Lake Charles or bust: preparing for another go

 

Dragonfly on Galveston Bay.  That's Joan at the helm.

After our aborted attempt just trying to get down the ICW, Joan and I had to do a lot of soul-searching.  Back in the planning phase, it took a lot of flowers and sweet-talk to convince Joan to buy a boat and embark on this wild adventure.  The promise all along was that there would be limits:  if we were having too many problems or just weren't having fun, I'd cancel everything. 

Then we had two major back-to-back mechanical failures, just one day out of Kemah.  Looks like we're not going to make it to Florida - and beyond.

But - we spent six months and tons of money getting Dragonfly ready for CRUISING.  This boat is outfitted for traveling long distances and living off-the-grid, doggone it!  Day-sails are great, but that's not what I busted my ass for all those long months.

So, a compromise was in order:  We agreed to try ONE MORE TIME to get to Lake Charles via the ICW.  We got a big family crawfish boil there on April 3, so Joan and I will arrive via sailboat.  Then, I would bring on a crewman to SAIL Dragonfly back to Kemah via the Gulf of Mexico, while Joan returns via ground transportation.

The good news is that we're a lot better prepared this time.  We've had a couple of opportunities to take Dragonfly out for some shakedown sails, and have learned a lot about her and become more confident.  I've learned that, in winds above 15 knots, she sails nicely downwind, but is a HOLY TERROR to sail upwind.  She heels like crazy and is determined as hell to turn up into the wind.  

new transom seat, painted blue

Here's another thing that came out of our recent shakedown sail:  Dragonfly has an open transom, and had this removable transom seat.  I always HATED that blasted seat; it was made of fiberglass, was heavy and bulky as heck, and there was no place to stow it.  Well, while sailing, we must have hit a wave or something.  I looked back, and my transom seat was GONE!  So another problem with it was: it did not  lock down into position.  But you gotta have something there, else the helmsman could fall out.   So, New Boat Task #1 was to construct a new transom seat.  Only the new one is MUCH lighter, and actually locks down into place.  I painted it blue to, you know, match the companionway doors, and besides, I had all this leftover blue paint.

Now, regarding the potential new crewman:  I've had correspondence with a couple of interested guys I found on the internet.  Problem is, they both live quite a distance away.  I was hoping to find a local guy, so we could meet up, take a day sail together, etc.  Let's see if anyone else turns up.

egret on the dock

In the meantime, we're enjoying our stay here in Marina Del Sol.  There are all sorts of birds all around.  Pelicans skim just above the water surface.  Egrets patrol the shallows.  We have a marina osprey who has claimed one of the boat mast tops; he shrieks out a piercing whistle every morning.  And the gulls are always fun to feed!

osprey has staked out a mast top

feeding the gulls