And we're off

Departure day finally arrived at blazing speed!  Tom had told me there would never be enough time and for sure that was true.  It was not exactly the beginning that I had hoped for.  We had discovered a sump pump issue so that had to be fixed before leaving and it took a while to work that out. So we left later than expected and weather in the Gulf is not reported to be so good. Things should still be ok - right?

Not even 100 yards from the slip was our first draw bridge. They answered the first call and had the bridge open in minutes. We're breezing along. Right down Bayou Bonfouca to Pontchartrain then out to Hwy 11 draw span. We get close and call for opening, but they have no power - this takes 1/2 hour to resolve. From there the next obstacle is waiting for the slowest moving railroad bridge ever to open so that we can get out into the Gulf where wind is 15 to 20 knots and seas 2 to 3 feet.  Rough and wet!

Our plan to make Mobile fell apart with the weather. After 4 hours of pounding, we turned and headed into Biloxi. About an hour out from there the generator quit. But the ride got better as the wind was on the stern heading in. Arrival at Point Cadet Marina went pretty well for our first time docking this boat. As we checked around, there were some leaks inside which did not make us really happy. The raw water impeller on the had generator failed and caused the shut down. Tom turned into Gumby and installed the spare so that's working again.

Weather for tomorrow is forecast to be about the same as today.  We plan to leave about 7:30 to try to reach Mobile Bay before the winds get any worse. From there we'll start up the Tenn-Tom and much smoother water.