Shakedown(April 2006 - May 2006) – Gigi was completed in April 2006 and we moved aboard. We spent the next month taking two to
three day trips along the Florida west coast to work out the “new boat bugs”.
During outfitting the boat was berthed at Twin Dolphin marina in Bradenton up the Manatee River from Tampa Bay. We would recommend
Twin Dolphin to anyone in the area needing a marina for awhile, although it is rather pricey. Between the marina and Tampa Bay, there is a
good anchorage at Emerson Point across from Desoto Point (Desoto point is discussed in all the cruising guides but there is a four foot shoal
right in the middle). Emerson Point was sort of our staging anchorage going and coming from the marina. In settled weather the anchorage
at Egmont Key at the entrance to Tampa Bay is good.
One trip took us up to Anclote Key stopping overnight in Clearwater. Clearwater is very protected but it’s right in the middle of high rise
hotels and office buildings; not our idea of a perfect anchorage. Anclote Key is several miles from Tarpon Springs and is a very pretty
anchorage filled with wildlife. Dolphins seem to be everywhere and seemed to be more curious (or maybe it was relaxed) than we had ever
seen.
South of Tampa we stopped in Venice for a few days. The Venice inlet is very narrow with very strong currents. Anyone using this inlet for
the first time should be very careful about the tide opposing the wind. That combination could spell real trouble. Once inside the inlet, there
are a couple of marinas and further in there are a few limited spaces for anchoring and a very shallow city dock that can be used for a 24
hour tie up. No one was friendly, the space is limited and shoals are everywhere to catch you by surprise. We would not stop there again
unless we had to.
At the end of our first month we had encountered no serious boat problems. We had decided months before that we would spend our first
hurricane season back in Texas at Waterford Harbor Marina off Galveston Bay, so we set sail for Texas.
Tampa to Galveston (May 2006 - June 2006) – Setting sail turned out to be a figure of speech. We left in mid-May at daylight one
morning with absolutely no wind. Our destination was Dog Island in the Apalachicola area, about a 30 hour trip. The morning was really
perfect if you didn't mind the lack of wind, so we motored for a few hours and enjoyed the day. With Skyway Bridge in the background,
Bogey decided to take it easy for a while.
The wind picked up late morning and we had a great sail during the rest of the day and into the night. In late afternoon we were probably 40
or 50 miles offshore when an Egret, that was clearly lost, decided to take up residence on the forward deck of our boat. Ellis repeatedly
shooed the bird off, but it would circle around and come back every time. After this comedy played out several times the bird landed on our
solar panels instead of the forward deck. All we could think about was the sizable claws marring our new solar panels. This time Ellis had to
use a boat pole to shoo the thing. He realized the mistake as soon as he poked at the bird. It flew right into the wind generator. Now the
wind was probably 17 or 18 knots so the blades were turning pretty fast. The bird goes right through the blades and three or four pieces of
bird went in all different directions. After the initial shock, in seconds we realized there was nothing to do for the bird and our attention was
drawn to the wind generator. After a close inspection we declared the wind generator unscathed so we chalked up the incident as bad luck
for the bird and a testament to solid construction by Kiss.
During the middle of the night (things always seem to happen in the middle of the night) the wind and waves picked up even more and we had
to reduce sail significantly. The wind was from the west so the waves had several hundred miles of fetch to play with and, as a result, we
were bounced around a bit for the rest of the night. About four in the morning the wind died again and the engine came back to life. We
made our landfall about noon the next day and dropped anchor at Dog Island, close to Carabelle, for a good rest. It turned out to be a great
anchorage.
Our plan was to rest up for a day and then make an overnight sail to Port St. Joe. Unfortunately, the wind began to blow 25 to 30 precisely
from the direction we wanted to go. We waited and waited for better weather and a week and a half later we started exploring different
alternatives. We had even tried motoring into the wind and waves one day and gave up after an hour of wave bashing, knocking our speed
down to one or two knots each time a big one hit.
Apalachicola (and the Apalachicola River) was about three hours from our anchorage. The ICW began again a mile or so from our
anchorage (there is no ICW between roughly Clearwater and Dog Island) so it was relatively easy to get to Apalachicola, even in windy
conditions. From there, the ICW went up the Apalachicola River past Port St. Joe all the way to Texas. However, there are several 50 foot
bridges between Port St. Joe and Pensacola and we need a 65 foot clearance. The good news is that there is a canal that connects the ICW
and Port St. Joe, so we could take that route and make progress until the wind decided to cooperate.
The only trick was that there was a 65 foot bridge at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. So we left before daylight one morning to time our
arrival at the bridge around low tide just to be safe. As we approached the bridge within binocular distance Leta was looking for a clearance
gauge. She calmly looked at me and relayed the news that the gauge showed a clearance of 63 feet. We could get the mast under, but all the
stuff on top of the mast would get peeled off. We turned around and scratched our heads on the way back to the anchorage before we
realized that the river must be up. Sure enough, there had been heavy rains up river and we waited another few days until we could get under.
We finally made it under the bridge one morning and dropped anchor on the western side of Port St. Joe in late afternoon. By now the
weather was glorious and we enjoyed the trip up the scenic Apalachicola River and the anchorage at Port St. Joe.
The next day we made a day trip to Panama City and stayed at the Panama City Marina to fuel up and take on water. We also needed to
provision. We would recommend the marina if you are in the area and need to pull in some where. There are also several anchorages in the
area to choose from.
The following day, we made an overnight sail to Pensacola where we picked up the ICW. Again, sailing is a bit of a misnomer since the wind
was light and on our nose. There is a great anchorage between Pensacola and Mobile Bay off the ICW at Wallace Bay. Beautiful.
Next in line was Mobile Bay. Mobile Bay is a big body of shallow water that takes at least two days to get across. The route to New
Orleans takes you close to the barrier islands. There are at least 4 or 5 great anchorages along the way in settled weather. I would not want
to be there in any significant winds, especially from the north. We were lucky and had a great night in perfect weather and perfect scenery
without another boat in sight.
The next two days were not fun. We had to make it through New Orleans. From the barrier islands on Mobile Bay it’s an all day motor to a
marginal anchorage right off the ICW at a place called Rabbit Island. It’s basically a pull-over and very narrow and shallow. It also turned
out to be the most bug infested place we had ever seen. There are no words to describe how bad it was. It was almost impossible to breathe.
The anchorage was roughly at mile 32 east of Harvey Locks (on the Gulf coast all mileage on the ICW is either east of Harvey Locks or
west of Harvey Locks). The big problem is that there are no anchorages (really there are none) from Mosquito Island (I mean Rabbit
Island) and about mile 15 west of Harvey Locks. For a slow sailboat, if there are any delays getting through the locks, you can’t make that
distance during daylight (and the ICW is no place to be after dark). We also found out that Harvey Locks was closed for maintenance and
we had to use Algiers Locks which is used almost exclusively for commercial traffic. If you have never been on the ICW between Mobile
and Galveston, it is hard to envision the number of tugs and barges. Let’s just say that you will get very experienced talking to tugs and
discussing your and their intentions so no one gets smushed. Chances were not good that we could get across the Mississippi to the first
anchorage at Lafitte. We were lucky and found a marina (one of the very few open because of Katrina) on the canal connecting the ICW and
Lake Ponchitrain. Marina is stretching a bit since it was basically an exposed tie up. Nevertheless, it served its purpose.
The next morning we were off. The first lock on the east side of the river is Industrial Locks. We made it through very quickly and turned
downstream for a few miles towards Algiers (Harvey is upstream). We waited only about an hour and a half and made it through much
quicker than we had anticipated. That put us at the first anchorage in Lafitte by early afternoon. Once we got there we decided we didn’t
like the anchorage. It was also Memorial Day and there was small boat traffic and skiers everywhere. Skipper Bob’s said there were a
couple of more anchorages further along so we decided to keep going. Big mistake. The anchorages were all too shallow and we ended up in
the industrial city of La Rose with only about an hour of daylight left. We were about to tie up to a derelict barge and hope for the best when
a tug captain apparently figured out our dilemma and hailed us. One thing led to another and within the hour we had tied up to the captain’s
barge after he pushed his barge up on the bank to spend the night. We supplied the beer, his crew cooked spaghetti and all had a great
time. Our fenders have never been the same.
By the way, during the whole ordeal our cockpit Racor vacuum gauge told us that we needed to change fuel filters very soon, which meant
the fuel that we had bought at the marina in New Orleans was very dirty. After changing the filter before daylight the next morning we were
off before the tug boys were awake.
Next stop was Houma. All the cruising guides say this is a must stop. It is. Houma is not really a marina but the dock has room for 3 or 4
boats and has electric and water all for a fee of $20 a night. The tie up is only a few feet from the ICW between two high rise bridges, but it
works in its own unique way. Seems like we spent a couple of days there just to relax a bit.
After Houma we dropped anchor in Bayou Black about two miles north of the ICW. The bayou is relatively wide and deep, but well
traveled. We dropped anchor in the middle in 20 feet of water (20 feet seemed like a luxury since we had spent several days in really
shallow stuff) and tied the stern to a tree. The water was 10 to 12 feet all the way to the bank. While we were anchoring and tying the stern
we had a visitor who watched the whole thing very silently. He wasn’t 20 or 30 feet away the whole time. After all the activity, he stayed for
cocktail hour. He even stayed for dark until he slowly departed for his den. I think he spotted the dogs and was looking for a quick and easy
meal. This was truly the Louisiana swamps. I think it was here that we decided that we must train the dogs to go on the boat at all costs.
More to come on that subject.
There are no good anchorages after Bayou Black until you get to the Mermentau River. However, room permitting, there is a good tie up in
Intracoastal City at Shell Morgan. Shell Morgan is a small store with diesel and water and is famous for cheap fuel (it's also clean fuel).
There is room for two or three boats and costs about $20 for the night. Electric can be had for another couple of bucks. If there is no room
at Shell Morgan, I don’t know what you would do other than finding a derelict barge somewhere. When we arrived, the wind was about 25
knots blowing us away from the tie up. Even with a bow thruster, it took several times to get close enough to get a dock line to someone
ashore. There’s always something.
Next up was the Mermentau River. The anchorage is a couple of miles up river from the ICW in a beautiful little oxbow. This is one of our
favorite anchorages.
The next leg of the trip took us to the Calcasieu River. The river is navigable (ocean going ships) from the Gulf up to Lake Charles. The
ICW crosses the river about 15 miles south of Lake Charles. The anchorage is about two miles north of the ICW towards Lake Charles in
an oxbow. This is a very good anchorage, but it’s very close (within a mile) to some sort of oil refinery. Other than that, it’s great (plenty of
water, plenty of swing room, not crowded and protected). We ended up spending much more time here than we had planned. Once back on
the ICW from the Calcasieu there is a lift bridge that wants at least a four hour notice before opening. That’s not necessarily a problem, but
it was closed due to repairs. The bridge and the coast guard kept telling us that it would open tomorrow. It was going to open tomorrow for
three or four days. Even though the weather was not ideal for the Gulf, we decided to take the river out and make it to Sabine Pass and on to
Port Arthur. From there we could rejoin the ICW and make our final push to Galveston Bay. It was a very long day, but right before dark
we pulled into the anchorage off the ICW on the west side of Port Arthur in Taylor Outfall Canal. This anchorage is narrow but the water is
15 to 20 feet deep, perfect for what we needed. Unfortunately, the anchorage rivals Mosquito Island (sorry, Rabbit Island) in its bugginess.
It felt like the Wizard of Oz when the monkeys picked you up and flew off with you; only the monkeys were the biggest mosquitoes we had
ever seen. They could bite you through two layers of clothes. I’m sure we have West Nile after that. There were also gators everywhere.
The dogs almost went swimming that day just so we wouldn't have to go ashore. We've got to train them.
The next day we were able to make it all the way to Waterford Harbor Marina just before dark. It was the first week in June.
Waterford Harbor is very protected on Clear Lake about 15 minutes off Galveston Bay. The people are nice, the facilities are nice and we
made several good friends. We would recommend Waterford Harbor to anyone in the area.
We wouldn't say the ICW was fun, but it was an experience. We would have liked to have spent more time offshore, but weather did not
cooperate. Additionally, we think that any overnight offshore work between Galveston and Mobile is dangerous. There are literally tens of
thousands of oil platforms and the like (up to a hundred or so miles out). I would be very careful and make sure you know how to work magic
with your radar before I ventured that way. If you plan on spending any time on the Gulf Coast ICW we would recommend Skipper Bob
(even though he is dead now) and the Barway Pilots Guide (if you can find it) to keep you out of trouble. We generally found Skipper Bob to
be accurate on anchorage descriptions.






Carabelle White Sand Beach
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Pensacola, Florida White Sand Beaches
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Houma, Louisiana City Dock
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Gator waiting for a Pug Snack in Louisiana Swamps
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