JAN 11-17,2012- SEABROOK MARINA, NEW ORLEANS, LA TO BILOXI, MS TO LULU'S, AL

I guess we have been tardy in keeping up with the blog. It seems there is so much to do here in Florida and the days are flying by. Many of you have been on our case to get at it so here is the next excerpt.

1/11/12

It has been a long couple of travel days for Terri and I. We have returned to New Orleans after our Christmas celebrations with family and friends. It was good to see them all again and we will miss them as we head back to warmer climates. We had a 1000 flight out of Toronto which means we should arrive at the airport by 0800. Our Airport Transportation Van picked us up at 0545 and after picking up another person in Stratford had us at the airport at 0715. We breezed through the maze of Security Checks and U.S. Customs and we were at our departing gate by 0800. For sure a record but Terri and I were both exhausted as we had little sleep the night before. But we are not complaining as we know many people would gladly trade places with us. We are truly blessed.

TERRI IN THE GALLEY

MARK AND SMUDGE WAITING FOR A WAITRESS

RESTING AFTER OUR WALK

When we arrived at the New Orleans Airport and collected our bags we found a Cabbie that had unfortunately missed his calling. I am not sure what his calling was but a Cabbie it was not. He had no idea where our destination was and asked if we knew how to get there. He had no GPS or even an old fashioned map. It was lucky that I had the phone number of the marina and they managed to give him directions. Our short stay in New Orleans was spent finalizing boat warranty work and completing a few upgrades that I had managed to talk Terri into. Also, our provisioning trips took us to wonderful new places in New Orleans that neither of the next two Cabbies could find without some extra prodding. Oh well we will leave in the morning and that should be it for cabs for a while.

1/14/12

We did leave the next day and made the return trip to Biloxi Marina in Biloxi MS. We had been there before of course and just wanted to get some rest and be gone in the morning. We did just that.

1/15/12

0700 the next morning found us underway again and within 15 minutes the Terrmar felt very different to me. She felt sluggish, slow to answer the helm. We were still underway but at greatly reduced speed. There were crab pots everywhere and only red day markers to mark the channel. I was following a track that I had used to enter this marina last November. We had no trouble back then why now? What is going on? Our temperamental depth sounder was showing about 4 ft. of water. We draw about 4’-6”. This is not all that unusual as a soft bottom usually gives us wacky readings. I switched the chart plotter display over to the more accurate fish finder which has a depth sounder 50 times the strength of the primary depth sounder. Long story short, we were plowing our way through the mud. But we can’t be. I am on the track that we used from last November. Must be those darn crab pots and we managed to snag one. I shifted the engine to neutral and we slowed quickly to a dead stop. Terri took the wheel as I went to the swim platform and using a boat hook to measure depth confirmed that we were just in mud and had not snagged a crab pot. Looking at the chart we were just out of or just into the channel. But which one was it? Regardless we knew where deeper water was and I planned to plough a furrow straight towards it. The only problem was there was a line of crab pots that straddled the day markers. We had to cross this line of pots without picking one up. We did just that and soon we were underway happy to be in deep water. Terri and I both reviewed things and checked all of the facts.

The official findings arising from the inquiry are as follows. The facts show that we were at low tide and because of that we had lost about one foot of water. Thus the lesser degree of water equates to the greater chance of touching bottom. End of story and let it never be broached again. Oh wait, of course Terri must add an addendum to an officially closed enquiry. Rank has privileges. Lol  While she agrees with the findings re the tide, the fact is of course she feels compelled to tell what she thinks is the rest of the story. If you feel compelled to know, please send her an email and I am sure she will happily oblige.  Fact - Mark forgot about the tide.

The balance of the day was spent digesting my crow and trying to stay in the channel. We had to cross Mobile Bay today and it has been known to kick up a good chop in a very short period of time. But Terri and I both marveled at our luck as it turned out to be a perfect boating day with flat water and calm seas with just enough clouds in the sky to filter the direct rays if the sun. I am now relaxing and looking forward to the balance of the trip. We have arrived at Home Port Marina which is also the home of a famous restaurant called Lulu’s. In fact it is owned by the sister of recording artist Jimmy Buffet whom Terri and I both are big fans of. With entertainment nightly it was a no-brainer we were going out for dinner tonight. After diner we walked around the restaurant complex and exercised Smudge and ourselves. But soon enough I was down for the night and Terri ended up doing some office work on the computer before she also retired for the evening. We can sleep in tomorrow as it will be an off day and we are staying put.

TERRI, SMUDGE AND A MAGNOLIA TREE

TERRMAR AND SONATA AT REST

TREES, TREES, OH HOW TERRI LIKES TREES

1/16/12

I was up early for some reason and itching to get going. I was dying to wash the boat. The salt was beginning to do a number on the stainless steel and crusting elsewhere. But to do that would mean to make noise and wake Terri from her well-deserved sleep in. Soon enough she ascends from her state room. She is ready for a coffee and a plan. I am washing the boat I say. Perfect and she decides to polish the interior of the boat, woodwork and all. She likes doing the wood I think. Four hours later and we are pretty well both finished and pooped. But the boat is sparkling. It’s a good thing too as we have touched base with Sonata and they were going to arrive here today. I must live up to Charlie’s standards and have my boat in ship shape as Sonata might be parked next to us and we wouldn’t want to look too shabby lol. Soon enough Charlie and Bonnie are docked right beside us and after hugs and salutations, Charlie is busy washing Sonata.

That evening the four of us went out too diner at Lulu’s. Terri had the Red Snapper and raved about it. We caught up on all of the news as we have not seen each other since Green Turtle Bay last Oct. We traded stories of past glories and of all of the people we have met on this loop. We originally saw Sonata back in Canada at Little Current. But it was not until after Mackinaw Island that we started travelling with them as we progressed down Lake Michigan. Many happy hours have been spent on the fly-bridge of Sonata.

After 3 days of resting up here and performing the daily boat maintenance routine we were ready to head out tomorrow. Our up-graded propane system for the BBQ has failed and we have to get to a marina that will do this work in co-operation with Seabrooke Marine who had done the initial installation. Sonata will venture a little further down the line and we will meet up with them again soon.

I was excited to again be on the move tomorrow and hoped for a good sleep tonight.

Mark