The Rest of the Story

Well I got in trouble for only posting about the dolphins and not elaborating on the trip "People will want to know where we were and what we did. Isn't that the point of the website?!"

So here are the DETAILS of the trip for those that were disappointed with the last posting.

(It barely even mentions the dolphins. *sigh* Men!)

Captains Log

South Shore Marina to Offatts Bayou

6.25.2009

Forecast: SW winds at 12-15 knots, 99 degrees Heat Index 104-106

*Leg 1 - Clear Lake

12:30 pm - Today we left the safety of our slip for our first real trip in Sandy Dreams. We are off to Offatts Bayou. The first leg of our trip is to navigate Clear Lake which is 3 1/2 nautical miles (nm). The whole lake is really shallow, just a little left or right of the channel and you will run aground. Today we had high tides on our departure so we didn't run aground anywhere, although high tide at the Highway 146 Bridge (73'fixed) was a little scary, from where we sit it looked like we cleared by an inch. This portion of our trip takes us right by the Kemah Boardwalk, a neat place with carnival rides and restaurants. Once out of Clear Lake we entered the Galveston Bay.

*Leg 2 - Galveston Bay and Houston Ship Channel

First we have to navigate to the Houston Ship Channel which is a little under 5 nm away. We are kind of familiar with this area; there are small rigs and shallow oyster beds that are not clearly marked you just have to know. The Houston Ship Channel is one of the busiest channels for sea going vessels in the US; the channel itself is 530' wide, 45' deep, and 50 nm long. We entered the channel at marker 61.

Now we are with all the huge barges and ocean going freighters, it was a little scary at first being so close to those huge ships but eventually we got used to it. We are officially further than we have ever been before! We are running with our engines because the winds aren't favorable to sailing, plus the fuel in the boat is over 10 yrs old and needs to be used up. We have 14 nm of the Channel to navigate. During that time we passed a slow moving barge and were passed by an ocean going cargo ship, the CMA CGM Blue Whale, which is 961' long and 105' wide. (we looked it up) HUGE!!! As the freighter passed we saw our first wild dolphins; they were playing in the wake at the bow of the passing freighter. Jen was excited and liked watching them jump out of the water. The rest of our trip down the channel was uneventful and we took turns at the helm, we had to stay alert because of all of the traffic. We stayed as close to our side of the channel as we could (to stay out of the way of the ships.) The winds were right off the nose and the seas were 2-3' swells. Sometimes we would crash a wake from a ship and the spray would make it all the way to the cockpit. We are traveling at 6 1/2 knots so it took over 2 hours to reach our next turn. Once we passed green marker 25 we turned right and entered the Inter coastal Waterway (ICWW).

*Leg 3 - ICWW

We picked up the ICWW just NE of Pelican Island; we have 6 nm before our next turn. They cut a channel through Pelican Island to make this channel and it is used as a sheltered mooring spot for the big barges. Which was a little scary because they didn't leave much room for us. Once past the island we had to cross the I-45 bridge (73' fixed) good thing it is the same height as the Highway 146 Bridge. Beside the I-45 bridge there is the Pelican Island Railroad-Highway Bridge, a bascule bridge with a 12' clearance when down, obviously a problem for us if it is down. But lucky for us they have a schedule and we have timed our arrival for an open bridge. Surprise! When we get to the bridge there was a train and we had to wait until they passed, obviously the schedule is not as strict as we thought, we had about a 20 minute wait. Once past the bridge we started looking for our entrance markers for Offatts Bayou.

*Leg 4 - Offatts Bayou

Once past the bridges we had 3 nm to get to our final destination. We have been warned by several people about this tricky entrance which is really shallow outside the channel (less than 1') we saw land in several places. Once we were clear of the last marker the bayou is deep and we began looking for places to anchor. We saw two other sailboats moored. We went to the furthest eastern point; which would provide the most shelter from the storm forming behind us in spite of the clear weather reports, and dropped our plow anchor. Then I went for a swim, since it was over 100 degrees all day. After my swim I used our crane and launched Jenny (our dinghy) and took Sissy to shore for a walk and potty break while Jen secured the boat. When I got back I unloaded Sissy and loaded up Jen, then rowed to the restaurant for some dinner. It was a beautiful sunset made better with OUR boat in the foreground. Once back on the boat we lounged around on the back deck looking at the stars in the clearing sky and hanging in the hammock while listening to Jimmy Buffett.

What a Life!!! The journey here was well worth the effort.

The total trip was 6 1/2 hours.

Captains Log

Offatts Bayou to South Shore Marina

6.26.2009

Forecast: SW winds at 8-12 knots, 99 degrees Heat Index 104-106

*Going Home

We woke up early and Sissy and I rowed to shore for another walk and potty break. When we came back I loaded Jenny on the back deck and raised the anchor out of the mud as Jen steered us out of the bayou. The railroad bridge was up when we got to it so we didn't have to wait, although the schedule suggests that we should have. Once past the bridge I raised the sails, but as luck would have it there wasn't enough wind,so we motor-sailed the 6 nm at 5 knots until we got back to the Houston Ship Channel. Once there we killed the engines and sailed home at an average of 4 1/2 knots. Normally the boat sails faster but since we were short of wind today this was our max. It was real peaceful and for several hours we had 6 or 7 dolphins escort us home. Sometimes they would surface right next to our boat, usually in pairs. I'm not sure why they picked us with all of the boats out there, maybe because we were the only boat without an engine running. I think Sissy can hear them because she would always alert us when they were near.

When we got to the Kemah Boardwalk we decided we would sail through, (or I decided Jen would sail through). With all three sails up we started both engines for safety (because Jen insisted) then Jen sailed us through the narrow busy Kemah Channel. She was nervous, but I knew she could do it. We sailed all the way to our marina; I dropped the sails just right outside of our marina entrance. Unfortunately I had some trouble with the roller furling and will have to investigate the cause. I ended up having to pull the sail down instead. Then I switched with Jen and pulled the boat into the slip while she tied off ropes. The trip home was over 7 hours and the 31 1/2 nm each way. I was completely worn out by the time we made it home; I don't know how all those older couples manage, I guess I need to build my stamina up before we leave. Sailing this boat is hard work! All in all it was a great first trip and really helped us become more familiar with Sandy Dreams. Once back at the dock I sat in the cockpit and tossed back a couple of celebratory cold ones and listened to some Lyle Lovett.

What a GREAT way to end a WONDERFUL DAY!!!

This link is a Google map of where we were:(obviously we had to travel by water but the map shows the two destinations)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=S+Shore+Blvd&daddr=29.275768,-94.852352&hl=en&geocode=FZjQwgEd_mZV-g%3B&mra=mi&mrsp=1,0&sz=13&sll=29.291938,-94.848713&spn=0.498613,0.865173&t=h&z=10