Stuck at La Quinta

 

View from our hotel balcony

Well here we are.  According to my meticulously planned cruising schedule, prepared over a year ago, we are supposed to be in New Orleans by now, or further.  But as luck would have it, we have made it only to Galveston.  And we're not even aboard Dragonfly - we're stuck at the La Quinta motel on the Galveston seawall.  Tonight (Friday) will be our sixth night here - and that doesn't count the first night at Motel 6 up on I-45, a disappointing dump.

It's not a bad hotel.  Joan and I and Snow the cat are comfortable, and we have everything we need within walking distance.  The photo above is the view from our 3rd floor balcony.  That's a Denny's restaurant in the foreground, a Saltgrass restaurant to the right, and the Gulf of Mexico in the background.  And a flock of gulls in the sky.  Arlan's grocery store is about a mile walk each way. 

So here's a recap of the last two weeks:  On Saturday, Feb 1, we limped into Stingaree Marina on the Bolivar peninsula with a terrible vibration.  On Wednesday, I donned a wet suit and dove down, where I diagnosed the propeller as the source of the problem.  On Friday, we were towed to Pier 77 Shipyard in Galveston and tied up for the night.  On Saturday the 6th, they hauled the boat out, and we could see first-hand that the strut was also broken.  Then on Monday, the shipyard called me back in to see that there's still more:  the prop shaft would also need replacement, as the boat's previous owner mounted the prop completely wrong.  On the plus side, the new propeller arrived, and they were able to procure parts for the strut and shaft.  But there's some machine-work to be done, and there are some problems and delays there.  We think the boat may be re-assembled by tomorrow, Feb 12.

MEANWHILE, we have a major weather issue:  the worst winter storm of the year is blowing in this weekend.  Freezing temps, heavy rain, raging northerly winds, and possibly SNOW is forecast for the next few days.  Here's a screen shot of the weather forecast from Weather.com:

Once Dragonfly is re-assembled, we need to move her to a marina for at least one night.  I've made arrangements with a marina here in Galveston.  It's only about three miles away - but that's partially thru the open waters of Galveston Bay, where freezing rain and screaming winds will batter us.  I think it may be prudent to leave Dragonfly on the hard there at the shipyard, and re-launch after this winter storm is done - which may be Tuesday. 

Life goes on.  Someday soon, hopefully, we'll continue our journey eastward.  Stay tuned!