When I last
finished the blog, we had just arrived at our new home on North Padre Island
after finishing our trip down the rivers and through the Gulf of Mexico. Since that time, we have done major
remodeling to our townhome, met many new friends and acquaintances and just
really settled into south Texas living. We are proud and happy to report that
Texans are a friendly bunch and we love our new home. Now I must admit, we DO miss our children/grandchildren
up north and have made a number of trips up there to stay attached.
Steve has
had one (perhaps more than one) bucket list item that he has just WANTED to
accomplish…..a sail across the Gulf.
Mind you, this is NOT on my list, so we compromised and he found someone
that thought that sounded like a great plan, too. So, all summer he was very busy getting our
boat ready for this trip. We now have a
new air-conditioner/heating unit, a solar panel, new radar system and the list
goes on and on. The target date to begin
this adventure was the end of October.
(My plan was to fly up north to see the kids and then fly to Key West to
meet him!) Steve even enlisted the help of a weatherman to help him with winds
and weather conditions. I left on Oct.
26th for Indiana and the boats (another friend, his wife and a crew
member left at the same time on their boat) left on Nov. 1st (for a
7 – 8 day cruise). To make a LONG story
short, from the get go, they encountered 40 + mph winds, rough seas AND the other
boat had its sail ripped and had to head to South Padre. FINALLY, the weatherman highly suggested that
after 350 + miles and strong winds forming over Florida, Steve and crew member
Hank, either head for Mexico or Grand Isle on the Mississippi Delta. The later was the closest, so after two and a
half days they landed on Grand Isle.
Just a couple of comments from Steve kind of gave me an idea of how the
trip was on the Gulf. The first was when
he told Hank (his crew member) after his four hour watch one night, “I’m so
glad it is dark and I can’t really see anything or else I would probably be
scared!!!!” The other was a comment he
made to me about the boat after they were on land again…”the inside of the boat
looks like someone picked it up and shook it all around!” The good news was, they made it to land and
they have lots of memories and tales!
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| Out on the Gulf. The Calm Before the Wind |
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| Hank Enjoying the Ride in Big Waves |
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| More Bigger Waves |
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| And Even Bigger Waves Yehaa!!!!!! |
When life
gives you lemons, hopefully you can make lemonade, right? Well, after Steve and Hank landed they were
aided by a wonderful gentleman named Andy and his wife, Sue. They helped move the boat to a great marina,
invited him to dinner and to watch football at their home and were the
ambassadors for Grand Isle. I arrived on
Tuesday, Nov. 12 and Steve picked me up at the closest airport which was New Orleans. While I was on Grand Isle, they included both
of us with invites to dinner at delicious restaurants and informed us about
southern Louisiana life. Crawfish season
has just started, so one evening Andy, Sue and Steve each ordered five pounds
of those “guys” and feasted away. I’m
more of a shrimp boil kind of girl and that was wonderful, too. So, today Steve and I have headed out on our
journey to south Florida, but we will be going through Mississippi Sound,
Mobile Bay and all points east on the western coast of Florida down to perhaps
the Keys. When you are sailors, you just
have to wait for the right weather and wind conditions. So, folks, stay tuned and I will continue to
blog our adventures again just like last year!
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| Nancy, Steve with Sue, and Andy - Best Host/Hostess on Grand Isle |
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| Getting Ready to Leave Grand Isle |
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| Kathryn at Grand Isle |
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| Pirates Cove at Grand Isle |
