Galveston to biloxi

[Bigernie]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

You "believe"...have you looked at a chart?

Its effectively impossible to sail the TX coast without being in the oil patch...the oil leases extend all the way out to about 26N...thats roughly 230nm offshore if you follow a line perpendicular to the TX coast. The highest density of rigs extends about 60 miles offshore...you cant get offshore without passing thru this area...the saftey fairway starting from Aransas Pass is almost 60 miles long.

If you follow the coast closely, as Jim suggested, you can avoid the densest areas of rigs, but you still get plenty of hazards and commercial traffic.

See NOAA chart 1117A, it has an overlay of all the leases and charted positions of rigs etc.

Yes, I believe. By looking at noaa. I'll be far enough offshore to avoid dense issues, oil platforms, wrecks. All those footballs on the chart. When I get out of Galveston bay and into the gulf, I will head SE.
I do not want to follow coast on this trip. This will not be an enjoyable cruise. Will be better than the 14' boat I sailed from bay st louis to Yucatan a few years ago. I just want to get it completed as safe and quick as possible. I will wait days,up to 3 weeks if necessary for a decent window.

[Bigernie]

Originally Posted by Ded reckoner

We went SSW 140 miles offshore of Galveston and then turned east to St Pete. We stayed just outside of the safe fairways. This avoided the rigs and big boats. Having AIS to call the big boats was invaluable. They answer if called by name. We were sailing at one time and requested a tanker change course by 5 degrees to port so we would increase our separation distance to 1.5NM from 0.2, and he was agreeable and cooperative. Having radar is indispensable. A lot of rigs show on the charts but there's no radar (or visible) image (indicating these have been pulled down). Generally, the rigs are well lit up at night so they're easy to see. Ships are not as easy to see at a distance. And, errant bouys are very hard to spot. You should count on autopilot so you can get some relief from the helm and tend to all the other shipboard matters demanding attention. Have a solid jackline system in place. You'll be using it.

Thank you.
I have vhf, garmin. No auto pilot, and no motor atm. May have an outboard when I set sail. Is gonna be a fun one.
SSE is my course. Similar to yours.

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by Bigernie

...This will be my first time sailing on a small vessel...

Originally Posted by Bigernie

... Will be better than the 14' boat I sailed from bay st louis to Yucatan a few years ago...

Not that it really matters, nor will it be the first, nor likely the last time, but I find it hard to keep from feeling that we're being trolled, at least a little bit...

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Bigernie

Yes, I believe. By looking at noaa. I'll be far enough offshore to avoid dense issues, oil platforms, wrecks. All those footballs on the chart. When I get out of Galveston bay and into the gulf, I will head SE.
I do not want to follow coast on this trip. This will not be an enjoyable cruise. Will be better than the 14' boat I sailed from bay st louis to Yucatan a few years ago. I just want to get it completed as safe and quick as possible. I will wait days,up to 3 weeks if necessary for a decent window.

The 14' to Yucatan is certainly relevant experience, but dont uderestimate the hazards on your planned route.

The rigs are plotted as black squares...the "footballs" are wrecks. See chart 1117A, it is a good big picture overview of the entire oil patch. Be sure and zoom way in along your planned route. You can view it online at the link below:

https://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/1117A.shtml

There are also plenty of uncharted and unlit hazards...Ive sailed past large cut off pipes sticking up just above the surface at night...that'll keep you alert!

[Bigernie]

Originally Posted by jimbunyard

Not that it really matters, nor will it be the first, nor likely the last time, but I find it hard to keep from feeling that we're being trolled, at least a little bit...

I understand your concern. 14' was not a keel vessel. If you'd like to disregard my inquiry as "trolled" that's fine. I am here for solid information based on experience during this time of year and the far offshore route I'll take.

[Bigernie]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

The 14' to Yucatan is certainly relevant experience, but dont uderestimate the hazards on your planned route.

The rigs are plotted as black squares...the "footballs" are wrecks. See chart 1117A, it is a good big picture overview of the entire oil patch. Be sure and zoom way in along your planned route. You can view it online at the link below:

https://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/1117A.shtml

There are also plenty of uncharted and unlit hazards...Ive sailed past large cut off pipes sticking up just above the surface at night...that'll keep you alert!

Thank you. I rather be overly concerned than unprepared.

[GrowleyMonster]

I would not singlehand it. I would get someone to go along with me. Unless you stay well inshore and anchor for a few hours every night. Inshore keeps you out of the worst conditions that the winter Gulf Northers can dish out. Sometimes you get bad offshore winds, though. Can your ground tackle handle that? LOL probably not. Find a competent crewman so you can get some sleep.



Following the edges of the safety fairways is also a good call. You still need a dependable watch, though. There is an awful lot of traffic and lots of unlit stuff to hit.

[leboyd]

Originally Posted by Bigernie

... no motor atm. May have an outboard when I set sail...

SSE is my course.

I'm not familiar with "motor atm". This doesn't mean you're not going to have a motor at all, right? Without a motor, you've increased the difficulty quite a bit. Just getting out of Galveston Bay will be quite difficult without a motor. The wind primarily blows SSE, so you'll be heading directly into the wind coming through the jetty. You have 1 1/2 miles across, but with the ferries and tankers/ships coming in and out, it would be quite challenging to tack back and forth across the mouth. You'll definitely want to do it when the tide is going out so you don't have to fight that.

The SSE course is what will make the trip much different than your previous trip.

[Bigernie]

Originally Posted by leboyd

I'm not familiar with "motor atm". This doesn't mean you're not going to have a motor at all, right? Without a motor, you've increased the difficulty quite a bit. Just getting out of Galveston Bay will be quite difficult without a motor. The wind primarily blows SSE, so you'll be heading directly into the wind coming through the jetty. You have 1 1/2 miles across, but with the ferries and tankers/ships coming in and out, it would be quite challenging to tack back and forth across the mouth. You'll definitely want to do it when the tide is going out so you don't have to fight that.

The SSE course is what will make the trip much different than your previous trip.

Thank you.
Motor atm" motor at this moment. I'm working on getting an outboard, if I do not, I'll got at it without.
Coming out of the bay, winds have been favorable. And will take into consideration as I make my departure.

[leboyd]

Not sure what you're looking at, but the wind is 12-15kts out of the south. Without a motor, it would be brutal. Lot's of tacking, possibly across the Ship Channel. Slow and against the waves. From Kemah I would expect 10hrs or more just to get to the mouth.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Bigernie

I understand your concern. 14' was not a keel vessel. If you'd like to disregard my inquiry as "trolled" that's fine. I am here for solid information based on experience during this time of year and the far offshore route I'll take.

What kind of vessel was the 14'?

[sailjumanji]

Compared to Louisiana, there are very few platforms in Texas offshore waters. Also, dont waste time with charts trying to plot a course to avoid, as we've found many have been removed, or are subsea. Even though our cartography was less than a year old. Plus we did encounter three new platforms under construction in Louisiana waters thst were unlit. And the large Gulf shrimpers have no issue with changing course abruptly, while dragging their nets. And lighting up your sail and killing your night vision, but dont respond to hail on VHF. All that said, I still prefer offshore to slogging it out in ICW. And we generally run around 20 nm offshore, so not in safety fairway. Coming from Ft Myers, we sail direct to Grand Isle, Louisiana. If we need fuel, we go in. If not, we turn and make course for Galveston or Freeport. The area west of Grand Isle is the worse and we push hard to start there at daylight and go the next 12 hours full tilt to make it thru thst dense platform and wellhead area in the daylight. For us, that's 80-100 nm. By nightfall the platform situation starts getting a bit better. We still run AIS and radar at night, and the three of us rotate three hour shifts.

[GrowleyMonster]

You will want at least a used long shaft outboard, too. And a full tank and two jerry cans, lashed down securely. Spare fuel filter. You can always sell it later but you probably will want to keep it.



Regarding large offshore shrimp boats. If they are dragging you are required to keep clear. Lights for a vessel trawling are green over white. Not every shrimper gives a flip about that, so go by speed if you are not close enough to see trawl cable or absence of nets and doors on deck or hanging from the outriggers. If the boat is running it will be making usually around 10kts. If it is dragging, around 3kts.



And BTW how is your knowledge of the Rules? 90% of all experienced pleasure boaters are woefully undereducated on Rules among other things. Where do you fit in? Do you at least keep a hard copy of the Rules with you? Not knowing the Rules is no excuse to not follow them, so things could go badly for you if your lack of knowledge causes an incident. Plus you will have caused an incident that knowing and following the Rules would probably have prevented. Just sayin.


What will you do for nav lights? Do you have a way of keeping your batteries charged? No, you can't just turn them off when no traffic is around. Someone else might be doing the same thing, and you have no radar or AIS. So, you need to measure your discharge current with nav lights burning and a reading/safety light on below and multiply that by the hours of darkness in a day (12 hours? Guess again.) and then figure out your usable battery capacity and self discharge rate and see how the numbers add up. Additionally there will be times when you will want to turn on your spreader lights in order to draw attention. Oh, your VHF will consume considerable power, too. If you have maybe 250 or 300 watts of solar you might squeak by okay. Some outboards have a small alternator, particularly electric start outboards. You will need a hydrometer and a good digital voltmeter or multimeter.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by sailjumanji

Compared to Louisiana, there are very few platforms in Texas offshore waters. Also, dont waste time with charts trying to plot a course to avoid, as we've found many have been removed, or are subsea. Even though our cartography was less than a year old. Plus we did encounter three new platforms under construction in Louisiana waters thst were unlit. And the large Gulf shrimpers have no issue with changing course abruptly, while dragging their nets. And lighting up your sail and killing your night vision, but dont respond to hail on VHF. All that said, I still prefer offshore to slogging it out in ICW. And we generally run around 20 nm offshore, so not in safety fairway. Coming from Ft Myers, we sail direct to Grand Isle, Louisiana. If we need fuel, we go in. If not, we turn and make course for Galveston or Freeport. The area west of Grand Isle is the worse and we push hard to start there at daylight and go the next 12 hours full tilt to make it thru thst dense platform and wellhead area in the daylight. For us, that's 80-100 nm. By nightfall the platform situation starts getting a bit better. We still run AIS and radar at night, and the three of us rotate three hour shifts.

Oh yeah....shrimpers...I had forgotten about them...oblivious to all.

[Group9]

I've made the Galveston to Mississippi run on the ICW and I wouldn't do it again with a gun to my head.

Just pick your weather window carefully. The GOM can pile up some nasty waves in cold fronts. And, they come a lot this time of year.

I've only been seasick five times in my life. And, one of them was sailing for two days through 10-12 steep waves across the GOM (I was fine until it got dark and I lost sight of the horizon).