We have been here for almost a week getting fixed up. Abreojos is almost ready to go. We are awaiting a single element and we can be moving again. The timing of all this is interesting. It would seem that, as soon as we are ready to go back into the water (hopefully) a storm is slated to arrive. Then there is the holiday. We need fuel. To get it, we will run 25 miles back to the Galveston area as it is very expensive in Clear Lake. I guess when you are the only game in town for 25 miles, you can charge a little more and get away with it. So, if we go in the water before thanksgiving, we'll hang out here until the weather system passes. It's a cold front bringing very cold air from Canada all the way down to the Gulf. I know it seems kind of ridiculous to have 82 degrees on Monday and then 34 degrees on Thursday, but that is how it's looking. Roasting a turkey aboard all day will keep it nice and warm in the boat.
This has been a great stop. I have said that, had it not been for the stupidity associated with the use of fixed marks to identify the location of a constantly changing and moving sand bar, we might never have come to the Clear Lake area. It reminds me of the Fish and Wildlife Service designating "no fish zones". Hell, the damn fish can't read the signs!
Post Continued 11/25
We have been in Seabrook, Texas for a little over a week now. Most of you know how we ended up here. When I say “ended up” I don’t really mean that in a bad way. It’s just a function of circumstance. Had the sand bar not been a moving target between fixed marks, and had we not tried to get off at low tide, we would never have come here. In terms of making further connections, we can also say we never would have met Rodney and Mattie, or Terry and Lauren. We never would have gone to NASA. We never would have gone to the Kemah Boardwalk. We never would have eaten Gator nuggets and frog legs, and we never would have gone bowling with our local friends. There are always lots of things you never would have done had you not been in a certain place at a certain time. What you always have to do when faced with adversity is first, deal with it, and then look for the good in it. I could complain about having to stay in the boat up on blocks in the ship yard. But then, we could have been stuck in some industrial area down in Galveston and not here in this lovely suburb of Houston. The bottom line is this: one is never “stuck” anywhere. We end up in places for a reason. We don’t always know the reason at the time, but somehow it becomes clear. I am not espousing a destiny theory. Rather, I think I am just saying that it’s always possible to find a reason and then it’s what you do with it that counts.
So, for the first time, our AGLCA membership made a difference. As you know, we now fly that burgee on the front of the boat (just over the cow skull). A really nice couple, Terry and Lauren, came by the boat and said they were also members and recognized the flag. It turns out, these were two of the nicest folks. We had happy hour on the boat last night and they joined us. Having done the ditch numerous times, Terry was able to really regale us with information that will be important to us as we continue to move east. In fact, they will be returning to their boat in the Fort Meyers, FL area in January and spending the winter in the keys. In all likelihood, we will run into them again. I sure hope so.
Rodney was the Tow Boat US skipper that came and first pulled us out of the mud, and then brought us up here to Seabrook. I had a great time chatting with him in the boat yard. We went out to dinner with he and his wife, Mattie, and their friends Don and Donnelle. We went to a cool place near the boardwalk and then went bowling. What a difference air conditioning makes. The bowling alley was quite well air conditioned. We are getting used to the heat and the humidity. We had a great time. I actually won the first game with a pathetic score of 138. Then again, I haven’t tossed a bowling ball for nearly 20 years. It was a lot of fun. Even Brenda had a good time. The gutters got polished as a result of her effort for the most part, but she managed to throw a couple “X’s”, too.
As I have said, we were treated quite well by the owner of the marine service and the folks who work there. There is one person in particular, however, for whom I have the greatest admiration. His name is William. I don’t know his last name. He is very soft spoken and quite mild in his personality. He called me “Sir” all the time in spite of my best efforts to get him to call me by my name. Nevertheless, this guy is one hell of a “wrench.” He had this way about him – total competence. He knows boats inside and out. He knows all boats. He would work on ours, and then go work on another. He might be working on several at the same time. All different projects. There was nothing he could not do, whether it be changing the props and shafts on an 80’ Donzie sport-fisher, or installing a bow thruster or stabilizers on a 70’ Choi Lee. This yard handles the big boats and he is in charge of all things mechanical. Outside the yard, he owns a trailer park. He takes care of his aging mother. He told me of how she recently shot a 35 lb cat fish and nailed it to a tree. Boy was I impressed. I jokingly told him of how my own mother’s idea of camping is pitching a tent in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and that she and guns simply do not mix. He then commented that he was impressed with his mother’s use of the 30-30; that that’s a big gun for a woman. He is the epitome of how life is so different in so many places. He grew up building and working on boats, working in the chemical refineries, fighting in Viet Nam, and then returning home to Cajun cooking and life in the bayou where he was raised. There are characters in movies like this guy, but he is for real. I enjoyed working with him. He is a fine, stand up guy whom I shall always remember.
NASA was a blast (pardon the pun). The tour and the facility are gauged for 6th graders. It was quite cool, however, to see the real mission control and the facility in which astronauts and engineers train for work on the shuttle and at the International Space Station. We had a nice time. Houston Space Center is only 6 miles from here so we rode out bikes. The weather was perfect.
We are now floating again and tied to the work dock at the ship yard. Now that we are no longer being worked on, we have to pay for the space, but who can really complain about $20 per night including electricity and water. We plan to leave this place on Saturday. What is really nice is that we are having Thanksgiving aboard – just the two of us. I was up really early getting it all together. I baked a pumpkin pie, prepared and roasted a turkey, stuffing, yams, green beans, rolls, etc. All the good stuff. You cannot believe the smell. It smells like……the holidays. I guess it’s the season. We’ll be moving along towards Louisiana on Saturday. We have to get fuel, so we’ll head down to Galveston where the cost of diesel is significantly less. Then, we are going to take our time over the next 200 miles, moving slowly from place to place and then staying in places for a couple days – if it suits us. We decided it is more important to take our time than to get any place in particular by any time. We have no schedule, only a goal – to complete the great circle route. It seems like a tough mission. We’ll make it.
With all that being said, Brenda and I wish you all the best this holiday season. Eat too much. Spend too much. Love too much. Indulge. As Erma Bombeck once said, “Life is uncertain……Eat dessert first.”
There’s a storm coming in tonight that promises a lot of wind and a lot of rain, so I have to get this old girl buttoned up for the blow. We are in a safe place and not going anywhere until the front passes. Saturday promises to be glorious Gulf Coast weather.
Bye y’all.
Sounds like a wonderful Thanksgiving. And Stan's jealous, he's always wanted to visit NASA!
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