SUPER LOOP 2009

Alok · Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 6:33 pm Post subject:

Well, Roger reached Galveston this afternoon and tied up in Offat's Bayou. I visited with him and we shared stories over a couple of shrimp po-boys. Roger has done a lot of things in his life and is great fun to talk to.

His boat is set up nicely for long-distance cruising- simple, but adequate. Contrary to what he might have said in his posts, it quite neat and well-organized!

The SPOT really helped me keep track of his whereabouts- I was able to get to his boat at just about the right time.

flrockytop · Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:19 pm Post subject:

Wefings · Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 10:30 pm Post subject:

Im loving this travelogue Roger .You will get a grand reception when you get over here , you can count on it......... Someday.....................
Thanks
Marc

Pat Anderson · Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 11:37 pm Post subject:

Marc, on Monday there is a care package of cured loin on its way you to share with our good friend Roger when he gets to Apalachicola! It is the best yet!

Byrdman · Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 10:39 am Post subject:

Looks as if you are closing in on the TX- LA border thru Sabine Pass/Sabine Lake area. Looks like some neat wildlife areas there too...and a possible little side trip north up the river....?

Unless the water gets warm enough to swim the boat about a 1/2 mile a day....I would not worry about the weight loss until after the trip and all the great diverse food opportunities in your path... Tell you what ..... I'll go walk an extra 3 miles this morning...just so you can enjoy a larger portion of the gumbo's in your path.

Fun tracking.

Byrdman

flrockytop · Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 11:33 am Post subject:

flrockytop · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 5:20 pm Post subject:

Don’t know if anyone was watching but I went up the Franklin Canal and spent a couple of days up there. Then if you followed SPOT I was in the swamp all day. May Jo is from Franklin and still has uncles, cousins, etc there. I dropped in for a visit. One of her cousins has a shrimp boat plus he is a real Cajun crawfisherman. I went out with him to run his traps. We went to 150 traps and got five 40lb sacks of crawdads. He sold four of them and then he steamed up a sack for us. We were going to go out on a three day shrimping trip starting today but the weather was just not with us and not expected to be any better for the next few days. So I’m headed East again.

Ashley Lynn · Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:46 pm Post subject:

Roger,

Keep your head down......Invest 90 predicted to be heading your way.....coastal Mississippi...

SeaSpray · Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 11:40 pm Post subject:

Hi Roger,

Great trip log! I just went through what you have posted so far. I seem to have missed where you lost your anchor. Did I miss it in the blog?

You better keep eating those poor-boys so there is enough left after the bugs have their fill.

The trip across the one bay sounded like an endurance contest. Glad it was just uncomfortable and not dangerous. Make sure to keep that kayak tied down good.

I will be watching your blog for more postings. Hope you have less bugs, more great food, and clam water.

Steve

thataway · Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 11:14 am Post subject:

I notice that the last "spot" was in Gulfport MS (looks like he made some tracks!) on Thursday. But the weather has been a bit nasty around here, so hopefully he will let us know if he ran on home, or is holed up there--or if Mary Jo came and picked him up.

thataway · Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 3:47 pm Post subject:

A spot about an hour ago (about 1 30--CDT) shows him at "home".

flrockytop · Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 3:57 pm Post subject:

Weather has certainly been the theme of the first leg of this adventure. I have had a lot of it. I left out of Franklin, La after having a fantastic time spending some time with Mary Jo’s relatives. I got to the Harvey Lock and spent the night on the dock at the lock. Made it through the lock without incident and down the Mississippi by the hart of New Orleans and through the industrial lock. It’s about a 25 mile run from the industrial to the Rigolets and then into the Mississippi sound. The plan was to go to Ship Island. I stayed there on the way over and enjoyed the area. I though I might launce the kayak and spend a day or so. The forecast was for 15 to 20kts from the East. Just before I got to the Rigolets there was a tug with two empties pushed up on the bank. This could mean he is waiting out the weather. I tried calling him but got no answer on the radio. I headed into the bay. The wind was blowing but not bad. There was only about a one foot chop. I kicked C-Lover up to 3600 rpm and was making 18 mph. All was fine for about a 45 min to an hour. Then the wind picked up fast. Before I could blink an eye there were white caps everywhere and those shorts close seas got to 4 feet. The wind had moved more around to the north. I was not that sure of how protested Ship Island is from the North so I made a 90* left turn and headed to Gulfport. I had to drop speed to barely making headway. This is the first time I have pounded so hard that it was uncomfortable on me as a matter of fact my back took a beating. I hit so hard one time that the screws that hold the radar display gave way a it dropped down holding on only by the wires connecting it to power and the reflector unit. I was able to disconnect those and toss the display up in the v-berth. I was still getting beat up too much heading to Gulfport so turned some more to port. This lined me up with Long Beach. There is a protected harbor there. When I got about ¾ of a mile from the beach I got some protection from the land and the seas were acceptable. I am glad I was not trying to go into there at night. I would not have made it. It is poorly marked. All you can see is a seawall barrier that looks continuous.
In actually there are two that run parallel to each other with the opening from the East side. If I had not lost the radar, this would have shown up on the display. I made it in without incident. I considered just staying there for a couple of days a waiting it out. I found a charter boat captain and he said it was suppose to get worse and stay this way for close to a week. He had cancelled all of his charters for the next four days. I also considered have Mary Jo drive over and we would just hold up together at one of the casino motels but she had a root canal on Tuesday and that is now infected and giving her a bad time.
This has been a bad week for boaters on the Gulf coast. While I was in Franklin two boats of teenagers collided killing about four of them. Wed night about 2 miles from where I was a pontoon boat with 5 on board ran into a barge and killed them. The charter guy I was talking to said last week a boat load of four were out around Cat Island and the weather turned to about what it is now. That boat turned over and one of them drown. They have not found him.

Since I have traveled this part of the water on other occasions and discretion being the better part of valor, I had Mary Jo bring the trailer to Long Beach and I loaded C-Lover and returned to Pensacola. Total miles traveled by water this leg 1730 miles.

Roger

JamesTXSD · Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 6:45 pm Post subject:

Hi Roger,

Looking at the surface maps, there's a large low over the Mobile area, lots of precip and looks like it's stirring up much of the northern Gulf. Doesn't look like a fun place to be for the next few days.

Sounds like you made a good call.

We'll be looking forward to the next segment.

flrockytop · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:32 pm Post subject:

Figured that I had better give an update. I got back to Pensacola from segment one and found several minor little mods that I need to make to C-Lover to make things a little better. I changed locations of the VHF radio and did some re-wiring to dress thing up. I had also completely lost the VHF antenna so also had to replace that. Complete fluid changes, etc. Now need to do a wax job.

I had wanted to be back on the water by now for segment two but these things plus my Dad is having a few medical issues. I have to take him in on Tues for a heart cath. Now it's getting unbelievably hot here now. Until a week ago the evening temps were dropping to the 70* I may have to go with an AC for night time. We will see what next week brings and go from there.

Roger

GxK · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:29 pm Post subject: Re: SUPER LOOP 2009