More from the ICW...

Herb and Wilma's boat leaving Port Mansfield...


The water was so calm - a real change from what we've had most days since we've been back...


A dolphin swimming towards us in the calm water...


Fishing shacks...


This one had some "guests"...


The autopilot fix is holding together (no hands on the steering wheel)...


Later, on the Arroyo Colorado, I saw what looked to be a bald eagle (I saw plenty of them this summer in the Tetons). Well, from the back. As we came around, it was the biggest osprey I've ever seen...


Getting online while underway...

The busted part...

Joan likes to say, "It's a boat. It's always going to need something." I'm grateful I have an understanding spouse.

The part on the autopilot that failed is a little bracket called a linking arm...


It's the little metal bracket with the bolt and nut holding it together in the middle of the image. A small steel part with two holes. Here's the rub: you can't buy it. Well, you can't buy just that part... Raymarine (the autopilot mfg) only sells it as part of a "kit"... for $50... plus shipping and tax. The smart move is to take the part off and see if I can get a local welder to fix it and make me up another one. The reality is: it is holding together for right now, so I'm not looking to mess with it until I can get the replacement. You know that old saying, "If it's only broke a bit, don't fix it." LOL

I shopped around online, but no place that looked reputable said they had it in stock. So, my good friends at Raymarine happily took my money. One of the guys at a place I called said, "Manufacturers seem to be doing that more these days. They can't make anything on one small part, so they 'bundle' it, call it a kit, and force you to buy other stuff you don't really need just to get what you DO need."

Yep. It's a boat... ;-)

Up the ICW...

We left home yesterday morning, on a very low tide. Wild Blue was ready for cruising - seems that it takes as much stuff onboard for a couple nights out as it does for a month. With the skinny water in our canals, I was concerned we might drag on the way out, but we slid on out without a bump.

After passing through the swing bridge, we met up with our friends, Herb and Wilma, on Willie's Tug; they have they dinghy on the back, so we know Jake the wonder dog is onboard, too. Our first time running together, so we worked out a compatible economical cruise speed... around 5 hours for the 35 nm trip to Port Mansfield.

Some odd, swirly water and an adverse current slowed us for the first 10 miles or so. We passed a dredge operation...


The depths were inconsistent on either side of the dredge. It's been over a year since we came up this way, and we saw depths as low as 6 feet in the main part of the channel... that has to make for some problems for the tow boats pushing barges.

Yep, a few miles further on, we came across two tows - the first one was aground, the second was waiting for him to clear.


We saw one other boat in the ICW (and a few smaller fishing boats in and out of the channel), a sport fisher kicking a big wake. Joan was working at the galley, so I gave her a heads up: "Hold on to your stuff!" No problem there, but the iPad on its stand went tumbling. It's OK, but a reminder that I need to lock that down.

Not long after that, the autopilot had some sort of nervous breakdown - 10º to the right, then the left, then 20º... I was eating hot soup at the helm. Fun. Joan took my soup, I disengaged the autopilot, checked that everything was OK with the steering, then went back to lunch. Later, checking the autopilot again, same situation... I'll look into it further when we get down; in the meantime, I'll be hand steering... this stretch of the ICW is straight, a good time for an autopilot.

We passed the Arroyo Colorado, then on up to the channel leading into Port Mansfield. No transient slips at the marina here, but I called ahead and got slips at El Jefe's, a small bar with fuel and 4 or 5 slips. We tied off, then grabbed lines for Willie's Tug; then settled in for the evening. Adult beverages on both boats, a couple photos, then supper at El Jefe's. And in between all that, I figured out what was going on with the autopilot and the steering: a broken bracket on the hydraulic steering. No place to get that welded, but I have it kinda bolted together... tomorrow, we'll see if that works.


It's been months since we've overnighted on Wild Blue... after stretching out in the 5th wheel, I kinda forgot the difference. Like: the v-berth vs the Select Comfort. And climbing in and out of the v-berth vs an island bed. And the roar of the electric heater... we decided to get s slip because we knew it was going to be chilly last night, and I wanted electricity. Oh, and the fridge makes a growly noise as it cycles on and off. And little Izzy...


Sweet Izzy was a bit out of sorts about the change. She spent most of the trip up hiding in the blankets. Didn't eat. Didn't want to come out. But, that all changed when night fell - party time! She jumped from seat to seat, played with her toys, crunched plenty of hard food, and jumped in and out of the v-berth... occasionally walking on me and looking into my face: "Hey, I remember this! Are you sleeping? Not me, I'm wide awake! Look - I can jump from here almost all the way across the cabin!!!"

I may need a nap.

A change in the weather...

The weather weasels were predicting wind and rain rolling into the area around noon; we decided to get out early. We're planning a short run up the ICW, buddy boating with our friends Herb and Wilma on their Ranger Tug. When running locally, we don't fill up the fuel tank - no need to carry around all that weight, with the fuel dock right across the ICW from our island. There was no one at the fuel dock this morning when we came out of our canal, so we swung in there to top off the tank. It also gave me the opportunity to double check the fuel flow meter... turns out it was accurate to within a gallon on a 100 gallon tank. Oh, and the price for fuel on the water was $3.19.

While fueling, we visited with Scarlett who was fueling up her boat; she and her husband run a dolphin watch business and own the Sea Life Center. $234.21 later, Wild Blue was full. The weather was warm, but still, a mostly clear sky. Little Izzy sat up by the opening front window to get some breeze...


Or, peeking out from behind a pillow...


As it got closer to noon, the clouds moved in - it looked like the weather guy might be right. Still, no winds. Plenty of people out and about, with the temps in the 80s...


Here come the clouds...


Shortly after, it sprinkled for about 12 seconds... and that was it. The predicted noon frontal passage didn't pass. Then, right about sunset, the wind went from 3 mph to 20 and the temp dropped about 15 degrees in 15 minutes. Here it comes.

This evening, it is blowing - 23 gusting to 36 right now; predictions of 50+ mph gusts tonight and tomorrow. Good time to not be on the water.

Oh, and one more shot of little Izzy back home...

Black Friday...

We didn't shop. Well, I did find a good buy on a windshield wiper motor for Wild Blue... but that was on-line. We didn't fight crowds, didn't push or shove, didn't wait in line, and didn't go to stores in the middle of the night.

When we checked in with Steph and Dan, they did get out there... started yesterday. Shopped like pros for the kids on their Angel Tree... sorry we weren't there to help, but we are very proud of their kindness and hard work. A lot of kids will experience Christmas spirit because of their efforts.

I fired up the generator and ran some fresh gas through it. It hasn't been used in a while and will get called into service for the boat parade. We also cut and fit carpet in the storage compartments in the boat. And made a carpeted footrest to go with the new helm seat.

Checked out the kayaks up on the roof rack...


Wild Blue is ready for some cruising.

Giving Thanks...

A fine Thanksgiving Day. It's the first time in a couple years that we haven't been to Steph and Dan's for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so like the old phone company ad says: it's almost as good as being there. Well, not really, but we did get the chance to say what we are thankful for... always an emotional time.

Joan made us a great turkey meal, Mother Nature was oh-so kind, with a glorious day: into the upper 70s with blissfully light wind (one in a row!), sunny sky, and gorgeous blue water. Yeah, we headed out on Wild Blue after our meal.


Lots of pelicans out in the jetties...


We took turns trying out the new seat - comfy...


The water was pretty calm down the ship channel and into the jetties. Maybe the Gulf will be similar? Nope - sloppy and confused (insert your own too-much-to-drink joke here); no doubt a result of the windy conditions of the past week or three. Still, a great afternoon on the water.

Yep, much to be thankful for.

Nice rack...

J-Racks. On top of Wild Blue...


These racks by Malone look like a good way to carry our kayaks on top of the boat. Austin Canoe and Kayak had a good sale, so we ordered two sets; they go on without tools, seem reasonably solid, and we'll check 'em out with the kayaks up there one of these days.

Wild Blue also got a new helm seat... I really like Bass Pro Shop. We checked into putting new foam in the existing seat, but decided to try a production seat with firm foam and a taller back. I took the boat out for a test run (sit?) today, and I think this is going to be good. It also sets me up just a bit; great for seeing out the helm windows, but I think I am going to need to make a foot rest... right now, this seat leaves me tip-toeing.

We added a Weber grill to our cooking gear - portable, so it should work well at the house, on the boat, or in the RV. Initial burger testing gave positive results.

A few more updates/upgrades we want to do in the cabin of the boat to make her even more comfortable for some boat cruising. Today was the first day in a while that it wasn't hot and windy... it was comfortably cool and windy. And the damn weather weasels can't seem to be able to take "windy" out of the foreseeable forecasts. But today, it was in the low 70s... with a cool wind, of course. Tomorrow is supposed to be less windy and in the 70s - perfect weather, but no way to cook a turkey on Wild Blue, so I'm guessing we'll be around the house... being thankful.

;-)

Projects...

It was another hot, windy day in the Tropical Tip. As in: upper 80s, wind gusting over 30 mph. Not a great day to be out on the boat, but after shopping for the goodies for Thanksgiving and lunch out, we went out to the boat to measure up for some projects. Nothing major, but we plan to make some improvements to the seating in the boat... change out some foam, add some bolster cushions. I have been less than enthralled with the helm seat since the beginning; it has needed a heavier density foam. It's time. And as long as we're at it, the dinette seating could use some help, too.

Remember my weather mention at the beginning of this post? Relevant... it was like a sweat lodge when we opened up the boat. We seemed to be having a who-can-be-the-shiny-est contest as soon as we entered the cabin. The helm seat is Sunbrella fabric over foam... and the only way to remove the seat is by first removing the refrigerator. I didn't say it was logical. Pulling the fridge out was the easy part. Of course, once the fridge was laying in the aisle, it became necessary to clean out that compartment...


Yes, that's the blonde up to her shoulder blades in the hole where the fridge goes. But, you could eat off the compartment floor now... not sure why you'd want to, and it's gonna be damn inconvenient with the fridge in the way... but, you could.

Then, 4 bolts to remove and the seat will be free. Yeah, it's never that easy... two came out without much fuss. The third required a ratcheting right angle screw driver. The fourth required dynamite. OK, not really, but the only way it was coming out was to break off the head and pull it out from above.

Then, putting the fridge back in...


And the bare nekkid helm area...


I was kinda hoping to be able to put a swivel mount in there, but it won't work with the stock seat - too wide. So, I'm hoping to find some decent seat foam tomorrow.

Oh, the forecast for tomorrow: hot and windy.

Autumn weather...

An absolutely beautiful day in the Tropical Tip: sunny, some breeze, daytime high around 80º. This morning on the local news, the weather person said, "Looking ahead towards the Thanksgiving holiday, it looks like we will have some real autumn weather with a high of only 77º on Thanksgiving Day."

Yes, she really said that. I had to chuckle. The weather here has been mostly warmer and dryer than normal since we've been back.

After lunch on the island, we took a nice long walk on the beach. I had to gasp when I saw the price for park passes: they have more than tripled in price for a 90 day pass. Well, that's not exactly true - there is no more 90 day pass. That price for a 90 day pass used to be $18; now, it is $23 for a one month pass. The annual pass used to be $38; now, it is $58 (a 53% price increase). Once over the sticker shock, I felt bad for the young man at the gate - no doubt he is taking a LOT of heat from the winter Texans, and it's only going to get worse. He said, "Yeah, everything went up except my wage! People have been mad."

You can get to the beach at a bunch of different beach access points; we like to use the county park at the southern tip of the island; besides the great beach, they have good parking, restrooms, a view of the ship traffic that comes and goes through the Brownsville Ship Channel.

Price hike aside, the beach was spectacular. There is still some remnants of the red tide in the area - you can feel it in your throat as you walk the beach, but it wasn't bad.

You can see here how crowded it is this time of year...


Yep, we walked a couple miles and saw maybe a half dozen other people. The hotel and restaurant owners aren't thrilled with this, but it is very typical for this time of year. Many of the hotels along the main drag post their prices... the lowest we saw today was $21.99. That's unusually low. And it will change a lot in the next month or so.

Anticipation...

It's been a long time coming. Oh, there were rumors, then something in the paper. Could it be true? And then, the physical evidence... earth moved; no, not as in, "Wasn't that fantastic?" nor a seismic event. They broke ground.

And today? Today was the first day that Bass Pro Shop in our area was officially open. Hey, it's not like we were going to be fanatic and camp outside to be the first in the door. Heck, we waited until almost an hour after they opened. The place was plenty busy. I told Joan, "If we can find a parking place, I'm not going to do the 'circle around thing,' stalking people who are walking away from the store, in search of a spot." Fortunately, that wasn't necessary - we found a parking place way off to the back side. It was a nice walk.

Inside, crowded, but not so bad you couldn't move around. Kinda like the Monday after Thanksgiving at the Mall, not the Friday. Good to see that the local population is supporting this major enterprise. Plenty of people pushing shopping carts full of stuff - fryers in time for the Thanksgiving holiday seemed to be the most popular item. Nothing either of us really needed, but we enjoyed looking at boats, boat stuff, kayaks, kayak stuff, clothes... more recon for the next real shopping time we visit.

Since we were in that area, we had a nice lunch out, checked in on the HitchHiker, visited the outlet mall... oh, that outlet mall has been open for over 2 years, this was the first time either of us felt the need to check it out. Again, nothing we needed, but it was good exercise.

Been a while...

Yep, it's been a while since I've posted sunrise photos. I was up at 5:40 this morning, fed the cat, got Joan's coffee-maker ready, checked weather (clear sky, wind less than 5 mph, 67º); the TV weather weasels said, "A chance of coastal fog..." Lots of twinkling stars when I rotated away from the dock.

It was still dark when I turned into the ship channel, only boat I saw out there was a small bait shrimper. As the sky began to get lighter, I took this shot inside the cabin...


The glow of the instruments and the sky slowly gaining light... I enjoy this time of day. As I made my way down the ship channel, enroute to the Gulf to watch the sunrise, the roar of big engines disturbed the peaceful setting. I could see a crewboat coming up behind me fast. It was kicking a huge wake; I expected a slow pass... I was wrong. They were making time; I turned Wild Blue into their wake and continued slowly down the channel.

By now, it was light enough that I could see some dolphins swimming, but not light enough to photograph them. These pelicans swept by...


I guess I was running too slow - I didn't make it to the Gulf to see the sun begin to break the horizon...


That is the silhouette of the Boca Chica area, just south of South Padre Island. Into the jetties area...


Then, putting the rising sun behind me...


On the way back into the ship channel, I could see the ceiling dropping over the island...


That condo complex in the center of the image goes up another 10 stories or so; looks like the fog is, indeed, moving in.

I saw a small boat launch from the Isla Blanca Park ramp; he blew by me like I was standing still. Within 5 minutes, the visibility went from unlimited to less than 1/4 mile... and that same boat blew by me the other direction, heading back to the ramp!


Good plan - another 2 minutes and the visibility was down to less than 100 feet...


Radar and chartplotter led the way, with the timed horn blast and a position report on a securite' call. I can't remember the last time I saw fog this thick here. When I got back to the turn for our canals, the visibility was less than 50 feet... if not for the radar, I never would have found it.

As I slowly motored up the canal, the fog began to lift - 100 feet... then 200 feet...


I gave Joan a call to let her know I was on my way back in; she took these from our deck...


She said, "Right before you called, I couldn't see across the canal. I was beginning to wonder where you were. Bet you're ready for some breakfast?"

Nice.

Blowing like stink...

That's been an on-going condition here, with an occasional (blissful) calm day... and not just since we've been back. Our neighbor said it was like that through most of the summer, while we were up north.

Today, the wind was blowing 26 mph, with gusts well above 30. Nice thing about a pilothouse boat like Wild Blue: you can open windows - or close them - to allow as much or as little air flow as desired. We decided to get out on the water, despite the winds. Running fairly slow means less salt spray as we drove through the 2 foot waves, built up on a fairly short fetch in the Port Isabel Channel. Turning into the ship channel, we could stay to the south side of it, minimizing the wave action.


We pulled into one of our favorite coves to drop the anchor for lunch... even with the protection of land nearby, Wild Blue rocked and rolled pretty good. Joan cooked us a fine lunch while I stayed out of the way in the cockpit. For over an hour, we saw only one other boat, this Coast Guard buoy tender...

No boats...

Joan stretched out for a while, while I did some surfing... um, on the iPad, not a surfboard.

It was a couple hours later, mid-afternoon, when a few other recreational boats decided to get out. Other than the wind, it was a beautiful day - mostly sunny, 80º, around 50% humidity.

It's after dark now, and the wind has eased into the mid-teens, even though the weather weasels are calling for 23 mph during the night... oh, and warm (76º) and humid.

Want to help an angel?

Yep, it's that time of year again. I've asked for help from the TSBB folks and they've come through for several years now. I thought I'd ask the readers here for their help...

Our daughter, Stephanie, and son-in-law, Dan, are teachers in an area that would be classified as "disadvantaged." Some of these families cannot afford the basics... the community, the churches, and the school comes together to do an Angel Tree for Christmas gifts for the kids from these families. Steph, Dan, and the staff of the school do all they can, but they can use help in the form of donations. Every dime goes for gifts for the kids - no administration fees, nothing for gas, even the gift wrap is provided. Steph and Dan do a great portion of the ground work and the shopping. With Joan's help digging for deals, they hit the sales... yes, even on Thanksgiving and the dreaded Black Friday. The goal is to get as much as possible for every dollar.

You can adopt an angel from the tree for around $50, or give what you can and Steph will combine it to make sure the kids get taken care of. For the past several years, the TSBB folks have made the difference and every "angel" on the tree has been given a gift beyond what's wrapped.

Here's how you can be an angel that helps these young angels: contact Stephanie at this e-mail address...

sbudzban AT liberty.k12.az.us

Take out the "AT" and the space on either side and replace with: @

Here's the great part: you won't know who the kids are - no names, only age, gender, and clothing sizes. You don't get to see the amazement on their faces when they find out someone cares enough to do this for them. No "atta boy" or pat on the back... you just get to feel good because you did good. Yep, that good ol' Christmas spirit.

Joan and I have volunteered in their classrooms, and we have seen the need. They try to get something fun for each kid, but it's mostly about shoes, jackets, sweaters... stuff these kids need. The local churches do food drives to provide food baskets. The school staff does all they can, but even with everyone taking a couple angles... well, I don't have to tell you that times are tough.

Thank you in advance, friends. Your gracious donations have brought tears to all 4 of us, and big smiles to a lot of kids. Your help is deeply appreciated.

Best wishes,

Jim & Joan (and Stephanie and Dan)

Heading for the port...

An absolutely beautiful day: mid-70s, clear blue sky, and light wind... it's been a while since we've seen that light wind stuff... and we were liking it! We packed food onboard Wild Blue and took a leisurely cruise to the Port of Brownsville.

About a half mile from home, we were treated to a dolphin show...


Even though a dolphin watch wasn't the goal today, we always stop to take 'em in. Nobody was jumping out of the water, but we did see a baby with one pod.

And, a little bird watching...


We also saw our first white pelicans of the season; more fun watching the brown pelicans fishing, and there were scads of them out diving today.

On the way home from up north, we picked up a stand to hold the iPad. You can see it in the following photos...


The iPad in front of the co-pilot...


We're still impressed with the chartplotter-like qualities of the iPad; especially for the price.

We pulled out of the ship channel, and dropped the anchor for a lunch stop. Joan fired up the Wallas and made us a great lunch. We watched a few boats go by (not much traffic on our way to the port), and took a couple phone calls. It's not a particular scenic trip to the port - once you are away from the coast, this area is very arid... desert-type plants and sand... and not much else...


We stopped part way into the port - several small tugs were scurrying around, so we chose to stay out of their way. There is a major seawall dredging project going on, and the usual ship scrapping and oil rig construction...


This trip was less about any destination - we were just enjoying being on the water. We swung into the shrimp boat basin before leaving the port...


Either most of the boats are out in the Gulf, or they are simply disappearing from the area; not a lot of boats at these docks.

Late afternoon on the way back...


We entertained ourselves as we neared Port Isabel by listening to the activity on the VHF: two tugs with barges were coming through the PI area enroute to Brownsville; a container ship in the port getting ready to shove off, heading towards the Gulf; and two of the larger excursion boats in the area coordinating where they were going to stop to get the boats close together for a wedding that was to take place on one of the boats... you could hear the crowd in the background on their radios... sunset and dolphins as a background for the ceremony.

We pulled into our canal after sunset, unloaded and washed down the boat; nice day...