Anchored Out

We have been in the marina way too long. It was time to get out for a bit. We left this morning and went a little ways west on Clear Lake and anchored (I don't know why they call it Clear Lake, it is neither clear nor a lake). It is not the Keys, but at least the boat is pointed into the wind again. It is nice to feel the boat swing and move.

There is only one high rise on Clear Lake and it kinda sticks out like a sore thumb, but I am sure the view from the condos is spectacular.

There are a few other boats anchored here.

 

 

Fuel Prices, Got to Love It

When we arrived in Houston I intentionally only had about 75 gallons of diesel left aboard. I figured fuel would be much cheaper here in Texas than it was in Florida. Much to my dismay it was almost 50 cents a gallon more than I paid in Panama City Florida and the same price that I paid in the Keys. The problem I figured out was a lack of competition. There is only one fuel dock on Clear Lake so they are not too interested in giving you a good price. They are charging $ 2.75 per gallon at the fuel dock. Diesel at gas stations (which includes road tax) varies from $1.86 to $2.19. I could not bring myself to pay the fuel dock price so I borrowed a few cans and off to Exxon I go, $1.89 per gallon. Seven trips with five 5 gallon  jugs. 175 gallons later we now have 250 gallons aboard which should get us back to Panama City with 75 gallons to spare.

Sharon asked me if it was worth the trouble for $150 in savings. I told her there were days in my life that I worked all day long on a hot roof or in an attic and made less than that. It was definitely worth it. I have done this several times before in the Keys but had to load the jugs in the dingy to get them out to the boat, being at a dock made this time considerably easier.

I filled the car up yesterday and paid $1.54 for gas. I love it.

7 trips and a total of about 8 hours.

They don't make TV like this Anymore

Made it to Houston

We arrived in Clear Lake on Friday at about noon. We are glad to be stopped. It was a long but enjoyable trip.

44 days
1123 nautical miles
1302 statue miles
300 gallons of diesel
210 engine hours
3 nights in a marina
1 night tied to a wall
1 night underway
39 nights at anchor

The trip from the Keys up to New Orleans was very enjoyable. The 350 miles from NO to Houston area was semi-enjoyable but was work with all the barge traffic. We only found one really nice anchorage along the way from NO and two pretty good ones. The rest were just someplace to stop for the night and leave at first light. That makes the trip a little more stressful as there are not many nice places to rest. We are considering a different route on the way back.

This is a link to a map of our trip.
Houston Trip 2015

Time for a Break

     We are anchored in the Mermentau River. We have been moving pretty good but it is time for a break. This is the best place we have found to anchor since Destin Harbor. We will stay at least one more night if not two. It is so nice to be stopped. It is also nice to only have to use one anchor. On Wednesday night the only place we could find to anchor was in the mouth of a little canal off the ICW. We used four anchors to hold us in place. It was not fun pulling them all up the next morning. It was so nice to just relax yesterday afternoon and enjoy the anchorage. I think I might take the dingy out today and look around.

     We are not near much of anything here which is good. This is the kind of anchorage that I like. The funny thing is that we do not have cell phone service but did find an unsecured wifi to connect to, so we have internet but no phone. That is a first.

     We have been running 9 or 10 hour days and not making bad time for a slow trawler. 958 nautical miles so far. It has been a little over 5 weeks since we left the Keys. I have thoroughly enjoyed the trip all the way up to New Orleans, but honestly the last 220 miles have just been work. Don't get me wrong some of it has been nice. It does seem that the further west we get the better it gets. I can not wait to hit Texas.
     Five years ago when we went down the Mississippi River to New Orleans people told us we were crazy, that we were going to get run over by a barge, there were no services, and it would be a dangerous and horrible trip. I would venture to say that we have already seen more barges in the last 200 miles of the ICW than the entire 800 miles that we were on the Mississippi. I would rather do the Mississippi again than New Orleans to Galveston. I do think it will get much better once we pass the Calcasieu Lock.

Sunrise this morning.

Mess after pulling up four anchors.

Made it through New Orleans

We are anchored near mile 15 by Lake Salvador. Yesterday was a bit of a stressful day. Five years ago when we came down the Mississippi River to New Orleans we dreaded it the whole trip because of all the stories we had read and people telling us we were crazy. It turned out to be very anticlimactic. We were hoping that this trip through would be just as anticlimactic. Although we did not have any real problems it was still a stressful day. We had to wait at the industrial lock about an hour and a half to get locked into the Mississippi. Once four miles down river we had to wait another hour and a half at the Algiers lock to get out of the Mississippi. At least at the industrial lock there were pylons to tie off to. The Algiers lock had nothing to tie off to and signs on the bank saying “Cable Area No Anchoring”. After about 20 minutes of just trying to stay in one place I decided to just barely nose Walkabout into the mud bank. I did and we just sat there still. We could feel the boat rock a little from the river wakes so I knew we were not so stuck that I could not back off of it. We sat there for another hour before being told that it was our turn. Actually they were putting us through ahead of the 15 barges that were waiting to lock through. I put Walkabout into reverse and gave her some throttle thinking she would just slide right off. She did not. I gave her some more throttle, still no movement. We began walking back and forth on deck to try and rock the boat. That is when we noticed she would no longer rock. The wakes had settled us into the mud. Well now I am worried, they are calling us into the lock ahead of 15 barges and we are stuck. I kept increasing throttle until we were at full throttle. After what seemed like an eternity she finally slipped off the bank. I will have to rethink that strategy next time.

We traveled 15 miles west and anchored about 4 pm. It started raining steady about the last 20 minutes of the run. We pulled into the mouth of Lake Salvador and dropped the hook. Glad to be stopped, we started to relax. Just before dark a small east bound sailboat came in and anchored next to us. Not a problem until an hour later when the wind direction changed and then they were almost directly behind us. Noah was predicting 15 to 25 knot winds for the night. We got every bit of that. It howled all night. I could hear the halyard slapping on the sailboat. Although the anchor did not move at all we still did not get much sleep for worrying about how close the sailboat was.

Considering today’s forecast and the fact that good anchorages are not a dime a dozen here we decide to just stay anchored today and have a rest. Tomorrow looks like a better traveling day. Today I will just sit here looking out at the dark clouds listening to the wind generator and drinking coffee.

Leaving the industrial lock entering the Mississippi River.

In the Mississippi.

Algiers lock.

Goodbye Florida but We Will be Back

We are now in Ocean Springs Mississippi. This was our favorite stop on the way down to the Keys. We will spend 3 nights here. We are at the Ocean Springs Small Craft Harbor, $21 a night and includes water and electric. That is what a mooring ball costs in Boot Key Harbor. We like the town of Ocean Springs. It is a quaint little town that is beautiful to walk around and see the sights in. This is our first marina since leaving the Keys and will probably be the only one. We plan to leave (weather permitting) on Friday so we can cross the Mississippi river on Sunday.  On our trip down the Mississippi river in 2010 we were dreading the New Orleans part. It turned out to be very anticlimactic I hope it does this time as well.

Never get tired of seeing dolphins or sunsets.

This is my kind of weather.

Starting to see barges now.

The Intracoastal Waterway between Pensacola and Mobil Bay.

A change of scenery is nice.

Lulu's

Anchored Near Pensacola Bay

Since the last post we ran on the outside from Panama City over to Destin.We spent one night in Destin harbor and went to Whataburger which is across the street. My favorite fast food place. I had not been to one since 2014 when I was in Baton Rouge. We left Destin at 7 am this morning before all the crazies woke up. Today we took the ICW from Destin to just past Pensacola Bay and found a nice little anchorage just off the ICW. The wind is blowing pretty good but we are anchored in the lee of Perdido island so we are not getting any waves to speak of, just some wind.

We ran 53 miles today and stopped at 2:45 pm. It started to rain and we did not see any reason to continue on when we had a good anchorage at hand. Once we stopped and got anchored the rain quit and although it looks like it could start at any time has not rained since (I am not complaining). The forecast for tomorrow is 90% chance of storms and rain so we will check the forecast again in the morning but probably just stay put. It is beautiful here, so not a hard decision to stay.

We are very close to the Alabama/Florida border. We have 175 miles to the Mississippi River. We will time our crossing of the river for a Sunday so as to have the least amount of traffic.

Destin harbor at sunrise this morning.

Captain Sharon driving from the flybridge.

Perdido Island.

Perdido Island.

Sharon driving from the lower helm. The auto pilot is on a long cord so she holds it and maneuvers through the channel markers using her two thumbs like she is playing a video game (her favorite past time only this is a 23,000 lb video game).

ICW from Apalachicola to Panama City

We had planned on stopping at Apalachicola for a couple of days after leaving Dog Island but then when I looked at the weather forecast we changed our mind. They were predicting the remnants of Patrica to hit Panama City starting tonight so we opted to only stop in Apalachicola long enough to go to the Piggly Wiggly and get some grub. We then continued on with the plan to anchor in Lake Wimica in an area charted at 6' deep so we could get an early start to PC. When we got to that area we eased out of the channel it quickly dropped to 5' and we were at high tide. Scratch that idea. Well what to do now. I usually have a backup plan, but this time I did not as the area marked 6' was a large area and I did not anticipate there being any problems. We did not want to run at night because of floating debris, we saw a wide spot just off the channel north of the lake and decided to anchor there for the night. I set the bow anchor and then set a stern anchor to keep us from swinging into the channel. All went well till 1:30 in the morning. The wind picked up and the bow anchor drug. We tried to reset it but could not get it to set. I pulled up the stern anchor (a Fortress FX37) and moved it to the bow. It set right away. It was very muddy in this area and the Fortress is an excellent mud anchor. We kept an anchor watch the rest of the night but did not move at all.

We were underway at first light to make it to PC as quickly as we could. Originally the strong winds were not supposed to be here until tonight thus our plan for bypassing Apalachicola and pressing on to be here by noon, unfortunately they arrived much earlier than predicted. When we left this morning I set the rpms at 1700 to make some time. We were able to run at about 7 3/4 knots the whole way. We got to our anchorage about 11:15. This time I had picked out 3 possible anchorages just in case. We got to the first one and decided it would do. 7.5' of water and land nearby to keep the sea state reasonable. There are not many trees ashore here so we are still getting some wind but not waves. The other two anchorages were further away and may have been better but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Plus it was starting to rain. They are predicting up to 2" of rain today so we opted for this anchorage. We set the anchor and let out 85' of chain. So far we have not moved at all.
It has been really windy. Predictions for today are 25 to 30 with gusts to 40. We are just happy to be in a large enough anchorage to be able to let out as much chain as we want. Tomorrow is supposed to be about like today and maybe a little worse. No plans to pull the anchor until Wednesday or Thursday.

Nice to see trees other than palm tees again, but I Know it won't be long till I miss them.

This part of the ICW is wide and beautiful.

This is why we did not want to travel at night.

I like it.

These are some floating houses in a little offshoot near where we anchored. I assume fishing camps.

Walkabout at anchor Dog Island.

Life's a Beach

We decided to take the dingy out and explore a little. Sharon loves to Geocache and of course saw that there was one here on Dog Island so we took the dingy for a 2 1/2 mile (one way) ride to the other end of the island to find it. It was an easy find. She was happy so in turn that made me happy. We then took the dink to the east end of the island and went for a walk on the beach. This is a beautiful place and has some beautiful beaches. We love the Keys but there are not many beaches there.

Sharon geocaching

She found it.

I love a fast dingy.

It is a beautiful island.

Sharon's day at the beach.

It's a rough life, but someone has to do it.

Dog Island

We are comfortably anchored at Dog Island near Apalachicola Florida. We left Dunedin Thursday morning about 10 am. The winds were predicted to be out of the east and not too strong. The sea state was predicted to be not bad either near the shore. My plan was to stay as close to shore as I comfortably could to obtain lighter winds and less waves. Run the coast up to Steinhatchee and then turn and head straight for Dog Island with the wind and waves at our back. That route would be about 20 nautical miles longer than running straight across but much more comfortable. Since we are pleasure boaters we decided on the more pleasurable route. All went well until about 9 pm and then the waves picked up a bit. 3 footers on the beam, so we rocked pretty good for a few hours. Once we got up to Steinhatchee we decided instead of turning toward Dog Island to turn toward Steinhatchee and anchor there for a couple hours and get some rest and a new weather forecast. Since it was rougher than originally predicted I wanted to make sure the forecast had not changed dramatically before heading 30 miles offshore. It did not look too bad so we weighed anchor and set out. The forecast called for following seas becoming flatter as the day progressed. The forecast proved correct. The only problem we had was when the following seas were the strongest the auto pilot would not handle it so we had to hand steer for about three hours.

It was 170 nautical miles. 30.5 engine hours and we used 50 gallons of fuel. We ran at 1600 rpms for 20 hours and 1850 rpms for the last 10.5 hours. Average of 1.63 gallons per hour. We normally run at 1500 but we wanted to make some time and get to Dog Island before dark.

Taking it easy today. Transferred some fuel from port tank to the starboard tank and making water right now. Tomorrow we will go to Apalachicola and anchor there for a day or two before heading on to Panama City. I will post some more pics when we get somewhere with good internet.

Nice to be anchored and see still water after a passage.

Anchored at Dog Island

Good Advice

On one of the boating forums that I am a member of a guy made a post looking for a woman to sail around the world with him. Below is the advice one member gave him.

Get a dog instead.

-Dogs don't cry.
-Dogs love it when your friends come over.
-Dogs don't care if you use their shampoo.
-Dogs think you sing great.
-A dog's time in the bathroom is confined to a quick drink.
-Dogs don't expect you to call when you are running late.
-The later you are, the more excited dogs are to see you
-Dogs will forgive you for playing with other dogs.
-Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.
-Dogs are excited by rough play.
-Dogs don't mind if you give their offspring away.
-Dogs understand that farts are funny.
-Dogs love red meat.
-Dogs can appreciate excessive body hair.
-Anyone can get a good-looking dog.
-If a dog is gorgeous, other dogs don't hate it.
-Dogs don't shop.
-Dogs like it when you leave lots of things on the floor.
-A dog's disposition stays the same all month long.
-Dogs never need to examine the relationship.
-A dog's parents never visit.
-Dogs love long car trips.
-Dogs understand that instincts are better than asking for directions.
-Dogs understand that all animals smaller than dogs were made to be hunted. 
-When a dog gets old and starts to snap at you incessantly, you can shoot -it. 
-Dogs like beer. 
-Dogs don't hate their bodies. 
-No dog ever bought a Kenny G or Hootie & the Blowfish album. 
-No dog ever put on 100 pounds after reaching adulthood. 
-Dogs never criticize.
-Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across
-Dogs never expect gifts. 
-It's legal to keep a dog chained up at your house. 
-Dogs don't worry about germs. 
-Dogs don't want to know about every other dog you ever had. 
-Dogs like to do their snooping outside as opposed to in your wallet, desk, and the back of your sock drawer.
-Dogs don't let magazine articles guide their lives. 
-Dogs would rather have you buy them a hamburger dinner than a lobster -one. 
-You never have to wait for a dog. They're ready to go 24 hours a day..
-Dogs have no use for flowers, cards, or jewelry. 
-Dogs don't borrow your shirts. 
-Dogs never want foot-rubs. 
-Dogs enjoy heavy petting in public. 
-Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk. 
-Dogs can't talk.
-Dogs aren't catty. 
-Dogs seldom outlive you.

HOW DOGS AND WOMEN ARE ALIKE - 

-Both look stupid in hats. 
-Both can eat 5 pounds of chocolate in one sitting. 
-Both tend to have "hip" problems. 
-Neither understand football. 
-Both look good in a fur coat. 
-Both are good at pretending that they're listening to every word you say. 
-Neither believe that silence is golden. 
-Both constantly want back rubs.
-Neither can balance a checkbook. 
-You can never tell what either of them is thinking. 
-Both put too much value on kissing. -

HOW WOMEN ARE BETTER THAN DOGS - 

-It is socially acceptable to have sexual relations with a woman. 
-Women look good in sweaters. 
-Women leave the room to fart. (I have found this one not to be true)

Enjoying Dunedin

After four days on the move we just relaxed today. As we were setting on the flybridge we saw a sailing club that was teaching kids to sail. Some were really young and some a little older.

We then took the dingy and went out to a little island in the same bay that we are anchored in. It was a beautiful little island. It was fun to walk around and look at the bay and all of the activity going on. This is a very busy area with lots of boats.