Weather, Weather, Weather

Weather to leave or weather to wait-----That is the question. Well, obviously we didn't leave on the 20th as last predicted. Actually, that decision was not weather related. Scott was still in town and we didn't want to lose this opportunity to spend as much time with him as possible before he went back to China. (He ran into some delays acquiring his China work visa and we were the very happy beneficiaries of his extended stay)Then, having decided to stay a while longer, we decided to just hang around and spend Thanksgiving with friends--a decision well made as we had a wonderful day of thanksgiving with our friends the Dormers and their youngest son, Jon. We had a great time watching the Cowboys get beat and the Aggies win over Texas.
The revised plan, however, had been to leave the Saturday after Thanksgiving---but---now weather has become a very significant factor. We are in the middle of a very strong northerly cold front with high winds and frigid temperatures. We could leave as scheduled but it would be a very uncomfortable trip, especially off-shore where it is predicted that the winds will be in excess of 30 knots and the waves 5 to 8 feet. Having waited this long the weather will govern. The only thing predictable about the weather now is its unpredictability. Thus, I have decided to stay in the "ditch" to New Orleans. The "ditch" for you landlubbers is the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), or as its called in this section--Texas/ Louisiana-- the "Gulf Intracoastal Waterway" or GIWW for short. We like to refer to it as merely the ICW.
The ICW runs along the coast, but inland in mostly protected waters. The downside is that it is very busy with industrial barge traffic, tugs pushing or pulling long barges sometimes 2 and 3 wide. The other disadvantage is that it is imprudent to navigate at night, particularly because of the barge traffic but also because falling just a little bit off course in the narrow channel can cause you to run aground---so---you end up anchoring or tying up at a marina for the night, losing valuable hours on your goal of getting past New Orleans where the trip becomes quite a bit more enjoyable. Nonetheless, with the arrival of winter weather, I think it will be prudent to "take the ditch" and I am now anxious to get going as soon as possible. The other downside to me is that because of the extended time it will take to get to New Orleans I will probably lose at least some of my crew---they have JOB's. So---again just waiting on word from the crew to see if I am to have any help on this part of the journey.
In the meantime we have made the most of our down time. We've actually moved onto the boat, have stowed away all the clothes and toys and necessities and now have only the first week's provisioning and, of course, the wine supply, to worry about. We had the boat completely compounded and waxed by Alfredo and it looks like new. Our friend (and possible crew member, Dave Koplin, a licensed captain with scads of cruising experieince) will get together on Sunday to go over the boat from top to bottom, stem to stern, to check out all the systems, rigging etc--he'll even go up the mast to examine al the fittings up there--to make sure everything is a "go" and to fix anything that needs attention.
Once the journey begins this blog should start to become a bit more interesting to you with photos and descriptions of events along the way. Traveling the ICW can actually be fun as you transit the canal through swing bridges, locks, lift bridges, wildlife sanctuaries, towns and cities.
Until then---again---wish us fair weather and friendly winds.
I'll also reactivate the GPS tracking device --SPOT-- so you can follow our progress juxtaposed on a satellite earth image--Google Earth. The URL for our SPOT is: (I'm working on how to copy and paste it here but I've sent it to you in a prior email. I'm also trying to figure out how to post a link on the opening page of this blog site. If you don't have it and would like me to forward it to you in an email, send me an email--I know how to do that, at least.)