TAYLOR BAYOU

Well, it's been an interesting couple of days.  We left Galveston and headed east.  It was nearly 60 miles to Taylor Bayou where we planned to stop for the night.  Originally it was our intention to leave the next day and move further east to Shell Island.  Well, sometimes, when you make a plan, God laughs.  So, you make another plan.  What was all that funnny? 

Well, we got anchored down and were having afternoon cocktails when my Android Weather Monitor beeped an unanticipated alert at us.  Yeah, we knew it was windy.  We knew it was a south wind forecast to blow 20-25.  Fine.  We also were aware that the wind was going to shift in the middle of the night to the north and blow 15-25.  There was a lot of rain. Fine again.  We know how to anchor this boat having done it close on 900 times since we got her so, we had out plenty of chain scope behind the fine Bruce Anchor that has never (knock knock knock) let us down.  The alert, however, was a TORNEDO WATCH!  Well I guess there is a first for everything.  Now, I quickly sprung into action to try to understand what this all meant.  What I was able to derive rather quickly was that we were definitely "in the zone" where the watch alert was issued.  There were barges pulling up onto the banks all over the area and nobody was moving.  Perhaps it was just because it was getting late in the day and they were tired after pushing all that corrosive, caustic, toxic, highly flammable benzine all day.  Then again, maybe they knew something I didn't.  My internet access didn't fail me at all and I was able to scan weather forecast information from a multitude of sights.  Still, I wasn't learning anything new. 

So, I took it one step further:  Is there a difference between a "watch" and a "warning"?  Yes, there is.  A tornedo watch is issued by the National Weather Service when they believe the conditions are condusive to the formation of a tornedo, whereas a tornedo warning is when they receive a report of one on the ground.  The "watch" was to last until 0300 so we decided to take anchor watches until 0300 and the cancellation of the alert.  No tornedos happened.  Oh well, it would have been cool to see one.  Rumor has it, they can involve winds of up to or greater than 300 mph in the center.  That is some serious God power.  Nevertheless, we did not do battle with wind.  In fact, the southerly breeze pretty much dropped off as the sun set.  Then, we did do battle with a cloud of mosquitos that hammered the boat.  It is important to remember when you are anchored in a bayou that, the mosquitos live here and were here first.  They attach right at sundown.  Fortunately, at around 0100 the northwind shift arrived and the temperature dropped to a little over 40 degrees F.  Between the wind and the cold temps, the skeeters split.  It's been cold all day and we haven't been bothered again.

So, it was cold and windy all day.   No tornedo watches, but massive grass fires were springing up to the southwest of us.  That's all we needed.  These fires kept getting bigger and bigger.  Fortunately, the wind was in our favor, but had there been a wind shift, we would have been F'd; not so much by a danger of flames (these were peat moss fires in grassland) but rather by smoke.  Again, I sprung into weather forecasting action and determined there was no real chance of a southerly shift, so we wouldn't get hammered by the smoke.  It's been a tough time here.  It's real pretty when things are good, but then the beauty is somewhat overwhelmed by the hazardous conditions involved in cruising the Gulf in winter.  I can honestly say that you had better be a sharp weatherman and good with an anchor, or you should stay home.


So the plan is to go all the way to Lake Charles, LA tomorrow, in stead of wandering into and anchoring in any more skeeter infested bayous.  This will be our first taste of Louisiana. I have some good leads on great cajun food, music and hospitality.  I am really looking forward to it. The weather forecast looks real favorable.  It will be a 67 nm run ( a long day ) and then we will probably go into the Bord Du Lac marina on the south side of the lake.  Rumor has it, it was just opened in September of this year.  Slip fees - $10 ($20 if you want electricity).  Whatever.

Anyways, that's all for now.  I'm tired and hungry after putzing around all day watching brush fires.

This was a pretty major grass fire.  The Port Arthur Fire Department says that these fires are started by the State or the Feds for wildlife management.  They burn for days and sometimes for weeks as they are burning the pete moss under and within the swamps.

Goodnight from Taylor Bayou Outfall Canal