Good Morning from Biloxi, MS.! Nov. 22, 2013

All good things must come to an end (:  New Orleans was a wonderful marina and city to visit, but the weather and the winds were calling our names.  If we can get to Florida by mid-December, we must keep moving.  We headed down the Industrial Channel and backtracked a couple of miles to get into the Inter Coastal Waterway (ICW).  The bridge “gods” were with us and everything opened magically as we passed underneath!  A 25 mile “run” up the ICW to Rabbit Island was our goal for the day.  It turned out to be a sunny, cool day for a ride and we arrived early at the anchorage and threw out the anchor.  For you non-sailors, an anchorage such as this is usually rather secluded and off the main waterway for safety reason.  So, it was Steve, Nancy and the boat….in the distance was a railroad bridge, but that was it!  We did “rig up” our TV using our batteries, but you basically make your own entertainment.  I got my “Martha Stewart” apron on and made beer batter bread and a pasta dinner.  The beer bread package was a going away gift from some dear Yacht club members who were sailors.  Bev told us that a nice hot loaf of bread on a chilly night really hit the spot AND it did!

We had a great time in the French Quarters, but it's time to go

Ready to leave Pontchartrain Landing

Can you see them? There are three bridges we need to pass under, two have to be raised.

Dinner at Rabbit Island

We woke up to howling winds from down in our cabin!!!!  Decisions, decisions, decisions!  Do we make our planned trip to Biloxi, turn back and go into New Orleans again, OR stay put at Rabbit Island???????  Well, we decided to give it a whirl and head for Biloxi.  We entered the Gulf a few miles from our anchorage.  This part of the Gulf is north and is referred to as Mississippi Sound.  There are barrier islands that protect the coastline along LA., MS, and AL.  I am the girl who has trouble with rough seas and seasickness, so I stayed above board as much as possible for our eight hour trip.  We had seas of three to five foot waves….according to Steve not too bad after his past experiences in the Gulf!  The good news is, we made it and are tied up in a lovely marina right on the beach in Biloxi.

For those of you who do not remember the Katrina ordeal, Biloxi, MS was, also, hard hit by Katrina.  The main industry here is tourism and gambling.  Kessler Air Force base is in Biloxi, too.  The marinas, casinos and everything along the beaches were wiped out.  The dockmaster who helped us tie up, said they are on their last phase of reconstruction with a fuel dock/bait shop here in the marina.  So, everything is new and inviting (especially their showers…just like a hotel). We wandered over to the Hard Rock Casino last night for a bite to eat…our boat is right in its shadow.  Along the coast/beach are many other high rise casinos, too.  One problem, Steve and Nancy aren’t big gamblers, but, who knows?????? Today is “cleaning day” on the boat and then on to exploring our surroundings.  Stay tuned, I’m sure we will find an adventure or some interesting folks here in Mississippi.  In fact, last night our neighboring boat owners invited us for Thanksgiving dinner if the winds and weather don’t improve by that time.  Gotta love boaters…they’re the best!

Hard Rock Casino next to our Marina

Newly Rebuilt Marina Office and Showers

And We’re On Our Way…November 16, 2013

Saturday morning, Nov. 16^th, was a bright and sunny day to begin our long journey to Florida.  Steve had been in Grand Isle, LA for over a week and was ready to “start our engines”.  We would be traveling North to New Orleans in the Barataria channel, so the sails would not be necessary. As we left Pirate’s Cove and headed for the channel, we were surrounded by dolphins.  I believe they were having a party off of Grand Isle, because I have NEVER seen so many of these lovely creatures all together in any of our travels.  Traveling up a channel isn’t really too exciting….lots of water birds, shrimp boats, fishing boats (and these people LOVE to fish) and lots of bayou country!  Our destination the first night was Joe’s Landing in LaFitte, LA.  The pictures will tell you this was a fisherman’s marina…not too fancy, just a place to land your boat for the night.  As usual, the people who run these establishments are the friendliest kind of people.  In fact, Joe, the owner was sitting inside just greeting guests as we came inside to “settle up”.

Joe's Landing

Cleaning Fish

Lots of Boats... This one is for you Melissa



Cemetery Along the Intracoastal Waterway




One of many Shrimp Boats on the Barataria Channel



 

Sunday was the day we needed to get through the city of New Orleans via the waterways.  For a sailboat, this includes having a series of bridges “ lifted” for our mast to fit, as well as to go through  two locks.  We may think we are “special” but the barges get “more special” treatment.  SO, you WAIT and WAIT and WAIT.  One lock took us an hour and a half.  At another, we were locked in with a large barge and had to tie up to it so we didn’t get bounced around….yikers, this is not what I signed up for!  As you can tell, we made it through all of these adventures and got to Pontchartrain Landing Marina/RV Park by late afternoon.  This is a beautiful facility that was built since Katrina. 



Cruise Ships in Downtown New Orleans



St. Louis Cathedral from the Mississippi

 

The park has a shuttle that takes you downtown to the French Quarters, so that is where we spent yesterday afternoon and evening.  Also, the people we met in Grand Isle, Sue and Andy, were in the city for business and were able to join us.  It really helps to have people who know the area to show you around. We walked, shopped, ate, listened to music and had a driving tour of the city.  I fell in love with the homes in the Garden District….so beautiful and massive.  It’s hard to believe what this city went through eight years ago with Katrina.  In fact, the demolished 9^th ward, that was televised so much on the news, is quite close to us in the marina and Lake Pontchartrain.  Unbelievable!



Andrew Jackson in Jackson Square

Café Du Monde

Christmas in the French Quarters



Nancy, Steve, Sue, and Andy

 

We are getting ready to set sail tomorrow for Biloxi, Mississippi. The cold fronts that have brought storms and winds to the Midwest are playing a bit of havoc with the temperatures and winds in this part of the country, too.  We’ll stay in touch once we are back in a comfy marina all tied up at the docks.  Good-bye from Nola J

Prologue - Heading for the Keys

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!

Out on the Gulf.  The Calm Before the Wind

Hank Enjoying the Ride in Big Waves

More Bigger Waves

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!

Nancy, Steve with Sue, and Andy - Best Host/Hostess on Grand Isle

Getting Ready to Leave Grand Isle

Kathryn at Grand Isle

Pirates Cove at Grand Isle

  

We’ve Sailed Kathryn Home!

We have, indeed, sailed SV Kathryn home to North Padre Island!  What a tremendous adventure it has been.  Thank you to all of our family and friends who have “sailed” along with us from Lake Michigan, Mobile Bay and now Corpus Christi, TX.  We made it!!!

We left Galveston, TX on Tuesday morning…it was cold, sunny and still blowing a bit!  Our destination was out of Galveston Bay and back into the GIWW…one more time.  We were headed to Freeport, TX and then on to Corpus.  Jeanie and Nancy kind of “wimped” out on this sail do to the chilly temps.  Plus, we’d “been there, done that” with all of the refineries and barges.  We were pleasantly surprised with the lovely new marina in Freeport.  On top of that, the dock master gave us a ride downtown to a lovely restaurant that was named one of the top 40 restaurants in Texas.  This was our LAST dinner out before the trip ended.  The last supper, so to speak J.

Baby it's cold outside!



Oil Rig Assembly.. Texas Gold

Lift Bridge at Galveston

Freeport Municipal Marina



Tide Control Gate at Freeport

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12-12-12 to 12-13-12

We sailed out of Freeport and into the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday AM.  Our course was to sail at a southwest angle and hit the safe ship zone.  There are just too many oil rigs/platforms in the Gulf and we did not want to hit one sailing at night.  Our trip would be a 24-30 hour sail.  The problem with sailing in December is the short amount of daylight and long periods of darkness.  At night we needed to take “watches”, so we decided on 3 hour watches for each couple.  Steve and I took the 9 – 12 watch, Bill and Jeanie the next three and so on throughout the night.  The only problem with the plan was a case of seasickness that hit the crew.  Steve was the only person not effected,,,we won’t go into any other details.  Let’s just say we made it! J  At 7:30, we left the Gulf and passed into Port Aransas which is at the tip of North Padre Island.  The sun was shining beautifully, the water was calm and the dolphins were there to escourt us!  I just love dolphins and they were quite playful that morning!  It was another 18 miles to get us past Corpus Christi Bay and then under the Kennedy Causeway Bridge that takes cars to the Island.  It had been a joke between Steve and me, that he wanted me to swim to shore and take a picture of the boat going under the bridge. (I forgot my swimming suit, so that didn’t happen…hehehe)   As we approached the bridge, all of the emotion of this journey hit me and tears spilled out of my eyes.  We had come so FAR and now we were at our new home!  Almost too much to take in at that moment!  We passed some familiar sights along the waterway and finally pulled into Padre Island Yacht Club, which is Kathryn’s new home!  Last night Bill, Jeanie, Steve and I went out to dinner to celebrate.  We had finished the journey! 

Cold Morning on the Gulf

Nancy in foul weather gear

Sunset on the Gulf

Port Aransas

Our personal welcome committee

Kennedy causeway bridge at North Padre Island

Under the bridge... almost home

Snoopy's...  The best fish on the island

Padre Island Yacht Club... We are home!

We made it!  Home at last.  Where will we go next?

So my friends, this is the end of the blog.  Thank you again for “coming along with us”! We saw and did things that none of us had imagined!  WOW!  We will let you know we are off again on another adventure.

Galveston, Oh Galveston, I Can Hear Your Sea Breeze Blowing!

Yes, indeed, we have made it to Galveston.  Unfortunately, the sea breezes we hear blowing are more of a roar of 30 knot winds.  So this Monday we are REALLY in Galveston and staying put.  Instead of lemons we got lemonade. We got a brunch and a guided tour of the city with friends of Bill and Jeanie’s, Brad and Mary Robbins!  And what tour guides they were…a delightful breakfast restaurant, a riding tour, visits to a shop called Nautical Antiques and the city museum and library.  This, of course, was followed by a stop at the grocery store and liquor/cigar store!  Life is good!

Breakfast in Galveston

Unhand me, you cad!

Brad & Mary's son's model of the forms used to build the Galveston sea wall

Which one is the dummy?

Nancy's fish that got away

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I must go back and update you on our travels to Galveston since the last blog.  Marinas and anchorages along the GIW are marginal, to say the least.  You get what you get, and don’t throw a fit!!!  Adam’s Bayou and Taylor’s Bayou might be a good example of this!  Adam’s Bayou was close to Port Arthur, TX and was down a long channel off the GWI.  As we came close to the little marina, we could hear a faint bleating sound….hmmm!  As we rounded the bend, on a tiny island across from the marina’s dock, were about ten goats and one horse.  Don’t ask me why they were there, they just belonged to the man who lived next door.  You could smell them, too. J  When Steve had called, we were told there was a restaurant on sight!  This, of course, brought a smile to Jeanie and Nancy’s faces….one less meal to prepare!  Well, yes there was a restaurant and the pictures I have provided, will give you the visual images.  It wasn’t the best breakfast we have ever had, but the owner, Lynn, was a most interesting lady to talk to over our meal.  She was from Ireland and served in their Air Force.  She moved to Canada and then the USA and joined our Air Force.  She and husband Ike are now retired.  He loves to hunt and she loves to run the restaurant!

We must be in Texas

Reported as having the best breakfast in Texas... Not bad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next anchorage was Taylor’s Bayou somewhere next to a swamp and an oil refinery.  You can just picture it, can’t you? J  The Active Captain site that Steve reads for boating info mentioned a slight problem with mosquitoes!  OH, MY!  That was an understatement!  We arrived, set the anchor and then proceeded to sit down for a little happy hour!  WHOA!  The mosquitoes knew we had arrived and we were their fresh flesh!  Answer to that problem was to move down below and close the door.  OH, NO!  They had moved in and these guys were Texas mosquitoes…huge!!!!  We swatted, we ducked, we covered up but nothing helped.  They were everywhere and biting!  End of story, we just finally went to bed and tried to cover up as much exposed skin as we could!

Cocktails before the mosquitoes attacked!

Finally yesterday, Sunday, Dec. 9^th, we were headed for Galveston Bay.  The weather report took the wind out of our sails, since a cold front was coming with high winds!  We made the last 60+ miles and pulled into the marina which gave us protection from these forecast winds.  They hit around midnight and all night it howled and blew.  So, here we are and will try to get out tomorrow morning.  With good luck (I know, you have heard this before!), we will try a Gulf crossing straight to Corpus tomorrow or most likely on Wednesday.  Yes folks, we will make it!  What an adventure

Miscellanious Photos from the GIWW

Fire in the swamp

Shrimp Boats

Another crazy sailboater on the GIWW

Crossing Galveston Bay -  Lots of ships

Drive through lock