Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Gulf Port, Mississippi

A rough ride on the Gulf all day after leaving Rabbit Island in Louisiana left us feeling tired and bedraggled. Sea Casa's nose into the water again; rocking horse motion AGAIN. No illness! Whew!
Winds at 15 - 20 knots, but of course, on our nose, so no sailing again. At least we know how to motor on the Gulf, and how much diesel it takes to get from Kemah, TX to New Orleans, LA. When we filled up in New Orleans it showed we had used almost 40 gals of diesel, and that was motoring the entire way. Not bad.

We made it into Gulf Port about 4:30...just as the sun was going down, and found that the marina we had called (which truly sounded like a funky marina called: "Gulf Port Small Boat Marina") was a brand new one, very classy, and only $1.00/ft. No electric fees, either, which some do tack on the bill. (Such as the one we're in now...in Mobile, AL.)  There were very few boats in the marina so we had a good spot close to the restrooms/showers. Boy, did we need that shower!!!

We felt especially spoiled because they just happened to have a huge Christmas presentation at the park where we docked. There was a large pavilion where a band was playing and some singers singing Christmas songs. Then there were acres and acres of lights accompanied and in synch with music piped in (loud) over the different venues. I took a ton of pics so will try to keep from boring you with all of them. But it was seriously so beautiful, I may just have to risk it. :) The first pics were from our boat...it had just gotten dark, and the display was far away, so they came out dark.
These trees were synchronized with some great tunes


Huge Ferris wheel from a distance. Changing colors constantly.







Paul and I decided, even though we were beat from the pounding day in the Gulf, we'd go check it out. It was truly an inspiration. We got in free since we were docked at the marina. We walked by the Pavilion where the large band was taking a break and made our way to the front where two horses and a carriage were waiting to take folks for a ride. They didn't have to wait long, there was a long line! You can see the tree trunks lit up in the background...they were changing colors in patterns and designs. Not just blinking lights. Bottom to top, top to bottom, spiraling, stripes, etc. You may want to make these pics bigger for a better effect. Or you may just want to skip it altogether. If you do, you're being a Scrooge!!!

White carriage with two horses

Carriage


tree trunks decorated with lights changing...blue

green

red

Sparkling and glittery; all colors. Much prettier in real time.
 
Onward to the next display.

Under the sea

carriage passing us




Santa's boat load of gifts
 

wind surfer

Wind surfer getting eaten by the Shark
It hopped across the grass making it look
 like it was swimming and then popped up like this


Ferris Wheel changing colors and patterns




I couldn't get the dragon's tail...too long for my camera.



Can't see very well, but it's a Neptune Santa with eight
little shrimp





The trees were amazing. People very small compared to them.
You can see them walking in the foreground.
Designs and rhythm and music all synchronized together.

Very delicate to song "Sugar Plum Fairy" from Nutcracker.











Constant motion, swirls and curls, all to upbeat music
 











































Long line of cars waiting to get in.
 


Taken from the sea castle all the way back to the Ferris Wheel


Can get an idea of how big this event was. That is a huge
Ferris Wheel, looks small in this pic. Those are the huge trees
 on the left and they look small here, too

Back to the trees...couldn't get enough of them and the
incredible music

My last photo...Paul was starting to tease me about my many
photos.

We had a lovely evening walking around the park, but it was cold! We had our jackets and several layers of clothes on and were still cold. We meandered back to the boat and had a nice sleep. Woke up to a pretty day, but some winds already started. We left the dock about 9 am to go to the pump out and get fuel. Here are some pics of the place as we are floating through.
Backing out of our slip

Leaving the dock

Restrooms

 
Going out through the channel

Passing the entrance into Small Boat Marina

Good bye, Gulf Port!!
 
 

Into the Gulf

Another rocky day on the Gulf. Plus, we lost our GPS. Made it all day by using our
handheld GPS. With the waves, winds and current against us, we were only
making 1.2 to 2.5 knots, so it was a long, long day and night. Finally decided
to anchor along the shore of Horn Island about 7 pm. It was quiet there, so
rested well. Got up the next day and used our Handheld GPS to lead us to
Mobile Bay and to our marina on the ICW.

 
 

  
 

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