Cruising Class of 2013

Lat 27°51:042N Lon 097°04:474W
to Lat 28°01:49N  Lon 97°02:87 W
15 miles travelled

Pulling away from the transient dock...

Woo Hoo!  We're away!  We are officially CRUISERS!  We only made it 15 miles up the road to Rockport, TX, but hey…  we have tossed off the dock lines.

That splash is our message in a bottle, tossed into the tide...

We said good bye to Charlie, our dock master after spending our morning pumping out the head and topping off the water tanks.  We were in no hurry as our destination was not far.  The morning was cool with a light North wind at about 8 knots.  We would motor into that North wind to arrive at our destination… the city of Rockport, TX.

 I'm sure that all new cruisers have these moments of clarity, when they realize that they don't have to go back… Ours was realized as I stood on deck catching on video, a dolphin jumping completely out of the water.  This behavior is rare here and catching it on video is even more rare.  We are considering it a "thumbs up" from Neptune letting us know he's got our back!  

Chills and Smiles

The cool breeze gave us chills… or it could have been the realization that we had made it!  We were not just wannabes anymore.  We are CRUISERS!  Somehow, it makes this familiar ground seem different.  Everything I see as we pass along this oft' sailed course, I'm seeing through new eyes.  My Cruiser eyes…  

My mind was busy thinking… I don't need directions to get where we're going today, but what about our next leg.  What charts will we use?  Will the iPad work, where IS that paper chart.  I need to see our destination so that I can be spacially  aware.  I have a LOT to learn about navigation!  No worries… one day at a time.  People have asked us pointed questions about one part of our planned route or another.  I'm unable to adequately answer those questions.  We will learn about the place from all available resources, and we'll make our decisions accordingly.  NOW I begin to get friendly with our chart plotter…SO much to learn…

Happy Boy on a Boat

All too soon, we turned out of the ICW and headed for the entrance to the Rockport Harbor Marina.  We picked a transient slip and checked in with the office.  Our home for a week!  We put up our sun shades, showered and had our first beverage as Cruisers.  We have had a day of firsts… and a day of lasts… We may never see these waters again.  But we are too excited by the prospects of future delights to be melancholy for long about it.  Even the cats got over their irritation and began preening as the sun set on their first vagabond day…

Jetsam peaking out... what's going on here?

Jezabelle got to ride in the pet taxi to keep any bodily fluids she cared to share contained.  Good news, no problems!  Maybe she feels safe enough inside the box to keep her calm.  Jetsam came into the cockpit a couple of times along the way, but eventually settled on the settee.

Both of them roamed around the deck once we were docked.  They seemed confused by the different view.  Jezabelle jumped onto the dock and went for a stroll.. until she encountered a heron on the piling.  One squawk had Jezzer reversing her tracks and looking longingly at her safe boat haven.  

By the end of the day, we were feeling more settled and less frenzied, but still congratulating ourselves for breaking away from the ho-hum average crowd.  We are newly fledged Cruisers.  We are the Cruiser Class of 2013!