Shore Power

After lunch a good chunk of Saturday was taken up trying to connect to shore power. Think of it as the world's largest extension cord, with some additional features to reduce (notice, not eliminate) the chance of getting electrocuted while handling high voltage around water. It turns out our boat has a somewhat unusual shore electrical power configuration. It was supposed to be the next best thing 20 years ago, but turned out to be something of an orphan. Since electrical is not my strong point, it is always a struggle and takes time for me to work thru.

I wasn't going to worry about it because we are still at a temporary slip, and since we had asked for our version of power and they agreed, we foolishly assumed that that was what we were getting. Turns out our longer term slip has the same configuration as the temporary. So on a Saturday afternoon with many stores already closed we set out to come up with something, since we have only run the engine briefly since Thursday and our batteries are running a bit low. We finally found an adapter, but when we plugged it in our battery charger starting drawing 38 amps from a 30 connection. While this didn't trip anything or even measurable heat up the cord it made me nervous, so when we left the boat to head for the French Quarter we unplugged.

When we returned after walking around Bourbon Street, getting dinner at Mother's again, and a little early Xmas shopping, we plugged back in for the night. As the batteries filled up the draw came down, and this morning we are just in trickle mode. Enough amperage left to turn on the water heater! Since we're going to unplug the refrigerator this afternoon so it can defrost before we leave, we're trying to empty it out. After that, we eat out until our flights back to Phoenix leave tomorrow (Monday) afternoon.

Getting Settled in New Orleans

After getting the minivan yesterday at the airport I shuttled Chelsea and her friend to their conference, after a quick stop at CdM. We spent the day comparison shopping marinas, had lunch at a great BBQ place called Blue Oak BBQ ("Vegan Free Since 2012"), then committed with paperwork to the marina we were already in. Then we spent an hour on the phone with the power company trying to get that set up, and a modifier to the boat insurance to include the marina. The boat insurance went up slightly, almost like the insurance industry had a thing against New Orleans. We met Chelsea and her friend for dinner down the street from their conference to Mother's, which is one of the few places we remember from being here years before Katrina.

This weekend we need to pump out and move over a couple to our longer term slip. This morning I need to get our power cable hooked up to the transient slip we are in so we can have some hot water and get everything charged up. We head back to Phoenix on Monday, so we need to get the boat moved and buttoned up by then. The front came in a day later than expected, but it started blowing pretty hard during the night, and it's still going at it pretty good.

We fly back to New Orleans on the 30th, and we figure it will take us a day or two to wrap things up and get gone on our way to the panhandle of Florida, somewhere, where the boat will sit for a couple weeks while we go back for Madi's graduation and Xmas.

New Orleans at Last!

We were a little early for our last major obstacle, a bridge that requires four hours notice to open, and they were a little late, so we waited for over an hour within sight of the lake. But we got thru and after a couple of tries got the boat into the slip at the marina. We had dinner at a nice little place on Frenchman Street, then walked down to Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait. Chelsea and her friend made it to the boat late last night and are still asleep. I'm about to head to the airport to get a rental car which we will also use to hold empty bags and other stuff while we have four, and maybe tomorrow five, people aboard for the first time. We all need to go to back to the airport on Monday with all our bags anyway to fly back to Phoenix. The back cabin somehow became a garage for things that didn't quickly fit somewhere else. More things for the list.

Last Stop before New Orleans

We left Venice about 7a, went a mile or so back up the Mississippi to the Baptiste Collette channel, which the Army Corps of Engineers dredged as an alternate route with the closure of the Industrial locks. It was a little shallow in spots, but I'm sure much better than it was before, and in a couple of hours we were back in the gulf, and for the first time since we left, without cell service. The gulf was a little choppy at first, but then it really glassed out and we started to make some time. We saw quite a few dolphins. Maybe we got a little aggressive and bypassed Cat Island for Half Moon Island. We had the following view several miles from the anchorage. Note to self - double check sunset time. It was pretty dark by the time we got to the anchorage which was a little disorienting. We got hooked and called it a night. Tomorrow - New Orleans!

Down the Mississippi

Tuesday was our longest day. We were up anchor at 3:30a and on our way towards the Harvey Locks by 4a. We were lucky with the "super moon" which was very bright, and helped offset the mist a bit. We were slowing down because we didn't want to go thru before sunrise, but then I remembered we had one more bridge to open, and it closed from 6:30 to 8a for morning rush hour. We sped up, maybe a little too much, and I almost ran into a barge. The reverse on the Maxprop is excellent! We made the bridge after being chided on the radio by the operator that we were cutting it close. The locks were no big deal because the difference was only a foot or two, and we were the only ones inside. We saw the tug below on our way to the locks.

We were on the Mississippi by about 7:30a, and the current was helping us by a knot or two. We floated by New Orleans, so close I could smell the beignets at Cafe du Monde. Damn you Industrial locks!

We kept going another 80 some of miles down the river to Venice, and spent the night at the Cypress Cove Marina. The only showers they had onshore were associated with a little hotel at the marina. It's been a while since I rented a hotel room by the hour. After a little dinner at the marina cafe we collapsed after a 17 hour day.

Houma to Mississippi Lock Staging Area

I'm a couple days behind because those days have been very long. On Monday we left Houma with a couple of ideas of where to get fuel, but neither of these panned out. We found a place called Joe's Landing a few miles down the Barataria waterway that had diesel and we were able to top up and head back to just over the ICW to Lake Salvador to anchor for the night.

We have only seen only a few other sailboats, and maybe twice that non-commercial powerboats of one flavor or another. Most of our company is in the form of barges which can be pretty big. Some have what's called a six-pack, with the barges doubled up that the tug is pushing down the ditch.

The anchorage was very pretty, but the fierce mosquitos returned. I was highly motivated to figure out how to install the screens on the ports, but by the time I did that I was pretty woozy from the blood loss.

Tomorrow we raise anchor in the wee hours for our longest day yet.

Houma, LA

The terrain between Morgan City and Houma is much more interesting. Below is the view we had from the boat.

Houma is a nice little town with a marina right in the center. We had dinner at the Pit Stop, picked up a few supplies at the mini-mart, and are settling down for the night.

Tomorrow we fuel up a couple miles down from here and proceed to the head of the Bataria waterway where we will anchor for the night. This is about 15 miles from the Harvey locks, which will dump us into the Mississippi just upriver of New Orleans. If the Industrial lock was open we would proceed downriver a half dozen miles to the lock, then go a few more miles to Lake Ponchatrain. Instead we continue down the river 87 miles to Venice for the night.

Morgan City / Berwick

We made it to Morgan City, but the docks there are still all torn up, so we are across the river in Berwick, where there is - nothing! We thought we would have dinner and get a few supplies in Morgan City, but not now without taking the dinghy across the river, so our only option was Dominos. We are sandwiched between the two bridges you see in the picture below, and a railroad bridge to the right. Whatever, it was free and we live near an airport. Tomorrow (today now) we head to Houma and make our final plans for getting around the industrial lock and to New Orleans.

Avery Island

Avery Island was fun. They have a small museum followed by a walking tour that takes you through the admittedly simple process and ingredients, but then a zillion variations on that theme in the gift shop.

Also part of the island is what they called the Jungle Gardens. This was a nice walk through what had once been a very expensive 170 acre garden for the owners. There was a Buddha statue that was either a couple hundred or a thousand years old, depending on who you believed. It was inside the glass walled pagoda behind Heather.

We came up the channel seen below. We had several feet of water under the keel almost all the time until we got close to the dock.

Tomorrow we head to Morgan City, even though we are too late for the annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. 

Morning at Avery Island

Well, it's a beautiful morning at Avery Island. Heather is taking this first chance to sleep in she's had in more than a week.

We only have about a foot and a half of water under the keel at the dock. The locals don't seem to think much of our chances on getting back out.

Yes, those are vultures.

Tabasco!

Well, we got to Avery Island, where Tabasco is made. The trip here got a little "African Queen" as we made our way thru the bayou, but we got to the public dock across from the guard shack without running aground. No pictures because it is now very dark. We should have a lot of pictures tomorrow.

Getting into a Routine

We are anchored in an oxbow in the Mermentau river a couple miles up from the ditch. It's quiet and beautiful and we have it entirely to ourselves. Yesterday we had our first lock and first pontoon bridge (actually two). We passed a tug with a barge load (two whistle), and spent our second night at anchor. It took two GPS' to convince me we weren't dragging, or at least quickly reset. Once the sun comes up we set out for Delcambre. This just a few miles down river from Avery Island, where Tabasco is made, and there is apparently a very nice nature reserve.

Casino Buffet (and No Mosquitos)

We made good time and proceeded a few miles farther up the Calcasieu river to the L'Auberge Casino and Resort for the night. We tried a little of everything at the buffet while flipping thru election results. We can get some fuel around the corner which removes that concern for now.

After the Ellender bridge lifted for us to go thru I punched it to get thru as quickly as possible. This seemed to knock loose a barnacle or whatever from a prop blade or the mechanism, so it now seems like we have an overdrive gear, with higher rpms and no overheating. Tomorrow we have a lock and two pontoon bridges to get through, and should make it to somewhere around the Mermentau river.

In a ditch, off another ditch, from the Ditch

Well, we made it to Taylor Outfall, which is a very nice swamp, with the guide book rating the mosquitos as "fierce". That appears to be correct. Tomorrow is another long day, complicated by a lift bridge that requires four hours notice. Hopefully tomorrow night we will be anchored in an oxbow a couple of miles up the Calcasieu river. Still trying to figure out what to do about the closed industrial lock. We may just take the boat to Mobile, fly to New Orleans to be with Chelsea for a couple days, then all fly home as planned. That would shorten our trip to the Florida panhandle after TG.

Escape (pronounced a la Dory)

Well, we finally escaped the clutches of Kemah about mid-day, and made it all the way to Galveston. We are beginning our glamorous new lifestyle tied up to the fuel dock for the night. We'll head into the ditch early in the morning and get to Sabine, give or take.