NOLA news

NOLA sunrise

Our time here was always going to be at least 2 weeks to a month. Probably closer to a month. There was a big holdup on the Coffeeville lock for repairs last week, backing up commercial tows for days (and if you are a PC then you know that means you ain't locking through anytime soon). Spring may yet bring more rain, and with it floods, so we aren't in a big hurry to get up into all that.

After David and Hannah of the 48 Endeavour, Highwinds, did a number of electrical and network upgrades that gave Russ both the guidance and confidence to do something similar. Since doing electric stuff largely means a mess in the guest stateroom (which tends to expand into the master stateroom as well), it's best he's doing it while we aren't living on the boat.

Currently the master state room.
The bed is in there, somewhere...

Other projects include a new radio. I hear you say, "But, Jax, didn't you just put in a new radio?" Why, yes, aren't you astute! When we first installed it, it complained (with panic beeps every 10 minutes) that it didn't know our MMSI (Maritime Moblie Service Identity) number. In the event of an emergency so dire you can only hit the red "SOS" button on the radio, this number broadcasts you identity without you having to talk. That is an excellent thing, and we have such a number. So we put it in. THEN the radio complained (with a panicked beep that went off every 10 minutes) that it didn't have a GPS location. At that point Russ realized we needed to tie it into our NMEA network, which looked like a bigger task than just buying a new radio with built-in GPS. Note: going with cheaper isn't always better.

There they are... the house batteries.
Don't tell our guests, they are under the bed.

Another task is yet another computer. On Cat-n-Dogs we had a headless, real life computer, that sat on the desk inside the boat, and connected to a wireless monitor, mouse, and keyboard on the fly deck. The monitor was on a hinged holder the came down from the ceiling. When not in use or needed, we just pushed it up and out of the way. A year and half later we realize we miss that functionality. So we're installing a similar thing on inQuest.

We were in NOLA about 2 months ago (we drove here) and had to get our HVAC units fixed. At the time it was cold and we didn't have heat. When we first arrived on this trip everything seemed to be working, but over this past weekend, 2 of the 4 units failed. Again. The repair guys were out today. One of the units is repaired (allegedly) but the other has no coolant due to a leak. So, some detective work is underway, but that means no AC. On the 4th floor (of course, the warmest). And a warming trend is coming.

Anyone interested in a desk? This one is a sit or
stand desk, and is powered to raise with a 
push of a button!

I'm also in the process of trying to sell or consign a chunk of furniture that came from San Francisco. Between emails with stores and various social media for marketing, the result isn't as fast as I'd hoped. Our 2nd floor is still stuffed with furniture.

Needless to say, we are not bored.

New Orleans, marina

WE MADE IT!

When we were on the loop there were certain destinations that felt like major victories, made us say "Wow! We're really doing this!" Places like New York, Chicago, even crossing under the big arch of St. Louis were examples. For some reason, so did getting here.

Been to New Orleans a bunch of times, even lived here for almost 10 years, but boating here was a milestone. 

NOLA skyline from the lake

No engine issues, no docking issues. We had to cross under 3 low bridges. The first was a railroad swing bridge which opened immediately once we arrived but was so slow it took 15 minutes before going through, long enough for our Nebo to think we were done for the day. The second two were right next to each other, a road bridge and a railroad bridge. Both were open. However, one of them, highway 11, was in repair. Normally two parts lift upwards, making a nice large gap to boat through. Only one side was open, however, and a barge was parked beneath the opened side. Russ stood on the bow talking to the workers who had to move a cement pour spout so we could get under. They were very entertained that we could squeeze through. 

I-10. Driven over this bridge dozens of times.

From the last bridge it's a 2 hour straight shot across Lake Pontchartrain to the marina. We arrived around 2 pm. Russ got our rental car, we loaded up with boat stuff (lots of laundry to do, mostly bedding), and...

Now the work begins.

The marina is near the lighthouse (on the left).
It's also byLandry's and the Blue Crab (yum!)

Um, how are we supposed to get thru?

That's a squeeze I don't want to do on a windy
or rough water day.

Bay St. Louis, MS, marina

Since we knew this would be a short day we had a leisurely morning filled with some exercise and laundry doings. We powered the engines up and I monitored our boats position while Russ handled the lines, much like we always do. Just as he was about to untie the very last line, the port engine sputtered and died. He secured us back onto the dock then started a quick scan of what could be wrong. Line on the prop? No. Closed seacock? No. Battery? He checked the voltage which looked fine, but when you tried to restart the engine, boy, it sure sounded like a bad battery.

Dawn in Biloxi

With a flip of a switch we can power both engines from either battery if need be. He did, I started her up again, and the engines came back online. 

What's particularly weird is that the engine had been running for a few minutes before it died. So Russ can't understand what caused it. I'm so looking forward to tomorrow.

Anyway, barring engine weirdness, the days trip was short and uneventful. We traveled along the shoreline, out of the ICW channel, dodging crap pots as we went, but all in all it was a lovely day: sunny, calm waters, and a nice breeze.

Waiting for that bridge.

The only hold up was the railroad bridge that is under repair. They don't respond to radio hails but there's a number to call. Call 'em a little early because they need to move a crane and platform out of the way before opening the swing bridge. And it is the world's slowest swing bridge, too.

Bay St. Louis is a darling little town. The docks here look brand-new, I'm guessing repaired from various hurricane damage. Lots of restaurants and shop, all within walking distance to the marina. I bought some ice cream from the Creole Creamery, which was next to the PJs, just a few doors down from Fleurty Girl -- ALL of those places are in New Orleans. It was like being in a little French Quarter.

These little houses are all shops. The PJs is closest,
and next to it is the Creole Creamery.

Biloxi, MS, marina

So, yeah, um, Mississippi. We had a car rented and we had a plan for getting to New Orleans. What the heck happened?

For the last 2 weeks or more, whenever we checked the weather apps they all disagreed. One would say, "great day tomorrow" and the others would say, "No! Certain doom awaits you!" Daily. This morning, however, all of them said the same thing. Great weather for the next 3 to 4 days. So ... go!

First task was getting out of The Wharf. No issues with wind or tide, but we were tucked into a slip (if you recall they made us move, and no, that other slips still is empty) off a narrow fairway that required twists and turns to get into. Leaving, however, it became clear as I moved out that I wouldn't be able to turn the boat in a way as to head out nose first: next to us was a huge sport fisher boat whose bow I would bump if I tried. I ended up turning away from it and backing all the way out the twisting fairways. Kinda fun.

Not a sunny day but once the bay was behind
us, it became a great cruising day.

The first hour of the journey was still in the canal. The second hour is when you hit the Mobile Bay. The third hour, things got crazy. While the winds were calm they were from the north, and the bay runs longwise north and south. We got into some rolly seas, so much so that we sped up and tacked when we could. I was miserable at 11:30, but thrilled by noon, when we went under the bridge to Dauphin Island. Once we crossed that magic line, the seas turned to 1 foot or less. And they continued to shrink as the day went on.

All in all, a longer day to Biloxi, about 8 hours. Tomorrow we plan on getting to Bay St. Louis, about 3 hours. Then onto NOLA on Tuesday.

The marina is behind one of the casinos, 
the Golden Nugget. Good thing we don't gamble.

Yep, still here

We had about a week of amazing weather to get across the gulf to Apalachicola. Now we're getting weeks of thunderstorms, rain, and wind. As a result we don't feel comfortable about getting from here to New Orleans -- the Mississippi Sound is really the gulf. Yes, there are barrier islands but they are small. Moreover they are 8 miles off shore. The way things keep shaping up we might get a good day in followed by days of no-go days... it could take us weeks to get to NOLA.

During lovely weather this would be a great trip. Just not panning out.

Honestly, we really thought we'd be there by now. Packages were ordered and have been delivered. A kind neighbor has been collecting them for us. We hate to keep imposing on her.

Us in 48. We didn't leave then, when the 
weather was nice, since we waited for my
second Covid shot. The rain started that day.

We pleaded with the marina, who really wanted us out of slip 48. We moved to a new slip, and have plans to stay for a month. Monday Russ will pick up a rental car and we'll drive to New Orleans.

The Wharf is just jammed with boats right now. Last summer brought a bunch of hurricanes that wiped most other marinas out. Anyone with a sportfishing boat needed a new home. This was it.

By the way, we had to get out of slip 48 by Friday. Still no one there. Seemed kinda obvious to us -- we didn't want to travel because of weather. Good odds neither do they.

Misty morning at The Wharf

The Wharf, Marina

Welcome to Alabama! The ride here was very easy, uneventful, and short. We planned that for a couple of reasons. One was our dog, Lizzie, who needed more of her hearts meds, so I'd scheduled ahead to pick them up at a local Walgreens. Also, I had mounds of laundry to do. We weren't sure if we were going to stay for longer than one night, but getting in early and getting those tasks done meant we were free to leave.

We noticed we didn't have AIS yesterday.
Russ doesn't hesitate to get in there and muck 
with things. He was successful.

Before docking we wanted to pump out. Docking is a joy to do when there is no crazy force acting on the boat, like today. We zipped in, pumped out, then zipped to our slip, sterning in both locations. Then Russ went to the drug store and I to the laundry.

Feels like it's been a while since we've been in a marina, where we can just walk the dog without the use of a tender. It certainly has some advantages.

Lizzie ready for her tinder ride.

Despite our planning we'll be here a couple of days. I contacted Walgreens for move my 2nd vaccination to a store located here. They had availability this week, but not until Wednesday. And we think the weather will go bad by that point. We may be here for a few days.

But. I will have had my final shot. So yay!

Fort McRee, Anchorage

It's Sunday. And it's Sunday with nice weather after 2 days of crappy weather. Oh, yeah, but boaters were out in force!

The morning started overcast as the storms continued to clear out. We weighed anchor early, around 6:45 am, since we had a bit of a detour to Two Georges for fuel and a pump out. We arrived there at 7:45, 15 minutes before they opened. Next time we're in this area I would happily stop or anchor here. Easy dinghy access with a very convenient dog walking area. Lizzie was pleased.

We had one nice sunset in Destin

Destin would be great if we didn't have a dog. The harbor is stuffed with touristy things, like boat and jet ski rentals, fishing boats for hire, and dolphin tours. As a result they are very strict about speed, so you don't get rocked (unless there are 80 mph winds). But that means all those piers are for commercial use, so not much space for pulling up a transient dinghy and walking a dog.

The last of the storms rolled through while at Two Georges. We were able to get underway by 10 am.

McRee -- lots of little boats on the shores.

The clouds parted, the sun shined, the air warmed, and right around Pensacola Beach, the boats came out. Nutsville.

We got to the anchorage without issue. Our timing was great. When we dropped anchor there were only 3 boats on the hook for the night. As I type this, there are now 8.

In Destin, update

We had some big storms yesterday, but they were nothing compared to what we had today. Massive rain, lightning and thunder, and lots of big, big winds.

This pic is from our wind data. At one point we had gusts over 80 mph.

We'll head out tomorrow to fuel up and pump out, then out to anchor at Fort McCree. That will be our last night in Florida for a while.

Destin, anchorage

Last night was quiet considering the winds we had the day before. Weather predictions said we'd have the occasional thunderstorm through the night, but there was nothing. Until 5:30 am. When we got up.

We had 2 massive squalls come through in the morning, complete with incredible lightning and thunder and buckets of rain. Both were followed by huge winds, sweeping up behind them. The anchorage was protected enough, and we talked at length about staying versus going. By 11 or so things calmed down substantially. 

Lightning tracker.
We are the blue dot.
The hits are the red dots.

Way back on the loop we were underway on the Chesapeake when we saw very scary weather in the distance. I asked Russ to find us someplace else to go, and he did. But then... it cleared up. So we thought, "Never mind, let's press on." That's when we learned that the wind from storms make waves that last well beyond the time of the storm. Every looper on the water that day scrambled to find shelter. We ended up on Tangier Island with a number of them.

With that under our belts we knew the waters could be "snotty" (that is a commonly used term in the nautical crowd). But we also knew the winds came and continued from the south, and if we stayed close to shore they wouldn't have the fetch to bother us. Furthermore, there was plenty of depth so we could get pretty close if we needed. Lastly, there were anchorages along the way in case things went from bad to worse.

It was a little snotty, especially in the center right under the bridge. Seas were 1 - 2 feet, mostly on our stern or quarter stern. Not great, but not the worst ever either. After the bridge we snugged to the shore a bit to take a little of the punch off. 

Storms do make for dramatic skies.

Predictions are that we'll get more of the same tomorrow. We'd like to get to Two Georges, where we'll fuel up, then move on to Fort McRee, which is another wonderful anchorage (last time we were there we got to watch the Blue Angels practice). But we might just wait another day. It's all about the weather.

Russ getting us off the hook.
He said the prussik knot was tighter than he'd ever had to deal with before. 

That is her piddle pad.
She WILL NOT use it as a piddle pad.

While on anchor I watched the wind and the waves. 

You can see the wind speed in the red box on the PC screen.