New Stove, Christmas with Family then 12/28 back on the move

Hello and a very Merry Christmas 

Peace and Joy in the New Year.

We are still in Texas.

 The good news is the AIS is installed. The new stove is installed after several hitches in the giddy up. We are spending Christmas with Jennie and Josh. So being in Texas is not a great hardship. Several boats in the marina have gotten into the holiday decorating spirit and we had a lovely Christmas party, meal in the club house. It was great getting everyone in one place and chatting over our travel plans. 

We also had wonderful news our daughter Meghan is engaged to Eric Start, no official date has been set, though I don't think we will try and bring Cool Hand to Carmel Ind.

We have a good weather window of four to five days starting 12-27 so we will be out in the gulf for the new year and hopefully in sunny warm Florida just after the first. Looking forward to visiting Tarpon Springs, Fort Meyers, Marco Island  as we make our way south. 

Boats decorated in marina, we only did
some blue lights and they didn't show up in
the photo

My first Grandma shirt from Grand daughter Laura

New Force 10 Galley stove. You can see a small
dent on the left side frame by over door. Tom did
a pretty good job of getting most of the dent out

first batch of scones made in oven

finished finger-less mittens

Jennie and Josh and first Christmas tree

Meghan's engagement ring.  

Christmas at the Frilling"s with the Eschbaugh"s

a friend posted this from Michigan.. so I guess I should
not complain about 40 degrees in Texas.

Waiting for new stove and weather

Sunday December 8th, 2013.... Selma TX

We are waiting.... in a holding pattern ... first we ordered an AIS unit and a new stove and we believe they will be her by the end of next week. Then Tom has to install. Then we wait for a weather window.

In the interim we are surviving the cold snap here in Texas with a visit with Jennie and Josh. We went to a concert at the Basilica of the Little Flower.. Handel's Messiah, a wonderful concert. I am enjoying the flowers still in bloom here for the time being. The area is really proficient at covering up the landscaping in this cold spell. 

Tom has installed the antenna for the AIS, I have been knitting, finishing socks for me, scarf and a cowl scarf for a friend, hat and scarf for granddaughter and finger less mittens for Tom.

Love seeing flowers still in bloom

Tom, Jennie, Josh waiting for breakfast at Magnolia Pancake Haus

Basilica of the Little Flower The National Shrine of the Little Flower boasts of being the first National Shrine dedicated to St. Therese.  Architecturally, it is one of the grandest buildings in San Antonio.  Historically, it highlights the missionary work of the Discalced Carmelite Friars and the faith development of the West Side of San Antonio.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower has the stature of being, “the most beautiful church in San Antonio.”   Nationwide, it is most certainly the most artful and magnificent church built in honor of St. Therese.  The Basilica is filled with significant works of fine art such as hand carved Stations of the Cross, a hand carved retable above the main altar, marble altars and beautiful stained glass.  A rose motif has found its way into most of the fine art.  In addition, the Basilica boasts of its possession of a painting of St. Therese which was worked on by her own blood sister, Sr. Celine Martin, OCD.  This painting was carried in procession to the Vatican on the occasion of the canonization of St. Therese in 1925.

dinner with Tom and Joy at Bubba's shrimp house

Tom's fingerless Gloves

Tom decided to test out the dingy and found out
that our motor was not functioning. A new carbarator
got us back in buisness and Tom has a paper 

always aware of power consumption on the boat, I have
been looking for a mechanical egg beater. I finally found
one on line at Target. The beaters are removable and it is
dish washer safe, when we are back on land. 

first pair of socks knitted 

finished scarf Riva

finished cowl-scarf for Dotty

finished hat and scarf for granddaughter

Tom's adventure to oil rig

Last week Tom went on an adventure to Galveston and the Ocean Star  Offshore Energy Center oil rig museum. and the 1877 tall ship Elissa. I was a little punk and working on a knitting project so stayed behind.

Visitors board the retired jackup drilling rig and view a video about the offshore industry. The museum features three floors of models and interactive displays illustrating the story of offshore oil and gas from seismic technology to exploration and production. Scale models of production platforms, actual drill bits and remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) as well as videos and exhibits explain drilling, geology, seismic, well servicing and production.

The Ocean Star, a retired jack up rig, was acquired in 1995, moved to Galveston, refurbished, and opened as the Ocean StarOffshore Drilling Rig Museum and Education Center in 1997.  Thousands of students, teachers, industry tours, youth groups, and families have experienced the offshore energy industry first hand through the Ocean Star. Today it is a one-of-a-kind center for science education.  More than 70 interpretive exhibits, models, and multimedia displays about the offshore oil and natural gas industry await you on the Ocean Star, berthed at Pier 19 in Galveston. Families can visit www.oceanstaroec.com for museum hours and more details.

White Pelicans

Elissa is a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing ship built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland by Alexander Hall & Company. She carries nineteen sails covering over one-quarter of an acre in surface area. Tall ships are classified by the configuration of their sailing rig. In Elissa's case, she is a 'barque' because she carries square and fore-and-aft sails on her fore andmainmasts, but only fore-and-aft sails on her mizzenmast. From her stern to the tip of her jibboom she measures 205 feet. Her height is 99 feet, 9 inches at the main mast and she displaces about 620 tons at her current ballast.

Staying put... Getting New Stove

What is the saying, best laid plans....
Weather here I'd cold and nasty but then there is no snow.
Tom has decided to purchaseAIS before we take off and we are getting a new stove for the boat
I am doing a happy dance...
So we are delayed. Hope to have new equipment installed by December 12th and make it to Fort Meyers for Christmas.

Keep us in your thoughts for great December weather...
No pics this time but soon

Stuck in Weather in Kemah

The weather is just not cooperating with us. We could leave tomorrow and have fairly decent travel if you don't mind fog at night and early morning while trying to thread your way around ships and oil rigs, but Saturday and Sunday the winds turned north at 25 to 30 kts with 5 to 7' waves... chance of thunderstorms... and even the inland waters are "rough". We need at least 4 days to get to another marina to tie in and wait out weather. Grand Isle just west of the Mississippi delta is our first safe hold. Anchoring out in 5 to 7 ' waves... not happening. 

We did get out new dingy cover and Dave and Carol English made for us and it is great. Tom finished varnishing the wood in the cock pit and made set a board up to hold our extra gerry cans of fuel. 

I have stocked and restocked the pantry, knitted, read, cooked, knitted... waiting for a weather window. 

We will leave... won't jinx it saying when.

new Dingy chaps

Tom and our newly varnished entry

we have added a generator to our equipment.
When we anchor out and if it is cold we can run
our small heater and keep the fridge running
with out draining the batteries

Red skies at night - fair weather... just not for very long