If you said, "Blondie, 1980," you get partial credit. If you said, "John Holt/The Paragons, 1966," you get 1,000 bonus points!
If you live in deep south Texas, you may be aware of a warning for "coastal flooding" - the tide is high and the wind is coming out of the east, pushing more water onto the coastal beaches.
We went out for lunch today, with a plan of going up the island to Clayton's (bar), where the Sand Castle Days artists are supposed to be starting their creations today. The tide was definitely high as we drove across our swingbridge, which floats with the water level. Generally, the bridge is fairly level - today, there was a 2 foot climb from the fixed part of the bridge to the floating part.
While having lunch, we received an automated phone call from our resort: "The bridge will be open from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm today, due to the high tides." In other words: if you are off the island after 3:00, you are going to need a boat to get home. We decided to scrap checking out the sand sculptures and get our butts home while the gettin' is good.
For further explanation: as I said, the floating part of the bridge rises and falls with the tide. At a certain height, the bridge is going to open - it is designed that way to protect it from tidal surge. You can't close it until the water lowers enough for that center floating section to line up properly with the fixed part of the bridge.
When this has happened in the past, there are people who live on the island who volunteer to ferry people back and forth from the mainland to the island... but, you have to leave your car behind. IF the dredge would have finished, we would have volunteered. It has been moving pipe, but not dredging the past two days, so no progress.
Coming back onto our island, I took these photos:
That sign is always there. Today, it means business! Looking across the bridge...
The camera perspective doesn't show how much the middle section of the bridge is lifted by the tide (at least 2 feet higher than the normal high tide).
Looking at the nearby boat ramp...
This needs a little explanation: there is a dock on the left side of the photo - it is underwater. You can see the sidewalk on the right side, that is also underwater - typically, there would be a 2+ foot drop from that sidewalk to the water. The sidewalk you see to the right of that (that is above water) is a step up from the one that is underwater. This is not the time to be launching or retrieving a boat - you can't put fenders under the water to keep you off that concrete wall on the right.
Our office is closing at 2:30 so employees can get off the island. Once the bridge goes out - you and your car are here until the bridge can safely close again.
There are boat lifts in the canals that are in the water (aren't supposed to be). High tides... during the full moon... close to the autumnal equinox.
We are fortunate that there isn't a tropical storm or hurricane happening in the area - the storm surge would be a serious situation. This is just an inconvenience.
Back home, we checked on our dock...
The lower platform is underwater; normally, it is fairly even with the floor of the pontoon.
While checking on a neighbor's boat (had to loosen lines), a guy came by and asked if Bill (another neighbor) and I could help tie off a boat that is starting to float off a boat lift. "Yep." I shouldn't be, but I am surprised that people don't tie their boats to something solid, even when on a lift.
Island life. ;-)
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