April 25 - The Pearl Comes Home

Our first night on the boat wasn’t bad; there are a few things we still need to do to make it feel a little more like home. It was fun waking up and having our coffee on the deck watching the birds, boats and sunrise.

Our morning visitor (Great Blue Heron)

We left the harbor around 8:15. The wind was a little stronger than predicted, which made crossing Aransas Bay a little rough. Once we got into the ICW it was much better. We saw a lot of dolphins, pelicans and barges along the way. I tried unsuccessfully to get a good shot of the dolphins….maybe next time. We traveled 75 mile today in just over eight hours…not bad. We arrived at Nautical Landings in Port Lavaca around 4:30. Eric, Courtney and Thomas were there to help us dock. It was a great feeling to finally have The Pearl home.

Sites along the ICW

 

Nautical Landings and The Pearl

April 24 - Back in the Water

We finally got The Pearl back in the water. Eric came down to help Stan make the last adjustments to the engine and then we took her out for a test run. Everything seemed to work great. It was a beautiful day to be on the water.

The Pearl being lowered into the water.

Sites on our first run

After the test run we moved the boat over to Rockport Harbor. What a great place for our first night. The weather was just right…blue skies, perfect temperature and a light breeze. We had a nice lunch with Eric, then walked through an art show that was just across the street from the dock. I ran home to get the things we needed to spend the night and Stan finished up a few things on the boat.

Moving the boat to Rockport Harbor

Our first dockage

Judy and Stanley Marek drove me back to Rockport; it was fun to have them as our first guests on the boat. We sat on the fly bridge and enjoyed our first happy hour. After Judy and Stanley left we watched the sunset and visited with our boating neighbors. We joined them at Panjo’s for pizza and great conversation. What a wonderful first day on the boat.

View from the flybridge

April 19 - Still on Land

The boat is still in Rockport…we are getting tired of the two hour round trip, but it is easier to get the maintenance work down while she is still out of the water. Stan checked and cleaned all the sea cocks, put ctol on the rub rail, and did more maintenance on the engine. We put up the antenna and bimini, cleaned out and painted the lockers and put her new name on the boat this weekend. We're hoping to have her back in the water by next weekend.