It is 0545 on Saturday and the Bear is still asleep. The wind is down a bit from yesterday but still howling from the north. We leave Matagorda today, hopefully at sunrise bound for some harbor or anchorage north of this place. Last time I came this way , it was the middle of the night, so this is a new adventure for both of us.
We have spent well over 600 days aboard Why Knot before this cruise but we have not experienced a little trait she, and I am sure all boats exhibit when cold fronts pass a boat that has been occupied for some time. I speak of the condensation that forms in the boat and particularly of that which forms on the frames of overhead hatches. Methinks it is because of all the CO2 that builds up in a closed boat from normal breathing. The boat is warm inside and the outside cold air caused moisture to form on some surfaces. It is not usually a problem except when that moisture is on the hatch directly over one’s sleeping berth. Deep nighttime sleep can be interrupted by a drop of cold water on the neck, in the ear or between the eyes during the night. One might expect a drip from one of the opening portlights during a heavy rain, but the sneak attack from the overhead is something else. It is the source of weird twitching from one’s mate and on occasion an assault on one’s mate of the unintentional kind. The crew adapts quickly and so we sleep in parentheses around the drop zone of the hatch over our berth.
We left Matagorda at 0730 and motored into the wind for 11 hours 45 minutes, 78 miles and made Harborwalk Marina, Glaveston. We had many encounters with tows and in several instances, up to five were dancing in the same water to pass each other and we were in the middle of it all. The tow captains were all very professional and accomodating. We made the slip at 1830 and are tired. Tomorrow will be much easier as we plan to sail to Galveston and stay for a day or two.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Dance at the Bottleneck
Having just installed AIS (Automated Information System) on the boats navigation system, I noticed a huge stack up at the Colorado River Locks on the ICW (more correctly the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way or GIWW). We are in a municipal harbor just north of the locks. There were 15 tows with about 28 barges waiting to transit the locks. I am not sure why a boat that pushes barges is called a tow but that is what they are called. Anyway, the locks consist of a set on the east bound side of the Colorado River (more like the south side) and a set on the west bound side (more like the north side). Each is capable of handling two “strung out” sets. Strung out means they are tied end to end . If the set is to be tied side by side or there are two sets of two, the tow has to park one of the two at floating moorings on the approach side and take one at a time through the locks. That means two trips. Put 15 sets in line and that makes for a long day and patience on the part of the tow crews. They have to wait for staging through the locks.
The barges are roughly 50 feet wide and 280 plus feet, more or less, long. This nation is served well by the trucking industry. Each truck carries about 20 tons. The barges carry about 1500 tons each, more or less. Along this stretch of the ICW, that usually means petroleum or the “enes” (a friend calls them enes such as benzene). As of about an hour ago, there were a bunch of tons stacked up at the locks. If, by chance we were just arriving at the locks, we could most likely count on a very long delay doing circles in the ICW and an early morning transit. Good to be on this side already. Now, between here and Key West there are about 25 lock sets. Methinks I will need to plan ahead.
The barges are roughly 50 feet wide and 280 plus feet, more or less, long. This nation is served well by the trucking industry. Each truck carries about 20 tons. The barges carry about 1500 tons each, more or less. Along this stretch of the ICW, that usually means petroleum or the “enes” (a friend calls them enes such as benzene). As of about an hour ago, there were a bunch of tons stacked up at the locks. If, by chance we were just arriving at the locks, we could most likely count on a very long delay doing circles in the ICW and an early morning transit. Good to be on this side already. Now, between here and Key West there are about 25 lock sets. Methinks I will need to plan ahead.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Underway Day 2
An exciting day, well almost. We left Army Hole bound for Matagorda Harbor since the winds were not great for an offshore passage. After a brief stop in Port O'Connor for a fuel topoff (Bear does not want to chance not having heat in the morning), we entered Matagorda Bay. The bay was most definitely ugly due to the shallow waters being stirred by the wind, which was on the nose. Again, we had to motor to windward or face a long tacking exercise to windward. Four hours and fifteen minutes later we left the bay and got back to the ICW. This is the bay in which La Belle sank in 1687. It was the command ship of one Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, a Frenchman looking for the Mississippi. Missed it by juuuuuussssstttt a little bit. The ship was discovered a few years ago and much of the booty is in museums around Texas. Little know fact is that one crew member was found curled up in the anchor locker. Seems all they had to drink aboard the LaBelle was rum.
Just before arrival at Matagorda Harbor, we had to wait our turn at the Colorado River locks, two of them. It was a busy time and we watched several tow boats stage barges on the west bound side for later bundling and movement west. Since the locks take on single wide barges, it is a bit of a bottle neck. Recreational boats are way down on the food chain in the locking pecking order. We were lucky in that we were able to motor through without stopping for an elevation change. Just after we passed, the locks were closed due to currents and normal locking up and down started. We arrived at Matagoda Harbor at 1615 only to lear the restaurant was not open on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Just before arrival at Matagorda Harbor, we had to wait our turn at the Colorado River locks, two of them. It was a busy time and we watched several tow boats stage barges on the west bound side for later bundling and movement west. Since the locks take on single wide barges, it is a bit of a bottle neck. Recreational boats are way down on the food chain in the locking pecking order. We were lucky in that we were able to motor through without stopping for an elevation change. Just after we passed, the locks were closed due to currents and normal locking up and down started. We arrived at Matagoda Harbor at 1615 only to lear the restaurant was not open on Tuesday or Wednesday.
WK at Matagorda
We need to repack some of the million or so pounds of stores to bring the most often used stuff to the top of the lockers. Why in the heck would I put the 30 amp shore power adapter in the bottom of the deepest locker? Stupidity, that's why. Perfecting stupid here. So, we will stay a day or three to categorize stuff and wait for a cold front due Friday.
Underway Day one
We set sail at 0830 bound for Rockport, Tx, a mere two hours away. The cockpit enclosure made it almost 80 degrees in the bright sunlight and we were enjoying the sail down Lydia Ann Channel, past the light house and into Aransas bay. Strong currents opposed us in the channel, but once in the bay we were seeing just over 6 knots in a light northwest breeze. We got to Rockport but decided to continue, perhaps to Army Hole near Port O’Connor. We made it through Deadman’s Reef in the northern part of Aransas bay at 1145. That sounds like a real adventure but actually it is a real narrow spot in the waterway. There were very few tow boats on the ICW so the day was mostly ours. This was the furtherest north we have been since 1998 in Why Knot not counting bringing her back to Texas after Katrina tried to eat her. Bear has never been this far north on Why Knot. We dropped anchor in Army Hole (28 degrees 20.617 N, 096 degrees27.497 W) at 1735. The sunset was spectacular and a gift for our first day of the cruise. Bear whipped up a stew that tasted a bit like Dinty Moore (or was it?). We hit the rack almost before sunset, but then again isn’t that what cruisers do? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we also spent some time aground in Aransas bay just after we decided to continue north. Seems that I was a bit remiss in minding the depth instrument. What the heck is that alarm?
Sunrise at Army Hole, near Port O’Connor, Texas. Pass Cavallo lighthouse to the left of the sunrise
We set sail at 0830 bound for Rockport, Tx, a mere two hours away. The cockpit enclosure made it almost 80 degrees in the bright sunlight and we were enjoying the sail down Lydia Ann Channel, past the light house and into Aransas bay. Strong currents opposed us in the channel, but once in the bay we were seeing just over 6 knots in a light northwest breeze. We got to Rockport but decided to continue, perhaps to Army Hole near Port O’Connor. We made it through Deadman’s Reef in the northern part of Aransas bay at 1145. That sounds like a real adventure but actually it is a real narrow spot in the waterway. There were very few tow boats on the ICW so the day was mostly ours. This was the furtherest north we have been since 1998 in Why Knot not counting bringing her back to Texas after Katrina tried to eat her. Bear has never been this far north on Why Knot. We dropped anchor in Army Hole (28 degrees 20.617 N, 096 degrees27.497 W) at 1735. The sunset was spectacular and a gift for our first day of the cruise. Bear whipped up a stew that tasted a bit like Dinty Moore (or was it?). We hit the rack almost before sunset, but then again isn’t that what cruisers do? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we also spent some time aground in Aransas bay just after we decided to continue north. Seems that I was a bit remiss in minding the depth instrument. What the heck is that alarm?
Sunrise at Army Hole, near Port O’Connor, Texas. Pass Cavallo lighthouse to the left of the sunrise
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