Under Construction - Check back later for more photos!
Good Bye Kemah, Hello Taylor Outfall and on to Lake Charles
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| Al in Engine Room checking things out before we leave |
Well, after almost a month of delays we are finally underway for our next adventure east. We were supposed to leave on March 1st.
Stormy weather, heavy rains and major flooding in Louisiana and even in Orange and Dewyville saw the most rain in decades. We were waiting for a spot to jump in... We had originally planned to be in Orange Beach by this time, renting a car and driving back home for Easter. One thing we have learned about cruising... things will change... be flexible.
We took in our lines and headed out at 6:45. When we got to the bay is was windy and choppy and a terrible ride into Galveston. So much for 6 kts. forecast! Then, when we got into Galveston we had to wait for the east bound ICW traffic at Bolivar to open. There were 2 dredges working and limited traffic was allowed.
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| Sweet Tides with dredge closing back up after we all came through. |
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| Water was so rough and lots of barges |
Lucky for us we were able to fall right in behind the first east bound barge,
Jack Guidry, and follow him all the way through to Rollover Pass.
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The Jack Guidry
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Stingeree's Restaurant
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The weather turned gorgeous, the winds died and the sun came out and the rest of the day was spectacular.
We settled in to Taylor Outfall well before dark and our anchor held on the very first try! The Heritage East in the back ground is Lagniappe, Trudy and Richards boat. They were on their way back to Kemah and we all ended up at Taylor Outfall at the same time.
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| A beautiful Sunset |
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The Full Moon was amazing!
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It is so nice when you anchor out with just the perfect wind, temp and you can enjoy that swing from the hook. However, when the anchor windlass does not function properly and you have to haul in 100' chain by hand... that is not so good. Poor Al.. After struggling about 20 minutes we finally freed the anchor and headed out.
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| Al trying to break anchor free |
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| Anchor finally freed and we are underway |
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| West Port Arthur Bridge is under Construction |
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| Beautiful Morning to be cruising. |
Passing Through Port Arthur is always so interesting to me. The view from the water is so different than when I was growing up and only say Port Arthur in a car.
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| Shrimp Dock in Port of Port Arthur |
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| Sweet Tides cruising along |
Light barge and ship traffic all the way through Port Arthur.
Only two ships.... This one is going under the Gulfgate Bridge
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| Sweet Tides giving way for the ship heading under a Port Arthur Bridge |
However, when we got through 1000' cut the wind and wave action made for a really rough ride. Worse than that though, is that once we went through the cut we had to dodge huge logs and debris and huge logs... trees and telephone poles floating down the Sabine River into the ICW. It was a very harried experience to say the least.
Once we passed the River the current was calm and we made our way into Louisiana without incident.
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| Texas/Louisiana Border |
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| Ellander Bridge |
Once past Pavell Island and into the straights we had a nice relaxing ride into Louisiana. Sweet Tides has to call ahead for the bridge opening at the Ellander Bridge. We were able to go on through and headed up the Calcaisieu River into the Lake at Lake Charles.
However, once into the lake and in the Marina the wind and wave action made it so difficult to dock the boat so we ended up just backing into a slip. We will change slips when the weather calms. Down.
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Cambria backed-in to a slip on B Dock.
We were shooting for bow-in but couldn't make it happen. |
Now, for a nice hot shower and dinner. WAIT! NO WATER! The marina informs us that they are working on the water in the marina. Seriously? Oh Geeze.. so much for washing our boat and getting things cleaned after our last two days on Salt Water. While Curtis fights with the marina management, Al and I went to Enterprise and picked up our rent car.
When we got back we headed over to Steamboat Bills for dinner. Curtis and Diane came over to our boat to shower. And Curtis vows to attack the water situation in the morning.
March 23, 2016 - Lake Charles
Curtis was like a bulldog. He sat on Norman, the Harbor Master, AKA Performing
Arts Director, until we finally got water. Apparently, there was water available on A and C docks, but not to B dock. So, after some switching valves A Dock water was turned back on. The initial water supply was rusty and fowl, but it eventually ran clear.
We did some errands and picked up some geocaches. For dinner we decided to try the new Mexican restaurant downtown, Tia Juanita. It is supposed to be really good. We went in and made our way to the bar and decided to move to a table instead. We sat down and no one ever came to wait on us. We even tried to flag someone down and the just ignored us. So, we got up and walked out. Went next door for a wonderful meal at Luna Bar and Grill.
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Cambria moved over to A-Dock
and settled in for our stay in Lake Charles |
March 24, 2016 - Lake Charles
We got up early while the water was calm and moved our boat over to A Dock. We did a few more geocache's and had lunch at the Boiling Point in Sulphur. The I-10 bridge over the lake has been rated as one of the most un-safe bridges in the country. We vowed that we would not go over it until it is repaired. There is a 210 loop that goes around it which only puts a couple of miles on the trip. We got ready for our trip back home for Easter.
March 25-27, 2016 - Kemah/Nederland/Hockley
We got up and headed home. We needed to get to Kemah to pick up our settee cushions before they closed. However, while we were headed that way the called and said they closed at noon because it was Good Friday... UGH. Angela stepped up to the plate to save the day and picked them up for us.
We had a wonderful weekend with the kids and family at the reunion... eating way too much crawfish... then we stayed out at Barbara's Saturday night for our Easter day there.
We returned to Lake Charles that night in hopes to heading out Monday.
March 28 - 2016 - Lake Charles
Well, we are not going anywhere today. Storms all around. We got up and walked over to Stellar Beans for breakfast and Al spent the day trying to get the anchor windlass off the boat. He and Josh eventually were able to get it out. But rusted and broken bolts did not help much. I was on the internet trying to find a replacement windlass. We finally identified it as a Simpson Lawrence and they are out of business. Lewmar took over the company and they have a similar one but it does not handle 5/16 chain. So to get one that did we would have to cut the hull since the footprint is not the same. I found online that someone had purchased all of the SL stock when it went out of business and that they will be able to build one for us that is the exact windlass and will fit the footprint without alteration. But it is in Scotland. So, we are working with the guy to see if we can make it happen.
We drove to L'Auberge Casino for the buffet.... and we ate until we were literally stuffed! Crab legs were wonderful. We walked over to the Golden Nugget so Barb and Josh could see it. Nice long walk was great. We waddled back to the boat and hit the sack.
March 29, 2016 - Lake Charles
We got up and had a light breakfast... peanut butter toast and grapefruit. I have vowed that today we will not eat out and we will eat light. Later in the morning we all walked over to Stellar Bean for coffee and plan the day.
Curtis and Diane's dinghy motor would not start and they were able to take it to Bow Tie to have them look at it. The guys loaded it in the car and took it over... only to find out it just was bad fuel. Thank goodness! So they brought it right back and put it back on it is started just great.
Al spent the rest of the day cleaning the outside of the boat and I cleaned the inside. After one last run to the grocery store we took the car back and settled in for the evening. Looks like we will be here for a few more days. Might as well make the most of it.
March 30-31 2016 - Lake Charles
These last few days of waiting are getting boring. I feel like all we do now is wait and eat and wait and eat... more than likely it should be WEIGHT and Eat. We have found some new good restaurants. Tia Juanita turned out to be an excellent place. Curtis having Raymond's truck at least gave us transportation when we needed something. And we wer able to go to Pat's of Henderson's restaurant for lunch. We had heard about it for a long time so we gave it a try and it was great.
We hung out and I worked on boat insurance and paid a few bills. On Thursday evening it was really nice out and we sat in the fly-bridge and had cocktails until we decided to take a ride to Dairy Queen for a night cap. I can tell you that the Peanut Parfait is really good.
April 1, 2016 - Lake Charles
Oh Boy! We get to leave today! Oh, wait. April Fools.... Alas we are still waiting.. hopefully tomorrow. Making the best use of our time we all gather up our dirty clothes and Curtis hauls us all to the laundromat. It was nice to have everything clean and ready to head out. For lunch we walked over to Blue Dog restaurant. It just opened and OMGosh it was good! The maque choux was great! We spent the rest of the afternoon putting water in the boat and getting ready to go.
I walked Lexi and found a geocache... then Al met me for a walk. There was a concert in the park with different bands and food vendors. There is a van that goes all over the city selling tacos. It's called Sloppy Taco's Van. You can go to the website and see where they will be. They were one of the vendors. And the Sloppy Taco was great... We had chicken sausage gumbo at a nearby vendor for desert.
Sure hope we are able to continue our cruise tomorrow :-)
