04/09/04
We left Waterford Harbor Marina at 0845, and headed out of the Kemah Channel towards marker 61 on the Houston Ship Channel. The weather was absolutely beautiful, mid 70’s, clear sky, and flat waters. Our course down the Houston Ship Channel was SSW, right into the light 10 knot winds. The winds stayed on our nose the entire trip, so we had to motor the entire way to Galveston. The HSC was very busy, many ships, tugs, and barges heading to and from Houston, and a lot of pleasure boats were out on the water as it was the beginning of Easter weekend.

Because we were going against the incoming tide, we only made an average of 5 knots. David and I took turns at the helm and keeping watch, but as we approached the busiest shipping intersection in the US, we both were in the cockpit on watch. As we transited the intersection of the Houston, Boliver, Texas City, and Galveston Ship Channels as well as the ICW, a large ship was coming out of Texas City and heading towards the Gulf. I made the decision to wait on crossing the Texas City Channel until the ship had passed, we only had to wait for a few minutes. Glad we waited, I don’t think we could have beat him. Once the ship had passed, we continued on our way to Galveston. We arrived at Harbor House at about 1345. Mark, the harbor master, was there to meet us and help us tie our dock lines.

Shortly after securing the boat, we learned from Mark that our friends we were expecting to meet here had canceled their reservations. Though we were disappointed, we were not surprised, the weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms over the weekend.

Photo Gallery - Just a few pictures of our trip, we didn’t take a whole lot this time.