After much discussion, and much driving last weekend, we decided to keep the boat in Harborwalk until the work is done, hopefully sometime in late August/early September. It is really nice having the boat 10 minutes from the apartment - when you need to take things apart or make multiple trips during the day, it is nice to be so close and not deal with traffic. Plus, the neighbors in Harborwalk are amazing, and we wanted a proper chance to say goodbye to everyone :-)
So, Sunday morning we set sail out on Galveston Bay towards the Houston ship channel. We had very light winds so we were able to play a little without fear of overpowering the boat. We adjusted traveler, mainsheets, jibsheets, jib cars, and just saw how everything behaved and what gave us more vs less speed and continued building our knowledge. After about two hours of that, the wind died, so we hit the ship channel and started making our way back to Harborwalk.
Most of the trip was pretty uneventful. I'm getting much more comfortable making radio calls, so the Galveston bridge was quick and easy - nothing to be anxious about this time. We did have one time where there was a barge in front of us being manipulated by three tugboats and we really weren't sure what they were doing, so we slowed down and waited for the other barges to pass and then took a wide berth around it. The real fun started when we got closer to Harborwalk....
(Lesson learned - don't try to speak on video at the bow of the boat in 15 kt winds ;-p)
We knew tides could be an issue here, and that was the main reason we were thinking of moving (and will, once the work is done), but we didn't think they would be a problem today... For some reason, I had it in my head that as long as it was above 0, we would be fine... it was forecast for the low tide to be about 4:30 pm, and about .3 feet above sea level - I was wrong... we actually need it to be about a foot up, anytime. We got here around 6:30pm, and promptly got stuck turning into the channel... thankfully, we were able to raise the main a bit, along with some reverse thrust, and 'heel' ourselves off the mud. We had to keep the engine going pretty hard to push through the mud. Our depth sounder is currently just 'leveled' at its place on the hull - so if we have about 4 feet under us, we are ok - at one point, it said 2.7 - but we kept pushing through and somehow made it through the mud to get in here. That was, until we came across a small fishing boat that didn't know what he wanted to do, and kept matching us in the channel.... We move to the right of center, he moves the same way, we move left of center he moves the same way - we know we need to stay near the middle of the channel to avoid running aground - but it was that or hit the other boat.... so for the second time that day we found ourselves stuck. Again, thankfully, we were able to use reverse thrust to get ourselves out of it, and FINALLY got pulled safely into our slip. Experience points +20!
Bean was smooth as ever, quietly backing us in on the first try, smooth as silk. I love watching that woman at the helm, she is quite the natural! Then we all had a drink to celebrate, and spent the night at the boat.
Michael was off Monday, so we did our usual hang out and relax, and then this week I have been tackling small projects on the boat. We found the travelers were missing a couple cotter pins, the bilge access board gave way after too much foot traffic, so I took it to my machinist to build something a little stronger. I dropped the wheel off with my welder to shore up some of the cracks on the spokes, and I am still slowly making progress with the electrical.
My biggest problem so far is geometry. My mind just doesn't work well in 3D...
So, I'm working on drilling the holes in the bottom of the main breaker box - but I know I can't undo a wrong measure, so I think so far I have measured five times, and not cut once. Michael gave me a hand at the end, so I think I know what to do next time - hopefully I can now measure twice and cut once and then move on with actually wiring it! I did get the main breaker wired to the bus bar though - small wins! :-)
This weekend is work for Michael, a big deployment so it will be a little busy - I'm hoping to work on the measuring and drilling while he is focused on that, and then install it on the boat next week, wish me luck!
After that is the radar wiring, and then the bilge pump part replacements, and a couple other small things, but nearly wrapped up. Once we are ready, we will pick a marina up in the Kemah area - right now we are leaning towards Seabrook, but a couple people have recommended we check out Portfino, so that is on my list too to follow up - and then sail our little hearts out and gain as much experience as possible.
Slowly but surely, this chapter is coming to an end, and the next one is already beginning
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