Plans and Stimulus Package

Ok, so when we do get underway again we will have cranked up aluminim extrusion plants, stainless steel wire plants and even a sail loft in the US.  It is a sort of mini stimulus package wroght on the marine world courtesy of the goode schipp Why Knot. Estimated lead time on the various parts is about 3 weeks. 

We will begin phase two of "living the dream" at the Seabrook Marine yard on the Industrial Canal, New Orleans at 30 degrees, 01' 26.85"N, 90 degrees 01' 58.48" W. 
For kicks, if interested one really cool way to track us is on Google Earth, a free program that provides maps, charts, satellite and even photos of any place on the mud ball.  Another one is Active Captain to which we contribute and it is an excellent, almost one-stop navigation program that is actively updated by boats underway.  In some respects, it is better than the printed guides most of whom are at least a year old.  Back to Google Earth.  At the very bottom of the view, you will see the Latitude and Longtitude.  You can locate us that way or just type in a location name.  For instance, we plan to take it easy from now on and that means our first day, once out of New Orleans will be to an anchorage at roughly 30 degrees 08'44.45"N and 89degrees 38'29.23" W.  If you look on Google Maps you can get there quickly by typing in Rabbit Island and you will see an oxbow (U shaped bend in an ancient river bed).  There is an abandon oil platform there and we will anchor near it.  I am told that just a few miles east of that, the water turns from muddy to clear.  That will be our last anchorage in Louisiana as we travel east bound. 

Climb aboard in a couple of weeks and see what we see along the way. 

Plans starting to form

Favorite Steering Position

Could any of the sailing crowd reading this ever guess that the tri-color/steaming/strobe light on the mast head is a $500 idea?  Or that the freight for a 48 feet mast is $1,500 from Gainsville, Florida to New Orleans.  Sure glad the insurance was paid up. 

Looks as though we may see parts in about two weeks.  Give the yard another week or so to get stuff done (which would suprise us if it happens that way) and we might be underway by official spring.  We definitely will not mind warmer weather.  The idea in starting late January was to see the swampy things before the mosquitos did their post hybernation search for that first meal.  One thing that we did not think of was the fact that 'gators sleep when it is cold, hence we did not see any of them in Louisiana. 

Thanks to all of you who offered and continue to offer help.  Unless you like to wax boats, there is little to do at this point.  Some of you may have received some strange calls from us since the "incident" as we now call it.  It was the combination of large long showers, stable sleeping quarters, regular meals and a fireplace  here at home that contributed to the calls.  We were losing our sea legs and things were definitely wierd.  Now we are working on the logistics and have a plan. 

The crew of Rima, a beautiful Valiant that has a gillion sea miles,  offered a comment that puts things in perspective.  If I may paraphrase, they said that one is not really a cruiser until one dismasts.  Further, they also said that no one wants to read about beautiful sunsets; that it is stuff like our "incident" that makes for good reading.  Underway, if nothing goes wrong, life is sitting behind the wheel for many hours at walking speed.  Looking back on the month past,  daily ship's log entries consist of time and place of weighing anchor or slipping dock lines and the reverse at the chosen time of for the end of the day. Of course, offshore, one does not usually have an end to the day and just keeps going 24/7.  About the only other log entries are the gotchas, those little reminders that one is moving and Mother can erase all evidence of ever having been "out there". 

I had a friend do the Trans Pac race from San Francisco to Hawaii as a crew member.  He kept a log on the voyage.  It was interesting reading as one could tell they were in the doldrums (no wind) and he was getting tired.  He ran out of ice and had to drink his gin neat at room temperature.  That must have been a killer.   They raced their own trash (or something like trash) for several days during which they logged which was ahead.   Point to this is that we take our excitement as it is presented, good or bad. 

Methinks that since we have our laundry done, some provisioning and a plan, time will once again start to creep.  Already, my A.D.D. is kicking in.  We are told that WK is only about 50 miles or so from clear water.  It will be good to sail out of the muddy water of the Delta.

Oh yeah, before I forget:  Steve, tell yer lady that it has almost all been good.  The Bear is as anxious to get going again as I.

Repair Week 1.5

This is the first real week of getting Why Knot back into action. We have spent much time not discussing the mental issues, not the least of which is my ego. Bear seems to be attempting to box up the whole ordeal and file it but I do not think she has had much success yet. Certainly, I have not either. I keep attempting to reconstruct post impact actions but am having little success as I believe we both were so tired, our mental recorders were not functioning. That definitely disturbs me since it was not apparent to us until the next day that the mast almost came down. Speak to anyone to whom that has happened and you will hear a true horror story.


We filed an accident report with the Coast Guard who forwarded it to the appropriate Louisiana authorities. Any accident causing injury, death or damage over $2,000 must be reported. I have been contacted and will deal with whatever that requires. In the mean time, we have been planning our great escape from the New Orleans area. I have been here only two times by boat, this is Bear’s first time, and both were about the same. This is a busy commercial port and our view now is that it offers little to the recreational boater in transit. Crossing the Mississippi and dealing with all the bridges, some of which are not fully operational, causes the cruise to take on more of a work type activity. The GIWW is a must see one time. Skip New Orleans and it is way better. Could the accident cause some bias?

So, when Why Knot swims again, we have two options. We can pass into Lake Pontchartrain then exit through what is called the Rigolets (Rig-o-lees) into Mississippi or we can get back into the GIWW and proceed east. The former requires the passage of 7 more bridges, five of which require opening or swinging and the latter requires a backtrack through 3 bridges two of which are lift or bascule bridges. Gee, wonder which we will choose? I know that there are some who are saying that Florida has bridges every few miles and one must deal with them. My guess is that they are functional on a regular basis unlike one of the Lake Bridges that requires a 48 hour notice to open. No wonder many boats attempt to just skip this area. Methinks offshore is the way to add quality to the bridge dilemma.

We are reminded of a Vietnam era song that says “we gotta get out of this place if it’s the last thing we ever do”. The crew of Why Knot is “bridge tender” but will get over it.

Southern Yacht Club

October 23, 2005

Southern Yacht Club

2010

Ins and Outs of Why Knot

Some have requested photos of Why Knot so as to get an idea about how we live aboard. 

Galley has two burner porpane stove with oven.  A small freezer, refrigerator, microwave and coffe pot round out the galley. 

Owners cabin with shower.  Rack to the starboard and settee to the port with hanging locker and various cabinets with drawers.

Aft guest cabin is now the garage with all parts, and gear.  Just out of the view to the right (this time to  port since we are facing aft) is the gurest head and shower which is also full of provisions and supplies.

Nav station as it was before the cruise.  Now it has a television and two other radios.

Starboard main saloon (that's right it is a saloon not salon by correct terminology) that does not show the dining table which is now aboard.This area makes a double berth and across from that the settee makes a single berth. 

Quiet Fog and Red Bull

Quiet Fog and Red Bull

Breakfast underway

Ok, I admit to an addiction to sugarless Red Bull as a substitute to coffee; not that I have given up coffee. It is far easier to snap open a can of that stuff than start the generator and make coffee. The events of the past few days are a blur and perhaps that is because of the increased consumption of RB (and perhaps rotten grapes). Nevertheless, we made it home yesterday and Bear is going through a pile of mail to find the good stuff including the latest issue of Seafaring’s Latitudes and Attitudes magazine, part inspiration for our cruise.

Stumbling down this morning to the kitchen (no galley at home), I noticed something most demanding on one’s senses. It was the absence of sounds to which we have grown accustomed on Why Knot. Come to think of it, there were no sounds at all, or I have gone deaf?  We have several large windows that revealed fog so thick I was reminded of the GIWW . In the gray light of dawn, I could almost hear the anchor rode working back and forth in the bow anchor roller. Yet the only sound in our house or from outside was being produced by me. On the water, good crew will listen to the boat. As mentioned earlier, the boat talks. Sometimes it speaks ever so quietly. At times, such as encountering large, looming steel things, the voice is unbelievable, almost screaming. Wait, it was screaming but not as loudly as the crew.

Clearing Under a Raised Bridge

This morning, in the fog (physical and mental) something Bear said yesterday came to mind. Just as we headed away from New Orleans, Bear mumbled music to my ears. She said “I am ready to get back aboard and underway”. For those saw the pictures of Bear when the temperature was too cold to shiver, it is not what you think. Some saw the grimace on Bear’s face and interpreted it as misery. Well, it was but not in any way reflecting a desire to jump ship. It was the look of my mate foregoing the comfort of the cabin to be topside with me. We know that beautiful sunsets and sunrises don’t happen every day; that rain and cold are part of our great adventure and that paying such dues entitles the crew whilst anchored in “that perfect spot” to fully sit back on an afternoon and do nothing but stare at the universe.

The very existence called cruising is a daily ritual. We are working on ours. Since leaving Port Aransas, we have had at least one challenge daily. We enjoy being underway and know that the “event” will most likely happen then. Even docked or anchored, things happen. So, it is not like sitting on the back porch. A boat underway requires maintenance, both planned and unexpected. For instance, engine oil is good for about 100 hours. That means that one must deal with that even in paradise. We both think that cruising is more work and more exercise that being at home, both good things. We have both lost weight. I won’t go there for the Bear but I am down over 21 pounds. Not bad eh?

It will be good to be far east of Harvey Lock and when we do climb aboard again, hopefully sooner than later, we will be wiser (maybe). Boats get dinged but hardly do they ever get dinged in the slip. What would Capt. Jack Aubrey (Master and Commander) do? I ask myself that often while aboard. He did not have a Dell technician aboard, ever.

Sun Bear Intracoastal City

Ok, now that we must plan for a few weeks at home, we have to provision the house again. Did not even have breakfast foods in the pantry this morning, let alone Red Bull. What a start. The countdown begins in earnest today. Day One

One Really Pretty Tow (if there is such a thing)

Discretion-

So, we have left Why Knot in the care of what may well be the best yard on the Gulf Coast.  We decided to stand down and let them unstep the mast without our being present.  That means that we will not see her again until the parts are assembled and she has had her shots.  We simply did not want to watch the surgery but would have had we not found a yard that helped many of the Beneteau fleet on the Lake post Katrina.  We received good news prior to departure from the yard.  The owner of the yard contacted the original manufacturer of the pulpit (again bow rail in their terms) and cut the lead time from four to six weeks to three weeks.  Now if the spar and rigging make it by then, our yard time may be less than four weeks.  We do not yet know the lead time of the spar or the roller furling.  In the next few days the local Hood sail franchise will repair the head sail and the bimini.  The way the insurance thing works is that we pay the yard and they work for us and at our direction.  The insurance company writes the check to us.  Methinks that we will be fronting funds in the name of expediency so that the lead times are minimized.

On another sad note, the sea and for that matter the GIWW is unforgiving.  Just as our event proved that to us, it has again proven it to the boating community.  Yesterday, at 47 feet Anderson trawler met, at flank speed, a barge.  Collision was knarley.  Literally, the trawler did not alter course and hit dead center, so the rumors go, at substantial speed to the extent that the helmsman went thorough the windscreen and is now in ICU in critical condition.  The boat still swims but will require, according to the owner of the yard where WK now resides, about one third of the bow to be replaced.  By the way, the fellow from whom I learned this is a marine surveyor and expert witness in maritime cases. 

To Robert, Travis and Jack, Bear and I drove by the Lakefront, Orleans and New Orleans Marina today.  All the condos that were dark when we were there last are now up and running.  Many of the boat houses on the outer harbor are still "blown" out.  Most of the Lakeshore drive is closed and is being rennovated.  The 17th Street bridge over which we approached Orleans just after Katrina is being rebuilt.  That beautiful parkway with all the oak trees looks like a clearcut forest with new saplings.  So much for the positive. I would say that at least one third of the houses in the area are gone.  For the most part, my impression is that New Orleans still is half unfunctional.  As we learned, most of the state government entities with which we attempted to work are still not running smoothly.  That is in the New Orleans area.  The Cajuns and Creols are humming along just fine 

We did stop early today in Orange, Texas (The Republic of) and will get a late start tomorrow having learned that early starts and late evenings are no longer ego challenges but can be costly. 

Bligh

   One cold day

The events of the past month have, for the most part, lived up to our expectations. I have not yet successfully overcome the “leave early/arrive late” method of travel, but the bridge incident solved that, I think. Looking back on pre-departure conversations with others who have done this, I voiced the plan to leave at a decent hour and “be where we’re going to be by three”. We have yet to do that even though we have no schedule. The plan is to definitely work on that since Bear thinks that is the big negative so far.

On the flip side of the “death march” timing, comes the people and places we have encountered thus far. We anticipate arrival at the day’s end anchorage with much excitement. The guides do show customary anchorages along the way but we have found that past storms and even the tides cause them to change. What may have been the perfect “hidey hole” may now hold a wreck or shallow water. These places are often just off the GIWW with the nighttime tow traffic. Being within a hundred yards of that traffic can cost one sleep since one can hear them coming for quite some distance. The sound usually comes through the hull and starts as a very deep rumble. At times that happens minutes before one can hear it above deck. Other anchorages are well off the waterway and this does not happen. So, the quality of sleep is directly proportional to the distance from the “ditch”. One thing missing thus far is to encounter another boat at anchor. In fact, we have seen only five pleasure boats over 20 feet underway in the past month.

Making a dock, thus shore power, is yet another good experience. One anticipates problems with current and dock configuration as a possible source of embarrassment. “Lord, please don’t let me screw this up” especially if there are those on dock to observe any mishaps. Showing up with a tweeked mast does not count since the observers did not witness the event. It is sort of like my idea of how a battle damaged ship was received. Forgetting that, it is a nice treat to meet the other crews after one ties up. There are some really interesting characters such as the machine dealer from Odessa, Texas that takes his trawler from Houston to Houma ever year for Mardi Gras. Or the fellow with the steel ketch who is an arborist (a true tree hugger) that organized safaris in Africa and South America for almost a decade. Then one day, he decided to learn to sail and bought the steel boat, the first boat upon which he set foot. It turns out to be a kit boat that was assembled by a retired auto worker. I posted a picture of it a post or two ago. We met a fellow in Galveston that soloed the Atlantic and Pacific several times. I wish I had spent more time talking to him. He was there to grab our dock lines and there to assist us in bringing them aboard upon leaving Galveston. I am sure he wondered about the young whipper snappers.

We now plan to go back to the yard today and see if we need to stay until the mast is unstepped. The plan was to do that Monday but if we can just leave our sweetie in the hands of the yard we might head back to the hill country for a bit. The bow pulpit will take four to six weeks to fabricate unless we can find a local fabricator. We do not yet know the lead time on the spar (mast) and the rigging. This little event will requires a sail maker to repair our headsail and bimini, a rigger to stand and tune the mast, a stainless steel fabricator for the bow pulpit (also called bow rail), marine electrician to rewire all the stuff on the mast and a gel coat repair person for some minor repair. Ten seconds of inattention and ”viola” a mini, localized stimulus program. Given the fact that getting the parts will take some time, we might as well hang out in our place with the big screen.

Long Hot Shower

Given the stress of the past two days, we decided to jump ship and get a hotel room tonight.  Benefit: unlimited hot water that does not require a pump to make it go away.  The rack will not move tonight.  Those that spend weeks aboard know that water and the conservation of it makes for very short showers and constant concern for the quantity used and the quantity remaining.  So, we decided to rent a car and move ashore for the night.  Being the day after Fat Tuesday, Enterprise Rental Cars (preferred because they come an get you) had no cars, absolutely no cars in the entire city until 1500.  We had one reserved for 1000 but none came back.  Fat Tuesday must have taken it's toll on the guests of the city and they definitely slept late or forgot where they parked the cars and looked for them all day.

I spent some time with the owner of the yard and we exchanged stories of post Katrina.  I saw the city 4 weeks and about 6 weeks after the event when we brought Why Knot home. After getting the rental car, it was obvious that with the exception of the downtown area and along commercial streets, this town is forever to show Katrina effects and will never be back to post Katrina status.  The Seabrook marina is outside the Industrial Canal levee and was destroyed.  I looked over the levee and the houses  beyond are a good 25 feet below sea level. No wonder this place sunk.  He told me the first reaction of the authorities, not the President, was to send the worker who run the pump stations to safe high ground.  In other words those trusted to run the pumps were not on duty when most needed.  His house was flooded by rain water, not Katrina.  There were other stories about the President offering the Govenor Federal assistance but she took 4 days to make up her mind.

New Orleans finally elected a new mayor for whom over 60% of the prevelant ethnic group voted.  The city will recover to something way less than it's former self.  That may not be a bad thing. 

The mast comes off Monday, next and then we wait for parts..  Already, the bow pulpit has a 4 to 6 weeks lead time. If the mast and rigging come earlier that will be the long lead time item.  Until then, we are stuck.  Then again, by then perhaps the weather will improve. 

The yard is home port for a 75 feet something or other, professionally crewed race boat.  Jeff, the yard manager stores one of two keels for that sled.  In shallow water he mounts the 6 feet keel. When the owner goes offshore sailing, the yard installs what looks like a 12 feet fin/bulb keel.  Imagine that- changing keels to fit the water. 

So, for tonight, we are land based.  Long hot shower, stable rack and big screen television.  While great in it's own way, we are definitely looking forward to boarding WK and heading out again.  We go back aboard tomorrow and cool our heels.  We do plan to do some sightseeing including for me (Bear does not want to see) the National WWII Museum.

Inside of Algiers Lock, New Orleans

Bear has been dealing with a bout of nausea which I suspect is a combination of the events of the past few days and  boat food.  If it is, that is yet another side effect of my bad decision on Valentien's Day, which will forever be known to us as "Broke Bridge" day.

When the Dell technician met us aboard to fix our one-eyed companion, he admitted that this was the most unusual service call ever.  While aboard, he also admitted to getting a little motion challenged.  To us, the constant movement is like a swing.  We never sleep as well as in the gentle rocking arms of Why Knot.  Damn sorry I tweeked her.

Extent of damage

First, thank all of you who called to see how things were going and especially to those like Paul, Mark, Steve, John,Robert and several unnamed others that offered assistance.  It is unbelievable how much that means to the crew of WK. 

The yard (boat repair facility) surveyed the damage and now, so has the Progressive Insurance fellow.  It appears that due to age of the rigging and some subtle damage at the base of the mast, that the entire standing rigging and running rigging will need replacement.  Since the wire was stressed, it has to be replaced anyway.  Now the only good thing is  that Why Knot will receive an entire new rig.  Of course, the tri-color/steaming/strobe light on the mast head will be new.  The antenna, wind instrument and Windex will also be replaced.  The chain plates are fine except for some gelcoat damage due to movement on the starboard main chainplate.  In addition, the ProFurl headsail furler is more cost effective to replace in total than replacing the 12 year old damaged parts.  You all know what happens to stainless steel bolts in aluminum castings.  Thus she will have a new furler.  We save and re-use the boom and mainsail.  We salvage the radar, and loud hailer and of course, the new spinnaker pole and fittings.  The yard has contacted the various manufacturers and we wait for their response. 

Calcasieu Lock mainly to keep salt water from entering fresh water areas.

The yard has been more than professional and since they were the primary pleasure boat yard post Katrina, they certainly know how to do this.  It does not hurt that the yard owner is a sailor too.  So as to inconvenience us minimally, they will keep our boat in the water and use a huge cherry picker to remove the mast.  We stay plugged in and they do it from the dock.  We are renting a car and will stay until they pull the mast.  Then it will take up to a month to get the parts and most likely, we will go home for a bit to do taxes etc.  The end result is that since the rigging will be new, we skip that little exercise down the line.  That also puts us around the bend during what we hope will be a better weather season.  In the past month, we have seen only a few days above 60 degrees.  The norm here is 60.  More later. 

Dell Tech replacing our mother board-  see they will make house (boat) calls

Battle Damage

Here are some shots of the damage:

Loose Spreader

Thank God for the Spinnaker Halyard

Bear Dealing With It

Adjustment Medicine

Duh, how open bridges look

Unbelievable,  the notes and calls expressing concern.  The boat still swims and most likely will go "on the hard" soon for the mast repair.  Otherwise, methinks the long lead item will be the bow pulpit.  Not sure if Beneteau stocks them.  My guess is that they do not.  Several positive things about the event.  I not have a different attitude about long days in the GIWW.  We will not do that again.  I will have paper charts topside in addition to the chart plotter.  I did not get one (since the stores were out) of the GIWW in New Orleans.  Prior to getting here, I circled all bridges and locks on the charts I had.  

We have met some very interesting people along the way like Daniel of S/V Aletlain, a young single hander (sailing alone) who plans to take his boat around the mud ball (world).  I would bet he will. His boat has no dodger or bimini and when he arrived in Houma, it was raining/sleeting.  He was wearing foulies and a dive mask.  When asked if he was miserable he said that he was quite comfortable.  Then there is the story of a former Navy Seal who swam the entire length of a river from the headwaters to the mergence with Old Miss.  Or the fellow who canoed the Missouri, all of it.  Each of these guys spent over two months in their efforts. 

There is also Max who purchased his first sail boat six months ago.  It is a 45 feet steel ketch (main and mizzen masts) who hired a captain to help bring the boat from Cincinnati to New Orleans.  He fired the guy a few days into the trip due to his propensity to drink more than Max.  Then, with no prior knowledge, he continued and arrived safely here.  A very distinctive vessel indeed.

 

Top photo- sunrise in the swamp
One under it- in the locks
The start of this segment began at 0530 yesterday. We knew had a great distance, for a sail boat, to do on Sunday, the passage from Houma, Louisiana to New Orleans. The destination required about 75 miles, but more importantly, the transit of the locks and the Mississippi river enabled by those locks. That is not usually done in one day. Most cruisers stop short of the Mississippi, sometimes in Lafitte, Louisiana so that the “assault” on the locks and bridges is accomplished in one fairly easy day. Not us.

The weather pattern was shifting toward a long, cold few days if we did not get to New Orleans on Sunday. It was doable but we had to leave in the developing fog around Houma before sunlight. Dark, fog and the GIWW makes for no fun. We navigated using The Capn chartplotter, radar and cat like, albeit old sleepy cat, reflexes. By sunrise, we were approaching Bayou Blue Pontoon Bridge. This bridge is, like many in the area, a barge that is moved into place using cables from each side of the GIWW. One must wait until the cables are down on the bottom before attempting a passage. We approached the bridge with several tows astern and a few approaching from ahead. The bridge tender told us that due to a light barge in the way, the bridge would not be operating, at least until someone came to move it. Mind you, the GIWW, with all the commerce it handles was blocked by some bonehead that parked a ten by twenty barge against the bridge. So it was that 9 tows and Why Knot were stopped whilst someone came and moved the barge. Fortunately, a local came out and did that. While we were stopped, tow captains up and down the line were letting each other know that Bayou Blue bridge was “broke”. Forever more, the crew of Why Knot will refer to that bridge as “broke bridge”.

As we waited for Broke Bridge, for the first time in a while, I had a chance to let the sun warm my toes. Bear took a nap and things were not all that bad. The coffee tasted particularly good as we burned time from our daily plan. By 0830 we were underway again. All those tows were behind us as we motored through some very pretty areas approaching Lafitte. The most intriguing part was “Stump Alley” where the GIWW looks sort of manicured with the cypress knees and palms lining the edges of a very straight cut. We started there to see more civilization in the form of unbelievably loud tourists’ air boats and houses. It is that part of the area that hosts swamp tours. Cold people wearing industrial bright yellow hearing protection tear by in various directions, ducking out of bayous and across the GIWW with supposedly a smile on their 45 degree faces. Could that be fun?

When approaching Lafitte, one cannot help but contemplate the history of this place. It was in these swamps that the famous pirate lived and hid much of his booty. Locals are still looking for the goods and will be forever. Swamps and bayous lace this area and I am sure in the summer it is beautiful. As of our passage, it was eye candy but only to the extent that we had to pass quickly. Wiser captains stop there to make the New Orleans assault easier.

We motored on in the early afternoon thinking that our passage through Harvey Locks would happen quickly and we would be in the Lake (Lake Ponchartrain) in time for a toast of rotten grapes before the sunset. Just south of Harvey Lock is an intersection where one chooses Harvey or Algiers Lock. The former being upstream of the Industrial Lock across the Mississippi . Algiers Lock is downstream of Industrial thus requiring a transit upstream. It is about 6 miles from that intersection to Harvey. We chose that route and motored up to the Lopalco Bridge just short of Harvey. I called bridge and was told that it was “broke” but 52 foot masts have passed the 50 feet clearance before. Yeah, right they have. At the suggestion of the bridge tender, we approached the bridge dead slow and was told we were too tall and would hit. We had to retrack to the Algiers channel and I called them to see what the wait would be. They said 3 to 4 hours once we got there. Great! It was 1300 and we should have gone back to Lafitte for the night but we did not. We arrived at Algiers staging area and did circles at the request of the lockmaster who said he would try to lock us through soon. An hour or so later we did just that. It was a 13 feet lift to the Mississippi that was running big time. Out of the Algiers and into the big Miss was without incident although there were many ships. We motored by dozens of ships unloading concrete, coal, rocks and goods of all kinds. Whereas Corpus, and Galveston are more petroleum, this place handles much more. The current was over 3 knots opposing our crossing and the 5 miles to Industrial Lock, our key to the lake, took well over an hour. We had been underway 14 hours by then and were very tired and as the near future would prove, dull of wit. At least I was dull of wit, the best description I can use to describe stupid.

We staged, and stay staged for over an hour, for the Industrial canal lock. By the time we were through the lock, it was hour 15 yet we did a fine job of handling the locking process. We motored out of the lock and I failed to notice a low bridge just .2 miles beyond. I can now attest to the fact that one cannot move a bridge with a 10 ton vessel. We hit that sucker at 7 knots. In fact we had 2.99 encounters with it. First, the forestay that holds the headsail, gave way and went in to the water still attached to the bow. Next came the rain of stuff from the masthead, like wind instrument, windex , lights and radio antennas. That was hit one on the first beam. But wait, there are two and having successfully passed the first, we encountered the second. That one took the port spreader off by a complicated ballet of pushing pulling on various standing rigging. Next came the boom landing on the bimini frame which, unnoticed until the cold grey light of dawn, ripped the bimini and bent some of the framework. All of that took place over a 10 second period. So there, I admit I did it. What Katrina failed to do, I almost did by my lonesome. The only reason the mast did not come down was the spinnaker halyard attached to the bow pulpit (for those who don’t sail, it is the shiny railing on the bow that anchors the lifelines). When the forestay failed, the spinnaker halyard took the blow and absorbed the mast movement. In so doing, the bow pulpit got severely tweeked. It died doing that job, but the mast stands.

After the “Big Hit” we attempted to reach Seabrook Shipyard for the night. Two more bridges stood in the way. I used my handheld VHF (the masthead antenna was gone) to contact the L&N railroad bridge while Bear and I “stood down” our racked nerves. It went up on request and we motored through. The second bridge did not answer. The railroad tender asked if we could go under that bridge since it was closed for the evening. Damn! Thought our leaning mast must be shorter, I wasn’t risking taking it down and asked the railroad tender to “hold her open” for us to go the other way. We were shot by then and elected to duck into a cut in the inner canal and anchor. Just as we were anchor down, the front passed. Bear went below and I just sat in the cockpit in the rain and had a large adult beverage. Secondarily, I was on anchor watch.

This morning I surveyed the damage. It was as I expected and not pretty. In order to get to the shipyard, we still had those two bridges. It took 3 hours to raise anyone. I thought we had sailed into the Twilight Zone since the radios and cell phone met pure silence. I couldn’t reach the Coast Guard for a radio check. There in the cold mist, we sat and wondered what happened. As it turned out, methinks due to Mardi Gras, the communications finally came up and we called the railroad bridge who had a train parked on the bridge. We also called the part time second bridge several times before they answered. The tender said that she would open for us but had to call “the electricians” and would let us know when they arrived and when she would open. That said, I remembered that when we were bringing Why Knot back from this place after Katrina, it was that bridge that prevented us from taking the easy way out of the lake. Sure enough we passed the bridges after doing circles waiting for the bridge tender coffee and bignets to settle and the task at hand to be realized.

We motored to Seabrook Marine and tied up this morning only to find they were closed. It did not matter since my mindset was to do battle with anyone, but anyone that tried to keep us from tying up there. The first priority was to get shore power to the boat so Bear could have some normality. We can make our own power but a shore power cord, properly deployed, is what she needed.

We decided to take down time, read naps all day. I contacted the insurance company and the process begins to repair our “battle damage”. The marina opens on Wednesday after the culmination of Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday. We have lost our desire to partake in the festivities. We will just start the process of fixing the boat and we will continue once completed. Although we fought the bridge and the bridge won, we will continue. I can’t resist to call that bridge (WAIT FOR IT) the bridge over troubled waters or (WAIT FOR IT) A BRIDGE TOO FAR or (WAIT FOR IT) bridging the gap between west of Harvey Locks and East of Harvey Locks. From this point east the GIWW counts up numbers East of Harvey Locks. We have now made it 6.8 EHL.

Last NIght in Cajun Country

One really huge fire boat for offshore work

A strange thing happens the night before a long passage to a place like New Orleans with all the locks, traffic and bridges.  I am not sure if any other destination challenges one's tolerance of mental abuse and nautical "avoidance" skill as crossing the Mississippi River in New Orleans whilst trying to avoid the biggies and the closed "restricted" bridges.  Said bridges require one to plan ahead and be there before the land based traffic requirements.  During the rush hours, the bridges do not open, at least some of them.  The magic number for Why Knot is 52 feet.  Any bridge lower than that and we must wait for it to open.  If it does not open and is lower than that, we don't pass.  OK, so the plan tomorrow, given the 75 miles to the marina, is to leave at not later than 0600.  Bear has to muster energy from deep within her farm girl days and be topside, fully foulied, and ready to stand duty by then.  That is not an easy thing for her  but to date, she is ready and without complaint by the agreed time however early it may be.  The payoff is that once done, and we achieve the target port for the day, she can power down and her time is hers.  Tomorrow is to be the toughest day, most cruisers will admit and for which they often go offshore to avoid the New Orleans area, that we will have short of some really active port like New York.  Thus, it will early to bed and early to rise.  Those darn shore power cables will be warmed before I  roll them.  Not only that, but to maximize boat speed, we have brought aboard and stowed the dink.  This last night in Houma will not find us at the local Mardi Gras festival  but in the rack by 1830 tonight.  It was a wonderful, sunny day and we must have walked 4 miles in serch of stuff.  That is a good thing.  Last night we met a young sailor who is taking his boat first through the canal, Panama that is, then to Portland, Or.  He plans to do the mud ball, that is around the world, and you know, he might just do that.  We met a couple from Odessa, Texas who comes to Mardi Gras every year in Houma.  They keep the boat in Galveston.  Good to see folks from God's country, or that is what they call West Texas if one lives there.  So, by the time most reading this list get up on Sunday, Valentine's Day, Why Knot will have been underway 3 hours.

Heart of Cajun Country

behind the seawall in Morgan City

After spending way too much time in Morgan City, it was time to move on. It was to be the day that several high pressure zones lined up with a low pressure zone and delivered a record breaking snow to Dallas and sleet to our dodger way down in the Atachafalaya swamp. In this area, the norm for this time of the year is 60 degrees, but not today. It rained heavily all night and at 0500 I was pumping out the dinghy (dink) that was half full of water. I had a cool gizmo that helped with that, a little pump I dropped into the dink and went below. Thank goodness for that little pump because it allowed me to get out of the rain/sleet and plan the day. It was to be a relatively short trip to Houma and to that little Italian restaurant many cruisers speak of.

Bear was up and at it and I know if either of us had mentioned staying in the rack, we would stay put, with shore power, warm cabin and some time left until daylight. It was time to move on. For the first time since acquiring them, we put the foulies (foul weather gear) on. That included the bibbed overalls, jacket, crew caps and about every pair of socks and warm stuff we have. By the time I got the shore power chords to coil, they don’t like to do that at 33 degrees, Bligh was soaking from too many clothes. It would have helped to take those little critters below to warm them before trying to stow them. Lesson learned.

We shoved off at 0645 in the rain. Bear was on deck retrieving dock lines and was definitely cold. I was steering into the Atchafalaya River watching her when we almost smacked the east abutment of the railroad bridge. I was not paying attention to a little thing called current in the river and for that matter couldn’t see all that well through the greenhouse at the time. Full power, sound the collision alarm and brace for impact which would have been broadside. At that moment, Why Knot leaped passed the bridge piling and into the Bayou Boeuf we charged, lesson two for the day. It was still dark and we were under Berwick VTS control heading for the Bayou Boeuf Locks. Boeuf is pronounced “Buff”. Still raining frogs, onward into the fog we sailed. Damn, it was cold. There was very little tow traffic in the normally very busy area. That is the reason for the Berwick VTS which I think means vessel traffic system. Once into the Boeuf Lock we were released from Berwick and eastward we sailed. Fact is that we have done little sailing since to do so in the GIWW presents it’s own set of additional challenges. The good part of motoring is that the boat is level. The absolute bad part is that we ARE NOT SAILING.

Rubber Ducky in Morgan City

The challenge was to see traffic through the greenhouse and dodger. Cold outside and CO2 inside made the whole thing like IFR flying. We opened the greenhouse a bit to see if that helped. It did not. So about every three minutes or so, we toweled the whole thing. This stretch of the GIWW is the prettiest part but we did not see much due to the rain and the greenhouse fog. The current was with us and we got to Houma and the Bayou Dularge Bascule Bridge at around 1100. The challenge for the day started just beyond that bridge. There is yet another bridge just about a mile or so from our destination. It is an abandon railroad bridge in the narrow bend of the channel. One cannot see around the turn and I did not check the AIS for traffic before getting to it, lesson three. Just before getting the bridge I radioed “East bound sail boat approaching the railroad bridge”. We were 150 yards from the blind bridge curve when a westbound tow casually said “Sailboat, you might want to cool ‘em off cause I need to the whole bend” He had 1000 feet to two he was going to stick through that opening and we would be the crushable cork in the bottle. There was a current and it was setting us against an ugly, rocky shore. Then he said “sailboat, there are two more behind me so you might want to just hold there”. I thanked him and then said to myself “hold where? This is no place to HOLD.  Was this just a ploy by the tow captain to fix our position prior to crushing?  By then the tow had us in 5 feet of water and it looked like he wanted/needed that too. Pucker meter was topped out. Oh yeah, I might have mentioned the suction that tows generate when they go by close. The sheer horsepower of at least two large engines and very large props can suck on into the side of the whole thing. It was not until I got my boat captain’s license that little items like that became known to me. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Ok, so there we were, between rocks and hard places and trying to remember where I put the insurance papers, when he slipped by. My plan was to reverse course and find some wider spot in the road to wait for the other two tows. Just as he passed, I keyed the mike and said “that was fun”. The tow captain laughed and said he knew what was going on. Didn’t need the foulies after that. I was sopping wet but trying not to show Bear. We did not even look at each other for a few seconds. She knew it too.

We found a quiet spot, out of the way, behind another tow eastbound and holding for the two westbounds to clear the bridge/turn/sailboat killer. We just hovered behind them in the light current and watched the parade as it was labeled by another 1000 foot tow trying to go the other way. So, there is the Dularge Bridge just a mile or so from the rr bridge an there are three long tows plus Why Knot stuck between. West of that, also heading east were five other tows. What a mess. Once the three westbounders cleared the two bridges, the tow in front of me offered to get underway and let us by. I thanked him and said we were hunky dory behind him and would just stay astern and let him run interference the mile or so to our destination.

And so it came to pass that Why Knot, firmly moored to the Houma Town Dock, survived another day. Our mooring is just 25 yards from the GIWW and we rock and roll here but hey, we don’t mind. Dinner was at Café Milano’s and was great. We hit the rack at 1930 hours.  Ship's log:  the really cool dock pole with the brass tip does not float.  Scratch one piece of boat gear. 

Bear at the wheel- cold, cold

Intracoastal City to Morgan City


After arriving at the Shell-Morgan dock for fuel, sailing is not always sailing if one’s course is directly into the wind in a narrow channel, we needed to lay on some fuel and the fuel dock was closed for who knows what—or wait, could it be Superbowl with the Saints in contention? We decided to stay in the only transient slip in town, right across from the fuel dock and wait for 0600 Monday. That gave us some down time and the green house was very nice in the afternoon sun. The town is there solely for the petroleum industry so Sunday is definitely quiet time there. The town was nearly smitten from the earth during Rita in 2005 so sparse services were more so. There was a small, well stocked for maritime industry needs, kinda place. I walked the 400 yards just to see what they had. What a surprise, fresh vegetables and apples, no less. Now that is cool. We had a moving night in the slip since it was exposed to the GIWW and the wakes from passing boats. That was ok since we had no short supply of power, hence a warm cabin in the morning. Thinking about the apples, at 0530 next morning I hiked back to that little store and picked up veggies and some of those apples. Great boat food. Got Bear some cucumbers which are her favorite snack food. We left the dock at 0700 bound for Morgan City some 60 miles away. All went well until about 4 hours into the day when a friend asked, via e-mail, if we were having fun yet. I was literally in the process of texting that we were when the boat told me something changed. Yeah, that’s right, the boat and I communicate. Instantly, in the middle of tow traffic in a narrow channel I had a decision to make. It wasn’t really a decision more than which way we wanted to die. We could get run over by 6,000 tons of tows following us or die from the fire resulting from running the engine without cooling seawater. Well, it wasn’t that critical but as time goes by, the story will be way more dramatic. Anyway, we slid over to the side of the “ditch”, reported to the tows that we were in need of “slow bells” and were making emergency repairs. They were very professional and cut us some slack. Bear communicated with them as they passed and I went to work replacing the seawater impeller. First, I had to check the inventory to see where the heck the spare part was, get the tools out and get-r-done. 16 minutes later we were underway again. Since owning this boat, I have been able to hone that little exercise to the point I can fieldstrip that pump faster than I could my M-16 in Vietnam.

By 1000 hours, we were having a little nip just to celebrate that we were not “Cuisinarted” by one of those tows and allowed to continue the dream. The tallest terrain in the area are ancient salt domes which, like High Island, Texas, can be 100 feet high. That makes them mountains. Underway, we are always cleaning stuff or doing boat duties. One thing that amazes us is that there is dust, dust everywhere aboard. Gee, I hope we are not flaking off to the end. On the water and dust everywhere. Globs of it every day. We wear socks to help do two things; keep the feet warm and help dust. That little tidbit is most like TMI for most readers, but it is a fact. Back to the salt domes; there are tows that run from the mines on those domes to railheads, some only two miles away. In fact, Tobasco hot sauce is on Avery Island, a salt dome. We had to cross the Wax Lake Outlet. That is a channel that diverts a large percentage of the Mississippi River around New Orleans. That means that at times, it can be flowing big time. So, there is concern as to whether or not a 42 horsepower vessel can handle the current. I started asking westbound tows about the current getting mixed reports about this or that vessel that had a heavy “set” by the current. Naturally, there was some concern about crossing it which proved to be unfounded. No problems. No dragons.

We made Morgan City at 1745 hours and tied up to the city docks. I called the dock master and requested to do what I had already done. Joe was very nice and said we could stay as long as we wanted. It turns out that he is just an example of the Southern Hospitality known about Cajun Country. Dock fee is $20 per night on the honor system. That includes water and electricity. Cheapest of all our experiences. Today, Joe stopped by the boat and offered to take us to the store or anywhere we wanted to go.

Bear and I walked the historical district today and enjoyed some really good shore food. While we were hobbling around, we walked passed a fellow that said “you must be boat people”. From that introduction, we learned that he is Asst. Fire Chief of Morgan City. He gave us the local scoop on where to eat within walking distance, where to get hardware and groceries. He stopped by the boat a few minutes ago, 1730 and offered to take us anywhere we needed to go. Now folks, that is true hospitality.



I hope to get this posted tonight but I am having troubles with the old computer. Here is a pitch for Dell. When I purchased this notebook, I also did the extended warranty and service thing. I don’t usually buy those things but this turned out to be a good decision. You see, Dell and I spent much of the morning diagnosing the problem and tomorrow, by noon, there will be a factory authorized technician aboard with parts to replace the mother board on this thing. Way cool! I will post photos when I get to a faster internet spot.

It is 1730 and I think I will join Bear in the greenhouse for a glass of rotten grapes.



Bligh—out.
Update:  0930, 2/11/10
Still in Morgan City because the Dell guy could not get here yesterday.  Still amazing we could even get a tech here.  This is not the worst place to stop.

Day 10

East Bound and Out of Texas




Anchor Down 30 degrees00’07”N, 93degrees 46’06”W

The day started with a cold, very cold for a native south Texan, wet and foggy. At 0630, I gently awoke the Admiral and said that we should get underway soon. We had the Houston Ship Channel to cross and that meant we needed extra time to deal with all the ships. The day started with my almost removing the port solar panel on the piling. Next came the traffic which caused us to take more than expected to get to the GIWW eastbound. I tried to put the slight damage in perspective so that the day was not ruined. Got that done at about noon. Barge traffic was heavy and we are now about to learn the lingo of the commercial captains. Again, the AIS helps us seem a bit more professional than we are. We spent the day getting to Port Arthur where the Sabine and Neches river allow large ships to make port in Arthur. About the time we got to Port Arthur we saw the first sun in 6 days. That lifts the spirit and we actually saw the only two other pleasure boats of the trim so far.

Port Arthur Bridge

Lunch was the excellent soup that Bear prepared in our new pressure cooker last night. Well, so was breakfast along with some strong, and I do mean strong coffee made by the nut on the end of the wrench, me. Bear managed to read a whole novel today. At that rate, we will need a huge account at Amazon or Half Price Books. When she finished a book, she used to toss them overboard. Now, we leave them at harbors. Today was the first day we are actually feeling that we are on a cruise. Before now, we had what we called weird emotions. Now we are into the moment.

Tow Leading Us Up Sabine River

We have had a long day. It was good to get the anchor down. Dinner done and soon, we will be in the rack. Another day living the dream. Be well.

Turning the Corner- Heading East

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Cool Ship Name

Last night in Galveston, we sail tomorrow even though the weather is to be windy, cold and raining. But wait, that’s what it has been the past week. This is day 10 and we have not seen the sun in over a week. We rented a car for three days and toured the area, hustled parts and reconned Port Arthur to see if there are any boater’s facilities there. There aren’t. Not only that, all of the little rest stops in the guides between here and there are no more. So, tomorrow will be a long haul but hopefully not as long as Matagorda to Galveston.

Ike really did a number on Galveston and the Bolivar Peninsula communities nearby. Thousands of homes are gone. The amazing thing is that the debris from those homes has been removed. Galveston’s commercial world is back to normal but there are many homes that still have the famous FEMA blue tarp roofing. The seawall and the businesses along it were really devastated. The Flagship hotel that was built on concrete pilings is still close off with barricades. The shore side of it has a three story hole in the side. It looks like the concrete pilings that support the hotel are seriously compromised. Several of the historic buildings on the “Strand” are under stabilization work. This town took it on the chin. Unlike New Orleans, it appears much of the vegetation such as large trees have survived. I am guessing it is because the sea water did not stand long.

As of today, we have spent 666 days aboard Why Knot. Of all that time, and just 10 days into the adventure, this is the longest time aboard in a row. So, fellow universe travelers, every day we don’t go get a hotel room adds to the count.

I toured a submarine in Seawolf Park yesterday. It is the USS Cavalla, a WWII Gato class sub. At her commissioning, she was state-or-the-art. She sailed in harms’ way and was credited with sinking a Japanese Carrier. Now here is what occurred to me whilst in that sub. She was 306 feet in length. She had over 80 officers and crew. That works out to just 3.825 feet per person. We have it made. We have about 21 feet each and we don’t sleep in a bunk shared by two other hairy legged guys.

We will depart Galveston and enter the ICW heading for Port Arthur. That means we have turned the corner and will be heading east at last. When we brought Why Knot back from New Orleans, post Katrina and Rita, this area was in shambles. Looks like it will be no different this time. If the weather was a bit better, we would punch offshore for the leg to the Sabine. Alas, we are to be stuck in the ditch for a very dull section, except for the tows. It’s past time to leave Galveston.

Galveston

Pelican Island Bridge

We decided to stay a few days in Galveston just to do some maintenance such as oil changes and see the town, rather how it changes after the hurricane. The first night was spent just getting over the eleven and one half hours of motor sailing from Matagorda to the area. We faced high cold winds on the nose all the way. The tow traffic was, at times; pretty heavy but the AIS system which reports transponder signals from commercial vessels was really a great addition to the boat. It allows us to see the name and other information about oncoming traffic in the area. Before AIS, we had to guess at the name of the vessels and their location then place a call “westbound tow at (about) marker X, this is the eastbound sailboat approaching marker Y”. There is a great deal of slop in that communication. Now, we call “Marie Bordelon, this is the eastbound sailboat one mile”. We get a great deal of courtesy doing that and the tows are very helpful when they know our intentions. We did hear one two asking another sailboat to slow down to avoid a tight situation with two passing tows, to which the sailboat captain offered some colorful negative comments. The tow captain said that he would return the favor some day. It seems the sailboater was about to give us all a bad name and may have the mistaken belief that sailboats have the right of way over tows. Two rules come into play here. First, there is the basic rule of tonnage. The tow is big with lots of horsepower. Secondly, there are the rules of navigation. The tow has the right of way.

Anyway, we sailed under the Pelican Island bridge into Galveston Harbor at around noon on Sunday. This is a busy harbor with cruise ships, and many petroleum related vessels. It was good to tie up and hit the showers on land. As always, the walk to the office was quite long but good exercise. Now in port, what does one do? The obvious is to clean the boat and talk to other boaters. This place had 49 or so sailboats tied up in the transient are during the hurricane. Only 6 survived and of them, most took serious damage. The water rose about 12 feet over the docks where they were tied. Nevertheless, with all the devastation, one can hardly tell it around the harbor. This city hit the ground running and fully functional in a very short time, as compared to New Orleans.

This is day 8 and we will rent a car today to get some things done such as laundry and some minor boat shopping. We really have not missed the car yet but as we were told, land transportation is hard to be without. We do have a pair of small folding bicycles and that will be our means, just as soon as Bear quits referring to me as a “circus bear” when I am on it.