Once the weather ran off to the southeast, we set out from the Galveston Yacht Basin. And so did everything else with a keel or propeller or screw or rudder. At the intersection of the Intercoastal Canal, the Houston Ship Channel and the cut above Pelican Island, things got downright crowded: tugs, barges, tankers, cargo ships, shrimpers, recreational fishermen, power boaters, cruise ships and an unbroken parade of sailboats coagulated, some headed north, some headed into an agitated Gulf.
One lesson learned in all this traffic: stand off from that barge-pushing tug, mister. The revolutions on those screws pull an awesome amount of water past his rudder, to a depth of at least four feet. Too close, and the suction will pull your keel to him, too. Had we been in anything less than the 20-knot east winds powering us along, we likely would have had some intimate moments between the Mighty Houdini and our truculent tug just to port.
As for the more peaceful stretch north. I captained for awhile-- and when the fleet thinned, turned the helm over to a more pulchritudinous watch.
posted by The Captain @ 4:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home