Houma and Baton Rouge

Our cruise across the Gulf was incredible. I wish I could've taken pictures of all the stars that showed themselves. It was truly amazing, and exactly what I had been wanting to see!  It was a full 2 days and 2 nights that we were on the Gulf. We took turns at the helm every 2 or 3 hours, allowing each other to take a good nap before going back on duty. I have to say, on the second morning, we were a little snippy with each other because we were more tired than we thought.

We were happy to tie up to a piling in Morgan City and just crash for a full 8 hours. The next day we felt much better and were raring to go again. We went through our first lock together, a new experience for both of us. As we headed on up the ICW, we meandered through some beautiful marsh lands with old Cypress trees draped in Spanish moss lining both sides of the river. One of the most stunning sights I've seen in Louisiana are the massive old oak trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. These ancient Cypress Trees are, in their own right, beautiful and almost prehistoric looking.

Birds on the ICW
 

 On our entrance into Houma, we floated by homes that were directly situated on the canal, lending a cozy and homey feel to the area. We are in the land of the Cajun folks. A small bit of history for those who don't already know it. It started in a village in France that was in between two warring factions. The people of the town finally got fed up with being in the middle of the fighting so decided to pack up and move. They sailed across the Atlantic and landed in the area around Newfoundland/Nova Scotia.

They called it Acadi and the people were the Acadians. There they made their new lives and dwelled peacefully for generations. However, during an invasion by the English, they were cruelly slaughtered and the surviving few were stuck on boats without food and forced to leave. It took many months before the few remaining Acadians finally landed in Louisiana. They took up residence in the delta where they were free and could hide if necessary. Their resilience and will to survive have made them a very strong and resourceful folk. Pictures of us winding our way through town on the ICW...

We missed our exit to the Houma City Marina, and a tug boat Captain hailed us on the VHF to ask where we were headed. We told him and he said "You just missed it"...and then proceeded to guide us back to the marina.

It was in the middle of town, right on a sweet little park under two overpasses. The fee was $25 a night for tie up, electric, water, and pump out. Here are a few shots of the area.

Our daughter-in-law, Michelle, who is from Houma originally, was able to get her mom, Esther, and us together. Dinner with Esther and her friend, Skip, was fun, and we all enjoyed each others company very much. Loved listening to Esther's stories.. She is definitely a fun loving person, a pool playing wizard, and a dancing machine!! Also enjoyed her French/English mix of speech...that's the Cajun language. Love it!

Michelle drove down from Baton Rouge to pick us up the next day, and on the way back to BR, she stopped in a little town called Napoleonville. There was a church with a graveyard that we stopped at, and took some pics.

Michelle peeking in to see if there were any bodies to see.

The Napoleonville graveyard is distinct in that many of the men buried here have fought not only in WW II and WWI, but also, the American Civil war and the Napoleonic wars as well. Yes, some even died in battle with Napoleon. I had never seen this before. Amazing!

Our visit with our kids and grandkids was relaxing and fun. I can't believe I didn't take pics, but I do have some from a few months earlier.

Paul and I had a great time in Houma and Baton Rouge. It's always hard to say goodbye, but we drove back to Houma to clean up and ready our boat for travel once again. On our way out of town, we saw this very creative house being built out of an old Tow Boat. Check this out...

Until next blog, sunny skies and fair winds...

On Our Way

Leaving Kemah

Sunday, December 6th, at about noon, we left Waterford Harbor Marina in Kemah,
TX after 3 years of living on our boat. During that time, there were many doctor
visits that we had not expected and, therefore, lots of  time spent healing. We had quite a few "false" starts when it came to leaving on our journey, and it was hard on us both. There were moments when it seemed as if we'd never go cruising. So, it was with anticipation and some butterflies that we pulled out of our slip to go cruise. We are finally seeing our dream take shape.
 

Thank you to all our wonderful friends there at the marina (live-aboards and non-live-aboards alike) for making our stay in the marina a much more enjoyable time than it would have been without you being there. People with whom we have spent many fun times, who have come to our rescue repeatedly, and have helped us in the years we have lived in Kemah...saying good bye to you all was more difficult than you know. We had a wonderful get together up at the Pavilion with some of our close friends. Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures of them there. Here are a some shots of the folks who came to the docks to say goodbye and "cheer us on", as we pulled out of Waterford for the last time. Too ALL of you...we carry your friendship with us as we go...and you'll always be with us.

Debbie and Dale, our neighbors

Deb and Dale Kramer

Johnny and Carol to the Right
 

Johnny, Jenn, Teresa, and Joel
 

 

Carol taking a shot of us from the Boardwalk
 

Ken and Carol Ekenseair
 

We also had a wonderful surprise when we got out into the fairway when we looked back

to see Kerri and Ross Wenum behind us in their catamaran as they followed us out into Clearlake as our send-off into our new life. How incredible was that? Thanks so much guys!! Don’t have pics of it, darn! 

 The Bay was so calm, like glass almost, thus we had to motor the entire way. We made it to 

Laguna Harbor, up on Bolivar Island in 4 hours. Very peaceful evening there. Our last night to enjoy our 

electricity before cutting it off and going into the Gulf. 


Last shot of Kemah Boardwalk

 

Laguna Harbor at Bolivar Island

Laguna Harbor

Paul at Laguna Harbor

S/V Sea
Casa

 
 

Into the Gulf on Tuesday...it was mild...very little wind, although we tried to take advantage 

of what wind was there. We eventually gave it up and just motored the entire way. Nevertheless, it was still a beautiful trip. We were escorted out of the Galveston Ship Channel by the dolphins...and I don't care how man times you see them, it's always magical. We saw the water line where the Galveston water ended and the Gulf water began. The stars out in the Gulf were amazing...so many to see, as opposed to being on land where electricity visually mutes them. No moon, no light, just stars!!

Dolphins...escorting us.
 

More dolphins
 

In the Galveston shipping channel
 

Good bye Galveston

Looking back at the line...Galveston water into the Gulf waters
 

On the Gulf...watching the sun go down.
 

No clouds, but a bright sun on the horizon
 

     
Two days and two nights with approximately 2-3 hour shifts actually worked our well for us. We both got too tired after more than 3 hours. When we arrived at the mouth of the river, we were both more tired than we thought, growling a little at each other a bit, then we realized it was because we were both wupped!

 

The Atchafalaya River (pronounced “uh-CHA'-fuh-Lie-uh) which we, of course pronounced incorrectly,
 was huge and long! We went upstream against the current all the way. We arrived in Morgan City 
around 4pm and had to dock in a different docking space since the original city marina was closed

 for reconstruction. Next morning we took the ICW to Houma, LA, where we arrived about 3 pm.
 It’s a lovely little city marina, for $25/night, which includes docking, electricity, pump out, and water. 

No showers, and no laundry, but it’s ok. We’ve been wearing only two sets of clothes

the entire way so not much to clean. :) Don’t want to get too close to us at this point!!

 

We went out to dinner with our (daughter-in-law) mom and friend last night. Had a great time.
Fun folks! This morning our DIL is coming to pick us up and take us back to Baton Rouge to their place. 

We’re going to borrow one of their cars to drive over to Kemah to pick up our car...

then we’ll turn around and come right back. Will be a long day!

 

I have to say, this sailing life is agreeing with me so far. I enjoyed our trip across the gulf very much! 

Just to be able to see the Milky Way and all the millions of stars in the night sky was worth it all, for me. 

Incredible! Couldn’t get over how beautiful the sky was during the nights out there. 

 

We will probably be leaving Houma in about 4 days. Our SPOT Tracker will be off and we'll turn it back on once we get moving again.  Cheers and fare winds to you all!!

On our last night in Kemah, it was as if the marina was giving us a gift. The last sunset for us here was something out of a fantasy. Goodbye, Kemah, goodbye our friends!!

Last Sunset in Kemah

 

Returning to the Blog!

Since 2013 we have been on "hold" status for our departure from Kemah, TX. First, Paul has had numerous health problems, ranging from cancer, to hernia to shingles.

Then it was my turn. My annual exam turned into a major ordeal. Many tests later, it turns out I'm good to go, except for using a CPAP machine. And that says CPAP, not CRAP...but that's how I felt after I learned I needed to use one).After 2 sleep tests, it was determined that I get much more rest and fewer apneic episodes by using the machine. I have terrible sleep apnea (which I knew) and it has been the cause of my tiredness and low energy for the past several years (which I didn't know). This machine controls a certain amount of pressured air that flows through your nose constantly all night, going down the airway to prevent your tongue and breathing mechanism from collapsing onto the back of the throat, thereby allowing air to continue on to the lungs. Apparently, my throat was being blocked at night, and, because my lungs weren't getting air, my heart would do crazy things...such as; beating too fast (aka: arrhythmia), and I would wake up completely out of breath and feeling like I was dying. This has happened to me for years and it's always been scary. My doc informed me that it's actually hard on the heart to continually be out of breath. Good to know. Therefore, I'm am being religious in using my new CPAP machine. Gotta' keep the ticker going, at least for another 20 years would be good!

Here's the catch! Medicare won't pay for it unless I go in for a final evaluation in one month's time to see if the CPAP machine is helping. I got the machine on the 21st of October. We were planning on leaving October 25th (today!). Now it means we have to wait until November 21st before we leave so I can go in for the appt. Oh well, maybe the weather will be more gentle in November! At least, one can hope!!

So, here we still are...since 2012, sitting in Waterford Harbor Marina. Can't say it hasn't been good, though. We've really enjoyed our time living here. Have enjoyed our live aboard friends and we're in a lovely marina. It's all good!

A week ago we returned from a "farewell to relatives" road trip up to Midland, TX to visit and stay with my older brother, Steve, and my sis-in-law, Karen. It was great spending quality time, if not quantity. We drove up to Lubbock, TX to see my mom and younger brother, Phil, who both seemed to be doing pretty well. My brother had lost about 70 lbs of weight...hardly recognized him! Mom was talking more than normal, too! We all needed that time together. I can't even begin to say in words how important and special it was seeing my mom and brothers/sis-in-law again. They are, each of them, strong influences in my life and I love them all dearly.

Our next jaunt on the road was from Midland, TX all the way over to Baton Rouge, LA, to see our son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids. We arrived Sunday p.m. and left Tuesday a.m. Chris, our son, was in California on a job, but our daughter-in-law, Michelle, and grandkids were there to greet us. Michelle had made her homemade Gumbo for dinner, which was warming and delicious. She had also invited a couple who owns several boats over the following evening for dinner. Of course, we all talked "boats" and "boat experiences". Fun! Micelle had some books for us, which was great! We both read a ton, so appreciate any new titles and series.

Grandchildren! Once again, the illusive nature of time played tricks on our minds. It was hard to grasp how big our g-kids had become and how fast they had arrived there!! Now both teenagers, Brandon is driving, and Ashley, the younger of the two, is learning. Yesterday they were but wee little ones, crawling all over me. I miss that, yet, there is still sweetness in them at this age as well. It's a little more reserved, but the love is still there. So good to be with all three of them again. We're so fortunate to have these wonderful people in our life.

On the way home from Baton Rouge, we stopped at the Bayou Rum Brewery and took the tour, enjoying it and the 4 shots at the end. Bought us a couple of bottles of the Spiced Rum for our Sundowners on the boat and were on our merry way home to Kemah!

Now we're back on the boat, and rocking wildly due to the remnant winds of Hurricane Patricia, which are blowing strongly! Lots of rain along with it, and flooding as well. (Good thing we didn't leave today, huh?) Paul and I are spending this time buying our needed supplies for the boat on the inet. Just bought our Freya Guide book to Mexico, Belize, and the Rio Dulce area in Guatemala. I also found a good book called "Spanish for Cruisers" which may be a handy tool at some point. Paul ordered us a new drinking water faucet to go with our water filtration system and we'll be picking up some new boat batteries next week. We bought a used SSB receiver so we can listen to Chris Parker's weather reports, and Paul will be installing a new macerator pump. We're hoping these will be all the fixes that we'll need for sometime. Then it's a matter of stocking the boat with food, and away we'll go! (Knock on wood!! Break a leg!! God Willing!!)

I'll be updating the site as we get nearer to our departure date.

Until then, 

Mackerel scales and mares tails make tall ships to lower sails. 
(I like this saying, and I saw these skies recently...a good rhyme to remember!)