Troendle Marine, Inc at Pensacola Shipyard in Bayou Chico up the hill April 8-12, 2013

Into the pit and sling

We were scheduled to be hauled out at 8:00am however Rob walked up to talk to the yard at 6:30am and let them know that we were aboard and would be ready to pull into the haulout pit at 8:00am.  They decided since the people on the boat to be hauled out at 7:00am had not arrived that they would go ahead and take us at 7:00am.  We hurriedly got a few things together and moved over to the pit , closed valves, and picked up fenders and before we knew it they were pulling us into the travelall slings.

Up the hill

Was that my boat driving by?

We learned very quickly that the staff at both Pensacola Shipyard  http://pensacolashipyard.com/index.php and Troendle Marine, Inc http://www.troendlemarine.com/   are true professionals.  They each have a job to do and take it very seriously.  They treated our baby as if she were their own.  We have never had a yard work so well together to get the job done.

Before pressure wash ....our diver ROB has kept her pretty clean but paint is SHOT

Shower time

I will wait right here for you

Not a bad place for a spa week

Sanded and ready for new paint

I like this view

We checked into a local hotel for a week and poor Levi thought he was going to have to be in another dog show!  He was so uptight the first night until we loaded him into the car and drove out to Pensacola Beach.  He was so cute and funny when he saw the waves and water.  He about took the door off of the rental car wanting out to play.  The waves were HUGE so he didn’t really swim.  I have never seen the Gulf so rough!  I am not sure why we didn’t take any photos.  We watched several boats really close to shore out past the second sandbar fishing for Cobia.  These would have to be some expensive fish burning all of that diesel.  I guess if you were in a tournament it would be well worth it if you were to win the "really big prize"!  We didn’t stay on the beach very long because no dogs were allowed on the beach except for between 6am-10am and only at two parking areas and they had to be on a leash.  We decided to head to the Bayview dog park back in Pensacola on Bayou Texar.  http://www.publicdogparks.com/floridadp-3_017.htm This is a fenced area where dogs can be off leash and run and swim freely.  There is even a floating platform for the dogs to swim out to and jump back in.  Levi ran his little short legs off trying to keep up with the BIG DOGS!  There is even a dog bathing station and benches in the shade for the humans.  Up the hill from the dog beach are two more fenced areas (one for small dogs and one for large dogs) under the trees with LOTS of squirrels to chase.  We had so much fun at these parks we had to go back again the next day! 

New friends

Big dogs run fast

They run this way

and they run that way

Big dogs swim fast too

I am a big dog too

Squirrels!!!!!

SHADE!!!!!

new day = new friends

Goofy Boxer.... I like to be sprayed with the water hose

Chase ME... or I can chase YOU!

I really would like to be next!

The tiny dot in the middle of photo is "Reva".  She was chasing a seagull flying overhead and wasn't coming back so her owner had to swim after her.

We all settled in to hotel life after a couple of days and got use to having cable tv to catch up on Duck Dynasty ha ha!  While in the yard La Strada had her bottom and running gear cleaned and painted, bellows changed and the cutlass bearing changed out.  She was ready to be relaunched on April 12th at 1:00pm.  Troendle Marine, Inc did an exceptional job!  We were so happy with their work and the care they took with our boat.  We would go out of our way to come back to them for any work we needed done on La Strada and we highly recommend them.

Freshly painted and ready to SPLASH

Just one more little touch-up of paint under the keel

"Moose" is one of the Troendle's office cats

The other two are supervising on Bill's desk on the other side of the aquarium

We decided to stay at the shipyard’s marina since Palafox Pier where we had stayed in 2003 was hosting the Cobia tournament and did not have any slips available with 50amp service.  We have a few jobs to finish up and a couple of repairs from the wind damage from the storm in Gulfport.  If you are still reading this, you are either family or REALLY good friends!  We promise to try to do better updating this blog….. we have been SO BAD!

Dauphin Island, AL Anchorage to Pensacola Shipyard in Bayou Chico 74 SM April 7, 2013

Sunrise

We had the anchor up at 6:33am and followed a tow boat through the Dauphin Island Bridge until he walked away from us. 

Heading back to the ICW to follow a tow under the Dauphin Island Bridge

It was a bouncy ride across Mobile Bay and Bon Secour Bay but the wind was right on our nose so it wasn’t worth putting a sail up to balance us out.

We got a little wet

You will never guess which way the wind was blowing

We were looking forward to getting back “inside” for protection on the other side of the bay.  WOW were we WRONG!  When we came through it was a ZOO!  When we traveled through this area in 2003 there was no Lulu’s at Homeport or The Wharf Marina or Barber Marine in Wolf Bay.  It seemed like a busy 8th street in Meridian, MS where you drive down the street to College Park and back up the street to turn around at Sonic… just cruising to see who you can see and be SEEN.  These boats did the same thing… some at a safe speed and others as fast as they could possibly go. … even under bridges and around the two barges we met coming westbound.  One young man lost his hat on the boat in front of us and decided that they would circle back to retrieve it out of the water.  This was at a super unsafe distance of less than 10 feet off of our bow!  While all of this was going on other boats were stopping in front of us to pick up water skiers or wake boarders.  I was saying prayers the whole time that we would not get waked up onto the road next to the ditch!

Woooooo Hooooooo!

When we entered Big Lagoon it was getting close to 4:00pm and we could see rain showers up ahead.  We were listening to NOAA weather radio and there was NO RAIN forecast for this area at all.  We contemplated anchoring in the lagoon since we really didn’t want to go all the way up Pensacola Bay in a storm and really did not want to enter Bayou Chico after dark.

Rain

Rain... Go AWAY!

A little rain never hurt anybody... we WILL go to shore tonight

We pressed on through the rain as the rain clouds just followed along overhead.  I know La Strada loved every minute of this.  She was built for all kinds of conditions… her crew on the other hand are chicken sometimes and are just now getting their sea legs back.  We arrived at the entrance to Bayou Chico and followed the markers back into the shipyard passing by several marinas and the Pensacola Yacht Club just as they were setting their cannons off for sunset (and to scare the nesting birds).  We pulled into our slip A-10 at 6:15pm.  Levi was so excited to see the shore and grass and smell new smells!

Gulfport, MS to Dauphin Island, AL Anchorage 53 SM April 6, 2013

We woke up early to leave but ended up having to wait until 8:18am to depart for a little more water at the dock.  It was a little sad because we did not get to tell our friend Kathy (Harbormaster’s assistant) “good-bye”.  We saw the Harbormaster George and we were able to thank him and his staff for a wonderful stay in Gulfport and tell them “bye”!

So long ... farewell....Gulfport

Wind on the nose

Are we THERE yet?

We had the most beautiful day for a trip across the Mississippi Sound.  We saw many pods of dolphin alongside the boat and a really tiny baby dolphin!  I tried so hard to get photos but my timing was off.  We saw the Ship Island Excursion boat taking people out to Ship Island for the day.

Ship Island Excursion Boat

Ship Island and Fort Massachusetts (built 1859-1866)

 We waved “goodbye” to The Hardrock Casino in Biloxi, MS.

Zoomed in on the Hard Rock Casino Biloxi, MS

Right before we crossed the Pascagoula ship channel I was watching a boat heading westbound straight for us with my binoculars.  I told Rob it looked as tall as it was wide.  We kind of fell off to starboard and the other boat did the same thing.  When we passed them I told Rob that the boat looked familiar with the black canvas and all so I grabbed my camera and took a few photos of their stern.  It was our friends Linda and Larry on their boat Clocked Out!  At least it was Clocked Out… we couldn’t reach them on the VHF radio to say “Hi”!  They had left our old marina Harborwalk in Hitchcock in 2012 to go cruising.

Clocked Out

We arrived at our Dauphin Island anchorage and had the anchor down at 4:55pm. 

What do you mean we are HERE and not going to shore?

La Strada at rest

Not quite as good as Brian Wright... but BEAUTIFUL

It was a quiet and peaceful night except for being rocked and rolled by the barges and a couple of shrimp boats passing through in the night.

A Few More Months in Gulfport, MS

I'M BACK!!!!!!!

I guess I do not need to express just how much we enjoyed Gulfport Small Craft Harbor http://www.gulfport-ms.gov/harbor/ and the rest of the Mississippi Gulf Coast!  Not only did we stay for Mardi Gras but for Easter and part of the Boat Show as well.  So what exactly did we do for three more months?  We spent pretty much everyday at the beach.

We enjoyed a few more concerts at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi.  We saw the following bands there:  Avatar, Lacuna Coil, Sevendust, The Zombies, and YES.  We enjoyed the Mardi Gras parades in downtown Gulfport.  My Brother Alan and his beautiful wife Sharon from Houston, TX visited my Dad and Stepmother Linda in Quitman, MS and we were able to drive up and eat at Long’s Fish Camp with them.  YUM!

James Gang

My little Brother Blake joined the Air National Guard and I was able to go to the base and see him being sworn in and signing his enlistment papers.

Another highlight was disposing of the “Creature” we had picked up along the bayou after leaving Houma.  I wanted to have a big ceremony on the beach and burn “Creature” but I had to have a permit to make a fire on the beach.  My next choice was to burn him in a trash barrel but Rob wouldn’t let me do that either so we opted for quadruple bagging him and putting him in the trash dumpster.  I really hope we do not meet him EVER again!

Smells GOOD!

Tastes GREAT!

It is pretty HEAVY!

I can get this knot out!

I could be on Survivor!

Tail up?  What for?

We met some wonderful friends while on the Mississippi Coast… some from MS, others from LA and AL.  We were fortunate to meet the photographer Brian Wright who featured La Strada in several of his photographs. 

We had to move to the end of the dock to just inside the T-head to make room for the boat show in the marina.  The boat show was to take place on April 4-7, 2013.  We moved the boat on March 28th.  On April 3rd, we had a horrible storm blow in and we clocked over 60-knot wind gusts and 45 knot sustained winds for over 2 hours.  We would have been fine in our old slip because we were riding on a piling with a fender board.  Our new dock did not have any pilings to ride on so we had to hand fend off the boat and move fenders as quickly as we could.  We tried to pull ourselves off of the dock but with the strong winds and rising tide we couldn’t budge it.  The water came in SO FAST we were afraid we would end up on TOP of the pier.  Another 6 inches and we would have been in big trouble but luckily the winds subsided.  The boat show had to cancel the opening for April 4th because all of their tents collapsed and many of the boats to be shown did not get there in the storm.  Others could not be launched with the water so high and the boat ramp docks underwater.

Collapsed tents

Little trees blown over

Tail wind

Breakers entering the marina

Lots of water

T-head boat being blown off of the dock

Boat ramp docks underwater

Big waves

We were able to enjoy the boat show on Friday and relax since there was NOT ENOUGH WATER to leave (only 5.5 feet at the dock) but we decided if there was enough water the following morning that it was time to FINALLY get out of Gulfport!

THE END.... for now.......