Galveston Bay: Sailing the open blue

Day 156

One of the reasons we stopped to see my old pal was his invitation to go sailing. Tony has always been a man of the sea and considers himself a sailor. Prior to setting off for the marina we had to make a few pitstops to stock up. One of the stops was at the local market to pick up some bay caught shrimp that was still whole. That means it has the head and all the guts attached to it. 

Afterwards it was off to the Kemah district to indulge in the marina. 

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Here the boat rests at it's dock as the loving hands of Tony and Jen bring it back  to life. The 30 ft Catalina started off in it's new life as a rough project. She was half sunk and full of mold upon their declaration of ownership. Following a full engine rebuild, and a cabin to hull cleaning it was ready to set sail. Amidst it's upgrades she departed from the dock and took us out to open water. 

Out across the bay we saw other boats and a couple of oil platforms in the bay. Autonomous drilling rigs out here pump the sweet crude back to the mainland without a soul on board. It's kind of a creepy thought.  Heading around the circle and back to the marina we pulled in for the night and started dinner. 

Tequila marinated shrimp was the reward for our day on the water. Eli agreed this was a good idea and was happy to see the dock again. I'm pretty sure he's not an animal that would acclimate to the sea life. 
The rest of the night was sitting around and just hanging out with friends. Overall a good time in southern Texas. Regardless of our time their, we still haven't seen the real Houston.