama
Since we left Texas we have not seen a sandy beach that is until we reached Alabama. Just after the Mississippi sound the sand starts to show and the mud starts to clear.
Photos from Mississippi to Alabama
Photos from Mississippi to Alabama
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Marina has been writing and not posting...so here it is
ays 34 - 37, Nov.13-16
========================
We stayed at Holiday Marina for couple days waiting for more favorable weather.
We were so happy to get to the sunny Florida state (our marina is right on the border of Alabama and Florida),
but the weather was not cooperative with us - we got freezing temprature for two nights in the row.
And we don't have a heater in our boat! To survive such cold we were sleeping in Kevin's "cave" close to the machine room
with a water heater, covered ourselves with four blankets and fully dressed including wool hats. Still, my nose was freezing...
We got our walking excersize while getting groceries - had to walk on the bridge to get to other side of the ICW, it seemed
never ending bridge with a lot of angry cars in the rush hour.
Staying at marinas is getting very expencive, we decided to leave this place on Sunday (no matter what weather will be)
=================================
Day 38 - Sun, Nov. 17
=================================
We made it to Destin, Florida. Took us about 10 hours and I remember each minute of this drive.
The sea was rough, especially while getting out to Golf from Perdido bay, a lot of confused waves
in different directions up to 8 feet. Felt like a roller coaster drive in Six Flags and we got completely
wet from one of those waves. But in the afternoon the weather got calmer and made it successfully in the Destin
Harbor. It's a very nice place with a lot of marinas (nobody is taking transients though) and restaurants right on
the water, and very pretty white sand beach on another side.
We found a safe anchorage right in the middle of Destin Harbor and were happy that finally can save money on marinas.
==================================
Day 39 - Mon, Nov. 18
=================================
Some maintanence and cleanning of the boat and it was raining (pooring) all the morning. I gathered a lot of rain water dripping
from our bimini - that water was enough to take two showeres, clean in the boat and wash dishes several times. Wow, I was surprized
myself.
Our poor old Mercury outboard engine refused to start again and we had rowed our dinghy to the docks. Then we took a
walking trip to Winn-Dixie and ACE (to get right parts for the galley focet) and, loaded with food rowed back.
Tomorrow is Kevin's birthday - a good reason for us to stay for one more night at this cute anchorage
=================================
Day 40 - Tu, Nov.19
=================================
It's Kevin's birthday! We celebrated with almost special breakfast - blinzi with yogurt, berries, honey and fresh made chocolate
chip cookies. Well, it turned out to be a one big flat cookie, but still, it's a cookie!
Kevin fixed our old outboard Mercury - I will miss rowing excersize to the shore.
========================================
Day 41 - Wed, Nov.20
===========================================
We got a bit late start today - going offshore finally! Weather was finally cooperating with us and without any trouble we made
it to the next stop - Panama City. We decided to anchore right off the entrance channel, water got a bit skinny and anchorage was
already fully populated. We managed to park next to the warning sign "heavy seaweed" and near abandoned old stinky boat.
We enjoyed beatuiful scenery and sunset at this place. We were planning to go next day to St.Joe bay, but listening to the
weather channel we figured out that if we don't go strait to Clearwater (Tampa) city tomorrow, then we might need to stay at
this secluded anchorage till next week.
============================================
Day 42 - Thu, Nov.21
============================================
It's a big day today - the first time we will go offshore sailing for 2 nights and 2 day strait, just to make it to Clearwater
before bad weather comes again. Marina prepared meals for long passage and Kevin checked all the parts of the boat which could
be checked and set the autopilot. In order to get to the harbor in Clearwater before sunset, we would need to leave this place at 9pm.
And here we go - tracing back our way out of the channel in darkness. Hmm, turned out it's not so easy if you do that first time
in unknown place, luckily there were not other boats around!
As soon as we got into big waters and on the corner of the Apalachacola, the ways got bigger up to 6 feet with interval 4 sec (too short!)
Besides, waves came from different directions racing each other, so our boat reminded a walnut shell in the water - no fun!
At some point it got so bad that GPS showed 0.0 speed, even though engine was running on crusing speed and main sail was up and reefed.
Well, if it goes this way for all 200 miles to Clearwater then we will be there next week instead of Saturday morning!
============================================
Day 43 - Fri, Nov.22
============================================
The night was horrible, we were wet from the waves and tired and exhausted, even though we took shifts at the helm for 2 hour each.
We could not get down to the galley to get food - can break your neck, slept right in the cockpit, and tried to figure out
whos idea was that "sailing is fun"?
The waves got more ordered afternoon, so we could get some additional food and water to replenish our exhausted bodies.
============================================
Day 44 - Sat, Nov.23
============================================
Second night was much nicer: waves got smaller and wind was not 30 mi/h anymore. It was very beatiful at night - clear sky totally
covered with stars and full moon - we were almost ready to start writing poetry.
Last 20 miles seas were relatively calm and we successfully entered Clearwater bay entrance channel, and while looking for an
anchorage we oops... ran a ground - almost in the middle of the channel with a lot of little dinner cruises and dolphin watching boats!
We hit the sand "bump" which only locals know about, but it's not marked on the chart. Also, Kevin was playing with his phone when driving
- another lesson: don't text and drive!
Eventually, we ended up at the Marina - $2/foot - yea, the more south you go the more expensive it gets.
Even though we were totally exhausted after non-stop 40 hours passage, we manage to swim and hang out on the Clearwater Beach - which is
considered on of the three best beaches in Florida. Trully, it's so beatuiful!
=============================================
Day 45 - Sun, Nov.24
=============================================
Back to heavy duty "boot camp" - walking with heavy backpacks from the grocery store (and liqcure store).
And .. lundry day! all day! I was lucky to be first to use both washing machines in the landry room - little things like that make me happy
so much now. And finally we were able to dry our goose downcomforter which start smelling like mold - we still need it: it's very warm and we
use it all the time at night with low 30F.
==============================================
Day 46 - Mon, Nov.25
==============================================
On the road again - the weather is not very plesant again, choppy and very windy. We decided to take ICW - safer and quicker way than offshore
motorsailing ( yes, our iron horsy is overworked, but the wind direction is wrong again, so sails will not help much).
We went through 5 lift bridges! The communication with the bridge operators here in Florida much more effective than in LU or Alabama.
The last bridge at the entrance of St.Pete Beach gave us some chills - this bridge is still under construction and the hight of this bridge is
not mentioned in any charts! We barelly made it under - it's 65' tall and our boat is 60'.
We found a great anchorage very close to grand hotel De Se Car and other attractions in walking distance.
================================================
Day 47 - Tu, Nov.26
================================================
We had to rent a car to get to my appointment with the "hand" doctor - outside of Tampa.
Seems that I have a typical carpal-tunnel syndrom, but still need to get nerves test.
So... we will be here, in St.Pete Beach for a while.
=================================================
Day 48 - Wed, Nov.27
=================================================
What a night we had! Tournedo warning on the land, waves 11 feet, raining, lightning, wind up to 39 mi/h - and we are on the anchorage!
Kevin managed to setup and drop the second anchor and seems that helped a lot. Our neighbor's boat start dragging and he had to park at
some private dock. Oh, well, it's better for us - less boats to hit around.
Stayed on the boat all day - the storm is still continues till Friday.
========================
We stayed at Holiday Marina for couple days waiting for more favorable weather.
We were so happy to get to the sunny Florida state (our marina is right on the border of Alabama and Florida),
but the weather was not cooperative with us - we got freezing temprature for two nights in the row.
And we don't have a heater in our boat! To survive such cold we were sleeping in Kevin's "cave" close to the machine room
with a water heater, covered ourselves with four blankets and fully dressed including wool hats. Still, my nose was freezing...
We got our walking excersize while getting groceries - had to walk on the bridge to get to other side of the ICW, it seemed
never ending bridge with a lot of angry cars in the rush hour.
Staying at marinas is getting very expencive, we decided to leave this place on Sunday (no matter what weather will be)
=================================
Day 38 - Sun, Nov. 17
=================================
We made it to Destin, Florida. Took us about 10 hours and I remember each minute of this drive.
The sea was rough, especially while getting out to Golf from Perdido bay, a lot of confused waves
in different directions up to 8 feet. Felt like a roller coaster drive in Six Flags and we got completely
wet from one of those waves. But in the afternoon the weather got calmer and made it successfully in the Destin
Harbor. It's a very nice place with a lot of marinas (nobody is taking transients though) and restaurants right on
the water, and very pretty white sand beach on another side.
We found a safe anchorage right in the middle of Destin Harbor and were happy that finally can save money on marinas.
==================================
Day 39 - Mon, Nov. 18
=================================
Some maintanence and cleanning of the boat and it was raining (pooring) all the morning. I gathered a lot of rain water dripping
from our bimini - that water was enough to take two showeres, clean in the boat and wash dishes several times. Wow, I was surprized
myself.
Our poor old Mercury outboard engine refused to start again and we had rowed our dinghy to the docks. Then we took a
walking trip to Winn-Dixie and ACE (to get right parts for the galley focet) and, loaded with food rowed back.
Tomorrow is Kevin's birthday - a good reason for us to stay for one more night at this cute anchorage
=================================
Day 40 - Tu, Nov.19
=================================
It's Kevin's birthday! We celebrated with almost special breakfast - blinzi with yogurt, berries, honey and fresh made chocolate
chip cookies. Well, it turned out to be a one big flat cookie, but still, it's a cookie!
Kevin fixed our old outboard Mercury - I will miss rowing excersize to the shore.
========================================
Day 41 - Wed, Nov.20
===========================================
We got a bit late start today - going offshore finally! Weather was finally cooperating with us and without any trouble we made
it to the next stop - Panama City. We decided to anchore right off the entrance channel, water got a bit skinny and anchorage was
already fully populated. We managed to park next to the warning sign "heavy seaweed" and near abandoned old stinky boat.
We enjoyed beatuiful scenery and sunset at this place. We were planning to go next day to St.Joe bay, but listening to the
weather channel we figured out that if we don't go strait to Clearwater (Tampa) city tomorrow, then we might need to stay at
this secluded anchorage till next week.
============================================
Day 42 - Thu, Nov.21
============================================
It's a big day today - the first time we will go offshore sailing for 2 nights and 2 day strait, just to make it to Clearwater
before bad weather comes again. Marina prepared meals for long passage and Kevin checked all the parts of the boat which could
be checked and set the autopilot. In order to get to the harbor in Clearwater before sunset, we would need to leave this place at 9pm.
And here we go - tracing back our way out of the channel in darkness. Hmm, turned out it's not so easy if you do that first time
in unknown place, luckily there were not other boats around!
As soon as we got into big waters and on the corner of the Apalachacola, the ways got bigger up to 6 feet with interval 4 sec (too short!)
Besides, waves came from different directions racing each other, so our boat reminded a walnut shell in the water - no fun!
At some point it got so bad that GPS showed 0.0 speed, even though engine was running on crusing speed and main sail was up and reefed.
Well, if it goes this way for all 200 miles to Clearwater then we will be there next week instead of Saturday morning!
============================================
Day 43 - Fri, Nov.22
============================================
The night was horrible, we were wet from the waves and tired and exhausted, even though we took shifts at the helm for 2 hour each.
We could not get down to the galley to get food - can break your neck, slept right in the cockpit, and tried to figure out
whos idea was that "sailing is fun"?
The waves got more ordered afternoon, so we could get some additional food and water to replenish our exhausted bodies.
============================================
Day 44 - Sat, Nov.23
============================================
Second night was much nicer: waves got smaller and wind was not 30 mi/h anymore. It was very beatiful at night - clear sky totally
covered with stars and full moon - we were almost ready to start writing poetry.
Last 20 miles seas were relatively calm and we successfully entered Clearwater bay entrance channel, and while looking for an
anchorage we oops... ran a ground - almost in the middle of the channel with a lot of little dinner cruises and dolphin watching boats!
We hit the sand "bump" which only locals know about, but it's not marked on the chart. Also, Kevin was playing with his phone when driving
- another lesson: don't text and drive!
Eventually, we ended up at the Marina - $2/foot - yea, the more south you go the more expensive it gets.
Even though we were totally exhausted after non-stop 40 hours passage, we manage to swim and hang out on the Clearwater Beach - which is
considered on of the three best beaches in Florida. Trully, it's so beatuiful!
=============================================
Day 45 - Sun, Nov.24
=============================================
Back to heavy duty "boot camp" - walking with heavy backpacks from the grocery store (and liqcure store).
And .. lundry day! all day! I was lucky to be first to use both washing machines in the landry room - little things like that make me happy
so much now. And finally we were able to dry our goose downcomforter which start smelling like mold - we still need it: it's very warm and we
use it all the time at night with low 30F.
==============================================
Day 46 - Mon, Nov.25
==============================================
On the road again - the weather is not very plesant again, choppy and very windy. We decided to take ICW - safer and quicker way than offshore
motorsailing ( yes, our iron horsy is overworked, but the wind direction is wrong again, so sails will not help much).
We went through 5 lift bridges! The communication with the bridge operators here in Florida much more effective than in LU or Alabama.
The last bridge at the entrance of St.Pete Beach gave us some chills - this bridge is still under construction and the hight of this bridge is
not mentioned in any charts! We barelly made it under - it's 65' tall and our boat is 60'.
We found a great anchorage very close to grand hotel De Se Car and other attractions in walking distance.
================================================
Day 47 - Tu, Nov.26
================================================
We had to rent a car to get to my appointment with the "hand" doctor - outside of Tampa.
Seems that I have a typical carpal-tunnel syndrom, but still need to get nerves test.
So... we will be here, in St.Pete Beach for a while.
=================================================
Day 48 - Wed, Nov.27
=================================================
What a night we had! Tournedo warning on the land, waves 11 feet, raining, lightning, wind up to 39 mi/h - and we are on the anchorage!
Kevin managed to setup and drop the second anchor and seems that helped a lot. Our neighbor's boat start dragging and he had to park at
some private dock. Oh, well, it's better for us - less boats to hit around.
Stayed on the boat all day - the storm is still continues till Friday.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Marina's Diary...she just keeps writing.
Need to copy day 9 thru day Nov.1 from other laptop
==========================================
Day 20 - We, Oct.30
==========================================
We made it to NOLA....
It took us twice long to get from LaFettite to New Orleans (6 hours instead of planned 3).
We went through Harvey and Industrial locks, through multiple lift, swing and basconete bridges before we docked at Seabrook
Harbor Marina. Most of the time all those lift and bridge operators were not responsive on VHF (ch.12, 14, 13, 67) and we had
to circle around just before passing under waiting for responce. Even Kevin start loosing his temper!
Finally at the Marina and pulling in the slip 19, but that was not easy either: docks are very low and short. Thanks to other
boaters at the Marina we finally tied our boat safely.
We took a shattle bus leaving from neighbor Marina (Ponchatrain RV and Marina) - just $6.00/person for round trip.
It was nice to walk through French Quarters, see people around, homeless freeks with dogs, hear music on the streets...
Ate fried cajan alligator - cound not figure out what it taste like because it was way too spicy.
=======================================
Day 21 - Thu, Oct.31
=======================================
Halloween in NOLA! It's a right place for that! First time in 14 years we don't wear any costumes and don't hosting Halloween
party - feels good just participate in the big party around.
Started partying with Juan...
tired...
after 3 am in hotel, need to get some sleep for tomorrow..
===========================================
Day 22 - Fri, Nov.1
===========================================
Still partying with Juan... partying...very tired
==========================================
Day 23 - Sat, Nov.2
==========================================
Some casualities:
Yesterday Kevin lost his front tooth again... Now he looks like one of the homeless guys on the streets of NOLA.
Need to find emergency dentist, but there is no such thing exists in NOLA at this point.
So... have to wait for Monday if can get any emergency appointment for Kevin.
Lost half of our monthly budget allowance at Harra's Casino... but we got a free ride on the taxi (driver refused to accept money from Kevin
when I mentioned that Kevin owns me a wedding ring!)
======================================================
Day 24 - Sun, Nov. 3
======================================================
While leaving hotel we realized that we lost a plunger we bought for the boat, 2 screews, french bagette and our precious caricture
drawing made on by an artist in the Jackson square.
Finally we made it back to the boat after 4 days staying in New Orleans (it's very addictive city)
Juan bravely agreed to stay on our boat overnight.
======================================================
Day 25 - Mon, Nov.4
======================================================
Big day for Kevin: we found a dentist who installed his tooth back in place!
Now Kevin looks "normal" and we are ready to leave NOLA and move further down toward Mobile.
It's two of us again - Juan flu back to Austin, time to be back to work.
===================================================
Dat 26 - Tu, Nov.5
===================================================
Still in NOLA - weather is not in our favor, very windy and see is very choppy, forcast for rain.
Decided to efficiently use our time and went to the grocery store - oh boy, do we really eat so much?!
We are already so much over our monthly budget, so..now in November we are already spending allowance for January.
With such rate we probably would need to shorted our traveling plans, or just quit stopping in the big
cities like New Orleans.
====================================================
Day 27 - Wed, Nov.6
====================================================
Our marina has a track for boaters to take to do some chores, and we gladly used this service today.
We bought a plunger and bolts which we lost while partying in the city last week.
Unfortunatelly, we did not replace our lost caricature - luckily, we have a photo of it on the facebook.
We also had to find a place to fill up one of our propane tanks - spent soo much gas for cooking in one month!
====================================================
Day 28 - Thu, Nov.7
====================================================
Kevin finally made internet working - connecting through the "Hot spot" via his cell phone.
I was so happy to talk with my parents on Skype, finally!
We made it to the 10 am shuttle bus from RV park and we are back to exploring New Orleans city. Today's trip we
devoted to the Garden District. Very beautiful victorian style houses, a lot of antique and art galleries,
very nice european style cafes and bakeries. Mmmm, those french pastries and perfect coffee!
We walked a lot again, nice!
===================================================
Day 29 - Fri, Nov.8
===================================================
Well, we are still waiting for weather to improve, so, we went to the New Orleans Zoo.
We saw white alligators! We even did not know that such exist, and no, they are not albinos.
Spent some time at the gorila's dwelling... Kevin, after long examination, admitted that gorillas our ancesstors while
comparing himself to the chief male gorilla. I guess, most of the guys feel like my husband.
While staying in Seabrook Harbor Marina we made some friends, boaters, who are also trying to get to Florida soon.
We all desided to leave at 7am tomorrow.
==================================================
Day 30 - Sat, Nov.9
==================================================
Of course, our boat was the last to leave marina... as always...
But, weather seems much better today, even though it's still windy.
After 8 hours we made it to Mississippy state - to the Christian Pass Marina. We did not fit in the assigned slip: our boat just
stack between poles - it was too narrow for us. So, we had to move it to another slip and, the docking was horrible. This marina
is not the best (no toilets, no showers, no landry), but it's cheap - just $21.40.
Where 40 cents come from in the price? the marina harbor assistant could not give us a definite answer...
Tonight for the first time from leaving Texas we walked on the perfect sandy beach with the white clean sand!
==================================================
Day 31 - Sun, Nov.10
==================================================
After 7.5 hours we anchored at the Pettite Boise Island - national park.
Our buddy Bill on catamaran decided to join us there too.
Beautiful clean water and sandy beaches all along, but we were too lazy and tired to put our dinghy down to explore this islans
by foot... too much work.
However, there were other people camping on the beach and they were .. naked.
So far, we have very nice experiences in Mississippy: even it's hard for me to understand what they are saying, seems they are very
friendly; people here like very presize numbers - for example, slip cost is $21.40, the fine for littering is $526.00, etc; and for
for Kevin's delight, people don't mind to be nacked on the beach...
=====================================================
Day 32 - Mon, Nov.11
=====================================================
The night at this beatiful island was horrible for us. At about 11 pm the north wind picked up greatly and on our anchorage we
felt like we are flying somewhere. I had to move to Kevin's bad in the back because sleeping on the bow berth was like
SixFlags rollercoaster experience! Probably, if you put some weight on yourself while sleeping (better about 100 lbs),
then you would not experience what austranauts are trained for... We probably should try our old Pfaff sewing machine
(close to 100 lbs) next time.
Kevin did not sleep all night working on our anchor to hold us (seems he succeded, we did not fly away). Also, he got first
hands encounter with the wild nature at night near the anchor which scarred him greatly! Some tired of flying around pelican
decided to sleepover on our boat's bow - where anchor is, and would not even move when Kevin was tying secure lines to the
chain. Then finally this creature left, but came again - creating cocophonous sounds while hitting the life lines (what this bird
blind maybe?).
We both were so happy when sun came out - meanning we finally can leave this "hounted house", even though it's soo beautiful.
=====================================================
Day 33 - Tu, Nov.12
=====================================================
Today we crossed the border Alabama and Florida. We made it to the sunny state!
But, not so sunny when we arrived - we got a cold front coming tonight with temperature below freezing and winds 30 mi/hour.
This cold front will stay at least till Saturday, so we decided to be safe and stay at the marina Holiday Harbor, which is
the first marina on florida side on ICW.
The water here is soo clear and clean, finally.
==========================================
Day 20 - We, Oct.30
==========================================
We made it to NOLA....
It took us twice long to get from LaFettite to New Orleans (6 hours instead of planned 3).
We went through Harvey and Industrial locks, through multiple lift, swing and basconete bridges before we docked at Seabrook
Harbor Marina. Most of the time all those lift and bridge operators were not responsive on VHF (ch.12, 14, 13, 67) and we had
to circle around just before passing under waiting for responce. Even Kevin start loosing his temper!
Finally at the Marina and pulling in the slip 19, but that was not easy either: docks are very low and short. Thanks to other
boaters at the Marina we finally tied our boat safely.
We took a shattle bus leaving from neighbor Marina (Ponchatrain RV and Marina) - just $6.00/person for round trip.
It was nice to walk through French Quarters, see people around, homeless freeks with dogs, hear music on the streets...
Ate fried cajan alligator - cound not figure out what it taste like because it was way too spicy.
=======================================
Day 21 - Thu, Oct.31
=======================================
Halloween in NOLA! It's a right place for that! First time in 14 years we don't wear any costumes and don't hosting Halloween
party - feels good just participate in the big party around.
Started partying with Juan...
tired...
after 3 am in hotel, need to get some sleep for tomorrow..
===========================================
Day 22 - Fri, Nov.1
===========================================
Still partying with Juan... partying...very tired
==========================================
Day 23 - Sat, Nov.2
==========================================
Some casualities:
Yesterday Kevin lost his front tooth again... Now he looks like one of the homeless guys on the streets of NOLA.
Need to find emergency dentist, but there is no such thing exists in NOLA at this point.
So... have to wait for Monday if can get any emergency appointment for Kevin.
Lost half of our monthly budget allowance at Harra's Casino... but we got a free ride on the taxi (driver refused to accept money from Kevin
when I mentioned that Kevin owns me a wedding ring!)
======================================================
Day 24 - Sun, Nov. 3
======================================================
While leaving hotel we realized that we lost a plunger we bought for the boat, 2 screews, french bagette and our precious caricture
drawing made on by an artist in the Jackson square.
Finally we made it back to the boat after 4 days staying in New Orleans (it's very addictive city)
Juan bravely agreed to stay on our boat overnight.
======================================================
Day 25 - Mon, Nov.4
======================================================
Big day for Kevin: we found a dentist who installed his tooth back in place!
Now Kevin looks "normal" and we are ready to leave NOLA and move further down toward Mobile.
It's two of us again - Juan flu back to Austin, time to be back to work.
===================================================
Dat 26 - Tu, Nov.5
===================================================
Still in NOLA - weather is not in our favor, very windy and see is very choppy, forcast for rain.
Decided to efficiently use our time and went to the grocery store - oh boy, do we really eat so much?!
We are already so much over our monthly budget, so..now in November we are already spending allowance for January.
With such rate we probably would need to shorted our traveling plans, or just quit stopping in the big
cities like New Orleans.
====================================================
Day 27 - Wed, Nov.6
====================================================
Our marina has a track for boaters to take to do some chores, and we gladly used this service today.
We bought a plunger and bolts which we lost while partying in the city last week.
Unfortunatelly, we did not replace our lost caricature - luckily, we have a photo of it on the facebook.
We also had to find a place to fill up one of our propane tanks - spent soo much gas for cooking in one month!
====================================================
Day 28 - Thu, Nov.7
====================================================
Kevin finally made internet working - connecting through the "Hot spot" via his cell phone.
I was so happy to talk with my parents on Skype, finally!
We made it to the 10 am shuttle bus from RV park and we are back to exploring New Orleans city. Today's trip we
devoted to the Garden District. Very beautiful victorian style houses, a lot of antique and art galleries,
very nice european style cafes and bakeries. Mmmm, those french pastries and perfect coffee!
We walked a lot again, nice!
===================================================
Day 29 - Fri, Nov.8
===================================================
Well, we are still waiting for weather to improve, so, we went to the New Orleans Zoo.
We saw white alligators! We even did not know that such exist, and no, they are not albinos.
Spent some time at the gorila's dwelling... Kevin, after long examination, admitted that gorillas our ancesstors while
comparing himself to the chief male gorilla. I guess, most of the guys feel like my husband.
While staying in Seabrook Harbor Marina we made some friends, boaters, who are also trying to get to Florida soon.
We all desided to leave at 7am tomorrow.
==================================================
Day 30 - Sat, Nov.9
==================================================
Of course, our boat was the last to leave marina... as always...
But, weather seems much better today, even though it's still windy.
After 8 hours we made it to Mississippy state - to the Christian Pass Marina. We did not fit in the assigned slip: our boat just
stack between poles - it was too narrow for us. So, we had to move it to another slip and, the docking was horrible. This marina
is not the best (no toilets, no showers, no landry), but it's cheap - just $21.40.
Where 40 cents come from in the price? the marina harbor assistant could not give us a definite answer...
Tonight for the first time from leaving Texas we walked on the perfect sandy beach with the white clean sand!
==================================================
Day 31 - Sun, Nov.10
==================================================
After 7.5 hours we anchored at the Pettite Boise Island - national park.
Our buddy Bill on catamaran decided to join us there too.
Beautiful clean water and sandy beaches all along, but we were too lazy and tired to put our dinghy down to explore this islans
by foot... too much work.
However, there were other people camping on the beach and they were .. naked.
So far, we have very nice experiences in Mississippy: even it's hard for me to understand what they are saying, seems they are very
friendly; people here like very presize numbers - for example, slip cost is $21.40, the fine for littering is $526.00, etc; and for
for Kevin's delight, people don't mind to be nacked on the beach...
=====================================================
Day 32 - Mon, Nov.11
=====================================================
The night at this beatiful island was horrible for us. At about 11 pm the north wind picked up greatly and on our anchorage we
felt like we are flying somewhere. I had to move to Kevin's bad in the back because sleeping on the bow berth was like
SixFlags rollercoaster experience! Probably, if you put some weight on yourself while sleeping (better about 100 lbs),
then you would not experience what austranauts are trained for... We probably should try our old Pfaff sewing machine
(close to 100 lbs) next time.
Kevin did not sleep all night working on our anchor to hold us (seems he succeded, we did not fly away). Also, he got first
hands encounter with the wild nature at night near the anchor which scarred him greatly! Some tired of flying around pelican
decided to sleepover on our boat's bow - where anchor is, and would not even move when Kevin was tying secure lines to the
chain. Then finally this creature left, but came again - creating cocophonous sounds while hitting the life lines (what this bird
blind maybe?).
We both were so happy when sun came out - meanning we finally can leave this "hounted house", even though it's soo beautiful.
=====================================================
Day 33 - Tu, Nov.12
=====================================================
Today we crossed the border Alabama and Florida. We made it to the sunny state!
But, not so sunny when we arrived - we got a cold front coming tonight with temperature below freezing and winds 30 mi/hour.
This cold front will stay at least till Saturday, so we decided to be safe and stay at the marina Holiday Harbor, which is
the first marina on florida side on ICW.
The water here is soo clear and clean, finally.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
We made it to Florida.!!!!!! Pensacola
Unfortunately it is going to get to freezing temperatures tonight. No phone, no lights...dude this is Gilligans Island we are living. "Living the Dream" I don't know whose dream this is/was. but I certainly have had better dreams in my bed.
Pensacola
Pensacola
Petit Bois looks so peaceful during the day.
During the day there a naked people and Cigarette boats at the beach. during the night. there are waves and birds.
Petit Bois
Petit Bois
New Orleans Zoo
Spent the day here killing time. We were leaving in the AM after 9 days in New Orleans. Not recommended.
NOLA zoo
NOLA zoo
We spent the night at LuLu's...Jimmy Buffet's Sister's restaurant...almost
We had choices. Stay at LuLu's Marina, which is where the restaurant is, or across the ICW, only 100 feet across, at the broken down abandon docks. Where did we stay? it's cheaper here. The docks smelled, I mean really smelled like marijuana. It was thick, good stuff.
The docks were part of an old abandon warehouse. This big aluminum siding, metal structure with broken out windows, graffiti on the doors, paint cans on the ground, overgrown weeds, 8'chain link fence surrounds the place and old clothes inside, it seems there was an illegal residence(s) not too long ago.
Well we wanted to go to the store, and Google maps tells us there is a Winn Dixie and a produce store just a 1/2 mile away. The problem is this big metal building. We walked around it. The owner I guess decided to build an 8ft chain link fence to keep the people in or out, not sure which. We did manage to find the hole cut out by the residences. the owner also found this hole and put 2 rebars in front of it, but we managed to get through. The guys building the house next door looked at the 2 homeless people with a backpack coming out of this shelter kinda funny. But we made it to Winn Dixie and the liquor store and the gas station (to go to the bathroom) .
We left in the AM. Don't feel you you have to run out and head to LuLu's....it's not all that.
The docks were part of an old abandon warehouse. This big aluminum siding, metal structure with broken out windows, graffiti on the doors, paint cans on the ground, overgrown weeds, 8'chain link fence surrounds the place and old clothes inside, it seems there was an illegal residence(s) not too long ago.
Well we wanted to go to the store, and Google maps tells us there is a Winn Dixie and a produce store just a 1/2 mile away. The problem is this big metal building. We walked around it. The owner I guess decided to build an 8ft chain link fence to keep the people in or out, not sure which. We did manage to find the hole cut out by the residences. the owner also found this hole and put 2 rebars in front of it, but we managed to get through. The guys building the house next door looked at the 2 homeless people with a backpack coming out of this shelter kinda funny. But we made it to Winn Dixie and the liquor store and the gas station (to go to the bathroom) .
We left in the AM. Don't feel you you have to run out and head to LuLu's....it's not all that.
More lessons learned.
When anchoring, anchor like the wind is going to blow 50 knots and you the waves will come over the front of the boat....because it just might happen.
The weather guy on the VHF radio said up to 5 knots tonight. My ass...it was up to 25 knots before that night ended. It was a long night.
The anchorage was not great if the winds come from the East or North. Guess what. .....yup Northeast. It's worse if the winds pick up...yup 25 Knots.
Earlier in the evening before the sun went down, we anchored in calm weather, and only 1 other boat around. Those 2 people on that boat happened to be naked on the beach. She was pulling a large driftwood stump back to the boat and he was walking the beach. Welcome to Alabama.
The night started nice. lots of stars, calm waters, and our friend billy did not show up at our boat. But then things turned for the worst.
The wind picked up. Well the wind generator worked all night and charged our batteries to the top. That was the first time the windy actually carried his weight on the boat. Prior to that night, that thing was just added weight. That night, he worked hard. And vibrated the boat a lot.
The wind picked up, the waves picked up, we got scared. About 12:39 I asked Marina what time it was, she said she doubted it was time to get up. The front of the boat where Marina sleeps, well should I say used to sleep, is an interesting place. As the waves come up to the boat, the front of the boat rises and you feel like you gained 20 pounds from the pressure of the rise. As the boat comes down off the wave, you lose 40 pounds, now you are near weightlessness. On top of that you get a bit of forward motion as the anchor chain grabs ahold and pulls and hangs on to the bottom of the ocean. Now I want you to sleep!!!!!!!!!!!
About 12:39 I go out side to readjust the anchor set up I have. This takes me about 1 hour. I wish I could tell you in detail, but what I can say, at night, some of the fears go away. You can't see that you you can't see land on 3 sides of you. All you see is your boat and 3 feet of water around you. I could be in lake Travis. I adjusted in the dark. Do you know what it's like to pull 24,000 pounds of boat forward so you can loosen the tension and let out more anchor chain. Well you can only pull it forward on the downward motion of the boat on the wave. On the upward motion you better have that rope wrapped around something, because you can't hold it. I have a black finger nail to prove that. It almost got stuck in the windlass...i yanked it out.
After that was done, I went back inside to sleep...ya right. about 1 hour later I went to check on things. Back to the front of the boat. Wind still blowing, waves still pounding. I proceed to the front of the boat and kneel down near the anchor line. My left forearm touches something soft. It feels like feathers.....wait it is feathers. it's a Blue Heron. It's a big bird that is sleeping on the side of the boat. He stands about 1 foot tall and wing span about 4 feet. He didn't notice that I touched him, but i did. he was sleeping( Bastard). I backed up...looked. and got scared. His head was in his feathers. he probably didn't hear or notice me because of the wind and waves. All at once he woke up. He looked, I looked. noone moved. I kinda approached him with my channel locks in my hand, he didn't move. I backup off. hmm....This time i touched him with the channel locks, he flew down to the water. This won't be the last time I hear from him.....I look at the anchor lines and go back inside.
About 5 minutes later..."KEVIN WHAT WAS THAT", I say "I don't know". it sounds like we just ran over a pile of stainless steel tubing. chang, chang, chang, cling, chang. this lasted for 2 seconds and then gone. What the fuck was that?
I go back out side. I see that damn bird flapping his wings and heading out into the water. The problem is his wings were banging against the stainless steel life lines which are held up by stainless steel posts. it makes quite a racket.
We didn't sleep much that night. Lesson learned. The weather man is wrong and anchor like the wind is going to blow 50 knots. Then at least I would not have had to spend so much time reanchoring at 1 am in the am.
The weather guy on the VHF radio said up to 5 knots tonight. My ass...it was up to 25 knots before that night ended. It was a long night.
The anchorage was not great if the winds come from the East or North. Guess what. .....yup Northeast. It's worse if the winds pick up...yup 25 Knots.
Earlier in the evening before the sun went down, we anchored in calm weather, and only 1 other boat around. Those 2 people on that boat happened to be naked on the beach. She was pulling a large driftwood stump back to the boat and he was walking the beach. Welcome to Alabama.
The night started nice. lots of stars, calm waters, and our friend billy did not show up at our boat. But then things turned for the worst.
The wind picked up. Well the wind generator worked all night and charged our batteries to the top. That was the first time the windy actually carried his weight on the boat. Prior to that night, that thing was just added weight. That night, he worked hard. And vibrated the boat a lot.
The wind picked up, the waves picked up, we got scared. About 12:39 I asked Marina what time it was, she said she doubted it was time to get up. The front of the boat where Marina sleeps, well should I say used to sleep, is an interesting place. As the waves come up to the boat, the front of the boat rises and you feel like you gained 20 pounds from the pressure of the rise. As the boat comes down off the wave, you lose 40 pounds, now you are near weightlessness. On top of that you get a bit of forward motion as the anchor chain grabs ahold and pulls and hangs on to the bottom of the ocean. Now I want you to sleep!!!!!!!!!!!
About 12:39 I go out side to readjust the anchor set up I have. This takes me about 1 hour. I wish I could tell you in detail, but what I can say, at night, some of the fears go away. You can't see that you you can't see land on 3 sides of you. All you see is your boat and 3 feet of water around you. I could be in lake Travis. I adjusted in the dark. Do you know what it's like to pull 24,000 pounds of boat forward so you can loosen the tension and let out more anchor chain. Well you can only pull it forward on the downward motion of the boat on the wave. On the upward motion you better have that rope wrapped around something, because you can't hold it. I have a black finger nail to prove that. It almost got stuck in the windlass...i yanked it out.
After that was done, I went back inside to sleep...ya right. about 1 hour later I went to check on things. Back to the front of the boat. Wind still blowing, waves still pounding. I proceed to the front of the boat and kneel down near the anchor line. My left forearm touches something soft. It feels like feathers.....wait it is feathers. it's a Blue Heron. It's a big bird that is sleeping on the side of the boat. He stands about 1 foot tall and wing span about 4 feet. He didn't notice that I touched him, but i did. he was sleeping( Bastard). I backed up...looked. and got scared. His head was in his feathers. he probably didn't hear or notice me because of the wind and waves. All at once he woke up. He looked, I looked. noone moved. I kinda approached him with my channel locks in my hand, he didn't move. I backup off. hmm....This time i touched him with the channel locks, he flew down to the water. This won't be the last time I hear from him.....I look at the anchor lines and go back inside.
About 5 minutes later..."KEVIN WHAT WAS THAT", I say "I don't know". it sounds like we just ran over a pile of stainless steel tubing. chang, chang, chang, cling, chang. this lasted for 2 seconds and then gone. What the fuck was that?
I go back out side. I see that damn bird flapping his wings and heading out into the water. The problem is his wings were banging against the stainless steel life lines which are held up by stainless steel posts. it makes quite a racket.
We didn't sleep much that night. Lesson learned. The weather man is wrong and anchor like the wind is going to blow 50 knots. Then at least I would not have had to spend so much time reanchoring at 1 am in the am.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Juan joined us in New Orleans for Halloween. Lots of Fun LOL, OMG.HAHAHAHA
We spent Halloween on Bourbon Street. Ya it's fun!!!! Last I heard we all had a good time. The next night we repeated and by the 3rd night we were in bed early.
We did get have a caricature picture of us drawn up. Spent the better part of the day waiting in line for that. Unfortunately the picture was lost. I seemed have lost the Picture, the plunger, the baguette and 2 bolts. Someone is going to be very disappointed when they find that bag.
It was a treat for us, for we stayed in a hotel for 3 nights, was only supposed to be 2 nights, then Juan got to spend the night on the boat.
My implant fell out on Friday night. Tried to find a dentist open sat, no luck. We ended up staying until Monday to go to the dentist. The implant is back in and i'm ready to try to lose it again.
Well we really need to get out of this place. It is fun to come here and probably just as much fun to leave.
PIctures
We did get have a caricature picture of us drawn up. Spent the better part of the day waiting in line for that. Unfortunately the picture was lost. I seemed have lost the Picture, the plunger, the baguette and 2 bolts. Someone is going to be very disappointed when they find that bag.
It was a treat for us, for we stayed in a hotel for 3 nights, was only supposed to be 2 nights, then Juan got to spend the night on the boat.
My implant fell out on Friday night. Tried to find a dentist open sat, no luck. We ended up staying until Monday to go to the dentist. The implant is back in and i'm ready to try to lose it again.
Well we really need to get out of this place. It is fun to come here and probably just as much fun to leave.
PIctures
Made it to New Orleans, here are some pictures along the way
We left Joe's Landing and headed toward New Orleans. Joe was a great guy, our intended anchorage did not work out, so we called a few marina's along the way and Joe let us tie up for the night. I did give him $20 in the morning and purchased some diesel from him. So he was happy.
pics of nola
pics of nola
Marinas Diary cont
Since we are trapped in Lake Charles waiting for the engine parts, we continued
discovering this little town via walking with our backpacks. Ended up in Starbucks
for free wifi catching up with
our blog and other stuff. As strange it's sound we are really enjoying walking -
nice excersize and can see more around than just driving.
10. Day 10 - Mon, Oct.21
This is a big day for us - we might get alternator fixed today. We walked carring
in our backpacks both original and replacement alternator to Auto Electric and
Magnito Shop nd it was a miracle that an owner hapenned to have our missing part!
We got lucky. He also checked our original alternator and verified that yes, it
was brocken. We rashed back to the boat to try new alternator, Kevin put it all
together, we started our engine, and .. there is no exhaust water coming out!
Piece by piece we checked all the cooling system of engine, looked through manuals
and disel engine books trying to troubleshoot a problem, until we disconnected and
connected back the last unchecked hose - water finally ran from exhaust. We were
so happy! However, seems Monday is not our very lucky day... and Kevin yelled
"stop engine" - he noticed a crack in the exhaust housing filter. Well, now we
need to find a replacement for our cracked piece, or otherwise we cannot go
anywhere. Unfortunatelly, cannot get this piece earlier than Thursday.
At the evening we finally decided to use our dinghy to drive around and made it to
"Jag's Bistro" - it's only place in Lake Charles on the waterfront, no cleats on
the docks, but can tie your dinghy around poles. We got some seafood and couple
drinks, it's so nice to be back in civilization!
11. Day 11 - Tu, Oct.22
Another idle day spent in Lake Charles...Kevin might get a little job today
working on network setup at appartment complex. To get there we decided to ride
our dinghy instead of walking. The
water way to McNeese University from BowTie is very nice - a lot of huge beuatiful
houses on both sides of the river, but the water is very very dirty with litter -
we even saw a dead squirell, would not want to end up in this water. There was not
any "parking" suitable places for our dinghy, so we returned back. Later we took
dinghy to Casino De Lauberginue (????) and spent wonderful time there - however,
seems luck is not on our side lately, gambling did not go well and after losing
$10 we returned back home. At this point seems that we exhausted all the
attractions in Lake Charles! But we still have to be here until our engine part
will show up - hopefully on Thurday.
12. Day 12 - Wed, Oct.23
We rented a car today, yea, it's kind of cheating, but we really wanted to visit
Tobasco factory. It's a bit off the way from ICW and we planned to go there, but
because we are late on our original schedule to make it to New Orleans, we decided
to drive to Avery Island (where Tobasco factory is).
Drive was boring, about 2 hours from Lake Charles. Even driving a boat on ICW is
more exciting that this drive. Along I-10 HW we saw a lot of Casinos situated
right in the gas stations! And a lot of eateries with typical south Louisiana
food: boudins and cracklings.
The Avery Island looked like oasis: very green and well kept. Kevin was excited to
try all varieties of the Tobasco souce currently produced. We even tried tobasco
ice cream at the Country Store - interesting taste...
Then we drove/walked through Jungle Gardens created by the founder and owner of
the Tobasco factory. In our quest of finding alligators we perused every marked
"Marsh trail" on the map of this island. They should be somewhere! It's been 6th
day in Louisiana and we still did not find any alligators, we were determined to
find one!
While carefully walking marsh trails we finally spotted an aligator, what
excitment it was for us! The poor little creature (about 4 feet long) was scared
of us more than we were scared of him, and hid immediatelly under the tree. Then
we realized that this environment is not a zoo! and we might stamped on another
bigger one.. Very carefully we traced our steps back to the main road and Kevin
wanted me to walk ahead (my husband is such a gentelman!).
Further on the little lake we spotted more alligators, they were backing on the
sun and not separated from public by the fence! The nearby sing "Aligators are
dangerous" finally took us back to reality and scared we ran back to the car and
closed doors - we decided not to take chanches with nature.
After Avery Island trip we went straight to the laundromat - we had a lot of
laundry to do for past week, spent there $20 on the "state of the art" washing and
drying machines. Then we found wifi in Starbucks and plotted our further trip to
New Orleans, this time was well spent, we are finally learning to plan ahead for
possible stoppes, bridges, locks, etc on the way. Shopped for groceries for the
next week, ate dinner at Mexican restaurant, and went far beyound our budget
again...
On the way home we drove through our "green mile" (as we call our section 8
neighborhood)! It feels good driving vs. walking through there.
13. Day 13 - Thu, Oct.24
Well, it's time to say goodby to civilization - took our rented car back.
We are back to walking with heavy backpacks! Nice workout opportunity (we keep
saying that to ourselves to feel better). In BigK Kevin bought a toilet sit - he
wants to make "patio toilet"on our boat, so we would not need to use our compost
bucket. Will see how that will go...
In the afternoon we received engine part we awaited for since Tuesday. And, we are
back to work on our engine. While fixing first problem, we found another one, then
another one, and finally figured out why our heater is not working. To fix it
would take very long time and we decided that we can go on without a water heater,
at least until the next big stop. Allright, we are back in business and leaving
tomorrow!
14. Day 14 - Fri, Oct.25
Big day today! We finally leaving Lake Charles after 7 days we spent here. We are
already 6 days behind our original schedule, but that's ok, we actually enjoyed
time spent in this little town, walking we learned all the places tourist would go
in the little industrial oasis.
Thanks to our BowTie marina - they were very friendly to us and patient. Hey, it
was our home for 7 nights (the last night we got for free!).
On ICW we passed the first locks and even did not have to wait for our turn. It
was fast.
Drove about 7 hours and dropped an anchore at Mermentaou River. We had some engine
overheatting problem, but Kevin added antifriz and engine survived the last hour
of our trip. At least we know where the problem is and Kevin refitted connections,
so tomorrow we should not lose any antifriz (as we hope!)
This anchorage is nice and very serenic... beautiful...
And we are still trying to spot some aligators... no luck..
15. Day 15 - Sat, Oct. 26
We spent nice quite night at Mermentaou River anchorage, serenity, beautiful
scenery on the water in the morning.
On the way to Shell Morgan Landing passed another locks, uneventfully arrived to
the docks. We tried to contact Shell Morgan Landing by phone (no services) and by
VHF radio (no answer), but the owner saw us approaching and helped us with
docking.
Kudos to Kevin: he finally figured out communications on VHF with passing bargers
and tugs, switching to right channels in time and not afraid to talk with skippers
(ch.11, 13, 14 - all except of ch.16! mean communication with local traffic, locks
and bridges operators). However, Marina still doesn't feel comfortable talking on
VHF and, doesn't understands anything what they are saing - too much slang and
southern accent.
16. Day 16 - Sun, Oct. 27
The night at Shell Morgan Landing was very loud - it's just a stop in the
industrial wharf area with big weird looking boats. But, at least it was safe and
this place had restrooms and showers! Just for $20/night! It's was so nice to take
warm shower after couple days of not washing.
We started very early today just with sunrise (about 7:15 am), we still don't feel
comfortable to travel in the dark, even though we have reliable chart plotter.
The scenery of ICW is the same on the way to Morgan City - marshes and swamps with
trees coverd by spanish moss, and we were still looking for alligators.. did not
spot any on the busy ICW "streets".
We docked at the Morgan City Pleasure Docks - parked behind a row of fisherman
shrimp boats and immediatelly made friends with a drunk skipper of one of those
boats. There are no any amenities at this place, but at least we thought it's
safer than on anchor. The city docks are right in the middle of the old downtown,
which is only about 2 blocks (Kevin related this city with Georgetown). All the
businesses were closed on Sunday, so..no internet connection for us today
either... We found a convinient store in the very bad poor drug area of the city,
the guy at the store mentioned to us not to walk around after dark, so trip back
through this drug area of the city was a bit intence. On the way back to docks we
found Rita May restaurant with very authentic black south Louiana cooking. Even
the restaurant was closed, the old black lady - owner - let us in and gave us
"really quick whatever is left in the kitchen". We had shrimp stew and seafood
gumbo - that was very HOT, but delisious food! We made it back to the boat and
locked all the hatches and the entrance door, turned off the lights and I heard
Keving was loading AK just in case. The night was very loud - to much work was
going on in this industrial city at night, heard couple times the lift bridge
going down for the trains, a lot of horns going off, car traffic.
17. Day 17 - Mon, Oct.28
Started early today. We were ready to leave the docks but the railroad lift bridge
came down again. At about 7:30 we are back on ICW. The destination for today is
Huma - and we really really need to find internet connection there.
Closer to Huma we noticed more industrial traffic, locks, lift/open bridges and
Kevin handled it as a professional talking with people in charge on VHF. Well,
sometimes they don't answer... especially in the time you really need the answer
if the lift bridge will be still open when you will be under it, or should we wait
for another opening? Or, what is the hight of the fixed bridge ahead of us? is
that 70" or 40"? Unfortunately this information is not on our chart plotter and we
are guessing most of the time - first Kevin counts how many length of one car you
can place under the bridge (one car - about 10"), so, if that's 6 then we are ok
to go under the bridge! Harder is when there are only tracks with gasoline are
passing on the bridge, those could be only 2 lengths, yea... the things we have to
figure out from the memory of our kindergarten age.
We made it to Huma Municipal City Docks - they are located right in the middle of
the public park/picknic area, right off the ICW. Since Huma is seems very
industrial town we did not see any downtown. The center of the city is huge
Hospital - which restrooms we used extencivelly (nice to sit on the normal water
flashing toilet!) The Hospital was 4 min walk from our boat. Searching for the
wifi we found cafe Liberty, however, had to leave soon - closed at 3pm. Seems
everything in Huma is closed at 3pm. The grocery shopping did not get well either
- the South Louisiana Groseries store doesn't exist anymore even though it's still
in YP and on the map's info. In the closeby gas station we asked where we can buy
groceries - the answer was "do you want to buy chicken for what? to cook? we have
fried chicken here for sale, do you want salad, what salad?"
Anyways, our long walking trip with backpacks in 100F in sun was not very
productive, but we found "Wash and wear" laundromat right near our boat. So, at
least we washed our clothes and had amazing converstaion with the loisianians -
some of the conversations are stratching your mind way too far and you start
loving your own life very much.
This docking place was just $25/night and pretty safe.
18. Day 18 - Tu, Oct.29
Restroom trip to the Hospital, coffe, breakfast and we are off again.
We counted for a short day today (should be 5 hours),but it took us 9 hours to get
to the mile marker 15 IGWW. Turns out that the place we wanted to anchore is
taking currently by a business, so we had to look for a new place for overnight
ad-hoc - and found "Jo's Landing" docking. It's a bit off the ICW, about 5 mi
going in the side channel (LaFettite), but depth is about 14" and we did not have
problems to dock at Jo's.
discovering this little town via walking with our backpacks. Ended up in Starbucks
for free wifi catching up with
our blog and other stuff. As strange it's sound we are really enjoying walking -
nice excersize and can see more around than just driving.
10. Day 10 - Mon, Oct.21
This is a big day for us - we might get alternator fixed today. We walked carring
in our backpacks both original and replacement alternator to Auto Electric and
Magnito Shop nd it was a miracle that an owner hapenned to have our missing part!
We got lucky. He also checked our original alternator and verified that yes, it
was brocken. We rashed back to the boat to try new alternator, Kevin put it all
together, we started our engine, and .. there is no exhaust water coming out!
Piece by piece we checked all the cooling system of engine, looked through manuals
and disel engine books trying to troubleshoot a problem, until we disconnected and
connected back the last unchecked hose - water finally ran from exhaust. We were
so happy! However, seems Monday is not our very lucky day... and Kevin yelled
"stop engine" - he noticed a crack in the exhaust housing filter. Well, now we
need to find a replacement for our cracked piece, or otherwise we cannot go
anywhere. Unfortunatelly, cannot get this piece earlier than Thursday.
At the evening we finally decided to use our dinghy to drive around and made it to
"Jag's Bistro" - it's only place in Lake Charles on the waterfront, no cleats on
the docks, but can tie your dinghy around poles. We got some seafood and couple
drinks, it's so nice to be back in civilization!
11. Day 11 - Tu, Oct.22
Another idle day spent in Lake Charles...Kevin might get a little job today
working on network setup at appartment complex. To get there we decided to ride
our dinghy instead of walking. The
water way to McNeese University from BowTie is very nice - a lot of huge beuatiful
houses on both sides of the river, but the water is very very dirty with litter -
we even saw a dead squirell, would not want to end up in this water. There was not
any "parking" suitable places for our dinghy, so we returned back. Later we took
dinghy to Casino De Lauberginue (????) and spent wonderful time there - however,
seems luck is not on our side lately, gambling did not go well and after losing
$10 we returned back home. At this point seems that we exhausted all the
attractions in Lake Charles! But we still have to be here until our engine part
will show up - hopefully on Thurday.
12. Day 12 - Wed, Oct.23
We rented a car today, yea, it's kind of cheating, but we really wanted to visit
Tobasco factory. It's a bit off the way from ICW and we planned to go there, but
because we are late on our original schedule to make it to New Orleans, we decided
to drive to Avery Island (where Tobasco factory is).
Drive was boring, about 2 hours from Lake Charles. Even driving a boat on ICW is
more exciting that this drive. Along I-10 HW we saw a lot of Casinos situated
right in the gas stations! And a lot of eateries with typical south Louisiana
food: boudins and cracklings.
The Avery Island looked like oasis: very green and well kept. Kevin was excited to
try all varieties of the Tobasco souce currently produced. We even tried tobasco
ice cream at the Country Store - interesting taste...
Then we drove/walked through Jungle Gardens created by the founder and owner of
the Tobasco factory. In our quest of finding alligators we perused every marked
"Marsh trail" on the map of this island. They should be somewhere! It's been 6th
day in Louisiana and we still did not find any alligators, we were determined to
find one!
While carefully walking marsh trails we finally spotted an aligator, what
excitment it was for us! The poor little creature (about 4 feet long) was scared
of us more than we were scared of him, and hid immediatelly under the tree. Then
we realized that this environment is not a zoo! and we might stamped on another
bigger one.. Very carefully we traced our steps back to the main road and Kevin
wanted me to walk ahead (my husband is such a gentelman!).
Further on the little lake we spotted more alligators, they were backing on the
sun and not separated from public by the fence! The nearby sing "Aligators are
dangerous" finally took us back to reality and scared we ran back to the car and
closed doors - we decided not to take chanches with nature.
After Avery Island trip we went straight to the laundromat - we had a lot of
laundry to do for past week, spent there $20 on the "state of the art" washing and
drying machines. Then we found wifi in Starbucks and plotted our further trip to
New Orleans, this time was well spent, we are finally learning to plan ahead for
possible stoppes, bridges, locks, etc on the way. Shopped for groceries for the
next week, ate dinner at Mexican restaurant, and went far beyound our budget
again...
On the way home we drove through our "green mile" (as we call our section 8
neighborhood)! It feels good driving vs. walking through there.
13. Day 13 - Thu, Oct.24
Well, it's time to say goodby to civilization - took our rented car back.
We are back to walking with heavy backpacks! Nice workout opportunity (we keep
saying that to ourselves to feel better). In BigK Kevin bought a toilet sit - he
wants to make "patio toilet"on our boat, so we would not need to use our compost
bucket. Will see how that will go...
In the afternoon we received engine part we awaited for since Tuesday. And, we are
back to work on our engine. While fixing first problem, we found another one, then
another one, and finally figured out why our heater is not working. To fix it
would take very long time and we decided that we can go on without a water heater,
at least until the next big stop. Allright, we are back in business and leaving
tomorrow!
14. Day 14 - Fri, Oct.25
Big day today! We finally leaving Lake Charles after 7 days we spent here. We are
already 6 days behind our original schedule, but that's ok, we actually enjoyed
time spent in this little town, walking we learned all the places tourist would go
in the little industrial oasis.
Thanks to our BowTie marina - they were very friendly to us and patient. Hey, it
was our home for 7 nights (the last night we got for free!).
On ICW we passed the first locks and even did not have to wait for our turn. It
was fast.
Drove about 7 hours and dropped an anchore at Mermentaou River. We had some engine
overheatting problem, but Kevin added antifriz and engine survived the last hour
of our trip. At least we know where the problem is and Kevin refitted connections,
so tomorrow we should not lose any antifriz (as we hope!)
This anchorage is nice and very serenic... beautiful...
And we are still trying to spot some aligators... no luck..
15. Day 15 - Sat, Oct. 26
We spent nice quite night at Mermentaou River anchorage, serenity, beautiful
scenery on the water in the morning.
On the way to Shell Morgan Landing passed another locks, uneventfully arrived to
the docks. We tried to contact Shell Morgan Landing by phone (no services) and by
VHF radio (no answer), but the owner saw us approaching and helped us with
docking.
Kudos to Kevin: he finally figured out communications on VHF with passing bargers
and tugs, switching to right channels in time and not afraid to talk with skippers
(ch.11, 13, 14 - all except of ch.16! mean communication with local traffic, locks
and bridges operators). However, Marina still doesn't feel comfortable talking on
VHF and, doesn't understands anything what they are saing - too much slang and
southern accent.
16. Day 16 - Sun, Oct. 27
The night at Shell Morgan Landing was very loud - it's just a stop in the
industrial wharf area with big weird looking boats. But, at least it was safe and
this place had restrooms and showers! Just for $20/night! It's was so nice to take
warm shower after couple days of not washing.
We started very early today just with sunrise (about 7:15 am), we still don't feel
comfortable to travel in the dark, even though we have reliable chart plotter.
The scenery of ICW is the same on the way to Morgan City - marshes and swamps with
trees coverd by spanish moss, and we were still looking for alligators.. did not
spot any on the busy ICW "streets".
We docked at the Morgan City Pleasure Docks - parked behind a row of fisherman
shrimp boats and immediatelly made friends with a drunk skipper of one of those
boats. There are no any amenities at this place, but at least we thought it's
safer than on anchor. The city docks are right in the middle of the old downtown,
which is only about 2 blocks (Kevin related this city with Georgetown). All the
businesses were closed on Sunday, so..no internet connection for us today
either... We found a convinient store in the very bad poor drug area of the city,
the guy at the store mentioned to us not to walk around after dark, so trip back
through this drug area of the city was a bit intence. On the way back to docks we
found Rita May restaurant with very authentic black south Louiana cooking. Even
the restaurant was closed, the old black lady - owner - let us in and gave us
"really quick whatever is left in the kitchen". We had shrimp stew and seafood
gumbo - that was very HOT, but delisious food! We made it back to the boat and
locked all the hatches and the entrance door, turned off the lights and I heard
Keving was loading AK just in case. The night was very loud - to much work was
going on in this industrial city at night, heard couple times the lift bridge
going down for the trains, a lot of horns going off, car traffic.
17. Day 17 - Mon, Oct.28
Started early today. We were ready to leave the docks but the railroad lift bridge
came down again. At about 7:30 we are back on ICW. The destination for today is
Huma - and we really really need to find internet connection there.
Closer to Huma we noticed more industrial traffic, locks, lift/open bridges and
Kevin handled it as a professional talking with people in charge on VHF. Well,
sometimes they don't answer... especially in the time you really need the answer
if the lift bridge will be still open when you will be under it, or should we wait
for another opening? Or, what is the hight of the fixed bridge ahead of us? is
that 70" or 40"? Unfortunately this information is not on our chart plotter and we
are guessing most of the time - first Kevin counts how many length of one car you
can place under the bridge (one car - about 10"), so, if that's 6 then we are ok
to go under the bridge! Harder is when there are only tracks with gasoline are
passing on the bridge, those could be only 2 lengths, yea... the things we have to
figure out from the memory of our kindergarten age.
We made it to Huma Municipal City Docks - they are located right in the middle of
the public park/picknic area, right off the ICW. Since Huma is seems very
industrial town we did not see any downtown. The center of the city is huge
Hospital - which restrooms we used extencivelly (nice to sit on the normal water
flashing toilet!) The Hospital was 4 min walk from our boat. Searching for the
wifi we found cafe Liberty, however, had to leave soon - closed at 3pm. Seems
everything in Huma is closed at 3pm. The grocery shopping did not get well either
- the South Louisiana Groseries store doesn't exist anymore even though it's still
in YP and on the map's info. In the closeby gas station we asked where we can buy
groceries - the answer was "do you want to buy chicken for what? to cook? we have
fried chicken here for sale, do you want salad, what salad?"
Anyways, our long walking trip with backpacks in 100F in sun was not very
productive, but we found "Wash and wear" laundromat right near our boat. So, at
least we washed our clothes and had amazing converstaion with the loisianians -
some of the conversations are stratching your mind way too far and you start
loving your own life very much.
This docking place was just $25/night and pretty safe.
18. Day 18 - Tu, Oct.29
Restroom trip to the Hospital, coffe, breakfast and we are off again.
We counted for a short day today (should be 5 hours),but it took us 9 hours to get
to the mile marker 15 IGWW. Turns out that the place we wanted to anchore is
taking currently by a business, so we had to look for a new place for overnight
ad-hoc - and found "Jo's Landing" docking. It's a bit off the ICW, about 5 mi
going in the side channel (LaFettite), but depth is about 14" and we did not have
problems to dock at Jo's.
Monday, October 28, 2013
ICW photos
Pictures from the ICW...it's slow going. If we do 60 miles in one day, it is a long day.
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City Morgan - Rita Mae
Where the lines never cross but they come real close together. There is a definite separation of colors in this town.
It was pretty slow on this Sunday night, but were told to be home by dark.
Nevertheless, Rita Mae's is a great place. She fed us even after the store was locked up for the night. She opened the doors, let us in and had her children help run the place. Food was pure South Louisiana cooking.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg18YTt8Cw3Nhl4eHmKnVfPpL6GXy5iOonER6T-UmO5CE6eIZAfW3S1s-sPmhmfdJHa6nPqHNYBRg6W7SgrY2e5Kyr-y8DPLuEzqgVNllkxO6Dp9cZXqryNd-saNArP5oC6_5APZgAQRPU/s144-o/IMAG5193.jpg
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It was pretty slow on this Sunday night, but were told to be home by dark.
Nevertheless, Rita Mae's is a great place. She fed us even after the store was locked up for the night. She opened the doors, let us in and had her children help run the place. Food was pure South Louisiana cooking.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg18YTt8Cw3Nhl4eHmKnVfPpL6GXy5iOonER6T-UmO5CE6eIZAfW3S1s-sPmhmfdJHa6nPqHNYBRg6W7SgrY2e5Kyr-y8DPLuEzqgVNllkxO6Dp9cZXqryNd-saNArP5oC6_5APZgAQRPU/s144-o/IMAG5193.jpg
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Thursday, October 24, 2013
The Tobasco Factory on Avery Island
Our plan was to take the boat to Avery Island, but the boat don't go. So we rented a car and drove. The car worked great. Kinda boring ride, but the factory a nice change.
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Sunday, October 20, 2013
Marinas diary of the ICW - Galveston to ???
Our daily trip log
1. Day 1 - Saturday, Oct.12, 2013
Today is our last day on land (so to say) - at the Legend Point Marina in Clear Lake Shores. Our slip is back for Rent again, so there is no way back - we are leaving tomorrow! I feel extreme
excitement like a child on the Christmas night probably waiting for Santa Claus to taste their cookies.
But.. before we leave tomorrow, we still have to sell both of our cars today. We left this big task to the last minute because we still need our car(s) to take back internet provider router and last shop for food supplies. As hard as selling two cars in the same day seems not easy, we did it at CarMax for reasonable prices - money was enough to pay off all debt and also enough left for a new main sail when we need it. The car dealer Dave gave us ride back to Marina. The rest of the day we were prepping for departure. After dinner we took a last walk around our marina looking for the mail drop box - did not find any, tried to say "good by" to some of our new aquaintenance, but nobody was home... I hope somebody will notice our departure tomorrow...
2. Day 2 - Sunday, Oct.13
Today is the Day - beginning of our journey. We don't know for how long and how far we will go but, we finally go!
All this preparation for 5 years for this moment hopefully will pay off some day. Well Santa Claus did not show up tonight with presents, but I still feel very excited!
In the morning we walked to West Marine store across the street to buy PDF and outboard motor mount on the rails.
While I was prepping some food for the trip, Kevin put the motor mount and the lifted the motor.
It's noon - and we cast off from our "home" place of 3.5 months. First stop at Galveston, Harbor House Marina again.
It's very nice place - in the middle of the old city, but there is no showers. The trip from Kemah to Galveston was smooth - unfortunately not much sailing, took us 5 hours. This time we parked nicely, and did not damage the wooden railing as happened last time, and nobody fall on the docks as last time Kevin's Dad did. We finished our day with couple of drinks at the restaurant we docked.
3. Day 3 - Monday, Oct.14
We have to finish couple chores today - drop off some mail, find a hardware store to buy new locks for our boat, buy mosquito repellent (including Bounce and Listerine - as people say on internet), and walk to beach so I can swim last time at the Galveston beach. It was very nice not very long walk around - Galveston is not very big city.We got to the beach and I was absolutely happy to go to swim and play in the waves! But... i got sting by the jellyfish, it was pretty bad. Tried to clean poison with sand, salt water, coke, fresh water - still was hurting. Oh well, need to walk back home. On the way we stopped for a lunch at some little place in old town and made it back to the boat - still need to prepare for our departure tomorrow. It will be very long trip - 12 hours at least, offshore. Need to make it to the Sabine Lake Pass. Had after dinner drinks for Happy Hour at another restaurant we noticed from our boat - and had funny conversation with the waiter. And again... we get the same question we get from many other people
- how extensive your sailing experience is? It start making us nervous, because no, we don't have a lot of sailing experience, but we have some, and believe that we can make it anyway.
Well, maybe it's just our ignorance again... will see how we will progress.
4. Day 4 - Tuesday, Oct.15
Got up at 5 am, well, I kind of did not slip since 3:30am - was afraid to miss 5am get up time1. Today we take our Lucky Seven for first trip in the big sees. I bet she will like it!
Ate breakfast - "kasha" how Kevin calls it, oat bran plus oats, linen seed, water. Gets you full for some time.
And, at 6:30 am we are out for the big trip! The sunrise is at 7:15am, so it was still dark outside, however, all the water channels in Galveston are very well lit, no problem to drive the boat at night. Then we gradually entered ship channel, the water got rocky, broken waves, light wind. Huge cargo and tanker ships are sailing around us producing huge waives - I got scared for a while that boat will sink from the splashing waves. We were going for a while in this ship channel until Kevin figured out that we should not be at the place we entered - looked like a parking lot for the huge ships! Well, we still kind of new to the legends on the chart plotter - the purple broken line is marking the "parking lot" for those ships. Oh, well, we had to head down to get out of this mess. After we passed the last parked ship, the water seemed came down a bit, however a lot of rainy clouds around - to avoid complications we decided not to open up sails yet. Marina did not feel well afternoon and Kevin had to drive all the way himself for 6 hours. When sky cleared out a bit, we brought up our foresail and that brought up our boat speed up to 6.5 nm/hour. At some place closer to Lake Sabine entrance there was a creepy place with a lot of rigs making beeping noises, looked like a place from sci-fi movie.
But we finally made it to the Sabine Pass Marina - we missed to make reservations in time and were a bit nervous that we won't have a place to park for a night, but luckily for us marina had plenty of free slips suitable for our draft. We just took one - C13. Two very friendly guys rushed to us to help to park the boat, so landing was smooth. From talking with them we figured out that there is not much around this place - one convenient store nearby and we can use one of the guys track to drive there any time, and ,marina's showers/toilet. Luckily we still have food, water and fuel enough to take us to the next stops.
We were so tired from the long day offshore trip that went to slip earlier and slept very well.
5. Day 5 - Wed, Oct.16
It's nice to wake up later than 5am! Today should be very relaxing day (at least we thought so). We were planning to drive up to the next Marina - about 3 hours from Sabine Pass Marina - in Port Arthur. There are couple chores we have to do: deposit check to the bank, buy some protein for our provision, get some diesel maybe, find internet, etc. Before leaving we cleaned our boat after long trip yesterday: outside and inside, it looks white and shiny like a new again! We left about 12:30 hopping at 4 pm to be at the Pleasure Island Marina. At 3:45pm, very close to the Marina, we noticed on the chart plotter that there is no any entrances to that Marina from the ICW side, and, the entrance on the other side of lake is max 3 feet deep! We cannot enter this Marina, what do we do? Kevin remembered from one of the blogs he read that we can anchor at the Shell Island (the one up along ICM after Stewts Island). We could not locate Shell Island on the chart plotter but found some other little suitable place for anchoring right close to ICW. Made to that place, deepest 10 feet, it's ok, but it turned out a very busy place right on the V between Neuches port and continuation of ICW. Then we finally located a Shell island on the plotter and happily decided to move to that place for anchorage. Spent about 1 hour trying to anchor our boat at this place: twice our over-sized secure anchor
would not secure on the bottom! On the third time we dropped our second anchor, Danforth, that helped and seems that got hooked up to the bottom this time. But... at the time we were sure we are done, one boat with the fisherman stopped by and the guy told us that we don't want to anchor at this place, but rather the other one around a corner... well, we need to go over there then.
And, the same fisherman guy gave us a huge red fish he just got - for free! Wow! this is such a luck for us to meet him: got directions and dinner. Exactly in time, because I was already planning for tonight to have lentils again, and again, and again...We made it to the save anchorage place safely, got anchored from the first drop, Kevin cleaned a fish in the cockpit, Marina made delicious dinner from that fish and seems that today is not so bad, even thought we had times when we did not know where we are going to sleep tonight.
6. Day 6 - Thu, Oct.17
Morning was beautiful, there are couple fishermen boats around, our anchor hold us well all the night long. After breakfast we continued driving ICW. We got appointment for the Ellender Lift bridge at 3pm, but arrived to the bridge about 1.5hours before. We had to circle around and between 1000 feet barges and numerous tag boats. On channel 13 we finally got short conversations with the skippers of these floating monsters, mainly about what side of the boat they want us to pass them. Would be so much easier if we could just dock somewhere while waiting for the lift bridge, but nobody answered our request where we can dock. Finally we passed under the lifted bridge and drove to the Lake Charles, LA - our next stop, as we thought only for a night.It was a bit shallow approaching BowTie Marina, but the drive in this little bayou was beautiful - start getting that Louisiana scenery near the water, but not, we did not see alligators yet! BowTie Marina is mostly for the dry storage fishing boats, and we saw there only one 34" sailboat. They parked us at the Fuel dock, because they don't have a special docks for transient sailboats. But we were happy to feel hard ground under our feet after full day of driving. This Marina is a valet marina, so two young boys helped us to park, fill a diesel and directions to the local store. Our fist question was - where we can buy alcohol and cigarettes? Actually in LA you can buy all that stuff at the gas station, and this is what we did. Stores are in walkable distance to the Marina, however you have about 4 blocks of the Social Section 8 housing to pass before you get to the main safe street. That takes some nerves to walk in that area - poor, black, without income people are not friendly to the white stupid couple.
7. Day 7 - Fri, Oct.18
The toilets and shower are closed at BowTie after 5pm, when all the workers are left. So... it's not very convenient, and owners are showing up not earlier than 9am, so... yea.. not fun to wait for toilet. After breakfast we headed to downtown to find a bank, grocery store, wifi, and look around.
It's not significant little town where Chase bank even don't have a restrooms for the customers. We had lunch at Sha Sha's restaurant, food was good, even though we expected more specific Louisiana dishes. Found wifi at the Stellar Coffee house and worked all afternoon on our further route to Morgan City via ICW. On the way back bought groceries in Market Basket and walked back home (all trip in city and back took about 2 hours walking). And, yes... we had to cross this dangerous zone of section 8 again....
On the boat Kevin tried to put on the new alternator, because we think the original one is kind of defected - makes really weird noises when changing speeds and that sounds maybe indication of a big problem. So, we thought changing to the spare alternator would be safer for our driving. Turns out that the spare alternator doesn't have a pulley with it and we cannot attach it to the motor without it. Hmmm, start calling alternator/boat stores, but all of them were already closed. Tomorrow we will try to find auto stores and see what we can do for alternator.
8. Day 8 - Sat, Oct.19
What a beautiful mornings around here - scenery is amazing, very crispy weather, no mosquitoes anymore, very quiet, pretty big birds, but.. still no any alligators. Today we are determined to find a solution for our alternator, so, here we go again - crossing dangerous zone of section 8, getting much not friendly glances while walking through their territory, we are trying to ignore all that and Kevin is begging me not to run as a scarred
white girl (but I am!). We are on Lake street - we are safe and made it again. Today we went other way - industrial side of the town, walked long time, stopped at auto stores on the way, got a lunch at Casa Manana (Mexican in this place???) where we finally found all the white population of this town. We walked a lot and stopped by at many places but no luck for our alternator. Finally made it to the Lake Prien Mall, sitting at the Coffee kiosk found wifi and worked on our blog. So, we have to stay at BowTie marina at least until Tuesday.
9. Day 9 - Sun, Oct.20
During the night Marina heard a woman's scream in section 8, was not sure if needed to call for help our neighbors Coast Guards (Lake Charles Coast Guard station is the next dock to our boat), or to load our gun. Screams stopped but Marina could not sleep all night. Night was very cold - 46F, uhh, Kevin finally asked for a blanket.
1. Day 1 - Saturday, Oct.12, 2013
Today is our last day on land (so to say) - at the Legend Point Marina in Clear Lake Shores. Our slip is back for Rent again, so there is no way back - we are leaving tomorrow! I feel extreme
excitement like a child on the Christmas night probably waiting for Santa Claus to taste their cookies.
But.. before we leave tomorrow, we still have to sell both of our cars today. We left this big task to the last minute because we still need our car(s) to take back internet provider router and last shop for food supplies. As hard as selling two cars in the same day seems not easy, we did it at CarMax for reasonable prices - money was enough to pay off all debt and also enough left for a new main sail when we need it. The car dealer Dave gave us ride back to Marina. The rest of the day we were prepping for departure. After dinner we took a last walk around our marina looking for the mail drop box - did not find any, tried to say "good by" to some of our new aquaintenance, but nobody was home... I hope somebody will notice our departure tomorrow...
2. Day 2 - Sunday, Oct.13
Today is the Day - beginning of our journey. We don't know for how long and how far we will go but, we finally go!
All this preparation for 5 years for this moment hopefully will pay off some day. Well Santa Claus did not show up tonight with presents, but I still feel very excited!
In the morning we walked to West Marine store across the street to buy PDF and outboard motor mount on the rails.
While I was prepping some food for the trip, Kevin put the motor mount and the lifted the motor.
It's noon - and we cast off from our "home" place of 3.5 months. First stop at Galveston, Harbor House Marina again.
It's very nice place - in the middle of the old city, but there is no showers. The trip from Kemah to Galveston was smooth - unfortunately not much sailing, took us 5 hours. This time we parked nicely, and did not damage the wooden railing as happened last time, and nobody fall on the docks as last time Kevin's Dad did. We finished our day with couple of drinks at the restaurant we docked.
3. Day 3 - Monday, Oct.14
We have to finish couple chores today - drop off some mail, find a hardware store to buy new locks for our boat, buy mosquito repellent (including Bounce and Listerine - as people say on internet), and walk to beach so I can swim last time at the Galveston beach. It was very nice not very long walk around - Galveston is not very big city.We got to the beach and I was absolutely happy to go to swim and play in the waves! But... i got sting by the jellyfish, it was pretty bad. Tried to clean poison with sand, salt water, coke, fresh water - still was hurting. Oh well, need to walk back home. On the way we stopped for a lunch at some little place in old town and made it back to the boat - still need to prepare for our departure tomorrow. It will be very long trip - 12 hours at least, offshore. Need to make it to the Sabine Lake Pass. Had after dinner drinks for Happy Hour at another restaurant we noticed from our boat - and had funny conversation with the waiter. And again... we get the same question we get from many other people
- how extensive your sailing experience is? It start making us nervous, because no, we don't have a lot of sailing experience, but we have some, and believe that we can make it anyway.
Well, maybe it's just our ignorance again... will see how we will progress.
4. Day 4 - Tuesday, Oct.15
Got up at 5 am, well, I kind of did not slip since 3:30am - was afraid to miss 5am get up time1. Today we take our Lucky Seven for first trip in the big sees. I bet she will like it!
Ate breakfast - "kasha" how Kevin calls it, oat bran plus oats, linen seed, water. Gets you full for some time.
And, at 6:30 am we are out for the big trip! The sunrise is at 7:15am, so it was still dark outside, however, all the water channels in Galveston are very well lit, no problem to drive the boat at night. Then we gradually entered ship channel, the water got rocky, broken waves, light wind. Huge cargo and tanker ships are sailing around us producing huge waives - I got scared for a while that boat will sink from the splashing waves. We were going for a while in this ship channel until Kevin figured out that we should not be at the place we entered - looked like a parking lot for the huge ships! Well, we still kind of new to the legends on the chart plotter - the purple broken line is marking the "parking lot" for those ships. Oh, well, we had to head down to get out of this mess. After we passed the last parked ship, the water seemed came down a bit, however a lot of rainy clouds around - to avoid complications we decided not to open up sails yet. Marina did not feel well afternoon and Kevin had to drive all the way himself for 6 hours. When sky cleared out a bit, we brought up our foresail and that brought up our boat speed up to 6.5 nm/hour. At some place closer to Lake Sabine entrance there was a creepy place with a lot of rigs making beeping noises, looked like a place from sci-fi movie.
But we finally made it to the Sabine Pass Marina - we missed to make reservations in time and were a bit nervous that we won't have a place to park for a night, but luckily for us marina had plenty of free slips suitable for our draft. We just took one - C13. Two very friendly guys rushed to us to help to park the boat, so landing was smooth. From talking with them we figured out that there is not much around this place - one convenient store nearby and we can use one of the guys track to drive there any time, and ,marina's showers/toilet. Luckily we still have food, water and fuel enough to take us to the next stops.
We were so tired from the long day offshore trip that went to slip earlier and slept very well.
5. Day 5 - Wed, Oct.16
It's nice to wake up later than 5am! Today should be very relaxing day (at least we thought so). We were planning to drive up to the next Marina - about 3 hours from Sabine Pass Marina - in Port Arthur. There are couple chores we have to do: deposit check to the bank, buy some protein for our provision, get some diesel maybe, find internet, etc. Before leaving we cleaned our boat after long trip yesterday: outside and inside, it looks white and shiny like a new again! We left about 12:30 hopping at 4 pm to be at the Pleasure Island Marina. At 3:45pm, very close to the Marina, we noticed on the chart plotter that there is no any entrances to that Marina from the ICW side, and, the entrance on the other side of lake is max 3 feet deep! We cannot enter this Marina, what do we do? Kevin remembered from one of the blogs he read that we can anchor at the Shell Island (the one up along ICM after Stewts Island). We could not locate Shell Island on the chart plotter but found some other little suitable place for anchoring right close to ICW. Made to that place, deepest 10 feet, it's ok, but it turned out a very busy place right on the V between Neuches port and continuation of ICW. Then we finally located a Shell island on the plotter and happily decided to move to that place for anchorage. Spent about 1 hour trying to anchor our boat at this place: twice our over-sized secure anchor
would not secure on the bottom! On the third time we dropped our second anchor, Danforth, that helped and seems that got hooked up to the bottom this time. But... at the time we were sure we are done, one boat with the fisherman stopped by and the guy told us that we don't want to anchor at this place, but rather the other one around a corner... well, we need to go over there then.
And, the same fisherman guy gave us a huge red fish he just got - for free! Wow! this is such a luck for us to meet him: got directions and dinner. Exactly in time, because I was already planning for tonight to have lentils again, and again, and again...We made it to the save anchorage place safely, got anchored from the first drop, Kevin cleaned a fish in the cockpit, Marina made delicious dinner from that fish and seems that today is not so bad, even thought we had times when we did not know where we are going to sleep tonight.
6. Day 6 - Thu, Oct.17
Morning was beautiful, there are couple fishermen boats around, our anchor hold us well all the night long. After breakfast we continued driving ICW. We got appointment for the Ellender Lift bridge at 3pm, but arrived to the bridge about 1.5hours before. We had to circle around and between 1000 feet barges and numerous tag boats. On channel 13 we finally got short conversations with the skippers of these floating monsters, mainly about what side of the boat they want us to pass them. Would be so much easier if we could just dock somewhere while waiting for the lift bridge, but nobody answered our request where we can dock. Finally we passed under the lifted bridge and drove to the Lake Charles, LA - our next stop, as we thought only for a night.It was a bit shallow approaching BowTie Marina, but the drive in this little bayou was beautiful - start getting that Louisiana scenery near the water, but not, we did not see alligators yet! BowTie Marina is mostly for the dry storage fishing boats, and we saw there only one 34" sailboat. They parked us at the Fuel dock, because they don't have a special docks for transient sailboats. But we were happy to feel hard ground under our feet after full day of driving. This Marina is a valet marina, so two young boys helped us to park, fill a diesel and directions to the local store. Our fist question was - where we can buy alcohol and cigarettes? Actually in LA you can buy all that stuff at the gas station, and this is what we did. Stores are in walkable distance to the Marina, however you have about 4 blocks of the Social Section 8 housing to pass before you get to the main safe street. That takes some nerves to walk in that area - poor, black, without income people are not friendly to the white stupid couple.
7. Day 7 - Fri, Oct.18
The toilets and shower are closed at BowTie after 5pm, when all the workers are left. So... it's not very convenient, and owners are showing up not earlier than 9am, so... yea.. not fun to wait for toilet. After breakfast we headed to downtown to find a bank, grocery store, wifi, and look around.
It's not significant little town where Chase bank even don't have a restrooms for the customers. We had lunch at Sha Sha's restaurant, food was good, even though we expected more specific Louisiana dishes. Found wifi at the Stellar Coffee house and worked all afternoon on our further route to Morgan City via ICW. On the way back bought groceries in Market Basket and walked back home (all trip in city and back took about 2 hours walking). And, yes... we had to cross this dangerous zone of section 8 again....
On the boat Kevin tried to put on the new alternator, because we think the original one is kind of defected - makes really weird noises when changing speeds and that sounds maybe indication of a big problem. So, we thought changing to the spare alternator would be safer for our driving. Turns out that the spare alternator doesn't have a pulley with it and we cannot attach it to the motor without it. Hmmm, start calling alternator/boat stores, but all of them were already closed. Tomorrow we will try to find auto stores and see what we can do for alternator.
8. Day 8 - Sat, Oct.19
What a beautiful mornings around here - scenery is amazing, very crispy weather, no mosquitoes anymore, very quiet, pretty big birds, but.. still no any alligators. Today we are determined to find a solution for our alternator, so, here we go again - crossing dangerous zone of section 8, getting much not friendly glances while walking through their territory, we are trying to ignore all that and Kevin is begging me not to run as a scarred
white girl (but I am!). We are on Lake street - we are safe and made it again. Today we went other way - industrial side of the town, walked long time, stopped at auto stores on the way, got a lunch at Casa Manana (Mexican in this place???) where we finally found all the white population of this town. We walked a lot and stopped by at many places but no luck for our alternator. Finally made it to the Lake Prien Mall, sitting at the Coffee kiosk found wifi and worked on our blog. So, we have to stay at BowTie marina at least until Tuesday.
9. Day 9 - Sun, Oct.20
During the night Marina heard a woman's scream in section 8, was not sure if needed to call for help our neighbors Coast Guards (Lake Charles Coast Guard station is the next dock to our boat), or to load our gun. Screams stopped but Marina could not sleep all night. Night was very cold - 46F, uhh, Kevin finally asked for a blanket.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
BowTie Marina, fixing the alternator
We arrived on, well actually this is a tough question. All the days start to blur. But Marina says it was Sat, I mean, Thursday night. The passage to this marina passed the largest rice exportation plant in the world, the largest LNG, and many other highly explosive chemical plants along the way.
Nevertheless, the surroundings near BowTie Marina are amazing
[pe2-image src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-R27XDGFVc-Q/UmEy40XQpSI/AAAAAAAAPWY/HqAjNg99r64/s144-o/IMAG4993.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936081735561291042" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4993.jpg" ]
Well, except for the Section 8 housing development you must pass through to get to the City. Will send pictures of that later. But we are not too concerned because here is our neighbors
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNG0MwVO4tJoDWFjzL931SlQkq9jp5BSpP4j5UNz34HNp4gGwZ8MXOQ3kcriUCqErDaghj3V2VDu2I71rww82cDiMP-cVyTrCqHv4OXHadGmCLS-EUs-MesEMy_5RjqyMuV_pJqOw70g/s144-o/IMAG4996.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936081924184967922" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4996.jpg" ]
These "kids", because they are only 20 something run around with 240 machine guns. They mean business.
The toilet and showers at the marina are unfortunately closed when the marina is closed. So from 5pm to 9am you have to hold it!!! We finally got to use our in house composting toilet with mixed results.
The nights are cool, 60 degrees or so, which is good to keep the mosquitoes away. The days have been overcast and cool as well.
We toured Lake Charles here are some shots
[pe2-image src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NhDoomIoBm8/UmFtnHbrVdI/AAAAAAAAPY4/8i4dzSALhkQ/s144-o/IMAG5005.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936146302628484562" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5005.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-0pQ7mKER-kY/UmFvEcicp-I/AAAAAAAAPZU/5nQD1xKqfSA/s144-o/IMAG5007.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936147906021861346" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5007.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcUR7ziL92FYWbzyc-BcrjbBbPw-6J7DhxhcgKC4CBJgBVBUc0WEVS7yLcRmyvDEuGVOh6k7soqY_KmwrGWay4yMq5qwS6l9n9JkUIJprlCjuHk4raw6biQ9o7sa-8FrJ94BM4veru7Y/s144-o/IMAG5008.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936148657863342850" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5008.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSaN8vMXoXZwC6gM52wJJX0P4owZ-FdT25KiyRcTU5SrpWtDu_VFLpRX8-3boxkX-DDEwd3CgZjpwp4yA_-xoO0IRsXY-_mHMUzKJBV8fwtKyASxeSxzkiZYTP2FpmB0kq0021nJhbJc/s144-o/IMAG5014.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936160984095868546" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5014.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LDQpNTxVVzw/UmKHEBZ1YgI/AAAAAAAAPck/IJuBAVnsHhI/s144-o/IMAG5022.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936455761993753090" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5022.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GrtS0w5M4SE/UmKI9IhwvyI/AAAAAAAAPeE/LIZgnh_tzj8/s144-o/IMAG5030.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936457842670223138" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5030.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LqjDj2zflKI/UmKMw_eWGFI/AAAAAAAAPfU/c597GXomHTc/s144-o/IMAG5033.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936462032128055378" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5033.jpg" ]
Nevertheless, the surroundings near BowTie Marina are amazing
[pe2-image src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-R27XDGFVc-Q/UmEy40XQpSI/AAAAAAAAPWY/HqAjNg99r64/s144-o/IMAG4993.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936081735561291042" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4993.jpg" ]
Well, except for the Section 8 housing development you must pass through to get to the City. Will send pictures of that later. But we are not too concerned because here is our neighbors
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNG0MwVO4tJoDWFjzL931SlQkq9jp5BSpP4j5UNz34HNp4gGwZ8MXOQ3kcriUCqErDaghj3V2VDu2I71rww82cDiMP-cVyTrCqHv4OXHadGmCLS-EUs-MesEMy_5RjqyMuV_pJqOw70g/s144-o/IMAG4996.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936081924184967922" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4996.jpg" ]
These "kids", because they are only 20 something run around with 240 machine guns. They mean business.
The toilet and showers at the marina are unfortunately closed when the marina is closed. So from 5pm to 9am you have to hold it!!! We finally got to use our in house composting toilet with mixed results.
The nights are cool, 60 degrees or so, which is good to keep the mosquitoes away. The days have been overcast and cool as well.
We toured Lake Charles here are some shots
[pe2-image src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NhDoomIoBm8/UmFtnHbrVdI/AAAAAAAAPY4/8i4dzSALhkQ/s144-o/IMAG5005.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936146302628484562" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5005.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-0pQ7mKER-kY/UmFvEcicp-I/AAAAAAAAPZU/5nQD1xKqfSA/s144-o/IMAG5007.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936147906021861346" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5007.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcUR7ziL92FYWbzyc-BcrjbBbPw-6J7DhxhcgKC4CBJgBVBUc0WEVS7yLcRmyvDEuGVOh6k7soqY_KmwrGWay4yMq5qwS6l9n9JkUIJprlCjuHk4raw6biQ9o7sa-8FrJ94BM4veru7Y/s144-o/IMAG5008.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936148657863342850" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5008.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSaN8vMXoXZwC6gM52wJJX0P4owZ-FdT25KiyRcTU5SrpWtDu_VFLpRX8-3boxkX-DDEwd3CgZjpwp4yA_-xoO0IRsXY-_mHMUzKJBV8fwtKyASxeSxzkiZYTP2FpmB0kq0021nJhbJc/s144-o/IMAG5014.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936160984095868546" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5014.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LDQpNTxVVzw/UmKHEBZ1YgI/AAAAAAAAPck/IJuBAVnsHhI/s144-o/IMAG5022.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936455761993753090" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5022.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GrtS0w5M4SE/UmKI9IhwvyI/AAAAAAAAPeE/LIZgnh_tzj8/s144-o/IMAG5030.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936457842670223138" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5030.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LqjDj2zflKI/UmKMw_eWGFI/AAAAAAAAPfU/c597GXomHTc/s144-o/IMAG5033.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/LakeCharlesLA#5936462032128055378" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG5033.jpg" ]
Sitting in the Lake Prien Mall updating blogs
This is where we sit to update blog posts until our alternator gets fixed
Pregnant Fish???
I know you might find this hard to believe....
We pulled into an anchorage for the night and tried to anchor for about 1 hour. After some time a fisherman showed up and said we should probably anchor in a different spot that had less current and better holding. Well It was all mud regardless where we went. But before he left, he asked if we wanted a redfish that he caught. Well, how could I say no, so we were given a redfish from the nice fisherman. Now we had to clean it, but first we had to anchor. In fact, we had to anchor fast, because it was getting dark and well, we don't like to travel at night for one thing, but more importantly, the mosquitoes. They are bad!!!!
We made it up to the next spot and anchored. I started chopping up the fish and noticed that this poor fish as a female. How did I know, well, easy, she had 4 baby fish inside her. Shortly after I started to feel bad that I just jihaded this poor mama with her children. Well, it was too late. The butchering continues. This information was shared with Marina and she felt sorta bad as well. Nevertheless we ate.
It was not until the next day that Marina shared this story with Anna, she informed us that, well I'm sure you understand. It was bait
[pe2-image src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hwjcp652rfs/Ul8lSqEWmyI/AAAAAAAAPMM/-A6YawU-7Wc/s144-o/IMAG4953.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/ShellIslandLAAnchorage#5935503836358023970" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4953.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5-eb2YF1WF8/Ul8mpYNtGpI/AAAAAAAAPM4/quQSSqzmSoo/s144-o/VIDEO0012.png" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/ShellIslandLAAnchorage#5935505326214027922" caption="" type="video" alt="VIDEO0012.mp4" ]
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We pulled into an anchorage for the night and tried to anchor for about 1 hour. After some time a fisherman showed up and said we should probably anchor in a different spot that had less current and better holding. Well It was all mud regardless where we went. But before he left, he asked if we wanted a redfish that he caught. Well, how could I say no, so we were given a redfish from the nice fisherman. Now we had to clean it, but first we had to anchor. In fact, we had to anchor fast, because it was getting dark and well, we don't like to travel at night for one thing, but more importantly, the mosquitoes. They are bad!!!!
We made it up to the next spot and anchored. I started chopping up the fish and noticed that this poor fish as a female. How did I know, well, easy, she had 4 baby fish inside her. Shortly after I started to feel bad that I just jihaded this poor mama with her children. Well, it was too late. The butchering continues. This information was shared with Marina and she felt sorta bad as well. Nevertheless we ate.
It was not until the next day that Marina shared this story with Anna, she informed us that, well I'm sure you understand. It was bait
[pe2-image src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hwjcp652rfs/Ul8lSqEWmyI/AAAAAAAAPMM/-A6YawU-7Wc/s144-o/IMAG4953.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/ShellIslandLAAnchorage#5935503836358023970" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4953.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5-eb2YF1WF8/Ul8mpYNtGpI/AAAAAAAAPM4/quQSSqzmSoo/s144-o/VIDEO0012.png" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/ShellIslandLAAnchorage#5935505326214027922" caption="" type="video" alt="VIDEO0012.mp4" ]
[pe2-image src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-PECG0u90IVs/Ul8m6INKjMI/AAAAAAAAPNY/N1OPEnt2BWM/s144-o/VIDEO0013.png" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/ShellIslandLAAnchorage#5935505613974572226" caption="" type="video" alt="VIDEO0013.mp4" ]
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
The people we meet...
The main two I speak of are called "Old Salts", I believe that is the nomenclature. They have been around boating for way too long and probably sailed a few times as well. Actually they have probably spent too much time at sea. They don't have a lot of good things to say and the world always seems to fighting against their life's progression.
Our first guy we met, we will call him Mickey, he was down on his luck. The poor guy was having issues with his steel sailboat. I think it was a sailboat. His boat was "on the hard", in a boat marina on land being worked on. He seemed to have an issue with the diesel cooling tubes he had installed a while back. Mind you these steel 2 inch tubes were outside his boat right next to the keel and ran the length of the boat. The idea being, pass the diesel fuel through the tubes and cool the diesel so it....runs better, I have no idea. The first thought was engine cooling, maybe one of them were engine cooler and one diesel cooler. He did not want to have any salt water come into his boat, so he welded pipes onto the bottom of the boat and ran hot fluids through them to have them cooled by the sea water. Most boats take the sea water in, pass through a heat exchanger and send it back out warmer. Not Mickey. The boat yard people were pretty amazed at the set up as well.
But Mickey's real problem was finding a decent welder to fix the problem. To his credit, he managed to find the 3 worst welders in town. The problem is it costs money to sit in a boat yard, a lot of money. So he was burning through money he did not have to get his boat fixed. The last time we saw him was when we left the marina after we launched our boat. We did go back a week later and he was gone. We figured he was there 2 weeks. His next stop was Honduras or Nicaragua, it was cheap to live there.
The next guy was a Russian we met here at legend point. He didn't have a lot of good things to say in Russian, I got the translated version. He was telling stories to Marina that one does not like to write about. The kind of stories that will scare you from ever leaving the dock. We also believe he thought I was taking Marina against her will on this boat. He questioned me as well as Marina about this. Nope...we are both idiots :-)
He purchased his boat in Antigua and came back to the US with a few unexpected stops along the way.
Our first guy we met, we will call him Mickey, he was down on his luck. The poor guy was having issues with his steel sailboat. I think it was a sailboat. His boat was "on the hard", in a boat marina on land being worked on. He seemed to have an issue with the diesel cooling tubes he had installed a while back. Mind you these steel 2 inch tubes were outside his boat right next to the keel and ran the length of the boat. The idea being, pass the diesel fuel through the tubes and cool the diesel so it....runs better, I have no idea. The first thought was engine cooling, maybe one of them were engine cooler and one diesel cooler. He did not want to have any salt water come into his boat, so he welded pipes onto the bottom of the boat and ran hot fluids through them to have them cooled by the sea water. Most boats take the sea water in, pass through a heat exchanger and send it back out warmer. Not Mickey. The boat yard people were pretty amazed at the set up as well.
But Mickey's real problem was finding a decent welder to fix the problem. To his credit, he managed to find the 3 worst welders in town. The problem is it costs money to sit in a boat yard, a lot of money. So he was burning through money he did not have to get his boat fixed. The last time we saw him was when we left the marina after we launched our boat. We did go back a week later and he was gone. We figured he was there 2 weeks. His next stop was Honduras or Nicaragua, it was cheap to live there.
The next guy was a Russian we met here at legend point. He didn't have a lot of good things to say in Russian, I got the translated version. He was telling stories to Marina that one does not like to write about. The kind of stories that will scare you from ever leaving the dock. We also believe he thought I was taking Marina against her will on this boat. He questioned me as well as Marina about this. Nope...we are both idiots :-)
He purchased his boat in Antigua and came back to the US with a few unexpected stops along the way.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
200 feet of 3/8 chain
[singlepic id=14 w=300 h=100 ]
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[pe2-image src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Rl2DjgY7Fw8/UktD5dUy1oI/AAAAAAAAObs/A_GjTs19fzU/s144-o/IMAG4761.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/AnchorAndChain#5929907988766840450" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4761.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlv3okSL8EpUxo3YxC5OCOwYkorF1ZSJQLwaZvW_-kEjxP2utdKNHKa3Xr5vzHqkBHOX0_fRlbtE0GqfPDUOcLhmEwen78SUFAWkz1xQu8FBINEhxi0Evs7lvcLhWEQc25qkXVlgoGqzA/s144-o/IMAG4762.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113758362718683506275/AnchorAndChain#5929908078651856498" caption="" type="image" alt="IMAG4762.jpg" ]
Monday, September 30, 2013
Chain...we have it!
200' of 3/8" G4 or G43 (not sure which) chain. It's heavy and West Marine said boats starting at 80' should be using this chain. I guess we want to feel safe, considering our boat is half that size.
Filled up our first diesel tank, in fact, over filled it. Had to take some out and burn some. Not sure how we know when these tanks are full.
The only thing left is a tooth, doctor and sell 2 cars.
Filled up our first diesel tank, in fact, over filled it. Had to take some out and burn some. Not sure how we know when these tanks are full.
The only thing left is a tooth, doctor and sell 2 cars.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Somehow we are still working on getting the boat ready.
Yes, it's hot! But it's getting cooler at night. That certainly helps with moral.
I patched some more holes in the dinghy. Maybe tomorrow it will float, the prop should be here tomorrow as well. We may actually go for a ride by tomorrow, maybe Thursday.
Marina is working on keeping us cool. Her latest job is extending the bimini so it covers us some more. The sun can be brutal and the shade certainly helps the situation.
Our planned departure is in about 2 weeks. I have to go to the dentist on Oct 7th for my implant, after that we are free to go. We should be ready by then.
Had an issue with the solar panels..seems the y connectors are junk and the connections came loose. Spent 2 days wondering why the solar controller was in Night mode. It had no juice from the panels. Got that fixed.
Had a plumbing issue. drains in the kitchen sink leaked. Had to rebuild that mess. It's better, still needs some work.
I patched some more holes in the dinghy. Maybe tomorrow it will float, the prop should be here tomorrow as well. We may actually go for a ride by tomorrow, maybe Thursday.
Marina is working on keeping us cool. Her latest job is extending the bimini so it covers us some more. The sun can be brutal and the shade certainly helps the situation.
Our planned departure is in about 2 weeks. I have to go to the dentist on Oct 7th for my implant, after that we are free to go. We should be ready by then.
Had an issue with the solar panels..seems the y connectors are junk and the connections came loose. Spent 2 days wondering why the solar controller was in Night mode. It had no juice from the panels. Got that fixed.
Had a plumbing issue. drains in the kitchen sink leaked. Had to rebuild that mess. It's better, still needs some work.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
This helps with any uncertainty
Best 40 Cruising Sailboats
Guess who won. You have to flip through all 40 images to see. Nevertheless, it's worth the clicking.
Guess who won. You have to flip through all 40 images to see. Nevertheless, it's worth the clicking.
The heat is gone and the rain set in and we look like Gypsies
We don't have the heat problem any more...now we have rain, and a lot of it.
It has been raining for about 24 hours and hopefully it will end soon.
The solar panels are up, and then the clouds came.
The condo is closed. woohoo!!!!!
Monday, September 16, 2013
2 Days as liveaboards.
It's not all its cracked up to be!
We spent the past 2 days unpacking and throwing stuff away. Not sure if the boat is actually going to move anymore, too much stuff. Marina managed to fit all our clothes into 2 small closets. She says I have more clothes than she does. I didn't count.
We have also been busy installing our second solar panel. We now have 450 Watts of solar and a wind turbine that works...when the wind blows. Where we are at, the wind rarely blows. So we chose to cover up.
Marina sewed a bimini for us, that helps a bunch and we put a big grey tarp over the rest of the boat. We now look like Gypsies. We thought we lost the bimini for a while, but she found it. Had a small melt down, but recovered rather quickly.
Showers are still the best part of the day. Hot and sweaty all day. That shower and a rum and coke is beyond wonderful. Actually the shower is better than the rum and coke. Imagine spending all day outside in 91 degree weather and 91% humidity. Now work!!!!! Work hard. Try to hide from the sun, good luck. It has a way of finding you. The windows open to let the breeze in, oh wait, no wind over here, instead the sun fills it's absence. Marina was lying on the floor with her legs on the mast trying to keep cool. There are 4 little fans that run constantly. All they do is push the hot air around.
We did rented a movie last night. That was nice. After a while you actually forget you are on a boat. The sweat behind your back and legs seems to feel quite nice when the fan blows on you. It's almost paradise.
we are sitting in Randalls using the wifi, but no power outlets. Time is limited, must type fast. Marina just bought ice cream and some food. How in the world do we plan to keep the ice cream frozen? I guess we have to eat it all....now!
I had iced coffee. Do you think we miss ice? We have bag of ice in the fridge, it melts and drains into the bildge. That's not bad, except in the middle of the night when the bildge pump kicks on and scares you to death thinking the boat is sinking, on top of that the window hatch slams shut for some reason. This is startling as well in the middle of the night. Speaking of sinking, I am on boat watch duty. The guy next too us has several problems he shared with me. He has a diesel leak into the bildge, the Shaft seal leaks salt water into the bildge and ...on top of that the bildge pump does not work. :-) He want's me to watch the boat...uh sink. He has a bigger bildge pump that kicks on when there is a foot of water in the bildge. I check on it daily and kick it on to keep the water level low. He's a good guy.
well, must eat the ice cream before marina finished it all.
We spent the past 2 days unpacking and throwing stuff away. Not sure if the boat is actually going to move anymore, too much stuff. Marina managed to fit all our clothes into 2 small closets. She says I have more clothes than she does. I didn't count.
We have also been busy installing our second solar panel. We now have 450 Watts of solar and a wind turbine that works...when the wind blows. Where we are at, the wind rarely blows. So we chose to cover up.
Marina sewed a bimini for us, that helps a bunch and we put a big grey tarp over the rest of the boat. We now look like Gypsies. We thought we lost the bimini for a while, but she found it. Had a small melt down, but recovered rather quickly.
Showers are still the best part of the day. Hot and sweaty all day. That shower and a rum and coke is beyond wonderful. Actually the shower is better than the rum and coke. Imagine spending all day outside in 91 degree weather and 91% humidity. Now work!!!!! Work hard. Try to hide from the sun, good luck. It has a way of finding you. The windows open to let the breeze in, oh wait, no wind over here, instead the sun fills it's absence. Marina was lying on the floor with her legs on the mast trying to keep cool. There are 4 little fans that run constantly. All they do is push the hot air around.
We did rented a movie last night. That was nice. After a while you actually forget you are on a boat. The sweat behind your back and legs seems to feel quite nice when the fan blows on you. It's almost paradise.
we are sitting in Randalls using the wifi, but no power outlets. Time is limited, must type fast. Marina just bought ice cream and some food. How in the world do we plan to keep the ice cream frozen? I guess we have to eat it all....now!
I had iced coffee. Do you think we miss ice? We have bag of ice in the fridge, it melts and drains into the bildge. That's not bad, except in the middle of the night when the bildge pump kicks on and scares you to death thinking the boat is sinking, on top of that the window hatch slams shut for some reason. This is startling as well in the middle of the night. Speaking of sinking, I am on boat watch duty. The guy next too us has several problems he shared with me. He has a diesel leak into the bildge, the Shaft seal leaks salt water into the bildge and ...on top of that the bildge pump does not work. :-) He want's me to watch the boat...uh sink. He has a bigger bildge pump that kicks on when there is a foot of water in the bildge. I check on it daily and kick it on to keep the water level low. He's a good guy.
well, must eat the ice cream before marina finished it all.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Well...we have more time.
As it turns out, the condo is not going to close tomorrow like it was supposed to. Actually it was supposed to close 13 days ago, but that didn't happen either. So, we have until probably at least Monday to either be here or head to Clear Lake Shores. That is nice because it gives us more time to sort through our stuff and do other stuff that needs to be done. Like I have a fridge in Georgetown that is not working, just received that call a little bit ago.
Also managed to put the lower end of the outboard together today. I was waiting on the impeller and it showed up in the mail today. So that is done. Now I just need a propeller, gasket for the carb and a fuel quick disconnect, then she should be running like a champ. Hold your breath.
Thats all for now. I must finish my taxes as much as possible today
Also managed to put the lower end of the outboard together today. I was waiting on the impeller and it showed up in the mail today. So that is done. Now I just need a propeller, gasket for the carb and a fuel quick disconnect, then she should be running like a champ. Hold your breath.
Thats all for now. I must finish my taxes as much as possible today
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
It's Wednesday and we sure have a lot of stuff. 2 Days left
We are out of the condo on Friday at 3pm. Wow...we really need to get rid of some more stuff.
Our friend Steve, whom we met through Ken and Tina, gave us a wealth of good supplies last night. THANK YOU!!!!!....
I handed over the reins to my dad for property management. I am sure he can do it, it's just hard letting go of the empire. There will be trying times, but we will make it through.
Marina is out with the girls tonight, our friends Joe and Gillian just returned from Belize so they have stories to share.
I worked on that damn Pfaff 130 again. I think it's in better shape this time. It needed some WD40. Now it shakes the whole condo complex when it runs.
Tomorrow we pack more and close on our remodel that both Marina and my dad helped with. It turned out great and sold fast. Just like it was supposed to. When I come back, I might flip houses some more. It's fun!!!
Well must pack some and look busy when Marina gets home.
Our friend Steve, whom we met through Ken and Tina, gave us a wealth of good supplies last night. THANK YOU!!!!!....
I handed over the reins to my dad for property management. I am sure he can do it, it's just hard letting go of the empire. There will be trying times, but we will make it through.
Marina is out with the girls tonight, our friends Joe and Gillian just returned from Belize so they have stories to share.
I worked on that damn Pfaff 130 again. I think it's in better shape this time. It needed some WD40. Now it shakes the whole condo complex when it runs.
Tomorrow we pack more and close on our remodel that both Marina and my dad helped with. It turned out great and sold fast. Just like it was supposed to. When I come back, I might flip houses some more. It's fun!!!
Well must pack some and look busy when Marina gets home.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
5 days and counting
Well, it is getting closer.
We spent the weekend at the boat doing some more odd jobs that we think need to be completed before we move aboard on Saturday. What odd jobs you might ask...
1) fix leaky fuel injectors
2) Change Oil in the Iron Giant
3) Varnish the floors
4) Find the hole in the dinghy
5) hook up the radar
6) alphabetize the boat documents ( this was no small challenge)
7) Dodger has the bars put up, but no canvas yet
8) measure for the bimini, Marina is sewing it, I am not sure she is having fun
9) order pieces to put up the 2nd solar panel
10) put the leg on the table...now it stands on it's own.
Don't worry we have many more tasks that are still to be done.
The good news is we have a contract on both properties, and they both close this week. At least they are supposed to close this week, time will tell.
Friday night we are spending at Juan's and then driving to Houston to visit Anna and Taya to drop off more stuff.
I am working on the outboard today, should have it running today. I hope. Have new carburator and fuel pump. Oh...just realized..no prop. Guess that will have to wait.
More packing this week and going to a guy's house we met with ken and tina to look through his attic for more stuff we may or may not need.
We spent the weekend at the boat doing some more odd jobs that we think need to be completed before we move aboard on Saturday. What odd jobs you might ask...
1) fix leaky fuel injectors
2) Change Oil in the Iron Giant
3) Varnish the floors
4) Find the hole in the dinghy
5) hook up the radar
6) alphabetize the boat documents ( this was no small challenge)
7) Dodger has the bars put up, but no canvas yet
8) measure for the bimini, Marina is sewing it, I am not sure she is having fun
9) order pieces to put up the 2nd solar panel
10) put the leg on the table...now it stands on it's own.
Don't worry we have many more tasks that are still to be done.
The good news is we have a contract on both properties, and they both close this week. At least they are supposed to close this week, time will tell.
Friday night we are spending at Juan's and then driving to Houston to visit Anna and Taya to drop off more stuff.
I am working on the outboard today, should have it running today. I hope. Have new carburator and fuel pump. Oh...just realized..no prop. Guess that will have to wait.
More packing this week and going to a guy's house we met with ken and tina to look through his attic for more stuff we may or may not need.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
House warming party at Lena and Rons House
Once again, the food was wonderful and the company was delicious
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Leaving Double Bayou in the AM
Here we are motoring away from the Hurricane Restaurant and the slip we stayed at. We were the only boat at the dock of 16 slips. Other than a family of fisher people sitting on the dock, this place was quiet. The restaurant was decent, mainly women at the restaurant....that was odd for a Saturday night out.
Harbor House Hotel and Marina at Pier 21, Galveston TX
| Lat Lon | [types field="latitude" id=""][/types] [types field="longitude" id=""][/types] | [wpvoting] | |
| Slips | 5 | $[types field="cost-of-slip" id=""][/types]/ft | |
| Power | [types field="shore-power-30-50-amp" id=""][/types] | ||
| Restaurants | [types field="restaurants" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="restaurants" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types] | Many restaurants within walking distance | |
| Showers | [types field="showers" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="showers" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types] | ||
| Bathrooms | [types field="bathrooms-available" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="bathrooms-available" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types](shared with restaurant) | ||
| Transient Slips | [types field="transient-slips-yachts" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="transient-slips-yachts" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types] | ||
| Contact Phone Number | [types field="contact-phone-number" id=""][/types] | ||
| Fuel | [types field="fuel-gas-diesel" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="fuel-gas-diesel" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types] | ||
| WebSite | [types field="website-url-address" title="WebSite" id=""][/types] | ||
| Water Available | [types field="water-available" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="water-available" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types] | ||
| Haul Out | [types field="haul-out" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="haul-out" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types] | ||
| Anchoring | [types field="anchorage" state="checked" id=""]Yes[/types][types field="anchorage" state="unchecked" id=""]No[/types] | ||
| [codepeople-post-map] | |||
Job Beason Park, Double Bayou, Texas
| Lat Lon | 29° 39' 17 -94° 41' 28 | [wpvoting] | |
| Slips | 16 | ||
| Power | 50/30 amp | ||
| Food | Hurricanes Restaurant | ||
| Amenities | Showers, Bathrooms, Park, Picnic Tables | ||
| [codepeople-post-map] | |||
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
We are sailing!
First time under both sails: genoa and main. The staysail is still at the the Pedro's sailmakers shop - taking "island" time to fix it.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Our condo is pending...I sure hope it sells
The potential buyers already moved their boat lift to our slip. They have not even signed the contract yet. As I see it, we got ourselves a lift. That was nice of them. Joe and Gilans boat is sitting nicely on it.
Unfortunately the lift we purchased has sprung a leak. We have not even moved it out of the sellers slip yet. granted it's been 30 days, probably should do that. But first must go patch the hole in the lift. Joys of boat lift ownership.
Unfortunately the lift we purchased has sprung a leak. We have not even moved it out of the sellers slip yet. granted it's been 30 days, probably should do that. But first must go patch the hole in the lift. Joys of boat lift ownership.
I wonder if the boat is still floating...
Need to install a camera so I can check on it periodically...ok ..all the time
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
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