Matagorda, TX to Intracoastal City, LA

Total Miles Traveled 1951

https://share.garmin.com/RickVicars

The Texas winter weather pattern continues with fog most days and 20-30 mph winds every three or four days.  We held up at the Matagorda Marina for three days waiting for another weather window to continue east.   During our anchorage at Matagorda Bay, before arriving at the marina, our anchor washdown pump decided to fail tripping the circuit breaker, luckily it was a sandy bottom, and the anchor and chain came up fairly clean.  I disassembled the pump and motor and found the motor had seized.  I was able to free up the motor, reassemble, and put it back in service. I tested it every morning during our stay at the marina and so far, so good.

We departed Matagorda on March 4^th and traveled 48 miles to Freeport, Texas.  This was a great cruising day with light winds and sunny skies.  We only had to pass two or three barges, and all the ships in the Freeport ship harbor were at the docks.    At daybreak on March 5^th, we traveled 44 miles to Galveston Texas and anchored in Offatts Bayou.  This is a large body of water, but has several options for anchoring and access to Galveston.  We arrived early in the afternoon and decided to relax on the hook instead of taking the dinghy to town. 

Our original plan was to continue east, but the weather was not going to cooperate.  Future forecasts indicated high winds and possible severe weather in a couple of days, and since we must anchor for the next three days, we decided to cruise 32 miles up to Kemah, Texas.  We departed Galveston on March 6^th after the heavy fog lifted, and traveled up the ship channel to the Kemah Boardwalk Marina. 

Kemah is located off the western shore of Galveston Bay and about 35 miles southeast of Houston.  Kemah’s main industry is shipping, but the city has become a tourist destination for the area’s restaurants and attractions.  Kemah is ranked one of the top tourism spots in the greater Houston area.  This is a great well protected marina, with several restaurants and entertainment within walking distance.   There is also a Walmart and Home Depot within a mile, making the short scooter ride for supplies  handy.

Our friends Josh and Barb invited us to meet them and their boating friends for dinner at a local restaurant.  We had a great visit sharing our travel experiences.

Our planned short visit to Kemah ended up being 19 days due to several weather systems moving across Texas spawning tornados and high winds.  We took advantage of our extended stay to order and install a new anchor washdown pump, complete several small projects on the boat, exploring the city, and meeting new friends.

The view of Galveston Bay from Bubba Gumps

Taco Tuesday!

Hot muffins and coffee delivered to the boat, compliments of the Kemah Marina

Crawfish, Cajun Style

Aquarium Restaurant, pretty cool

Finally on March 25th, we had a weather window to cross Galveston Bay and return to the intercoastal waterway.  Galveston Bay is huge, 30 miles long and 17 miles wide, with an average depth of only 6 feet.  It doesn’t take much wind to make it uncomfortable for cruising while staying in the channels and avoiding passing ships and barges.  We traveled 82 miles from Kemah to an anchorage at Taylor Outfall Bayou,  about 30 miles from the Texas border.  

On March 26^th we only traveled 21 miles and anchored behind Shell Island, a short day due to the next anchorage from the island was 70 miles.  

Anchored behind shell island, our boat is the red triangle, notice the barge activity we have to deal with.

While anchored,  I checked the status of the Calcasieu lock that we must pass through the following day and found they had changed the maintenance completion date from March 6^th to April 6^th.  The lock was closed to all traffic from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.  On Monday March 27^th, we traveled 37 miles, crossing into Louisiana and to an anchorage on the Calcasieu River, about 6 miles from the lock.  Sunrise was a little after 7 a.m. so making the trip to the lock before closing was not an option and sunset was around 7:30 p.m so we wouldn’t have enough daylight to travel from the lock at 5, and make it to the next possible anchorage before dark.  Also, the tows are backed up on both sides of the lock.  We also found that the few marinas that are in the area were destroyed by two back to back hurricanes and 2020 and haven’t been reopened. 

After a few calls to the lockmaster, he suggested we anchor close to the lock and if he saw a break in the work activity which would allow time for us to pass through, he would call us for passage.  We had a break on Wednesday March 29^th to pass through the lock about 10 a.m. and traveled 45 miles to an anchorage at the Mermentau River. 

Finally seeing tall trees and hills as opposed to the flat terrain of Texas.    

We weighed anchor at daybreak on Thursday March 30^th and traveled 44 miles to a small marina at Intracoastal City, Louisiana.  The wind picked up during the day making dockage to get fuel, and to a slip very challenging.  With Fridays forecasted winds to be 15-25 mph, we chose to stay two days at the Shell Morgan Marina and depart on April 1^st.