Lydia Ann Channel to Matagorda Island

The Lydia Ann Channel is on the south west end of Aransas Bay as it spills into Corpus Christi Bay. You have to understand that the Texas GICW is composed of numerous bays all connected together by the GICW. One bay spills into another. As we are eastbound (relatively), we have now travelled through Aransas Bay, San Antonio Bay and Espirito Santo Bay (there are other unnamed smaller ones, too). We are now in a position to enter one of the larger bays, Matagorda Bay.

Sunrise over the Lydia Ann Channel

The anchorage in the Lydia Ann is one of the most interesting I have ever stayed in. It was rock solid calm; this notwithstanding a ripping current that came from the north east until around 1400 and then shifted 180 degrees. The wind was on our beam, but it did not move the boat from its lie to the current. Very interesting. I have never experienced that before. It worked. When I tell you the boat did not rock at all, I am totally not kidding. The only movement was associated with wakes from passing boats, and given the bar tight tension on the anchor chain due to the current and the effect of the current, the boat would only move slightly. We have rocked and rolled a lot more due to wakes at otherwise serene places like Pelicans or Yellow Banks on Santa Cruz Island. Wow. Harkening back to my favorite anchorages at Santa Cruz Island was really weird. I miss those places, but believe they are simple in comparison to what we are doing. But, that is truly only a function of the fact that everything we are doing every day is completely and utterly new. You can read all the cruising guides you want, and study charts, and satellite photographs, but you will only be slightly prepared.

One of the things I think I have mentioned is how shallow (comparatively) the water is and how that takes some serious getting used to. Over the couple of decades or more that I have been anchoring at islands in the SB Channel, I would never have considered venturing into waters merely 7-8 feet deep. Here, it is normal. You just have to get used to it.

We had a good time playing in the Lydia Ann. When we got there, we just sort of hung around on the boat. I guess you could say that we were relaxing and sort of just getting away from it all. There was nothing we needed. The current was ripping so hard that I was frankly concerned about putting the dinghy in the water as I was not sure my little 6 hp outboard motor would push the dink with us in it against the current. So we relaxed and planned to go to Corpus Christi the next morning.

Later that day, however, as you have probably surmised by now, we did not go to Corpus Christi. We had driven through the town a couple times getting Brenda to and from the airport and felt that it was a bigger city than we really wanted to be involved with. There were only a couple attractions that looked of interest. We can get back there on the way home if we want. So, we decided to shove off. That afternoon, however, we did put the dink in the water and ventured over to Port Aransas.

We were in Port A a week or so earlier as we drove around by car, walked on the beach and had a cocktail in one of their waterfront restaurants. You may recall the photographs of the gleaming sport fishers and all the outfitters and bait shops. Port A is a pretty cool place, but it is a retirement island, primarily. There are lots and lots of places for hair and nails, and, again, it is the home of Corpus Christi’s sport fishing fleet. Actually, much of South Texas is all about sport fishing. You will see literally hundreds of small boats with really big outboard engines plying the inside waterways and bays at all hours of the day and night. Ventura and Channel Islands Harbors are nothing like these. Here, 95% of the boats get used, while there, the same proportion of boats sit and rot.

We have seen a number of those flats boats, you know, the ones with an airplane propeller on the back. These things sure get up and boogie. They make a hell of a lot of noise, too. You see these things go by with a couple good ole boys dressed in full camouflage with tree branches and piles of brush stacked aboard. They are going….wait for it……wait for it……yes, they are going duck hunting! These camo-clad dudes with coolers full of beer and rifles, piles of decoys, and lots of shells are running the ICW in search of the fixin’s for peking duck. You don’t see that in the “Nard” every day, and god forbid, someone might consider an outdoor sporting activity in Santa Barbara! No, freedom takes on a new meaning when you get down to the Gulf. And yet, folks never stop being respectful; even the really fat guy with the wife beater t-shirt, his lower lip over stuffed with Skoal, stained teeth, camo shorts, dirty white socks, a mullet, and a camo baseball cap with a hook stuck in the bill (yes, just like Larry The Cable Guy – only its real), is very polite and very easy to talk to (not so easy to listen to, however). It’s simply indescribable, but it’s real. All those funny stereotypes that Jeff Foxworthy makes millions imitating live and breathe on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

While we were out in the dinghy, we buzzed over to the lighthouse to get a closer look. There is a small cut in the bank we motored through (way to small for Abreojos) and tied to the dock. There was a sign lying in the dirt. I turned it over and it said no visitors. So I put it back in the dirt and we proceeded up the boardwalk to the lighthouse. There did not seem to be anyone around. We just looked about and wandered, but Brenda found an open door at the base of the lighthouse. Unable to resist a climb to the top of a 65 foot lighthouse, we went in and up…..and up, and up, and up. The inside had what might be considered a relatively modern circular staircase seemingly adequately bolted to the brick structure and to the pole that ran up the center. There were a couple of windows on the way up. Obviously, the view got better and better as we went further up. There were also these interesting looking meter-like thingies tacked to the walls of the interior of the brick lighthouse where there were cracks in the bricks. I could only surmise that these things would let someone know if the cracks were getting bigger. A good thing, too. Once at the top, we took some photos and a video which I will post. I think the video is not terribly clear because the windows were dirty and all you can hear is my heavy breathing from the climb. Oh well. We’ll give it a try.

It was one hell of a sunset……AGAIN. We watched a movie or two and turned in early. Monday would be an interesting day.

The lovely Butterfly.

The big dog.

This is what happens when you drink too many Smirnoff's in the afternoon on the bench in front of Woody's in Port Aransas

Here's a look at Port Aransas. Notice the bots in this photo are hanging over the water. Great way to reduce the cost of bottom paint and bottom cleaning services.