overnighting at Ship Island,
sailing open water, albeit brown, not blue,
Enjoying views only to be seen from the water.
But there is a down side. The picture of Bliss on the blog intro is actually an excerpt from a news story WLOX did when whatever the name of the October hurricane hit the Gulf Coast.
Since when do hurricanes hit in October?
Anyhow, the "hurricane" was only a tropical storm when it hit Pass Christian. Nevertheless, the Pass Christian Harbormaster declared a mandatory evacuation. His minions informed me at about 9pm that I had to move my boat by noon the next day. Problem: I was 6 hours away and had some pressing matters at work the next day.
I asked the Harbormaster why his harbor couldn't accommodate our boat in weather that wasn't forecasted to be all that extraordinary. He wasn't keen on offering explanations and told me I'd lose my slip if I didn't move the boat.
That incited a heated discussion with the officious Harbormaster. He threatened to sue me if my boat did his precious harbor any damage. I then spewed vitriol about the keystone cop Harbor Patrol and the sorry level of care the harbor and its tenants received--fodder for another blog. Dale Carnegie be damned!
A lot of burly shrimpers and oystermen probably echoed my sentiments because the mandatory evacuation was lifted. The good Harbormaster didn't bother to inform me, though. Fancy that.
After all that, though, we decided to move Bliss back where she had been moored for 30 or so years-- on Bayou Castine near Lake Ponchartrain.
I've checked the wind, plotted the course, and entered waypoints on the GPS. The plan is to ready the boat today, sail to Slidell on Monday, and sail to Bayou Castine on Tuesday.
The trip through Lake Borgne looks isolated, but there will probably be traffic through the GIWW. The trip through the rigolets may require some motoring, but we shall see.
Winds are a bit lighter than I would like, but at least they're on a east heading.
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