The Trip Down to Galveston Texas
December 1, 2007
Admiral Kem drove most of the way from Clear Lake to Galveston. She's becoming an excellent helmsman, she can layout the charts and set up the navigation plots, and is she's getting pretty darn good at docking this 52,000 pound, twin screw, 49 foot vessel.
We both have to be proficient at the core jobs before we head out November 2008 to circumnavigate the Eastern United States - the Great Loop.
Oyster boat - dozens of these pick oysters during season then move on the next fertile grounds to pick again.
We do see some very different boats along the way.
Channel markers (day boards) can be seen in upper portion of photo. We monitor VHF channel 13 in the ship channel and VHF channel 16 for hailing and distress for all other traffic. We carry three VHF radios on board.
To help navigate, in addition to plotting the paper charts, Kem uses her fathometer, chart plotter, radar, numbered day boards and the numbered buoys to guide her way South and through the busy intersections along the way.