Touchdown!

At Gulfport marina, the sunset was gorgeous
as the cold front finally came through

After waiting 2 extra days for a slow-moving cold front to come through Gulfport, we set sail west to our winter home of New Orleans.  So now I ask the same question that I asked when we were departing Gulfport 4 years ago:  “Would you rather be stuck in morning rush-hour traffic on the Huey Long Bridge in New Orleans, or departing Gulfport harbor on your boat into a brightly-rising sun, being escorted by dolphins all around, and entertained by brown pelicans diving for their morning snack?”  This is an I.Q. test!

It was a good final day trip to our winter marina at South Shore Harbor on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, with the sun warming the sea breeze.  The wind was a bit more than forecast, E15-20, but it was all on our stern.  We hit the outgoing ebb tide trying to get into the Rigolets, so that slowed us a bit.

The shrimpers were working hard to
keep up with all the shrimp we're gonna eat!

And then we ran into all the crab traps!  Welcome to Louisiana!  And yes, they were in the middle of the channel, as usual.  Even after we went through the Highway 11 bridge (with the same lady bridge tender for the past many years…  “What’s the name of your vessel?”  “Fruition.”  “Say what?!?  How d’yall spell dat?”) we still played dodge ‘em with the crab traps. 

We found our marina & Admiral Sue made another excellent landing, backing the boat into the slip.  I’ll have to admit, the Admiral has become an excellent helmsman (should I say Helmswoman?) this year.  She is much more confident in her abilities & is usually confident that the boat will actually go in the direction she is trying to make it!

So we’ve come to the end of another cruising season.  We traveled about 4200 miles this season, most at only 10 mph.  Fuel prices were less than we had budgeted this year, so our kids may yet get some inheritance.  We learned a deep respect for other boaters who have completed the Loop, after we survived Lake Michigan as well as the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.  And after 6-1/2 months of travelling, we’re kinda ready to just sit at a marina for a while.

But we’ll be planning next year’s intended travel to Key West and the northern Bahamas.  We hope to travel with friends for part of the year, so we’ll start cussing & discussing with them next week.  Postings to this blog will become less frequent for the winter months as we find more ways to spend money on the boat.  “Fruition” is merely resting for a bit before her CATs fire up again with a resonating growl.