We called South Shore Marina, further up the lake to find out their price...good thinking 99! They quoted us $4.10 9/10. Armed with this figure, and not wanting to motor all the way to Sth Shore Marina, we drove over to the fuel dock at OUR marina. This would normally be our evening walk, but as it was 95F outside, we drove in airconditioned comfort:)
The young man who had given us a favorable quote last week was on again today. Tyler said the dock could only do $4.35. We winced, of course and said what he had quoted us last week and that Sth Shore Marina had not changed their prices so far this week. He told us a new load of fuel had been delivered and that was the new price. Bah! I said....well, we will have to take the boat up the lake!!!
"Let me put in a call to the owner", he said...and went off to do so...knowing we would go elsewhere if they didnt match the $4.10. He came back and told us the owner said Ok, but he wouldnt normally do that. They wanted/needed the business and we promised to put no less than 500 gallons on diesel into our girl. Waz said we were only sitting on 1/4 full, before fuelling up.
The store at the Fuel Dock.We drove back to the boat...took all the cockpit curtains down (bright and hot without them!!!) and made ready to leave. The first thing we did, after disconnecting he shore power, was to take off the Bow line that caused us trouble last time we went out.
The last time we had been out anywhere on her was July 25th! too long.
Waz made a perfect get away, and I have to say I did pretty well on the ropes:) It gets easier the more I do it.
We are in pretty tight confines here, I have to say, but Kathleen, our large Lazzara neighbor had exited not long before us, with no trouble at all.
There was a slight onshore wind blowing, which would blow us onto the fuel dock. Waz made a fairly tight turn from the Creek, onto the dock...perfect:) Tyler had been radioed ahead of time and was expecting us. He got the ropes on the front of the boat and I roped the stern.
All the curtains are down and everything stowed ready for take-off. The back doors port and starboard are kept open to allow easy acccess to the Duck Board, from where I jump off onto the dock...in this case, port (right side looking back). Kathleen is the large boat at the right rear.
Just arrived at the fuel dock and the nozzle is engaged. We were pumping for about 1/2 an hour.
Here is our girl at the fuel dock. It is hard to get good photos of her normally because we are jammed in next to other large boats, so it was nice to get a better photo of her, even if the pump is in the way.
I also took this opportunity to show you how much space we have on the cockpit deck. the doors at left that are open go down into the Lazarette and behind that into the Engine room. So, underneath the whole of the cockpit deck, is another room altogether. Housed in here is the washer and dryer, much storage, and the entry to the Engine room. Warren has put rubber matting on the floor throughout because it is a kneeling space. You cannot stand upright down there at all.
The (white)stairs on the far side take you up the side of the boat to the front...likewise there are stairs on this side for the same reason. The stainless railing on the ladder, takes you directly up to the flydeck.
After refuelling...(520 gallons), we didnt particularly want to go back to the marina, so we took her out under the Kemah Bridge, and into the Channel that takes you to the Shipping Channel and the Galveston Bay.
Waz, , sitting pretty in the Captains seat.
The sea was a calm enough 1ft swell, and the breeze was lovely.
Looking back to our wake from he captains seat. Nice to have all the 'glas' open and letting the wind flow through. We still have to affix the life ring to somewhere upstairs on the flydeck.
We said, if we lived in this area permanently, we would probably get a sailboat. This one was being sailed single-handed, and about 30ft long. Lovely! A sailboat would be perfect, as the Bay rarely gets more than a 2ft swell. The tanker behind her is in the middle of the shipping channel that goes up into the Port of Houston, left. This ship is returning to the Gulf of Mexico, through Galveston Bay.
The Bay is very shallow for the most part...see the chartplotter..can you see the numbers in black?? those are the feet of water we are in! The green arrow is our boat. The white shaded things on the screen are the 'spoil' grounds. Probably where the channel has been dredged and the spoil from the machine has been dumped on either side of the channel. Easy to run aground on those things!! The Bay is littered with hazzards.
Chartplotter showing how deep it is in the Bay.
Veronica's neighbor took an unscheduled detour to get to a friend's restaurant, out somewhere in the bay, and ended up stuck on a sunken barge. He has a 55ft SportFisher, Viking, which is a lovely craft. The Coast Guard were called, and tow boat (TowUSA) and he was hauled off at a cost of $6,000!!! Not only was he hauled off, but in the process they managed to saw through the hull (fibreglass) and almost sank her. We met Tommy the other night...he said the insurance company just paid out $85,000 to repair the damage!!!! She is now back in the Marina, but he now has her for sale. She has a gorgeous hull and a new paint job too!!:)
This is an unmanned oil well-head. We dont know if it is still functioning, but you can see the lines of birds on the wires and dock...Pelicans!
This is another well-head.Again, it is hard to tell if it is still working. The whole Bay is littered (literally) with these things.
If you look really hard (click on the photo and it should enlarge), you can see the Port of Houston on the Horizon, left, and in the middle is a huge refinery. At night it looks like it's own city, it is so lit up. 
These three brown Pelicans were preening themselves and each other, on one of the green signposts.
Of course I had to take a better photo of the Kemah Boardwalk sign on top of the revolving viewing platform. We laugh about this...This area is FLAT!! yes, FLAT>>>> and when you go up in this thing, all the way to the top of the center scaffolding, you actually dont see a whole lot.
Just as an aside...
A couple of portly fellas parked their cars in the marina parking lot. I was walking past and said hello. On my way back I observed that they had walking stix...you know the kind, and were putting sunscreen on etc. I asked where they were going??? Well, next summer, the two of them have made a pact to climb a mountain in Colorado. The ONLY place they could find a 'hill' to climb and get some sort of semblance of appropriate exercise, in the Houston area, is the Kamah Bridge. The bridge peak itself is probably 70ft off the water. So, that's what they did for an hour. They looked VERY florid on their return. They told me they take an hour to get here, so perhaps they live close to the center of Houston.
We notice there are a LOT of people who do the same thing...runners, walkers, cyclists, all go up and over the bridge, and then repeat it several times.
We are not brave enough to walk the bridge, because there is NOTHING that separates you from the traffic doing around 50mph. The shoulder is the only place to walk and it would be no more than 6ft wide. I have seen parents guiding their kids (little ones too...4/5 ish ) over the bridge on bicycles. Brrrr ..not me...too many people here drive with their cell phones stuck to their ears!
Like I said...nowhere to go, really...did I say that? hmmmmmm. Well, it's the truth. Going out and back is fine...gives us a nice time out doing what we love, wind in our faces and the gentle purr of the Cats below decks. We came home about 2.30, and then had to think about lunch. Fotunately I had boiled some eggs the other day, so made an egg salad and we had that and tomatoes and lettuce sandwiches around 3pm. Better late than never.
In the process of this excursion, we had figured a few things out, and set off to remedy them. Silly to leve the marina at 3.30pm...and school is back in, so we had that added to the traffic mix.
We stopped at Blackburns Boating/Yachting supply store...a valve handle broke off when Waz needed it not to, so he bought a few to replace and have as spares. That was the second one to break, recently.
Our next stop was Academy, again. This is quite a journey, and more so in heavy traffic. We deviated into a Starbucks for a frappucino..small ones!!...and then back on the road to the superstore.
Our quest this time was a foldable cart. We had seen one the other night that had been retrofitted by a fisherman...exaxtly what we were looking for. He told us where to get them, and we sought and bought. YAY>..it folds up and fits into its own bag. it is now safely stored in the Lazarette.
Back home and we are pooped. A bit sunburned, waiting on the dock for the fuel to finish....and ready for bed now.
Ciao for now...
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