Chapter 1
We left Clear Lake around noon on the 19th and made our way to the end of Galveston Bay and anchored for the night. With the dawn, we raised the hook and headed into Galveston to fuel up before going out the channel into the Gulf. Making good time we got out past the jetties and hoisted the sails and set off on a southeasterly course, holding as tight to the wind as we could. As nightfall neared, we decided to tack and head as much nor'east as we could ... which turned out to be not much. Seas were in the 3-5 foot range with the wind out of the southeast as we sailed through the night, dodging platforms. We decided to have two on watch at night, splitting the watch as much as we could. Made some slight easterly progress for a while, but were mostly going north.
Wind and seas kept building out of the southeast, and I realized we should have just kept going south the previous day, as we were making very little easterly direction. But, we had made our choice, and so tried to stay as hard on the wind as we could. With evening falling, and a lot of rigs showing ahead of us, we once again tacked and headed north. Saw a cruise ship go by, lit up like a christmas tree, complete with a huge TV screen on the upper deck. Wnds and seas continued to build, reaching 20 knots and 6-8 seas. Sailing under reefed main and jib, we began our second night in the Gulf. At one point, we went over 8 knots on the GPS, but with the profusion of rigs, didn't make much forward progress.
Dawn found us just south of the Calcesiu River, so we decide to head up to the ditch and put in at Lake Charles for the night.
Chapter 2
Monday morning saw us getting under way by 9 and we headed for the Calcesieu Locks, which there was some question if they were closed for repairs. On arriving there though, it was evident they were indeed open. After clearing the lock and pontoon bridge, we settled in behind a slower than usual barge and decided to follow them through the night. We reached the Bowman Locks around 5 and made our way though Intracoastal City as dawn left it's first kiss on the sky. Pushing on, we hoped to make Morgan City by nightfall.
Reaching Morgan City as dusk was falling, it took a while to find the docks there. Once secure though, the crew set out in search of another culinary adventure. After a rather frentic cab ride, they found themselves at Susie's Seafood, a family owned and run Cajun style restaurant. Arriving back at the boat, courtesy of Susie and assorted family members, the crew declared Susie's to be a most excellent adventure. With the morning though, it would be time to head for Homua.
Wednesday's run was fairly easy, and we soon (relatively speaking) found ourselves entering Homua. Topping up fuel we headed for the Downtown Marina. We were in need of a pump out, and this was the first we had come to. After doing an internet search the next morning, I found a West Marine store and so we decided to stay another day and resew the frayed luff of the jib, before it got even worse. Once the sail was back on, we headed off for Wal-Mart to restock.
Leaving the next morning before 7, we were still later than the Enchantress, a DownEast 32 we had been passed by earlier in the week, and then repassed them on our night run. Though we were making good time, we got to the Harvey Locks cutoff too late for a bridge opening at Lapalco Blvd, which was reported to be 45' closed clearance. Excatlly, our bridge clearance. We approached the bridge though, looking for a sign showing the clearance relative to the water level. Not seeing one, we radioed the bridge and were assured, we would clear it closed. Proceeding slowly, we did indeed clear it, which brought us to the Harvey Locks. Though we had gone through 3 salt water intrusion locks, this would be our first lock to change water levels. Feeling good about making it before dark, we had a half hour wait as a barge and solo tug joined us in the lock. Once through though, we were on the Mississippi River.
Chapter 3
Reaching the Industrial Canal, we had about an hour of daylight left, and two tows in front of us. By the time they were both through, another tow had arrived and we were instructed to raft up behind the last barge on the short side of the tow. All in all, getting through took another hour, as once in the lock, the tug had to back off and come in behind us to fit. Once he got the tow moving on the other side, he backed off, and got behind again, while we fell off and let him pass. We followed him up to the land cut, which we were taking instead of going into Lake Ponctatrain. Though the canal was wide, the channel wasn't, meandering back and forth. We were doing well till around 10 pm when we ran aground on a shoal area. After about an hour, the wind picked up and we were able to heel the boat over and get free. We motored for another 3 hours and finally dropped anchor in Lake Borgne. We had all been bitten rather badly by mosiquotes and on waking, had the welts to show for it.
The new day was again short on wind, though we were in open water. Checking the charts, I decided we'd head south of Cat Island and back out to the Gulf, hoping to pick up some wind. Alas though, no wind of any use to us was to be found. We spent that day and night motoring with nothing significant going on. Dawn though, brought the first of 4 fish that we hooked. The first was a Little Tuney, a bait fish, about a foot long. It took us a while to identify it, as it looked much like a tuna, but the wrong coloration. With the line back out, I was once again roused from my off watch sleep with the cry of "Fish On". This one though, turned out to be a King Mackerel, a fish worth keeping. Close to 3 feet long and about 20 pounds, by the time it was filleted, we had more fish than we could eat. The morning finished with another, smaller King, and another Little Tuney, or Bonita as they call them locally.
Being south of Pensacola at this point, I decided to run on up, and make a marina stop. As we neared the channel entrance, the wind finally picked up from a favorable quarter, but, at this juncture, we were trying to make the marina before dark. Making good time, we reached the marina, and as soon as things were secure, I headed for a shower. Once finished with their own showers, the crew headed for town in search of food and drink. Myself, I soon retired for the night.
With the dawn, the crew came stumbling back to the boat. The dock master offered me a ride to West Marine when I inquired if there was one nearby, and so I set off to replace the handheld VHF I had flipped over the back of the boat, lifting a seat cushion, the night before. By noon, it was soon obvious that we weren't going to be going anywhere that day, so I set about cleaning up the ravages of a week and a half.
A new day came, and it was off to the fuel dock to fill up and pump out. Setting out, just after 9 am, we headed for Destin and meeting up with Matt from Soul Searcher. We made good time, once again, flying the iron jenny, and found ourselves entering Shalimar Yacht Basin well before dark. Tying up complete, I headed for the office, were I met Matt. Coming back to the boat with me, we stopped at his boat to see if he had a splitter for the shorepower, as all that was available was a 50 amp outlet. Seeing Soul Searcher, inside and out, I had to admit to a case of boat envy. She's a beautiful boat, and Joannie keeps her looking that way according to Matt. Unfortunately, she was out of town, so I didn't get to meet her as well as Matt. Matt then took us on a supply run, and once finished we sat around having beers and good conversation. Even though it was a bit out of our way, it was definitely worth the effort to meet Matt, as he was not only a great person, but gave us some good local knowledge that proved helpful. Taking us to the local Waffle House, we had breakfast, said good bye, and headed back out to the Gulf.
Passing under the Destin Bridge, Matt's local knowledge came into play, as we had to go around the wrong side of the red bouys leaving the channel. Once more though, it was motoring, not sailing that we faced. Making steady progress south, we finally turned Sou'east, heading for Tampa Bay. Trailing a line, once again, we soon lost our most effective lure, and stowed the pole for the rest of the day. With no rigs and hardly any shipping, we went to one person night watches for the first time on the trip. Dawn brought more of the same, as we continued to motor on. Rerigging the pole, we got a good sized Wahoo and another Bonita, both of which we let go, as we still had Mackerel and a hunk of Red Snapper that Matt had given us. We did manage to get in a couple of hours of sailing though, but that was it. We had a visitor, a small bird that looked like some kind of swallow. He circled the boat a few times, then started flying closer and closer. Finally, he flew into the cockpit, made a few circles, then flew back out. He wasn't done yet though. He soon returned, once again circling the cockpit, but then, flew past me as I stood in the companionway and into the cabin. After a few circles inside, he came back out, only to return again and go back in the cabin. This time though, he perched on the top of the cabin heater, where he stayed for about an hour. My brother got him on his finger, but then, he flew away once more. We all thought it was so strange, but it really was strange when he returned yet again, this time, perching on a wicker basket where he stayed throughout the night.
With the evening, we motored on into the night after the full moon. Then around 3 am the wind started to freshen, and I decided to raise the sails as we were getting near the point of having to put in fuel from the jerry cans and I wanted to wait for light to do that. Though we headed mostly sou'west, we were holding to high 6's and low 7's on the GPS. By watch change at 6 am though, the wind had petered out, so we lowered the sails, put in a can of fuel and started motoring again, heading for an anchorage at Tampa Bay before deciding on our next move.
Chapter 4
Reaching Tampa Bay, we ducked in behind Egmont Key where there were a number of boats already swinging on the hook. At one in the morning though, it wasn't a time to socialize. As the new day began with a bit of wind, we decided to sail for as long as possible up the Bay to our marina stop for the evening. Winds were a bit fluky though, and halfway there, we doused the sails and fired up the motor so as to arrive before closing time. Barely making it in time, the Harbormaster graciously stayed open until we could all get a shower, as they were in the main building which was locked at night. The next morning was spent working on arrangements for the crew to get back to Houston and getting laundry done as well as washing down Aria. Around 3 pm we cast off, went to the fuel dock and topped off with diesel and pumped out. Then it was just a short hop to the Tampa Convention Center docks for the night and to pick up the rental car for the crew. We got a bit of rain, and the wind blew strongly all night, into the morning, as the crew loaded up and headed back to Houston. With 20 knot winds and 2-4 ft seas forecast, I decided to spend another night at the Convention Center, rather than anchor out.
It's a bit strange having Aria to myself again. While everything didn't go perfectly, all in all, it was a good trip. I learned a lot about Aria, as well as myself, and now know better what we are both capable of. The worst part was spending so much time on the motor, particularly from Destin to Tampa. The seas were as flat as an inland lake for most of the crossing, and wind was but a dim memory. That guy Murphy just didn't seem to like us. Forecast looks good for tomorrow though, to head back down the Bay, go outside and north to John's Pass and Maderia Beach where I'll meet someone from another sailing group. Then, I'll head south, outside as much as possible, until I round the tip of Florida, and start making my way up the East Coast.