Corpus Christi sailing

[SSgtPitt]

We made the trip from Pensacola to Corpus Christi a couple of weeks ago, great trip. Took 6 days including an overnight at the Cyprus Cove Marina on the MS River for repairs and sleep.
Now that we've got a slip in the Corpus Christi Municipal Marina, we're looking for local places we can sail to on a long weekend. Plus areas to avoid. It looks like we can sail to South Padre island in about 20hrs but there's gotta be other places we can enjoy that are closer. The boat is in Texas, we're in Colorado, so when we get to Texas we're wanting to get out quickly and get the sails up.

[Garrettw]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

We made the trip from Pensacola to Corpus Christi a couple of weeks ago, great trip. Took 6 days including an overnight at the Cyprus Cove Marina on the MS River for repairs and sleep.
Now that we've got a slip in the Corpus Christi Municipal Marina, we're looking for local places we can sail to on a long weekend. Plus areas to avoid. It looks like we can sail to South Padre island in about 20hrs but there's gotta be other places we can enjoy that are closer. The boat is in Texas, we're in Colorado, so when we get to Texas we're wanting to get out quickly and get the sails up.

Corpus is a neat area. Rockport is a trendy little artist community that's a lot of fun to visit. It's maybe half a day from where you are. I've always found Port Aransas to be a fun place to visit. Nice beaches, if a little crowded in season. There are a few places to anchor off of North Padre although not a lot to do there other than visit the state park. Though it's more of a fishing destination, Port O'Connor is probably a 10 to 12 hour trip away. Anything further east like Freeport or Galveston is probably a little far for a long weekend.

[SSgtPitt]

Thanks for the reply. We like quiet, secluded areas. This is our 1st sailboat, actually, other than a canoe, this is our 1st boat and the trip from Pensacola was a crash course in open water sailing after our ASA classes. We've got two years to wrap up our dry land lives, get comfortable on the boat and start our Water World Adventure.

[Garrettw]

You picked a good place to learn. Lots of wind in Corpus and fairly nice water for the Texas coast. We're in Galveston Bay and always look forward to finding enough time off from work to mosey on down and cruise the Corpus/Aransas area. Have a look at the map and cruising guide on activecaptain.com for info on marinas, anchorages and the like that folks have updated for the area. I have found it helpful for sure.

[rgscpat]

What's your draft? That will say a lot about where you want to explore. The Gulf ICW has lots of shallow gunkholes for which local knowledge might be useful. One of the local sailing/yacht clubs (two clubs in Corpus, one on north Padre, one in Rockport) should have folks who can help you acclimate.
Port Mansfield isn't quite as far as south Padre proper and you could do the trip half open Gulf half ICW. To the north of Rockport and Fulton is Copano Bay (mostly shoal), and also the big bird refuge. Maybe you should also pay attention to what the Galveston Bay cruising association folks are doing; I think they've been known to head to various destination between Galveston Bay and Corpus at least a couple of times a year and you could meet up with them. Of course, you (that is, Aransas Pass especially) are about to be invaded next month (approx. Sat. Oct. 24) by the Harvest Moon regatta and that may be an excuse to party.
Now show us a picture of your boat in her slip....

[bstreep]

We are in Port Aransas, and spent 4 years in the CC marina. Absolute best bet is Ingleside Cove. Generally considered the best anchorage on the Texas coast. Just an hour or 2 from you. We are there regularly, especially in the fall. Theres a marina for ice and burgers on weekends. 7-8 feet of water. Great protection from all sides.

If you get to Port A, look us up!


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[quill]

Spinnaker Hole, Lydia Ann Channel,& the back side of Mud Island havn't been mentioned yet. Navy regatta is nice, I'm told.

[SSgtPitt]

We'll be in CCTX 04-08 Nov and intend to take / keep the boat out the entire time. This will be wife's first extended time on the boat and she's anticipating a refresher course style sail the first day. The charts show the bay is fairly shallow but I saw numerous sailboats out of the channel....with a 5' draft do I need to worry about shallow water while we're concentrating on our sailing skills?

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

We'll be in CCTX 04-08 Nov and intend to take / keep the boat out the entire time. This will be wife's first extended time on the boat and she's anticipating a refresher course style sail the first day. The charts show the bay is fairly shallow but I saw numerous sailboats out of the channel....with a 5' draft do I need to worry about shallow water while we're concentrating on our sailing skills?

you've got a large bay with an average depth of 12'-14'.....tack to your hearts content.

[rgscpat]

CC bay is deep by TX standards. Tides are moderate. Wind driven eater level changes can occur during a strong Texas blue norther, depending on topography.

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[bstreep]

Don't worry about it. As others have said, the bay runs 10-15 feet deep. Do watch for obstructions. And there can be shoaling in the spoil areas around the channels.


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[Tetra]

Visiting Army Hole is always fun. This time of year, the mosquitoes shouldn't even be too bad.

[spraygun]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Thanks for the reply. We like quiet, secluded areas. This is our 1st sailboat, actually, other than a canoe, this is our 1st boat and the trip from Pensacola was a crash course in open water sailing after our ASA classes. We've got two years to wrap up our dry land lives, get comfortable on the boat and start our Water World Adventure.

If you like quiet secluded areas.Try Shamrock Cove on the bay.Just stay off Shamrock Island.It is a protected bird sanctuary.You can leave the marina.And it is a straight line over.You can anchor your boat between the island and land.Then find your way over to land by dinghy. Usually the water is crystal clear in that area.Put on a mask and check out the small creatures in the sea grass.Been many times.Even on holidays.We were always the only folks out there.

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[Tx J]

A caution on something rgscpat mentioned:
Copano Bay (and most of the many other smaller bays around CC area)-- they all have shallow water, oyster reefs, shoals of every type, platforms, and pipes/cables on the bottom, excluding most of these places from anything but center console fishing boats (and many of the places are only suitable for very shallow draft 'flats boats', ~4-12" draft).
Copano Bay would be off limits anyway due to the Hwy 35 causeway, IIRC, the air draft/bridge clearance is quite low, doubt you can even get a Hobie Cat under it.

Another (major) caution:
ICW passage under the Hwy 361 bridge at Aransas Pass is fairly low (~44/8 feet, water level dependent). Depending on your air draft, you may find it advisable to take the long way around it.
That means if northbound in the ICW out of CC Bay, at the Ingleside intersection you hang a right at the CC Ship Channel and proceed up to Port Aransas, then left, left, down the Aransas Pass channel back to the ICW. If southbound in the ICW (from Rockport, etc), it's a left just before the bridge, into the Aransas Pass channel to Port A, right, right into the CC Ship Channel.

The JFK Causeway, Flour Bluff/CC to North Padre Island (SPID/358), will accommodate almost anything under it; but don't enter the unmarked waters adjacent to the ICW near to it, many submerged hazards/pilings.

There are a few other very low bridges in the area, impassable to anything larger than a Sunfish (EG: Rockport's Little Bay north channel, Packery Channel), study your charts.
Corpus Christi Bay does have a few shoal areas and platforms (tougher at night) to avoid, Aransas Bay even more of them.
Look at the charts anywhere in this area. You do have towing insurance? But don't trust them (towers) with your stuck sailboat without close supervision, they're more used to CC fishing boats.

The ICW down to Port Mansfield, Port Isabel, and South Padre Island is a straight shot, but narrow with barge traffic, and much of it is shoal just out of the channel.
The Port Mansfield Pass/Jetties to the Gulf has had shoaling problems in the past (never a big commercial port, even for shrimpers, droga gofasts another story...heheh).

And don't even think about going into the Corpus Christi Harbor area under the Hwy 181 Harbor Bridge (near the USS Lexington, CV-16), the Coasties and others will be on you in a flash with their .50cals at the ready .

[RainDog]

Flato Cut right across the bay from Corpus is one of my favorite anchorages.