Final Summary and blog close out

 

Trip was 54 days/sunsets however you choose to keep count. We traveled a total of 3,409 miles and burned 6,700 gallons of fuel with just at 190 actual engine hours. It truly was a trip of a life time filled with beauty and adventure that words cannot describe.  Would I do it again?? Yes in a heartbeat.  Keith has an expression that he uses each morning “Are you ready for another fun filled action packed day on the water”. The answer to that is yes!!!!!!!!!!

My plan is to combine all my pictures and data into a power point slide presentation which I’d be happy to share at some point once complete.

As to my next blog and or trip I’ll let you know. All for now and thanks to GOD and all those that made this happen.

Good Bye for now

Capt Dan

Sunday May 13th Back at Lakewood

Final leg of the trip; we traveled from Sabine pass to Lakewood yacht club a total of 95 miles. The day began with a short trip out of Sabine Pass and a right turn toward the Galveston jetty/inlet. The seas had calmed down and made for a very easy trip home. We were tied up at Lakewood about 11:00am.  Keith finished up his duties and I dropped him at the airport about 3:00pm for his return flight home to Raleigh North Carolina. I then returned to the boat to just decompress and enjoy my last and final sunset of the trip number 54.

Saturday May 12th second to last leg of the trip

We traveled from Morgan City to Sabine Pass a total of 194 miles. The forecast was for 1 to 2 foot waves and we really thought we would have an easy day traveling off shore; for those of you that don’t remember I do not like the ICW and run off shore whenever I can. This decision turned out not to be wise as the day unfolded. The day began with a run down the Atchafalaya River Channel and once we cleared the last marker we set waypoint to Sabine Pass which was about 140 miles away.  Once in the GOM the weather was actually 4-6 feet waves and rain with the occasional 8-10 feet. The end result was it beat us up bad for about 4 hours not pleasant at all. We tied up at Sabine Pass Port Authority fuel dock about 3:30pm a very small marina with little to no amenities. They did have fuel but you had to swipe your credit card and could only get 43 gallons at a time. An hour later and 10 “mini fill ups” we had enough fuel to get home and a little reserve. We slid over to a tee dock and tied up about 5:15pm with no shore power available we ran the generator all night to keep us cool and comfortable. Dinner was grilled rib eye steaks off the back of the boat and a large side dish of Mack and Cheese. After dinner I watched sunset number 53 off the back of the tempus.

Friday May 11th Venice LA to Morgan City

We traveled from Venice to Morgan City a total of 187 miles. The day started with a 4 hour run up the Mississippi river as we could not verify an entrance point west of Venice “see yesterday’s blog”. As luck would have it we arrived at Algiers about 10Am just as a tow was ready to exit and to our surprise the lockmaster said “bring it on it” after the tow clears. Cleared the lock about 10:30 and once again back into the ICW. We tied up to the Morgan City wall about 5:15pm with a normal day of minimum bridge and lock delays. We found a place on the wall to tie up and get power all for a $20 fee which is an honor system you just leave the money in a steel box.  The good thing about being in Morgan City was we were closer to home and we got to eat at Rita Mae’s; you just got to try the fried pork chops with red beans and rice.

Capt Dan

Panama City to Venice

We traveled from Panama City to Venice today a total of 237 miles. It was again a good day with seas 2/3 feet that made for a very pleasant off shore run. We cut in at Baptiste Callette Pass and arrived at Cypress Cove marina about 4:30pm.  The color and quality of the water deteriorated on an exponential basis as we traveled west from Panama City. The GOM coast changes west of Mobile bay from a tourist to an industrial/fishing basis.  We eat at the local restaurant and frankly it was not that great. We tried to acquire some local knowledge about access to the ICW west of Venice without going up the Mississippi; No luck!!

Capt Dan

May 9th travel from CLearwater to Panama City

We traveled from Clearwater to Panama City today a total of 242 miles. We cleared the outer marker and set a way point for San Blas Shoal it was a perfect crossing just over 10 hours. The seas were smooth almost flat. We did run through a couple of brief shower but nothing major. The boat performed as it had all trip flawlessly; the biggest challenge of the day was dodging crab pots off the Florida coast until we got into deeper water. Allow me to share an observation with you all; you realize how small you are relative to the earth when you travel for 8 plus hours and never see land. In addition you develop an appreciation for the reliability of the boat/mechanical systems. We st

stayed at the Bay Point Marina and ate at the onsite restaurant “30 degrees north”.

Post shower Rainbow

Capt Keith hard at work smooth water and 25mph

Capt Dan

Sunset number 48

I’ve been in Clearwater Florida for a little over a week. It’s amazing how the time flies “Tempus Fugit”. The days have started with a walk on the beach and a cup of coffee. I’ve traveled to Tarpon Springs to sample some Creek food and listen to a local “Nick” tell me all about the old days at the docks. The Creeks would dive for the sponges as they knew how to handle the sharks. Speaking of sponges; I picked up a sack full from a local named Johnny great value and quality. I also traveled up and down the west coast of Florida just to take in the scenery. I also took in a local Jazz concert on the beach.

Took care of a few boat maintenance items as well as made a couple trips to the local West Marine store which was one of their flagship stores. The evenings have been spent cooking on the BBQ and watching the sunset.  Keith arrives tomorrow and we plan to head to Apalachicola on Wednesday weather permitting. It will be good to be back traveling the water again.

Sunset number 48

Capt Dan