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April 25, 2009
When morning arrived, we were ready. We were eager to be home. Backing off the dock was simple and easy. Down the intracoastal canal we went.
Galveston barge traffic was very heavy. The winds were up and the barges were stacked up along the banks of the waterway waiting for the winds to die before crossing the bay. A few straggling barges crossed towards us on Galveston Bay. One pair of boats had long sections of pipe tied between them.
The winds were perfect for sailing so once in the Bay, near the Houston Ship Channel, we raised the sails and sailed to Kemah. It was nice to be under sail for a while with no motor running.
As we approached Kemah, it appeared as if a hundred sailboats were in the bay. Some were in a regatta, others were just sailing. These were the most sailboats we had seen the entire trip. It was fun to see the Kemah bridge, the finish line for our trip. We have passed under that bridge hundreds of times in other boats and it symbolizes the beginning and end of a nice day’s sail, as it symbolizes the end of this trip.
We are going to keep the boat at Legend Point, an apartment complex with a marina. We used to have a Catalina 25 and when I brought it here from Lake Conroe, I first docked it at Legend Point. I guess bringing Royal Crescent here completes the circle. Anyway, we always liked Legend Point. It has large grassy areas that are well groomed and landscaped. There are many liveaboards here and they will watch our boat.
It took me a minute to find my way back to Legend Point. The chartplotter (gps) showed it to be in a different spot than it actually was so I initially headed the wrong way but I easily turned around and slowly made my way back to our slip. I pulled in like a pro, no bumps of the dock, no pirouettes, just easy-in docking. Richard, the harbormaster, helped us tie up. We were finally home.
We called Julie Warren to come pick us up and we began packing up the boat. Linda had cleaned it thoroughly on the trip through Galveston Bay and so all that was left was packing.
The suitcases, boxes and bags of dirty clothes filled the back end of my pickup and half of the back seat. We had so much stuff but most of it came with the boat and we had to move it off the boat and store it at home. We had to sign the lease for the dock space and properly tie the boat. Our power cords were not long enough so I had to walk to West Marine to buy extensions. We packed and cleaned and waited for Julie to arrive.
I drove home. It was different driving in the pickup as opposed to the boat, not having to deal with winds and waves and barges and broken depth finders. We didn’t have to radio cars in front of us about passing them nor did we have to ask those coming toward us if they wanted us to pass on the "one" (port to port) or the "two" (starboard to starboard). We didn’t have to worry about how far we could go before we ran out of dockage and we didn’t have to start searching for a marina with transient docks. But, we were no longer traveling at 7 miles per hour either, we were clearly back into the fast paced life. And, that was fine.
When we got home, there were yellow ribbons tied in our trees in the front yard and on the back patio. There was also a large "Congratulations" sign with a poster that said, "You Brought the Royal Crescent Home." Linda’s parents and my Mom put them up. It is the perfect welcome home.
Post again tomorrow
Royal Crescent.
When morning arrived, we were ready. We were eager to be home. Backing off the dock was simple and easy. Down the intracoastal canal we went.
Galveston barge traffic was very heavy. The winds were up and the barges were stacked up along the banks of the waterway waiting for the winds to die before crossing the bay. A few straggling barges crossed towards us on Galveston Bay. One pair of boats had long sections of pipe tied between them.
The winds were perfect for sailing so once in the Bay, near the Houston Ship Channel, we raised the sails and sailed to Kemah. It was nice to be under sail for a while with no motor running.
As we approached Kemah, it appeared as if a hundred sailboats were in the bay. Some were in a regatta, others were just sailing. These were the most sailboats we had seen the entire trip. It was fun to see the Kemah bridge, the finish line for our trip. We have passed under that bridge hundreds of times in other boats and it symbolizes the beginning and end of a nice day’s sail, as it symbolizes the end of this trip.
We are going to keep the boat at Legend Point, an apartment complex with a marina. We used to have a Catalina 25 and when I brought it here from Lake Conroe, I first docked it at Legend Point. I guess bringing Royal Crescent here completes the circle. Anyway, we always liked Legend Point. It has large grassy areas that are well groomed and landscaped. There are many liveaboards here and they will watch our boat.
It took me a minute to find my way back to Legend Point. The chartplotter (gps) showed it to be in a different spot than it actually was so I initially headed the wrong way but I easily turned around and slowly made my way back to our slip. I pulled in like a pro, no bumps of the dock, no pirouettes, just easy-in docking. Richard, the harbormaster, helped us tie up. We were finally home.
We called Julie Warren to come pick us up and we began packing up the boat. Linda had cleaned it thoroughly on the trip through Galveston Bay and so all that was left was packing.
The suitcases, boxes and bags of dirty clothes filled the back end of my pickup and half of the back seat. We had so much stuff but most of it came with the boat and we had to move it off the boat and store it at home. We had to sign the lease for the dock space and properly tie the boat. Our power cords were not long enough so I had to walk to West Marine to buy extensions. We packed and cleaned and waited for Julie to arrive.
I drove home. It was different driving in the pickup as opposed to the boat, not having to deal with winds and waves and barges and broken depth finders. We didn’t have to radio cars in front of us about passing them nor did we have to ask those coming toward us if they wanted us to pass on the "one" (port to port) or the "two" (starboard to starboard). We didn’t have to worry about how far we could go before we ran out of dockage and we didn’t have to start searching for a marina with transient docks. But, we were no longer traveling at 7 miles per hour either, we were clearly back into the fast paced life. And, that was fine.
When we got home, there were yellow ribbons tied in our trees in the front yard and on the back patio. There was also a large "Congratulations" sign with a poster that said, "You Brought the Royal Crescent Home." Linda’s parents and my Mom put them up. It is the perfect welcome home.
Post again tomorrow
Royal Crescent.
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