Outer Reef

The Shakedown Cruise
to South Padre Island

December 6-15, 2008

Monday, December 15

Aransas County Navigation District Marina (Rockport)

We spoke too soon yesterday about nothing breaking on our shakedown cruise.

After a restful night at anchor in Shamrock Cove, we woke up to warm weather, calm seas, no wind, no waves and no engine. It died while Larry was pulling up the anchor for departure.

The culprit that delayed us was some gunk in the fuel, but Larry was able to fix it, thank goodness. We would have hated to spend Christmas at Shamrock Cove!

By 10:30 AM, when we left the anchorage, it was cold with strong north winds, and rough seas.

The weather forecast when we went to bed Sunday night was for winds from 5-10 mph from the southeast, increasing to 10-15 later Monday. How could they have gotten the forecast so wrong?

It was gray and rough all day long, with winds steadily from the north. We were not looking forward to docking, but Anita, Dennix, and Jason met us at the marina in Rockport in the cold blustery weather, caught our lines and helped us to maneuver our unwieldy boat to dock.

We were glad to be back, although we enjoyed our trip south.

We realized how much we need to do before we strike out for the Florida Keys and the Bahamas in January. Our shakedown cruise ended without serious injury to body or boat. Life is good.

Sunday, December 14

Shamrock Cove (Near Mile Marker 525 and Green Marker 75)

We left the anchorage at 6:30 this morning and had an uneventful trip to Shamrock Cove in Corpus Christi Bay. Today we traveled 78 miles, our longest day this week.

Today, we met the ONLY commercial tug we’ve seen this week, which is unusual. What is also unusual is that we met NOT ONE cruising boat all week! We saw dozens of little fishing boats. Even when we stayed at marinas, none of the cruising-type boats were traveling or even seemed to be occupied or attended to.

We did see some interesting dredging operations and were encouraged that the Intracoastal Waterway is being dredged, when there seems to be so little commercial traffic here.

Shamrock Cove is not as protected as Terry remembered it from Bay Yacht Club (Corpus Christi) cruises years (and years!) ago. One of the cruising guides we often refer to failed to mention sunken wells that we could easily have hit or caught the anchor on.

Tomorrow we head to Rockport. So far---knock on teak---nothing has broken and everything has worked on our shakedown cruise!

Saturday, December 13

Anchorage near Mile Marker 620 and Day Marker Red 76

We wanted to make the 7 o'clock bridge opening this morning, so we got up very early to get ready to leave the Port Isabel marina dock about 6:45. HOWEVER…things were not as they seemed. The wind should have blown us gently way from the marina, but we had not counted on a strong current pushing us toward the dock. After readjusting the fenders and using our combined brute strength (?), we managed to clear the dock at a quarter after 7.

The bridge tender, who was not busy with road traffic early on Saturday morning, agreed to open for us, which we appreciated because we didn’t want to hang around driving in circles waiting for the next scheduled opening at 8 o’clock.

For a while, the water was smooth as glass. We saw lots of birds, including a variety of egrets. Pelicans were flying in v-formations, which was fascinating to watch.

We got to the last place with water deep enough for us to anchor (10 ft) at mid-afternoon. The winds were up and the water choppy, which we had expected. Because this is an unprotected anchorage, it was rough, but not too uncomfortable. Terry put on her anti-seasickness wrist bands, which worked well on the last cruise, just in case.

The winds are supposed to die down in the evening, but start up again on Sunday.

Friday, December 12

South Point Marina, Port Isabel (Mile Marker 666)

When we woke up, we discovered that the tide had dropped the boat about three feet! We had to climb UP to get off!

The sun was shining and the temperature just right. Another beautiful day in paradise! OK, maybe not The Paradise, but close enough for us.

We took a cab over the Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge, where several people were killed a few years ago after the bridge was knocked down by a barge. South Padre Island is right over the bridge from Port Isabel.

After we checked in at our marina office located at another marina on South Padre Island, we struck out to explore the place.

We took advantage of the free bus, The Wave, which circles the town. We saw lots of condos and high rises so damaged by Hurricane Dolly earlier this year that they haven’t reopened. A lot of stores and restaurants were also still closed. Someone told us that insurance claims not being paid promptly accounted for the closings.

We had a delicious lunch at Daddy’s. Our waiter was from Kingsville and we reminisced about the onion rings at King’s Inn.

The Wave dropped us at the Wal Mart in Port Isabel, where we picked up a few things, and then started the mile or so walk to the boat. About halfway back, Mark from the marina offered us a ride. We were glad to see him!

Larry has been concerned that we’ve not been maintaining our usual speed, which is slow enough. Normally, we go about 7 mph, but lately,we’ve been averaging about 6 mph. He suspects the problem is barnacles on the prop. We hired a diver to inspect the situation and take care of it, if necessary.

It was necessary. Joe scraped the barnacles off and put on a new prop shaft zinc, which protects the prop and shaft from corrosion by electrolysis. He was a nice guy and Larry enjoyed visiting with him after the work was done.

Tomorrow morning we'll leave to begin the return trip to Rockport.

Thursday, December 11

South Point Marina, Port Isabel (Mile Marker 666) 

What a great day this was! Larry pulled smoothly away from the Willacy County Navigation District’s marina (Port Mansfield) at 7 AM. It was cold (56 degrees in the pilot house!), but the sun was very bright. We saw hundreds of ducks and lots of pelicans, including white pelicans. The brown ones are more common.

The Border Patrol boarded us about 15 miles north of Port Isabel. They were very friendly as they filled out their forms and looked over the boat. They jumped from their boat to our boat while we were underway. Glad that wasn’t in MY job description.

A dozen or so dolphins raced alongside and in front of us before we went beneath the Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge.

The pontoon swing bridge that we had to go through to get to the Port Isabel marina opened only on the hour, and we had to wait for it to open. When Terry got on the radio and asked questions about passing through the bridge, the bridge master said, “XZMPLRP DRQMXPV YYY!!!!!!” And said it with such urgency! But, we had no idea what he wanted us to do. Finally we just plowed ahead and gave a friendly wave when we saw him.

We are now at the South Point Marina at Port Isabel (at Mile Marker 666), alongside a very nice new dock, happy as clams.

Wednesday, December 10

Port Mansfield (Mile Marker 629)

The expected cold front came in last night. When Terry left the pilothouse about 9 pm to go below to read, it was foggy and very calm, after a windy day. The water was smooth. In a split second, gale force winds hit.

The winds were probably about 40 mph, among the worst we've ever experienced on the boat. We were very glad to be safe in a marina! Even so, Larry had to stay up in the pilothouse, checking the fenders and the lines every hour throughout the night.

The strong winds blew water into the marina, which raised the boat quite a bit. There were whitecaps in the marina! The boat rocked and rolled, but we were safe. The power went off as soon as the winds started last night, so we didn't have any heat for several hours.

The electricity’s back on now, though, and we're pretty warm and comfortable, though it's gray and cold outside. It was a long night for Larry. Terry slept like a baby.

Tuesday, December 9

Port Mansfield (Mile Marker 629)

The wind was really blowing this morning; because it would have really slowed us down, we didn’t think we could get to Port Isabelle before the cold front hit with much stronger winds. So, we resigned ourselves to stay here in Port Mansfield for two more days. Larry is using the time to take care of some work in the engine room.

We needed bread, so Terry walked to a nearby bait stand that carries a wide variety of tasty baits, a few grocery items, Crocs, beautiful hand-drawn greeting cards, ice cream, and lots of beer.

We walked to The Windjammer for lunch. We enjoyed visiting with an older couple from Raymondville who were embarrassed that the DA from Willacy County had filed charges against Dick Cheney.

 Monday, December 8

Port Mansfield (Mile Marker 629)

The anchorage was comfortable, though unprotected. We got off to an early start for the short 90-minute trip to Port Mansfield. (High winds were expected, so we decided not to try to make it as far as Port Isabel.)

The wind picked up and when we arrived at the Willacy County Marina, we were blown away from the dock. This was not Terry’s finest hour as a first mate. Larry was no doubt considering the benefits of solo sailing. Terry was grateful that the captain couldn’t mutiny.

There was some confusion over the power available at the dock. We weren’t confused. The marina people were. Finally, after almost an hour, we got hooked up successfully.

Port Mansfield is very small. We were the only customers at The Fishermen’s Inn for lunch. The burgers were good.

Sunday, December 7

Anchorage (Mile Marker 625) 

Our departure from the dock in early morning was among the smoothest ever. A great start to another beautiful morning.

Yesterday evening as we pulled into Padre Island Yacht Club, we had noticed smoke from two brush fires on Padre Island . The smoke was still heavy this morning, but we learned on the Internet that no houses were damaged, thank goodness.

On our way further south, we saw lots of little islands with fishing cabins on stilts with no access by land. We saw no pleasure vessels, except small fishing boats, and not even any commercial boats except for some who were dredging. No tugs passed us or overtook us. Amazing.

The winds were light and the water, smooth.

Bummer of the day was the discovery that some of the charts we need are safe in Austin. We can use the computer charts, but we like to have paper backups.

When dark overtook us, we pulled a safe distance west off the Intracoastal Waterway by Flashing Red Marker 114 just south of Mile Marker 625, and anchored in about 10 feet of water (the computer chart said about 8 feet) This is a very unprotected anchorage, but the forecast for tonight is for winds of less than 8 mph.

Tomorrow we have to get up early and take off because high winds of greater than 25 mph are forecast for the afternoon. We hope to make Sea Ranch Marina at South Point (Port Isabel) by noon.

Saturday, December 6 

Padre Island Yacht Club (Mile Marker 555, Green Can 53)

After multiple postponements caused by high winds, stormy seas and frigid weather, we finally left the Aransas County Navigation District Marina in Rockport, Texas, this morning about 9 AM, after a warm goodbye from our new Rockport friends: Anita, Dennix, Ed and Nancy, Tom and Doris, and Tim. We were honored that they would leave their warm beds to see us off this chilly morning.

We immediately went to the House of Boats and bought 300 gallons of fuel at $2.39.9. Fueling up took a couple of hours and we took off again at 11:15 AM.

The day was beautiful and the trip uneventful, in spite of several green cans (navigational aids) that were not where they were supposed to be. Terry needed some remedial instruction in reading charts, since it’s been a couple of years since she used her navigational skills. Even with that handicap, Larry avoided running aground.

We saw a number of dolphins, but not much boat traffic, especially for a pretty Saturday.

We arrived at the Padre Island Yacht Club after sunset but before total darkness and Larry deftly put Outer Reef smoothly against an empty dock.

We’re getting better internet access here than in Austin!

A great first day for our shakedown cruise and the start of our second Big Cruising Adventure.

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