Galveston, TX to Port Aransas, TX

Total Miles Traveled 1497

https://share.garmin.com/RickVicars

After spending a few days at Galveston, we departed Pelican Rest marina and traveled 44 miles to a marina at Freeport, TX.  We have found very few options for anchoring or marinas as we travel west due to our boat length and draft.  The city marina at Freeport is a very nice marina with floating docks, power, water, and Wi-Fi, but it’s located in a very industrial area.  To access the marina, we had to travel 3.5 miles through the Freeport shipping channel then pass through a guillotine flood gate.  Freeport harbor has two major companies, Phillips Petroleum and Dow Chemicals Texas operations facility, the company’s largest integrated site.

The following morning, December 3^rd, we awoke to dense fog and had to wait until after 10 o’clock before traveling 48 miles to the Matagorda City Marina.

On December 4^th, we departed Matagorda Marina and called the Colorado River East Lock for instructions.  There were seven eastbound tows waiting to lock through and one westbound tow.  We were instructed to get close to the lock and wait.  The lock controls the waterway traffic when crossing conditions are hazardous because of strong current velocities.  As we waited close to the lock, we watched tows struggling to push there load out of the lock against the strong opposing current, only traveling one or two mph.  One of the tow captains called the lockmaster and asked if he could close the gate behind him to reduce the current.  The lockmaster replied that the lock gate has been broken for two years and could not be operated. 

Finally, it was our turn and the lockmaster said there were three pleasure craft boats eastbound that would also be passing through.  I asked if I should wait for them to clear before proceeding, explaining the size of our boat, but was told there was plenty of room to pass.  We could not see inside the lock from our waiting position but as we turned into the lock entrance two center console boats and a cruiser were coming at us fighting the current that was pushing us through the first lock gate.  A high stress situation for sure trying to keep off the wall and away from the passing boats zig zagging through the strong current.  We passed through the lock without incident and continued across the Colorado River and through the West Lock without any issues.  We traveled 24 miles crossing Matagorda Bay and passing hundreds of jelly fish along the way to our anchorage behind Matagorda Peninsula.  

We awoke to another morning of dense fog on December 5^th which was not good as we had to travel 63 miles to our next stop.  Luckily the fog lifted early, and we were on our way by 9 o’clock, although we didn’t arrive at the Rockport Texas City marina until thirty minutes before sunset.  

The birds love following our boat, diving for fish churned up from our props.

We stayed at Rockport for four days, visiting the town, museum, and the local markets.  Oysters, crab, and shrimp can be purchased right from the boats in the harbor.  Our electric scooters have been handy during our travels too, allowing us to see more of the areas we visit.

On December 9^th we traveled 31 miles to the Corpus Christi City Marina, located about 20 miles across Corpus Christi Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. 

Best Mate view from the Omni hotel

Getting to the marina had its challenges though, as we approached the ship channel from the GIWW a ship was crossing the waterway and fog was starting to form again (in the middle of the day with mild temperatures).   Are you starting to see the unpredictable fog pattern of coastal Texas?

 I had several AIS targets of ships and other boats displayed on my chart plotter, but the ships were all docked.  As we entered the ship channel and turned from the GIWW, four pilot boats were helping a ship depart on our starboard side so I moved to the opposite side of the channel, the fog was getting worse, but we still had a half mile or so of good visibility.  As we continued, an oil tanker was also moving down the channel, so we hugged the outside of the channel until we came upon a dredge and several work boats.  We crossed to the other side of the channel again and only had a couple of barges to deal with before entering Corpus Christi Bay as the fog cleared.

We met a fellow DeFever boat owner at the marina, Mike on m/v Sea Biscuit.  Mike is a great guy; he took us to a few restaurants for lunch, and to a local grocery during our stay.  He also helped with information on the area around the marina.  We met another DeFever owner on our dock, Byron on m/v Blue Moon, he offered to take us anywhere we needed to go during our stay.  We have been very fortunate to meet such great people during our travels.

After visiting the science and art museum, we stopped at a local brewery for lunch.

We attempted to leave Corpus Christi for our next port on December 26^th, traveling about 8 miles across the bay and into the ship channel when we heard a coast guard announcement on the VHF radio that the ship channel was closed to all traffic due to an oil spill of light crude oil.  A safety zone was established and as luck would have it, we would have to cross through it to arrive at our next port.  We turned around and stayed at Corpus Christi four more days.  We learned later that a cracked pipe at one of the ship terminals leaked about 3800 gallons of oil into the channel.

 Location of the oil spill

The long range oil tankers are over 1000 ft long and almost 200 feet wide, they make our boat look so tiny.  They carry between 1.9 and 2.2 million barrels of oil, that’s over 42 million gallons of oil.  The ship AMJAD is from Saudi Arabia.

On Friday, December 30^th the safety zone was lifted at noon, so we traveled 21 miles to the Port Aransas Municipal Marina, located on Mustang Island.  Mustang Island is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas about 18 miles long, and Port Aransas, known as Port A by the locals, is located at the northern tip of the island.  Port A is a small community and one of the prime destinations for winter Texans and vacationers, an “island like laid back vibe”, I think we’ll fit right in here, can’t wait to explore!

Happy New Year!!

Biloxi, MS to Galveston, TX

Total Miles Traveled 1245

https://share.garmin.com/RickVicars

We stayed two days at Biloxi, MS and pretty much stayed on the boat due to wind, rain, and cool weather.  Biloxi has very reasonable dockage fees and the lowest price we’ve paid for diesel since last spring.  Maybe on our way back we’ll have better weather to visit the town. 

On November 14^th, we traveled 31 miles to Bay St Louis, MS and stayed at the municipal marina for three days.  Another cold front was passing through and severe weather was forecasted for the 15^th.  I’m glad we were in a protected marina as the wind and sideways rain rocked our boat all night.  The rain passed but the wind continued to blow on the 16^th, so we walked around town and enjoyed a bowl of seafood gumbo at the local watering hole to warm us up.   

We departed Bay St Louis on November 17^th and traveled 40 miles leaving the Mississippi Sound and continuing on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to an anchorage at Chef Menteur, a waterway connecting Lake Pontchartrain to Lake Borgne.  When planning our route west, I found that anchorages and marinas are far and few between, with a lot of shallow water at possible anchorages, so the weather will dictate our movement for this adventure.

New Orleans

The average elevation of New Orleans is currently between 1 foot and 2 feet below sea level, with some portions of the city as high as 20 feet at the base of the river levee in Uptown and others as low as 7 feet below sea level in the farthest reaches of eastern New Orleans.

Flood pump stations, wall, and lock.

The GIWW is roof level at normal pool.

On November 18^th we traveled 42 miles starting our day through New Orleans and across the Mississippi River.  Planning through this section is critical as there are several low bridges that must open for us, locks, flood gates, and heavy barge traffic. On weekdays, some of the low bridges will not open from 6:30 am, to 8:30 am or from 3:30 pm to 5:45 pm because of heavy morning and evening traffic.  Barges have priority for locking so we must wait for the first opportunity for pleasure craft.  Anchorages and marinas are limited so if we're held up for several hours it could force us to be on the waterway after dark…..not an option.

We did get held up at the industrial canal lock for two and a half hours waiting for three barges to pass.  After this lock and another bridge is the Mississippi River.  After crossing the Mississippi, there are two locks, one five miles upstream for recreational and small vessels, and one five miles downstream for commercial vessels.  Exiting both locks join the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at a common intersection heading west.  After checking the lock status the previous day, I found that the upstream Harvey Lock was closed due to low water on the Mississippi River and all traffic must use the Algiers Lock downstream.  If the Harvey lock was closed, I was concerned of the depth going to the Algiers Lock.

We entered the Mississippi River and found 92 feet of water under our boat; the lowest depth was 45 feet for the five-mile journey downriver.  I couldn’t take any pictures as the river was very congested and busy with ships, barges, pilot boats, and a ferry crossing.  Both banks of the river were lined with barges and working tugs.  As luck would have it, there were no tows around the Algiers lock and we were able to enter the lock and “float” while the lockmaster operated the lock doors. 

We continued on to an anchorage at Bayou Villars, and arrived two hours before sunset, this was the best of two possible anchorages, and both were very shallow.  After setting the hook, we averaged between 1 and 3 feet under our boat as we would swing with the tidal current and wind. 

We're always looking for wildlife along the waterway, it's hard to grab the camera and focus on anything before it's gone.  I saw this coyote sneaking up on something, grabbed the camera and didn't get him catching it, but was able to take this shot as he was carrying it away. 

Young Eagle

Osprey

Some sections of the GIWW are heavy industrial.

We weighed anchor at daybreak on November 19^th and traveled 42 miles to Houma, LA.  This is a city dock with power and water, located next to a park between two bridges in a narrow canal.  The farther you go in the skinnier it gets.  A sailboat was tied to the dock at the entrance, so we had to go ahead of it and behind another boat to get to the dock.  I could get the bow to the dock, but the stern would not move in.  After several attempts, we made it to the dock with a foot and a half under the boat on the port side and 5 feet under the starboard dock side.  I must have plowed through some mud and silt to get in but had very little in the bottom of  my sea strainers.

The barges pass close behind our dock under the narrow bridges on the GIWW.

After dark, a huge mega yacht came into the canal, he plowed his way past the boat in front of us and after several attempts with his bow and stern thrusters, he was able to crab his way into the dock so I could catch his lines.   I took this pic as he was leaving the next morning, he must have cleared the way because we didn't have any issues backing out the following day.

We stayed a Houma for two days of rain and wind then departed on November 21^st traveling 38 miles to Morgan City, LA city dock.  Morgan City sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River, a distributary of the Mississippi River and the Red River and is the fifth largest river in North America by discharge.  There is so much barge traffic in this area, and swift river currents, that it requires a special traffic control command center.  A special VHF radio channel is used by all vessels to monitor and get instructions for passage.  We used another vessel traffic channel when entering the Mississippi River from New Orleans.

We were looking forward to visiting Morgan City and planned on staying a couple of days visiting the shops and restaurants and reprovisioning at a grocery.  We found that the town is all residential with two restaurants that were both closed on Monday, the day we arrived.  The closest store was over a half mile walk.  After returning to the boat from our walk around town, another boat pulled up to the dock.  We met David and Claudia on m/v Stillwaters II back in 2015 while doing the loop.  They are from Texas and heading east to Florida.  We also passed them on the Ohio River in West Virginia during our Pittsburg trip in 2021.  A small world for sure! 

The dock was secure, and the city provided power and water for $30 a night, but we decided to keep moving west departing at daybreak on November 22^nd and traveling 64 miles to Intracoastal City at the fuel dock Shell Morgan.  We haven’t been too impressed with our travels west so far, but we can’t complain about the fuel prices and dockage fees in Louisiana.  We topped off our fuel tanks at $3.79/gal when our friends in Florida are paying $5 to $6 a gallon.  The fuel dock provides two transient slips for $25 a night with power and water.  According to the dated reviews for this stop, there was a grocery nearby, but we found it has been closed and the closest grocery was over a mile away.  The dock attendant offered to run us up to the store in his truck and bring us back.  While at the store, the cashier thought we walked from the fuel dock and offered to take us back to our boat.  We have met really great people on our travels west.

The area we've traveled so far ranges from swamp to salt marsh with a lot of gas and oil canals and equipment.

Some sections have a lot of thick vegetation floating in the waterway. 

A picture of our route on the GIWW, the canals are cut through the marshes and swamps to access oil and gas.

We departed Shell Morgan on November 23^rd and traveled 44 miles to an anchorage at the Mermentau River.  We stayed there for Thanksgiving and had turkey dinner with all the fixins.

Moni took some seeds from our favorite brand of tomatoes last summer and planted them in this pot. The plant has survived storms, salt spray, blistering sun, and cold nights......but the first tomato is ripe!

We had to have BT's for breakfast since we didn't have any lettuce 😕

On November 25^th, we traveled 71 miles to an anchorage at Shell Island. This was a long and very busy day with a lot of barge traffic and a very busy, and narrow fleeting area just after crossing the Sabine River.   We have arrived in Texas!  We anchored here for an extra day as another front was passing through and had protection from the GIWW traffic and wind. 

We weighed anchor on November 27^th and travelled 21 miles to another anchorage at Taylor Bayou Outfall.  We had to cross the Port Arthur Ship Canal and with the tidal current, we were traveling at 10.5 mph, but when we crossed the canal and entered the narrow cut under the bridge, we dropped to 3.7 mph at the same engine’s rpm against the opposing current.   We arrived at our anchorage met with several strings of crab pots.  Trying to determine where to drop the anchor and avoid swinging into a crab pot during tidal swings is a real challenge.  Getting one of those lines tangled in our running gear would not be fun.

A refinery located across the salt marsh from our anchorage provided a fire to watch as we sat on the flybridge after sunset.   Then the mosquitos arrived………….in November?

On November 28^th we weighed anchor and traveled 72 miles to Galveston, Texas. 

The terrain has flattened out and we're seeing wide open ranges.

Galveston Bay is like Mobile Bay on steroids, barges and ships traveling in all directions as the channel is an all-weather exit from Houston and Texas City to the Gulf of Mexico.  We arrived at the Pelican Rest Marina located in Offatts Bayou in Galveston.  We will be here for four days as a major storm system works its way through the area with 25-30 mph winds.

From the 1830’s to 1900, Galveston was the biggest and most prosperous city in Texas.  Its commercial center was then known as the “Wall Street of the Southwest,”.  The devastating hurricane of 1900 caused more than 6,000 deaths and brought the city to its knees.