Day 11 - Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

Barnacle II Cruise Day 11 – Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Leaving Orleans Marina, Lake Pontchartrain, LA

I spent a sleepless night feeling ill after we got back from dinner yesterday evening, heartburn and just a general sick feeling. I gave into it at 4:30 this morning, or rather, it caught up with me. Little did I know that the same thing was happening to Vickie. The only thing we had in common at our meal last night was the salad dressing, and that was what was haunting me as the possible problem. So far the Immodium and Pepto Bismol hasn’t helped too much. The most relief I had was when Barney was running through 4’ to 5’ seas on Lake Pontchartrain to get us back to the Industrial Canal. I was finally able to throw up, which is usually what I try to avoid at all costs.

The boys left us alone in our misery and went out to breakfast. If I had smelled food, I don’t know what might have happened. I’m trying to keep fluids in me, so I should be OK.

We left the marina at 8:30 and got to the mouth of the Industrial Canal about 30 minutes later. We sat and waited on a train to go over the bascule bridge, expecting the bridge tender to open it, since it remains in that position most of the time. It took nearly an hour of calling on channels 13 and 16 to get him to respond.

The weather has turned off very cool, predicted high for today of 65, low in the 40’s. There went the shorts weather. But it’s sunny and a gorgeous day.

We made it out to the Rigolets where the ICW is met by the cut from Pontchartrain at noon. That is just east of Slidell, LA. Then we made a slight course adjustment and went out into the open water of the Gulf at Long Pass. We’ll run almost parallel to the shoreline until we pick up the pass in Mississippi Sound that will take us up to Biloxi. We are still within sight of land and should be for most of the way since we have such a clear day.

At 1:20, Vickie alerted us to something at the back of the boat. She had heard a slapping sound a few times, and then realized what it was. We were visited by 3 dolphins playing in our wake behind the boat. They were jumping, tail slapping and waving at us with one fin, knowing full well that we were watching them. I snapped several pictures and some of them should be pretty good.

In one of the engine room checks, Kenn saw that we had more crud floating around in the fuel filter system. So he replaced the fuel filters while underway again without the engines missing a stroke. That system works out so sweetly. Good planning, Barney!

The seas out here in open water are 1’ to 1.5’, not bad for a stalled cold front and really mild as far as my experiences with the Gulf of Mexico go. We were still making our way across Mississippi Sound at sunset (5:10), with our ETA to the marina at 6:00 PM. We had to navigate the alternate channel behind Deer Island in the dark, but we made it with no incidences.

The dolphins joined us for a few more minutes after sunset. They’re such a joy to watch, and so intelligent looking that you just know there is an old soul in that beautiful body. How or why else could they get or give such enjoyment out of their interactions with people. You really can see the intelligence in their eyes as they cavort and play, and they are such little show-offs. Kenn was like a little kid every time the dolphins came around. Barn and Vic and I have been visited by them several times in the past, but this was the closest that Kenn had ever been to them. Even though I wasn’t at my best to fully enjoy it, God gave us a glorious day out on the water, blessing us with the visits from the dolphins and a beautiful sunset.

It turns out that Point Cadet Marina is the old Biloxi City Marina where our old friend Marlin Berry used to live aboard his sailboat. We had visited him here a few times before his death in 2004. Even this far past Katrina, the marina still has no power on the boat docks. But the casinos are back up and running in full swing. There are just no conveniences anywhere around…grocery store, convenience stores, etc. Talk about misplaced priorities!

Once the boat was secure, Barney and Vickie went ashore to eat. Kenn stayed aboard with me and had leftovers. I ate a couple of crackers, drank some 7-Up, showered and went to bed. I don’t feel sick anymore, just wiped out and no energy.