Galveston TX to Lake Charles LA

We were delayed one day in Galveston due to weather, the weather was very windy and with a North wind the water in Galveston Bay literally blows out to the Gulf and leaves a four foot drop at the dock. On the 16th we untied the lines and were off to Lake Charles.  Leaving Galveston we officially entered the ICW (intracoastal waterway).  We decided to anchor out just past Port Arthur so our trip to Lake Charles was a little shorter.  We anchored behind Shell Island and had a very peaceful night.  It really reminded us of the California Delta except for many crab traps.  The only difference is we anchored out in the winter and it got down to the thirty's.  Chloe finally took a leak after 12 hours.  We have really been trying to get her to go up on the bow and she finally gave in and let go but I think she thought she would be in trouble.  We made sure to over praise her.  There will be many anchorages that we will not be able to use the dinghy so hopefully she  is on her way.  We pulled anchor at 7:00am and off we go to Lake Charles, LA.  There was a lot of barge traffic today and I think I over took more than passed me.  They run about 4-5 knots and you need to call them every time you want to pass because they may want you to pass on the right or left (starboard or port).  They go by the one for port and the two for starboard.  A typical call would be from me saying the name of their tow this is Panacea on your stern would you like me to pass on the one or two?  It took a while to pass them with only about 30 feet in between.  So here we are in Lake Charles but not with out incident.  We were boarded by the Coast Guard while under way and in gear.  They dropped two guys off their boat to ours and did a full written inspection.  They were very nice and professional and they do a great job.  We passed except for not having a written disposal of trash plan and then we were off on our way again.  Lake Charles is a really nice town.  We are at a marina that is downtown and only twenty bucks for the night.  We walked over to Luna's for a late lunch and filled out all our Christmas cards then I rode my bike to the post office to drop them off.  Heading out early in the morning to Morgan City, LA which will take two days.  Total nautical miles from Galveston to Lake Charles is 110.

This is a double wide

Passing on the two

Port Arthur

Golf Coarse at Port Arthur

What can I say?

Anchored out

Ditto

Ditto

 

Ditto

Ditto

Bord Du Lac Marina

Lake Charles

Interstate 10 bridge into Lake Charles

Looking from our boat at the city park

Panacea

Chloe walking Jan

L'Auberge Du Lac Casino

House on Lake Charles

Just doing their job....did not tell them to take off their shoes