As I told you, we had made arrangements to go Anchor-out with Tammy and Chris and Katie and Dean. As the only Motor Yacht, we had a bit of an advantage in some ways, over the other two who are both sailing their vessels.
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear and HOT..no surprises there. The forecast was for Sth- Sth/west winds with seas 1-2 feet. The forecast also said that the Labor Day weekend (this weekend) was going to be a hot one, with temps in the high 90's and the Heat Index well into the 100's. We had stocked up with water on Friday when we did the grocery shopping with our weekend jaunt in mind.
Katie texted us at around 8am to say they were leaving the dock at Portofino in 10 mins. She apparently intended to give us half an hour of heads-up time, but she got waylaid somewhere. We had already had breakfast, done the dishes, taken down the rear curtains and put things away. The only things left to do were take the shore power lead off and stow it, and take the lines off to set us on our way out into Clear Creek.
We joined the parade of boats in the Creek going under the Kemah Bridge and soon were side by side with Chris and Tammy. We didnt know their boat, so it was an educated guess when we saw them from the stern....
The yacht up ahead is Katie and Dean. They were motoring up the Creek alongside Kemah Boardwalk, ahead of us.
We passed Chris and Tammy just at the end of the Kemah Boardwalk... I love all their colored containers on the side....Yellow and red for Diesel, blue for water...etc. they are ready to go!!!
Not long after clearing Kemah, we were followed by a couple of Dolphins...I just missed capturing them, but you can see the shape below the seabird...cant you??
Apparently both Katie and Tammy were so excited at seeing them that both their husbands thought they were jumping up and down for other reasons...mostly that there was something wrong with the boat...mars and venus!
I have to admit, seeing these gorgeous creatures so close to the boat is thrilling. They surfed the stern wave for quite a while.
Here we are drawing level with Katie and Dean...taking photos of each other became a bit of a joke, this weekend. At least the goings on are well documented:)
Something special about putting up the sail and quitting the engine. All you hear are the seabirds and the flap of the sails!
We werent going that far, so an hour later we dropped anchor. This was our first time anchoring out, and it was comforting to know Tammy and Chris were also first timers in their new boat.
Dean dropped anchor like a pro, as did Warren. T and C had a little more of a challenge, but she bit on the second try. We stuck fast in the gooey bottom mud/sand. Thank goodness.
No so far off in the distance, these great barges are being pushed, though they call the 'tows'. Sometimes there will be three large barges ahead of the huge tugs.
Warren and K and D head off to check with T and C to see if their Anchor has caught. Every opportunity they got, they were out in the Dinghy..Dean especially:)
Just checking to make sure all is well, after J and C anchored. I stayed on the boat to document the comings and goings on the water.
Not long after that we were joined by D and K and their food and drink, and just as we sat down for a cuppa, we were joined by T and C (theirs in the covered dinghy (which D and K used to own!)) It is VERY cute.
T and C brought more drink and more snax. We sat around the table on the cockpit deck and chatted...it was great being the 'party boat'. This is our idea of heaven!
Dinghies tied at the back of the boat.The crowd gathered on the cockpit deck..we added a couple more people some time before lunch in the form of Donnie and Dana...a couple D and K had found somewhere in a Bar...long story, but they are now friends too:)
We moved the morning snacks upstairs to the Flydeck for an al fresco lunch. We managed to seat everyone around the table with Waz and me on the chairs. The sun had left the top deck by then and we had some shade and some breeze. It was HOT.
Tammy and Chris arriving in their cute dinghy
And I somehow managed to get a fairly decent photo of our girl from the dinghy.
Katie and Dean with Donnie and Dana on the left dinghy, and Tammy and Chris in their covered cutie on the right.
We all headed over to Red Fish Island for the Festival. This was essentially music being played off the back of one of the large tourist boats...about 100ft long, which was full of people and the band was playing from the back for about and hour and a half. We took our time over lunch, so we missed the most of the it, and Katie was so looking forward to the music...
We did make the most of the other entertainment, which was primarily in the water:)
People 'barged' together
Rafting up
These folks had the right idea. These 'Islands' have their own built in Coolers! Way to go!
This Shelty enjoyed all the attention and loved being in the water. she was very social.
We parked the dingies alongside these folks who were having their party in the water, anchored on red Fish Island which has been rebuilt after Hurricane Ike.
This fellow obviously caught my attention...he has his life vest on upside down as britches...a beer in the right hand and a cigar in the mouth. The water was warmer that the air temperature, so it was VERY warm in the briny!
Here we are all parked on the shell beach that is Red Fish Island.
After returning to our respective boats...the journey saw us ALL get very wet, such were the waves out there...we had some down time, and then got together again as the sun was going down, for some delicious food. T and C brought some yacht grilled Salmon, which was so moist, and some grilled vegetables, along with some potato salad and pita chips for the starch, and K and D brought their turkey burgers over to cook. I provided the spinach salad with the works. It was all delicious, amd made more so by the easy, fun company.
From left to right...Waz, Dean, Katie, Tammy and Chris. Yours truly taking the pic per usual:)
The sun setting over the mainland..the end of a lovely day. We were all pretty tuckered out though.
Katie too this photo of us earlier on the Island as we watched all the shenanigans. Most amusing. Always one or two idiots though. Some seriously poor boat handling skills and some serious ego problems amongst some of the speedier boats. It was a bit of a zoo. We were happy to depart and get some rest.
More tomorrow. I can hardly keep my eyes open, and Waz is already in the land of Nod...
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