Big D's April visit to Texas

Big D's first Guacamole, My Son makes the best.

MaMa Gen Gen with our Great Niece Luna and Big D, the newest additions to the family.

Cousin's Forever

Our oldest Grandaughter begins High School and plays on this champions La Cross Tea, it was great to have this opportunity to see her in action.

Up to Fort Worth to see the Matriarch Great Grandmother 

When in Texas

The Admiral accompanied her Aunt Roseanne to All Saints Episcopal and the Admiral stopped by the Chapel to get this shot of where we were married. 

Daddy and Big D at Great Big Dave's shop to check out the latest additions to his collection.

And Aunt Roseann took us all out and we Unanimously choose the Bison Tenderloin 

I like to hang out on the Inlaw's back patio, often a nice breeze and you can watch the Golfers Cheat

Back in Austin we had a bit of yard work to catch up on.

Gotter Done

Should be good till next time.

 El  Chile's  Chile Relleno**.............................................................$11
Poblano pepper stuffed with achiote-roasted pork, topped
with guajillo sauce. Served with rice and refried beans.  http://www.elchilecafe.com/menus.html
Pretty good but My favorite is still at Z-Tejas

All four of these girls played 1st Division soccer together through middle school and High School. Their moms became known as THE Soccer Moms. They all had baby boys within months of each other the youngest in this pic is 3 months and the oldest about 10 months. We all got together for a little reunion and it was the greatest FUN!

Thank God I have a Son In Law that loves Texas BBQ. A few years ago I took them to my favorite in Luling and every time he returns to Texas he has to make the Drive to get the Best in Texas!

He will Fix You Up!

First Taste 

Don Glandt of gulf Stream Marine did some electrical work for me to re-organize the battery systems on Wand'rin Star, This is the first chance I have had to check it out. He met with me and we went over the details. It was not exactly the way we had planned it but it is exactly the way I want it. Adds a lot of versatility and back up to the system including the solar Panels. The pic is of the Battery Isolator's he installed for the system. 

I visited with Cathy and Chris aboard their Morgan Out Islander, and even though I have been on their boat several times I just never noticed this Vertical Traveler for the mainsail.

Chris gave me a tour of the new Bay Yacht Club Facilities, pretty Fine! 

Wednesday night races in Corpus are always fun to see.

After sailing across Corpus Christi Bay in route to Port Aransas you always pass Ingelside where they are continually constructing new offshore oil platforms.

Eagle Texas The world’s first Modular Capture Vessel: http://gcaptain.com/eagle-texas-modular-capture-vessel-delivered-drydocks-world/

You wonder when it all gets put together how they ever get it out to the Middle of The Gulf of Mexico

A nice brisk sail across the entire Corpus Bay in East winds requiring long tacks 

I choose the L Head since I was single handing easier to dock and depart from.

Darn the Pollyanna was sold out! The best place to buy fresh gulf Shrimp on the entire Texas gulf coast!

The Port A Harbor

Fishing fanatics!

Juan's, our favorite Mex food on the Island, if we went birding at Paradise pond in the morning we would stop in for a late breakfast, if we went birding in the evening a late dinner,

Better Chile Releno about $7

Wow lots of bird sightings at Paradise Pond today

This little drip is a bit over grown since we were here last bit a Thrasher or two stopped in.

Fortuna has not been so Fortunate lately

Where Else? Port a

Before leaving Port A entirely I decided that a short sail in the Gulf of Mexico was mandatory.

The shipping activity seems to be much busier. 

Who has the right of Way

A fresh 10-12 and 1' waves, Sailed about  45 minutes before heading back to the Port A entrance and to Corpus Christi.

I have been watching this guy behind me on AIS, time to move over and let him have the whole channel!

Wouldn't you know it, West winds today so long tacks across the Bay again, but the 10 knot winds and decreasing held only about 2 hours, had to put the sails away and motor the second half across the Bay to the Corpus Marina H dock.

West winds today so again long close hauled tacks across the Bay again, but just after I took the above screen shot on my Iphone the winds died to 0-1 and I slowly put the sails away and slowly motored back to H dock...No Hurry on this beautiful day on the Bay!

Our Very Good friends are selling their Bristol 1984 Catalina 30, if I could afford two boats I would buy it!  Someone is gonna get a loaded very clean and super maintained vessel for a great Deal. If anyone is interested just leave a comment with contact info and I can provide you their info. hate to see them go! A C30 was our second boat and they are great coastal cruisers.

Big D's April visit to Texas

My daughter is a Planner and this visit to Texas was well planned from Day 1. First baby Drew had to get through a lot of shots before he was allowed to get on a plane full of people especially at the end of the cold and flu season. So all this got done by his time he turned 8 months and we all jumped on to the same Alaska Airlines Jet and a few short hours we were in much warmer Austin, Texas. The plans included eating lots of breakfast tacos from Mi Madre's, Long visit's with Austin Family, a drive to Luling for BBQ, a 2 day trip to Ft. Worth to show off D to the Great Grandparents and the bonus was a great dinner out with Aunt Roseann. Then Back to Austin where the Admiral and I spent 2 days pruning trees and shrubs on our property there, A great fun meeting with the Soccer Moms and all the daughters who just happened to all have baby boys within a few months of each other. A bonus to see our oldest Granddaughter play a game of La Cross, all in 7 days!At the end of the week the Seattle family minus the Captain flew back to Seattle to restart the daily Seattle routine.
I drove the Little truck that can to Corpus Christi to check on Wand'rin Star and get some exterior/interior maintenance done. A huge thank YOU! to Phillip and Sharon who have been staying on Wand'rin Star a couple of times a month when he is down to teach sailing lessons on the Bay. The Interior was super clean and smelled great. I had little to do on the inside just check all the systems clean a few filters and that was it. The only other thing was to meet with Don Glandt so he could explain how they solved a couple of issues with the 12 volt battery system including the House batteries, the start battery and the windless battery. I had spoke to him by phone and did not entirely understand why he deviated from the original plan we talked about before I left Corpus the last time. He built in versatility so that all batteries can be charged from all three sources on the boat. The Solar Panels, the alternator and the Seapower unit (generator). Or any combination of charging sources. He added a two bank and a three bank Isolator with just  Two separate switches which control selecting the desired choices which adds great versatility and redundancy to the system, I am thrilled!
 I turned my attention to the exterior where rust was beginning to show up on the Stainless Steel, and a good general cleaning.The second day I started on the outside and the forecast was for 90 degrees temps. By 5pm I was done, I thought to myself that was was just not acclimating to Texas Temps at all. Later that evening on the news I found out the temp reached 103 and that does not include the Humidity. That does not usually happen till late July and August,  there were two days in a row like this before the weather returned to normal mid to high 70's and 60's at night.
After three days I was ready for a break so I threw off the lines and headed to Port A for the night. I knew if I waited till the weekend I might not get the trip in and there would be a lot fewer boats travelling to Port A during the week making it a lot easier for me to get into the Port A marina single handing. The winds were on the East winds were on the nose so long tacks across the Bay and after almost three hours I made the ship channel and just had to put the sails away. I was sure glad the autopilot was working well as it makes single handing a lot easier since I have to go to the mast to get the main out or in . The auto pilot remote was on the blink and I tried to revive it but it only worked for a couple of minutes...hopefully just a loose wire, I will have to deal with that on the next visit. Lots of barge traffic, that is expected but it seems the sthe Big ships are way up.
Could not detect any change at all in Port A thank goodness. Everything seems to be just the way we left it and this is one place in Texas that needs to fight hard to stay the same, but that is pretty easy for these Barrier Island communities that can be blown completely away by the next Texas Hurricane.
I walked to the local hardware to get a bottle of my favorite UV Canvass Protectorate and then on to Juan's for dinner. A nice quit evening on the boat watching all the fisherman return from a day of fishing in some of the best waters on the Texas Gulf.
I managed to get to Juan's for breakfast then I knew if I was going to make this trip complete I needed to motor out the Port A channel to the Gulf for at least a short sail in the Ocean. The tide was good to me and I sailed about 45 minutes just enjoying the 10 knot West winds and light 1' swell. If I was smart I would have stayed out there all day and stayed one more night in Port A before heading back to Corpus but I had my list of stuff to accomplish so the list won out. Can't go back to Seattle without completing the list!
I was not disappointed when I entered the Bay to find the winds on the nose again and so long tacks would be required again back and forth across the Bay The winds were lighter, only about 10 knots and decreasing so on went the Autopilot, Stereo and I just sat back and enjoyed the great weather. Almost half way across when the wind simply feathered out...I drifted for a while and reluctantly put the sails away and turned on the motor. She need to run anyway so I pushed up the  RPM to give her a good spin.
The week ended with reconnecting to good dock Friends and old BYC Buddies with lots of those great stories that make the Sailing community so awesome to be a part of.

Fisherman's Terminal - Seattle

The Start of my Self guided Walking tour of Fisherman's Terminal and surrounding area started on Ballard Bridge.

I knew the Alaska Fishing Fleet would soon be departing for the upcoming season to the Bering Sea

All of these vessels seemed to be here for maintenance, restoration or repair

106 years old

These guys must do it all!

Hope to get across before the bridge has to go up.

I was on the John N. Cobb at The Center for Wooden Boats, I think it is here for Engine repair.

If the bridge goes up you have three choices from here.

Looking East toward Lake Union

Are YOU thinking what I'm thinking?

Shortcut to the South bound walkway.

You can see all the way to the Ballard Locks and the last bridge on the way to South Puget Sound.

Everybody has to have a boat!

There are at Least Four different Authorities along this water way, King County, Seattle, Port Authority, and the Coast Guard

This Little Tug Said ?

Just My guess but I think this Crabbing vessel is just working Puget Sound

But the guy behind him is on his way to the Bering Sea.

I am sure these guys are really good at what they do but a fire in this Harbor would  need every fireman in the county.

The first 4-5 boats are Long Line fisherman, Saw all of them recently at the Center for Wooden Boats on Display some a 100+ years old and still fishing the Bering Sea. http://cwbblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/100-years-of-longline-fishing-in-historic-power-schooners-celebrated-in-new-exhibit-at-the-center-for-wooden-boats/

Loading the Nets.

I had to find out why some of these vessels carried such a large tender.

For your Un-Cruise Adventure types: http://www.un-cruise.com/wilderness-adventurer

A couple of dry dock for those last minute needs before heading out to the Bering Sea for the next 6-10 months!

The Main row along the Fisherman's Terminal docks allowing easy access to load and offload.

Kirstan getting spruced up with new paint before departing.

Lots of Nets ready to load.

Trains Offload supplies for all the ships.

Just rying to capture how big this is!

Short Cut to the North bound side so I can retrieve the family truckster and drive down to the Teminal

Just as I come up a big truck loaded with huge crab traps on his way to the docks.

If you want fresh fish in Seattle the Locals tell you to buy it here, right off the boat.

Whole lot of net on each giant Pallet

I guess everyone has their own Net Shed, several building like this.

I inturrupted two skippers talking to get a bit of information. The huge tender on the stern of a lot of these vessels takes the end of the net and tows it to create a huge semi circle behind the mother ship and when the fish are all in then it brings the end back to the stern to have it all hauled in.

I am not sure of the reason but these Reel Nets are not allowed in the Bearing Sea, they fish the local waters of Puget Sound.

A memorial to all the Fisherman who have lost their lives at Sea.

A lot of names on these two walls.

Just have to wonder what it is like to be the crew on the net towing vessel in big seas?

Here is a close up at the long liners fishing gear, they catch Halibut and Black Cod.

It's like a giant mechanized trout line.

John Crowley, the Skipper of the Kristiana, was putting on a fresh coat of paint before departing for the Season, they expected to depart within the next two weeks or so. They only have a crew of 4 since they have a new automatic baiting machine that baits all the hooks as the line pays out, it used to take two crew to do that job.

The empty slips are boats who have already departed, most of the rest will be gone in the next two-three weeks and then follow the crabbing fleet. 3-4 weeks later.

This is supposed to be the best restaurant in town for seafood including Breakfast.

Fisherman's Terminal - Seattle

I took a lot of notes as I talked to several fisherman on the docks on my Iphone Notes App. For some reason they have disappeared to some cloud drive or cyberspace I guess, I just do not know how to retrieve them? So I will try my best to remember what these guys told me about fishing on these boats. This Terminal is the Majority of the entire Alaskan fishing Fleet. They are here instead of Alaska due to more than one reason. One guy told me it is a lot nicer to raise a family in Seattle than anywhere Alaska. Primarily it is the major jumping off point for all things from the USA to Alaska. All the infrastructure is here that is required to outfit, and service the fleet. There are some fish processing plants located throughout Alaska so the boats can offload their catch and head right back out to the Bering Sea without having to come all the way back to Seattle. There are a lot of huge fishing ships that have processing plants on Board and 24/7 catch, process and freeze bringing it all back to Seattle http://americanseafoodscompany.com/vessels/american-dynasty. The processing ships catch  Alaska pollock, Pacific hake (whiting), yellowfin sole and Pacific cod.  “Our local commercial fishing industry anchored at Fishermen’s Terminal, pours about $5 billion dollars into our economy every year through its fish catch and the thousands of jobs it sustains both on land and at sea,” said Port of Seattle Commission Co-President Stephanie Bowman. 

Ships are Specialized in the types of fish they catch and they all have limits or caps set by the Indian council and other Alaskan fishery authorities. The longer you have been fishing a vessel the larger the Quota  for that vessel is up to a certain point. The Skipper, John Crowley, of the Long Liner "Kristiana" told me his vessel has been in his family for Three generations and he has fished his whole life. They have been at the cap for some time. If the fishing is good they will reach their quota in 4 months if not so good it may take 6 months. There is a 10 month time limit for the long liners so if you do not reach your quota in ten months you have to go home. The families make enough money in those 4-6 months for the year so all that time they are out of see gets repaid to the family when they get back.
 Since I did this self guided tour I have met two friends who work in the Alaskan fishing fleets. Christine is a Marine Biologist and I learned from her that every vessel has a Biologist on board to monitor the catch and collect data. The longest Assignment she had was 3 months long but she was able to touch land when the ships offload in Alaska. Chris, her boyfriend she met in Alaska, got his Masters in Aqua Culture and is paying off college debt working aboard the bigger fishing vessels.He has been at Sea 26 days straight and he said that length of time can get to you as you start to get disoriented. Remember the super long daylight hours up there? Chris said they celebrate the Summer solstice in Alaska by holding a baseball game at Midnight since they have plenty of light to finish the game, about 2 hours of Night before sunrise again!.
Fisherman's Terminal is a huge part of Seattle's History and it is still living and thriving as you can tell by the Discovery Channel's "The Deadliest Catch" and yes those vessels are here also.