We’re BACK!
Yes, we are back on board Kathryn once again and
on our voyage to Corpus Christi. Before
I give you the “low down” on our trip, I need to go back over the past
month. When you last heard from us, we
were headed to our townhome in Corpus.
We had two weeks to order new furniture, start some painting projects
and just get reacquainted with Texas.
Our plans changed quite unexpectedly, when we received word from my
brothers that Mom had suffered a stroke.
The following weeks ended with Mom being placed under Hospice care and
she passed away Nov. 15th. We
had a beautiful Celebration of Life service for her at the church she has
attended (our whole family, too) since she and Dad were married. She was a wonderful, accomplished 90 year old
woman (the church organist for 58 years) and is now with the Lord and my Dad.
Nina Kimm 12-5-1921 - 11-25-2012 Banner at Funeral |
Bill, our crew hand, had headed back to Michigan
to get Jeannie. She had broken her ankle
in June and had just finished physical therapy the first week in November. They headed south and met us in Mobile on
Nov. 27th. So, the crew was
ready to GO!
The plan that DIDN’T happen!
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Kathryn at Turner Marine in Mobile with mast and sails |
Our plan for our trip to TX was going to be a 5
day Gulf crossing (straight across the Gulf to Corpus). We had checked with our “weather man, Chris
Parker” and the weather was going to be great with no storms….hoooray! Thursday, November 29th was sunny
and cool as we left Dog River Marina on Mobile Bay. We started south out of the
Bay and passed many ships since we were in the ship channel. This is a safe place for pleasure boats,
since we did NOT want to run into an oil rig at sea. We were quite giddy seeing the dolphins
following the giant ships and our boat.
I just love those “guys”! We had
JUST passed the barrier islands and Steve and Bill decided to put up the main
sail when trouble started! Our original
main sail (which was on our list of things to purchase for the boat) got a
tear!!!! For non-sailors, this means the
sail would either tear more, or not be effective for our sail. SO….plan B came into play! We needed to take Mississippi Sound across to
Lake Pontchartrain and then to the Gulf Inter-Coastal Waterway (GIW). This, of course, would make the trip much
longer and Steve had been so excited to make a Gulf crossing. So, that is where we are now.
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Dog River Marina ready for Christmas |
One of may Oil Rigs in the Gulf |
Lots of Ships head out of Mobile Bay |
Mississippi Sound and Lake Pontchartrain
The 1st night we anchored along
Daulphin Island which is a barrier island along the Alabama coast. From there, we headed for Cat Island with its
white sand beaches for our second anchorage.
Sailing along Mississippi Sound is quite peaceful and beautiful. You’re really not far off shore, so you can
see Biloxi and Gulf Port in the distance.
All along this area, we were delighted once again by our dolphin
friends! Just about this time is when I
caught a “bug” that left me feeling kind of “punk” and coughing all of the
time. Good thing I had a nice crew and
they didn’t throw me overboard! There
are just so many places to be on a sailboat (:
Saturday, late in the afternoon we arrived at the north shore of Lake
Pontchartrain at the Oak Harbor Marina.
They had all of the creature comforts we wanted and a seafood restaurant
on sight. At the restaurant that
evening, they had many pictures of the destruction Katrina had caused in the
area. The boats in the harbor, were we
were docked, had all been tossed onshore right into the condos! What a sight!
My next blog will take us through New Orleans
and into the GIW…stay tuned.
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Sunset on Mississippi Sound |
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Leaving Oak Harbor at first light |