Back at Lake Travis

This past weekend we went to Lake Travis to spend time on Hey Jude. First, we did some cleaning plus we took off the Christmas lights that were still affixed to the railing! Then, Philip replaced the old sanitary drain line under the NEW sink. He figured that was the original 1980's drain line and it might become an issue somewhere in the future, so he might as well be proactive and change it out now. Then, we took her out on the lake on Saturday afternoon. We drove down toward the dam, past Hippy Hollow, past the new construction below the Oasis and over by the ramps at Hudson Bend. Philip practice lots of manuevers while out in the open. We really haven't had the opportunity yet to just drive around and get lots of time on the engine.
Well, this weekend we did. In fact, we ended up going from one end of the lake to turn around and go all the way to Arkansas Bend, meet up with friends and ended up spending the night in a cove with them. Well actually, all but one of the boats we originally met up with went in for the night. So, we stayed tied up with our good friend Don Neese on Gypsy Mermaid and stayed all night. We left early on Sunday morning, made our way back to the marina. Philip did a great job getting back into the slip, even managing to not clip our neighbors' long houseboat in the slip next to us. I drove the boat for a decent length of time on Sat; only forward and with a little turning.

The new sink before the faucet was added (last month).

                                            Plumbing work in tight spaces is tough!

Practice makes perfect!

                                          Only a few boats tied up at Hippy Hollow.

                              Part of the structure to support the new pumping system
                              to take water from Lake Travis and pump elsewhere.

                                 Lots of the dam showing now days.

                                 Friends we rafted up with.

Our friend Mike on his sailboat.

                          Our buddy, Don, on Gypsy Mermaid.

More About Our Visit with Ted and Sarah

That visit with Ted and Sarah on the Krogen Manatee named Manatee was indeed interesting. For one thing, this couple  have lived on this boat for a long time. They have traveled to destinations like St. Kitts, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. This little boat has been sunk, run aground and crashed into many things. I can't even recall all of the "parts" Ted said had been replaced. Now, Ted also added that he has done almost all of the repair work on her, himself.
Sarah has kept meticulous daily records when they travel. She shared with me one of her calendars where she kept track of destinations, marina names, daily distance traveled, amount of fuel used and other bits of information. She can go back into past years' records with great ease and find information to help them prepare for this year's travel.
Ted and Sarah shared information about their background, their decision makng process about where they travel, their observations about boating, the loop and safety issues. Ted is a "rescuer" of sorts. He has often used either the Manatee or the dinghy to push or pull other folks to safety or to help them on their way.
Manatee and her owners are truly unique. Here are a few more pictures.

The Rest of the Trip

Yes, I am posting about the rest of the trip AFTER having returned home and gone back to work!
After spend a night in the Lake Pickwick area and visiting the Aqua Yacht Marina twice, we think this would be the marina of choice if we move Hey Jude to the river system later this year.
So we got back in the car and headed south. The next marina we visited was the River Delta Marina near Creola, AL. ThIis basically, is the county park. There is an RV park along with the marina. It was very clean and the people working there were very friendly. And even though they had recently added some new dock/slip area, space for a large boat was limited. And you could buy a slip, if one was available. We spent time talking with a county employee (maybe he was a park "ranger") and a boat owner, got some brochures, took some pictures and decided it might be a good place to visit for a day/night but we won't be launching from there or staying long.

So... back in the car and we kept driving south.
Next marina stop was Mobile. There appeared to be several choices; some were basically open slips and open dry dock areas. But, fate led us to the Dog River Marina where we met some very nice employees - Mike and Rick. Rick is apparently the harbor master who along with many other things gives guidance to boaters about when to head out across Mobile Bay. Turns out (after a phone call back to Austin) that this was the marina our friends Tom and Paula on Home Aweigh spent some time in during their loop trip a few years ago. They had only great things to say about this place. Again, we listened to everything anyone had to tell us, got brochures and took lots of pictures. This definitely will be a marina to stay at either way we decide to travel (down from the river or if we travel fom TX to FL).

And then, purely by accident, we noticed the name Manatee on the list of boat owners checking out the marina car. That led us to a great visit both that evening and the next morning with boat owners, Sue and Ted Poncracz, who own a Krogen Manate, named Manatee. We had a great visit and learned so much!!