THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER

This week's rain, particularly storms out in the Hill Country along the Pedernales and Llano rivers, and the subsequent runoff, have raised Lake Travis by more than six feet. The rise is expected to continue today, eventually bringing back about half of the fifty feet lowering by the drought.

That would still leave the lake about twenty feet lower than normal for this time of the year. But one more flash flood out there should be enough to fix that. Then I'll have to scurry out to the lake and get some pictures to add to the befores I've already posted. Because, if things stay true to form, by Christmas we'll be talking about the flooding on the lake. Heh.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The upper end of Cypress Creek Arm, at Anderson Mill Marina on Lake Travis, is a boat-and-float-filled pasture.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This sloop (probably full of water from the recent rains thanks to the open hatch) and the two sloops behind it were abandoned at Anderson Mill Marina, apparently because the owners weren't paying their slip rent. The rest of the boats, and the docks, were moved out toward the main basin where there's more water. I haven't seen this part of the lake, called Cypress Creek Arm, this low in twenty-four years. It's going to take at least two or three flash floods to bring this back to normal.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I habitually avoid enterprises that charge for water, as all cruise ships do. In fact, having heard the expression "cruise ship prices" this doesn't really surprise. Sounds awful. Especially the lack of soda pop machines. How declasse can you get?

Via Simply Jews.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Building, launching and sailing a wooden Catboat on Lake Travis. Since she draws just thirty inches, this year's drought is of little concern. I'm envious.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 05:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A familiar view, from my sailing days, coming out of Cypress Creek Arm into the main basin. Heading west. Lake's much lower than this now, but it'll come back. It always has, AGW and other doomsday predictions to the contrary notwithstanding.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

All our triple digit days means the big lake in the Highlands chain is dropping 1.5 to 2 feet a week now, according to the LCRA:

1) 614.18' set in August of 1951
2) 615.02' set in November of 1963
3) 636.58' set in October of 1984
4) 640.08' set on July 13, 2009 639.53 set on July 17, 2009 (and falling)
5) 640.24' set in October of 2000

But, as you can see, there's still a long ways to go before it's hitting real record territory. Some slight fauna and flora relief is in sight for the weekend, but probably nothing meaningful for the lake.

Via KVUE's Mark Murray.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The lake she is sinking like a stone, two feet lower than at the link there which was a week ago. I mean fifty-one percent of capacity? Whoa. On the other hand, we've been here before, just three years ago, in fact, and it's not yet as low as it was in 2000. The important thing to remember about Texas, folks, is that, for us, drought is normal.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It doesn't do most people any good to question the assertions of the acolytes of the First Church of Global Warming. Except, uh, when you're a famous physicist named Freeman Dyson:

"The change that’s now going on is very strongly concentrated in the Arctic. In fact in three respects, it’s not global, which I think is very important. First of all, it is mainly in the Arctic. Secondly, it’s mainly in the winter rather than summer. And thirdly, it’s mainly in the night rather than at the daytime. In all three respects, the warming is happening where it is cold, not where it is hot."

You're still mocked and shouted down, of course. But, uh, you know, you don't care. Good thing heretics are no longer burned. Yet.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

As close as the little "barky" can get to the wind, anyhow. You can expect to see more of these, as I have always been a sucker for sailing, even though I don't do it anymore meself.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I used to have one of her commemorative key rings, picked up on a trip to UTMB when I was a medical writer. It gave metal detectors at the courthouse fits when I forgot to remove it, so I stopped carrying it. But I didn't forget the Elissa. One of these days, I might even get to take a ride, though I'll leave climbing the rigging to the younger ones.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That's what I told a young tourist one time, reminding him of fire ants, rattlesnakes and scorpions. This brought it to mind: four city boys thoughtlessly going to sea in a pea pod without checking the weather forecast.

Via the Seablogger.

UPDATE: Well, at least one of them survived, anyhow. Thanks to the Coast Guard and Air Force Reserve.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Having sold the family sloop, we no longer pay much attention to the ups and downs of the reservoir called Lake Travis. It has been quite low in previous droughts, but seems to be trying to set a new record in the ongoing one. It is now at six hundred and fifty-five feet below above mean sea level, which is roughly twenty-six feet below normal. Worse, it is forecast to continue its plunge to around six hundred and twenty feet. 

Nevertheless, in the interest of soothing hysterics who worry about the droughts of global warming (though it is the potential rising of sea water rather than the falling of lake surfaces that has them upset), this has happened before, and quickly (say, within thirty days) has come back to this. So, in other words, unless you own a lakeside home (which is now a gully-side home) there's almost certainly nothing to worry about. What goes down has, historically, come right back up.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

His Holland America cruise ship has "a nice deep sea heave," Alan Sullivan reports, as he sails into hurricane weather out of Miami. The water in the upper deck swimming pools is "jumping and sliding like limbo dancers." He had to pay one hundred dollars for two hundred fifty minutes of Web connection time via satellite, so he's limited in what he can do. But he's already promising photos soon. Click on the blog title at the top of the page to check for the latest post.

UPDATE:  A nautical tracking map shows where his ship, the Noordam, is at the moment. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight will be our fourth campout in the woods with Mr. B.'s cub scout den. This time we'll only be a few miles from the rancho. It's forecast to be in the high seventies during the day but drop into the upper forties overnight.

I'm bringing two radios, just in case, in order to listen to the Longhorns game. I expect them to beat Missouri, but I want to be sure to hear them do it. Watching it would be nice, but I never bought one of those portable televisions. No, that isn't true. We had one on the family sloop years ago, but it was stolen. Anyway, where we're going is in a valley between two hills, so the teevee reception might be poor. If necessary, I'll hike up the shortest hill to listen to the game. But it probably won't be.

UPDATE:  It was fun sitting in a camp chair, watching Orion climb the sky and listening to the Longhorns as they thrashed Missouri, 56-31. Next up, Oklahoma State, should be a bit tougher.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (81)

The money I got for the family sloop last month yesterday paid for new adobe-colored, porcelain ceramic tile for the rancho's family room. It looks good. Photo to come. Coincidentally, minutes after we got all the furniture back in place, Colby, the sloop's new owner and neophyte sailor called to chat about his latest experiences.

He's been trying to sail with just the main hoisted, easing into learning the art, and was curious why he didn't seem to be making any headway on a recent gusty day. He was trying to beat, or sail upwind, at least as close as he could get to the direction of the wind, but he seemed almost to be going backward. I told him he needed to hoist the jib to beat. Running and reaching work fine with just the main. To beat he needs the "slot" that the jib creates between it and the mainsail, which keeps the boat in balance and the bow pointed as high into the wind as it will go. At least he finally got the Mercury outboard going. Its fuel lines seemed to be clogged from disuse. Now it runs fine.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tom, OCS buddy and rare reader who cannot make the TypeKey comment system work, reminds me that I have not written much about sailing this year. The reason is I haven't been doing much of it since April, for various reasons, mostly involving rancho chores, family travel and driving Mr. B. around to baseball, summer camp and, now, basketball and Cub Scouts.

In fact, the family sloop has been for sale for a few weeks and last Sunday I picked up two interested buyers. Am waiting on a local fellow to get his money together (he has to sell some stock, and this is not a good time for that, obviously), while the other one, from northeast Texas, says he is ready to buy it if the local one doesn't. If Mr. B. enjoyed going sailing, I would have kept it, but, alas, he doesn't. On one of our few outings, he pointed at a passing stinkpot (motorboat) and said: "Why don't we buy one of those, Dad?" Sigh.

UPDATE: The sloop is sold. Feel a little bit sorry already, but that's relieved by the young, local  buyer's enthusiasm and excitement. It's in good hands--younger and more energetic ones, too.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Except for the lady's attire, and one other anomaly, this 1874 painting could be a modern photograph. What anomaly? The man at the tiller should have the line at the right in his right hand--rather than tied off--to adjust the sail to changes in the wind and the craft's direction. Apparently, he did, originally.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I never knew much about the Panama Canal, but assumed that it was during its construction that Yellow Fever and Malaria were defeated for the first time. Actually YF was defeated by American army doctors in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and M has gone on and on, even in Panama, despite the best efforts, etc. I was also surprised to find, in this really good 1977 read by historian David McCullough (John Adams, etc.), that the French tried and failed to build the canal first, that Americans had favored a Nicaraguan route before T.R. got hold of the effort, and that very little about it was easy.

I knew people who grew up in the Zone, before President Carter turned the canal over to the Panamanians, but their recollections were nothing like the reported experiences of the builders--especially the thousands of black Barbados and Jamaican laborers who were largely denied services available to the whites. It was a different time, 1870 to 1914. Today, there's an expansion going on that's expected to be completed in 2010. Thanks to the magic of the Net, you can view the canal live via webcams at the previous link, or take a timelapse trip through the canal yourself, the whole twelve-hour journey in one minute fifty-six seconds.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The (in)famous banner, subject of so many lies (which some of the commenters here repeat) and MSM sneers since 2004, was created for and addressed to the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln only, according to one who was there. Of course if "CVN 72" had been added to it in the first place, there'd have been no confusion possible.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Chicago Bears already were down on RB Cedric Benson for a pitiful average of 3.4 yards per carry--a product of chronic injuries since leaving Texas in 2005 as its only running back to gain a thousand yards in four consecutive seasons. Now his pro career is in doubt after his third arrest (but first pepper-spraying) since 2002. This time it was at Lake Travis' hard-partyin', drunk-on-the-water Devil's Hollow (Cove)--charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Even Darth Vader might find this new Navy warship a troubling shock. Imagine an Islamist pirate's reaction to the speedy trimaran hull and slab-sided stealth configuration. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Good sail this afternoon. Partly cloudy, warm, gusty 5-15 mph winds. Just cruising along. It's a good thing I kept my outboard engine maintenance manual, because I bought a new Mercury 2.5 hp yesterday from regular reader Steve who keeps a Hunter sloop on my dock at Anderson Mill. I gave the trolling motor a try, but it proved to be a bigger headache than an outboard. Maybe. It seems like forever since that fateful day before Thanksgiving that I found that the trolling motor didn't have enough oomph to stop the sloop going backward and drive it forward, and so the sloop kept going backward and crashed into the dock behind mine close to the shoreline. With all the cold and rain since then, and almost six weeks of cedar pollen in the air keeping me inside, I've had time to think it over and decided to go back to an outboard. Even the 2.5 easily made the sloop reverse direction this afternoon, and then gallop out of the marina into a headwind.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Looks like I can go out to the lake tomorrow and check on the family sloop. KVUE, the only news outfit in town that makes its own allergy readings, found cedar pollen in decline today, rated low. Even without a rain shower to clear the air. My eyes have been itching for a week now, nose stuffed and sneezes coming and going--sure signs of cedar fever. So I was trying to stay home and inside. Be nice to get out.

UPDATE  I didn't make it because my nose is still running and my eyes still hurt from the pollen in the air. The pollen counters must have missed a few million grains in the annual juniper mating ritual. Patrician Sharp says the malaise is supposed to be over in a week, but, as usual, mine is hanging on. Nature's hazing ritual for Texans, indeed. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gracious. It's 10 a.m. and the temperature is only just now rising into the lower forties. Winter has come awfully early. I hope this means January will be warmish. Nothing like a leisurely sail in January's sun to remind why one lives in Tejas.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Minn Kota trolling motor worked fine in reverse yesterday getting the family sloop out of the slip at the marina. It also worked in forward, to get out of the marina altogether for an hour of sailing, though it was a bit slow at checking the heavy boat's reverse motion. Then I smelled something burning. It was the plastic Minn Kota Trolling Motor Plug ("Quick Connect Plug With Snap-Lock Design for 6 to 12 Gauge Wire Sizes") connecting the power leads from the motor to the extension leads from the battery. Fortunately no flames. Just melted the plug ends together, making the ensemble permanent-snap-lock and no-release-at-all. So I've ordered a new plug. This time I won't use a screwdriver to bend the connectors so the plugs will hold together. Maybe taping them together with Velcro will work. Sailing was fine, as always. It's the "iron sail" that's the problem, as usual.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Got the propane torch working Monday to finish soldering all the electrical connections and so I mounted the Minn Kota 55 on the motor mount on the family sloop this morning--snaking the power wires through the cavernous compartment under the cockpit to the midships battery. Wired and locked the thing to the mount to prevent theft by a casual thief. (A determined one wouldn't be deterred even by a chain.) In reverse, with the dock lines on, the 55 piles about an inch of water against the stern. So we're good to go on the first light-air day. The wind was whistling in the rigging this morning, not a day I'd normally go out even with an outboard. Cold front tonight will probably kick up more wind. So maybe Saturday will be the first chance to try it out on a sail.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Steve, a rare reader who recently bought a used Hunter 22 sloop at Anderson Mill was using scuba gear to inspect his new craft's bottom Sunday and afterwards swam down a few slips to check ours. Said scrubbing the algae off revealed clean blue paint from the cleaning job we got done at Commander's Point in the fall of 2001, and the swing keel and cable looked fine. Appreciate it, Steve. Sorry the motor isn't behaving. Steve picked up the recalcitrant Suzuki DT4 I left at the dumpster not long ago and paid for some fixup. It ran a while for him, even idled okay, but then it quit and refused to start. Good luck with that. I hope finally to get the new trolling motor working this week.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Seablogger has become the land blogger, selling his cabin cruiser and moving ashore:

"It is a burden shed, but also a grief acquired. I shall not forget this day."

I can't quite imagine selling the family sloop, a mere pocket cruiser, and I've never even lived on it. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To get the new trolling motor's power lead to the midships battery on the family sloop requires extending it about eight feet with six gauge wire, according to the manual. I got the wire at Lowe's easy enough. but then the fun began. Lowe's doesn't sell six gauge insulated ring terminals to attach the wire to the battery. Actually to the circuit breaker, at least for the positive wire. The negative can go directly to the battery. Why in the world would they sell the wire but not the terminals to use it? Home Depot? Nope. A contractor friend suggested Nunn's Electric Supply here in Austin. They didn't have six gauge terminals either. They suggested Grainger industrial supply. They had them, alright, but couldn't sell me any smaller amount than a box of twenty. So now I'm fixed for long-term electrical work--as long as I use six gauge wire.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Finally got the new battery charger installed under the dinette table in the Catalina 22 family sloop. Now to complete the wiring to extend the power leads on the new Minn Kota 55 to the midships battery compartment. That it will all be worth the trouble was confirmed yesterday as I walked out on the dock to the boat. I passed a 25-foot sloop in which a young woman was sitting patiently in the cockpit while her date/boyfriend/husband strove to start his recalcitrant outboard so they could back out of the slip and go sailing. He was red in the face and looking angry as he pulled the starter at least twenty times before it finally caught. That's what I'm aiming to avoid.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I set the old Suzuki DT-4 beside the dumpster at the marina today and walked off. After making sure that the new Minn Kota 55 amp trolling motor would stay reasonably secure on the old outboard motor mount on the family sloop's stern. It will, unless it vibrates too much. Now for the tedious part: wiring, soldering and crimping everything up so I can keep the deep-cycle 12-volt in the cabin amidships where it's already located. Plus installing the new battery charger beside it. Hope to have the first, underway test of the new motive power before Halloween.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A Texas scientist I know has a sloop on Lake Travis named "Gravity Wave," which is handily explained here, but the link and this post is about another, much larger kind of gravity wave called an "undular bore." Stupid name, but an impressive event, as a train of thunderstorms recently spawned four gravity waves rolling through the atmosphere over Des Moines, Iowa.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The only really bad thing about sailing is having to mess with a motor to get you in and out of the marina, or bring you home in a flat calm. After months of nursing a recalcitrant, 10-year-old outboard with a mind of its own, and faced with the prospect of buying an expensive new one that wouldn't be much better, I have opted for a cheaper trolling motor, instead. Like the other few Catalina 22 owners who have done it, I don't expect to go anywhere fast under power, now, and will have to plan better to be more certain of the weather and the distances to be covered. But, for the first time in a long while, I'm looking forward to dealing with the motor phase of an outing instead of dreading it.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It isn't a dumb idea, exactly, since most sailboats are balanced such that they will turn into the wind when their tiller is left unattended. But that wouldn't get you anywhere, so it's hard to imagine how this would work without human intervention. Yet that's what some people are setting out to do: create a 4 meter sailboat that can sail itself across the Atlantic. A large model, in other words. The Aussies have already completed and sailed a mini version of the larger trek.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For years I have been alternately praising and cursing my Suzuki DT4, depending on whether it ran or didn't, as if it was able to understand me. But, seeing as how I was mainly interested in sailing and only used the outboard once in a while to get in or out of the marina, I never really knew what was going on with it. After reading this book, I at least have an understanding of how it works. Not, necessarily, enough to fix it. But its recent refusal to idle, for instance, looks like a fuel problem. Possibly contamination of some kind clogging the fuel pump, leading to gummed up carburetor jets, particularly the ones that control the idle. Gives me a few ideas to try. If they don't work, I'll figure it's likely the fuel pump and/or the carburetor needs cleaning. So I'll siphon the gas out of it and take it to the shop and tell them to look at both. Much better than exasperation, anyhow. And while it's there, I'll look again at a Minn Kota electric, and consider blowing off this combustion baloney.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Fighting the outboard battle with the family sloop. Can't even leave the dock until the wind is blowing 5 to 10 mph for fear I won't be able to make a timely return. Because the ten-year-old Suzuki 4 outboard has turned cranky and unreliable. I think it needs a carburetor rebuild, and am reading up on that on the Internet. While trying not to stare too longingly at a new 3.5 hp Tohatsu four-stroke, or a far more pricey Torqeedo 801 electric, with a built-in, rechargable battery, that's said to be the equivalent of a two horse gas engine. Prudence says to do the carb work. But a little voice says get a new motor and spend more time sailing. Decisions, decisions.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some people worry a lot about Lake Travis, especially when new municipalities start negotiating with the Lower Colorado River Authority for access. The lake is a reservoir, with customers downstream, and a certain vulnerability to the weather. So it goes up and down, and up and down. Last year it was waaaayyy down. Which is when this outfit got started and used one of my photos, which they have finally attributed, for which I am grateful. Cute cartoon, too. Check it out.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not enough to sail, that is, this morning on Lake Travis. So I about blistered my fingers trying to start the Suzuki outboard. Finally caught but would only race. Turned it down to idle and it quit, so I started it again and let it race until it finally would idle. Still trying to find on Google why little outboards do that. Finally gave up on sailing and came home, bringing the wood backing for the swing-keel winch home to glue the laminate where it is coming off back on. Never a dull moment with a boat. Will try to sail tomorrow.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not exactly the Seablogger's "Wheel of Karma," but his mention of needing a bottom job for his cabin cruiser in order to sell it reminds me I need to get one for the family sloop just to keep using it. It's been almost seven years. Too long, even for fresh-water Lake Travis. It sets my teeth on edge when I notice the way the grunge is creeping above the water line on the transom. I used to get the specialized sanding and paintwork done every four years, but that was before the price topped $1,000. Nowadays it's also harder to find a place on the lake to do it, as environmental laws harrass those who try to provide the service. I think Easy Street marina might still offer them. I need to call and find out.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

All that Hill Country rain yesterday has the Llano and Pedernales rivers running almost 4,000 cubic feet per second. Since both feed into the Highland Lakes, it's just a matter of time before Lake Travis starts climbing again. In fact, the LCRA is predicting a rise of about half a foot by this evening. Fortunately that would be only about 683 feet msl, and the rain is expected to be over by tonight.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The outboard is still giving me trouble, but the breeze was 5 to 10 mph this morning so I couldn't resist. Perfect light-air ghosting back and forth across Cypress Creek Arm on Lake Travis. Quiet out there with just one or two motorboats in the distance. The water-skiing kids are back in school, of course. I spent a happy ninety minutes on the stick (sailor-speak for tiller). Then, shortly before noon, the breeze quit. Outboard brought me back, then conked out on the approach to the slip, but the Catalina 22 had enough forward momentum to continue on in. Puffy cumulonimbus clouds were rolling over, per the forecast afternoon storms, but I got all the sails covered and went home before any rain fell.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Bartholomew Fair" is what Napoleonic-era British sailors would say to describe a (insert ethnic group) fire drill, or confused series of unnecessary screwups on the water. It pretty well describes the beginning of my singlehanding of the family sloop this morning for the first time in twenty-one months. The pristine quiet (not another boat in sight) was shattered by the sound of my cursing. First the outboard wouldn't stay running, so I had to push the twenty-two footer out of the slip and fall off on a beam reach as soon as I could get the mainsail to fill. The 5-10 mph wind was coming from dead ahead the slip, which helped. But upon hoisting the jibsail, I found that I had neglected to fasten the tack to the bow. Fortunately the sail snagged, rather than fly all the way up the forestay unfastened. That gave me time to tie off the tiller and go forward to unsnag it and fasten the tack. But, with the wind from dead ahead, to get out of the relatively narrow channel, as we refer to Cypress Creek Arm on Lake Travis, required constant tacking. By the time I was halfway to the main basin, I was exhausted and dripping with sweat. So I wore around and made for the dock on a broad reach, the wind now behind me. That was a pleasure, though too short. I didn't even try the outboard, but rounded into the wind to get the jib down and then fell off down to the slip. I coasted into the berth under mainsail alone and just kissed the dock (instead of ramming it). At least the ending was elegant. Hopefully, Wednesday will be easier, if it doesn't rain as forecast.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is from earlier this month, at the former Yacht Harbor Marina where Paul Schmidt, one of only two sailboat riggers on Lake Travis, did a superb re-rig of the family sloop's standing rigging. Also the topping lift and lazy jacks. If I'd thought of it, he could have done the main and jib halyards, but I can go back for that in a few weeks when it cools off a little. I had the sails ready just in case, but I motored back to Anderson Mill without any problems. Looking forward to tomorrow morning, and the first chance I've had to singlehand it since the re-rig.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The road to the docks was covered by rising water yesterday at Anderson Mill Marina. I had to turn around on the steep hill descending to the road, in order to retreat. I noticed half a dozen cars and trucks parked on the hill, as if their owners had come early to taken their boats out before the water came up. They would be be in for a surprise, I thought, when they came back and found the water had risen to block their retreat. But I see now that it didn't. In fact, it has fallen a little, by this morning, to 686.43 feet msl. Mr. B. and I might be able to sail, after all, in this last week before school resumes-- if Hurricane Dean stays well south of Texas. So far it looks like it will.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lake Travis is getting an unfortunate boost from heavy Hill Country rains (12 inches in 24 hours along the Pedernales River which feeds the lake) generated by the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin. The LCRA is forecasting the lake to rise to 690 feet msl by Monday--and higher if we get more rain by then--which is about four feet too high for the dock extension to shore at Anderson Mill Marina. Six ninety is one foot below the height that the Army Corps of Engineers allows flood gates to be opened on Mansfield Dam to quickly lower the lake. Once again, lake levels are taking the family sloop out of our reach. At least we got the rerigging done. Too bad we can't use it. What a year!

UPDATE  This morning, they revised the peak rise to just 688 feet msl by Sunday afternoon, still two feet too high for the docks at the marina. Also three feet below where they'd open flood gates, though they are running the hydrogeneration gates which lets some water out. So the 688 will linger awhile. Then, we'll see if Hurricane Dean sends us a lot more rain to raise it still higher.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The family sloop, newly rigged, returned to its slip at Anderson Mill Marina about 1 p.m. this afternoon, with a tired and sunburnt captain at the tiller. The outboard only quit twice on the two-and-a-half hour trip, both times when it had almost sucked its tank dry. Amazing little gas-eater, especially considering it has very little oomph left after almost twelve years hanging off the stern mount. The journey, which took me down around Arkansas Bend to Lakeway for the first time in almost a decade, was enlightening: many new marinas, much shoreline development, and a definite trend to sailboats judging from the bobbing masts. Probably reflective of the rise in gas prices. I was only buzzed once by a boy-toy cigarette boat. Saw mostly ski boats and party barges. No sails as there was no wind. Maybe there's hope for Lake Travis yet, if not a complete return to its 1980s status as primarily a sailing lake.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I left the Catalina 22 overnight at Sail & Ski Yacht Club, the former Yacht Harbor Marina, on Lake Travis, for the rerigging of the standing (wire) supports for the mast, and new halyards for the topping lift and the lazy jacks. Getting there was a chore. I swear the 11-year-old Suzuki 4 outboard is controlled by an Aztec god. It's never satisifed until I've given blood, in the form of blisters and bruises. First it wouldn't start at all, then it wouldn't stay running. Finally got it going and set out on what proved to be a 2-hour trip. I had almost got there when the outboard quit again and wouldn't start. Called the rigger on the cell and told him I would sail on but it would take longer as there was only light air. Hot as blazes. Poked along, trying the outboard now and then, until the it finally would stay running, then motored on in. He met me in a John boat, offering a tow. Wasn't necessary. I can't wait until the return trip home tomorrow afternoon. Not.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The rerigging of the family sloop, put off by the floods on Lake Travis, is back on for Wednesday. Meanwhile the marina that has the service has changed hands and is now the Sail & Ski Yacht Club. Looks like it will be an all-day affair. If I can get there by 9 a.m., the rigger thinks he can be done with the standing (wire) rigging by 3 p.m. I'll have to put off replacing the frayed running rigging until later, possibly in the fall. But the wire is the important part. It holds the mast up. Weather looks cooperative so far. Only slight chances of rain all week, tho the temps will be climbing into the mid-90s, where they usually are in July.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just one flood gate remains open on Mansfield Dam at Lake Travis and the sloop is accessible again:

"Late this afternoon, the elevation of Lake Travis was at 683.6 feet above mean sea level (msl) — nearly 18 feet lower than its recent peak elevation July 6. However, the lake — created to hold floodwaters — still remains in its flood pool; Lake Travis is at full elevation at 681 feet msl."

Went out to check the boat this morning, after finishing mowing the lawn. Cabin has no mildew and the outboard started on the first pull. Then, coming home, another thunderstorm passed over with blinding rain. Traffic slowed, fortunately, because the car ahead braked suddenly and I ran into it. My fault, of course, as it always is when you rearend someone. Fortunately no one was hurt, but I'm now looking at expensive bodywork. I do wish all this rain would go the hell away. The aquifers are full, the ground is saturated. We don't need any more.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At 1 p.m. today, the lake is to reopen to recreational boating, although given the warnings, one has to wonder why:

“'It’s not quite the same lake that it was before the flood,' [LCRA's Tim] Bradle said. 'While much of the debris is gone, some still remains, especially just below the lake’s surface, and it could be hazardous to watercraft and people.'”

One of the aerial shots I saw showed a dead cow floating along. I suppose it's been taken care of. But there's also three floodgates open on Mansfield Dam, though one is supposed to close today. Well, now I can go ahead and reschedule the sloop's rerigging, possibly as soon as next week. And start dreading the refurbishing of the teak.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lake Travis is the lowest it's been since the morning of June 27--687.22 at this hour--and continues to fall, even with only three floodgates open. The fourth one was closed Friday and another one is expected to be closed tomorrow. Drove out to the marina today, only to find the docks still about eight feet from the shoreline. Decided not to wade out to them, although it was shallow enough, but to wait until tomorrow or Tuesday before going back out to check the sloop. In particular, I need to run the outboard. It's been almost a month since I did that.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At this hour, with four flood gates still open on Mansfield Dam, it's down to 693.01 feet msl. But Anderson Mill Marina says the family sloop won't be accessible until the lake drops another seven feet, to about 686, which won't likely be this weekend. The marinas on each side of ours, Cypress Creek and Riviera, already have access, but their slip rental is a lot higher. Anderson Mill also has terrain problems (when the lake is above 686) which they don't have. You can get a sense of how high water would flood the marina's little available land in this unflooded photo.

UPDATE  LCRA was set to close one of the flood gates at 3 p.m. Friday, when the height was down to 691.01. I suppose it was dropping too fast for them. Also there's rain forecast downriver. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After weeks of soaking rains, it's a treat to see the sun and a near-empty weather radar screen. It was getting so bad there for a while I could hear the grass growing a couple of inches a day. Of course Lake Travis is still flooded, though it's declining about a foot a day and at this hour is a mere 697.04. At this rate it'll be about two weeks until I can get the family sloop a few miles uplake for a replacement of the 22-year-old standing rigging--about 12 years more than it should be for safety's sake, even on a freshwater lake. 'Course I'll probably have to start over again cleaning the mildew in the cabin, which I expect will be renewed after almost a month of being closed up. Still it's good to be dry for a change. Howdy dry, sit down and stay a spell, if you please. You will? Great!

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The family sloop. So near and yet so far. Beyond reach for the moment, with Lake Travis apparently peaked at 701.2 feet msl. That's 20 feet above normal, sort of normal. Full, anyway, although it's normally lower than 681 this time of year. The radar is mercifully clear and the lake is actually falling a tiny bit, now at 700.97, though it looks like another week, maybe two, before I can get back to work on the cabin. Probably be full of mildew by then, and I'll have to start over. It's the outboard I worry about most. Not good for it to sit out there without being run every few days.

UPDATE  Fresh Bilge reminds me, via this link, how easy we have it compared to Lake Texoma. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The reflections in the water in the foreground make this a little artsy. The point of it is the way the dock extension at Anderson Mill marina leads into the water, with a canoe strategically placed presumably to help one get to shore. It's probably worse than this by now, Lake Travis having risen about 3 more feet since July 1 with two more to go according to the latest LCRA forecast. More rain forecast today. It might be Monday before we see the sun again.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So called. This is (or was) the entry to a park and boat ramp on Lake Travis. It's one of the reasons the lake is closed to recreation for July 4. Worse is what's going on out in the watershed to the northwest. Almost 3 inches has fallen near the Colorado River at Lampassas today, which means the lake probably is going higher than the 701 feet above msl already forecast. Radar shows most of today's rain is in the watershed, and some of it is of the red and yellow variety. So the lake's flooding problem is going to get worse soon.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 04:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's back. After a few days rest, rain (heavy at times) is back in the forecast. On the radar it's all south and southeast of Austin, so far. Houston and Galveston are really getting pounded. My fingers are crossed that the watershed of the lakes doesn't get a lot more. With Lake Travis already predicted to hit 701 feet above msl in a few days (the record is 710 in 1991) still more water would present a terrible problem for LCRA, boatowners and everyone who lives out there.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is what almost 18 feet above normal looks like in the Cypress Creek channel at Lake Travis. The floating docks on either side rose, the flagpole didn't. And the cleat for the flag's halyard being well underwater, nobody's going to be taking it down soon. Especially when LCRA says almost 3 inches of rain Saturday in the Colorado River watershed around San Saba will push the lake to 701 feet in a few days. It could be weeks before things are back to semi-normal.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LCRA automated site shows Lake Travis up to 697.85 feet above mean sea level, or almost seventeen feet above full. On the way to 700 by Monday is the latest prediction. Believe I'll visit tomorrow, to see what I can see and what can be shown here.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shifting some music CDs to the new AT&T Yahoo Music Jukebox, I come up with this not-quite-forgotten bit of sailing whimsy:

"We were ninety-one days to Montego Bay, Pumping like madmen all the way."

It's from the song of the headline. One more reason to miss Stan Rogers,  1949-1983, whose stuff occasionally pops up on Austin radio. He died in a fire on an Air Canada jet returning from the annual folk festival in Kerrville, Texas, southwest of here.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rain chances are significantly diminished through Sunday until they rise to 50 percent on Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Nice to know. I can finish mowing the lower forty tomorrow. Unfortunately, Lake Travis is likely to remain in the flood pool until late in the week.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just finished cleaning the sloop, well, last week I did. I was considering cutting a hole in the forward hatch to install a solar/battery-powered Nicro air ventilator to cut down on the mildew and mold. Too late. The LCRA's latest data has Lake Travis at 695 point something feet, with projections for it to rise as high as 699 by the weekend. That means the docks at the marina (not to mention the parking lot and entry road) won't be accessible until late next week, if then. And, boy, is the mildew and mold going to have fun growing in the cabin in the meantime.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This 14-acre residential resort on Lake Travis has been the subject of several recent search engine visits from people tracking info on it. They seem to be trying to determine how high the lake has to be before The Island would flood. I remember that it was isolated during the '91 flood, or, perhaps, it was the one in '97. I don't remember that it has ever actually flooded.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lake Travis dropping very slowly at this hour, down to 693.63, with four floodgates staying open. Five feet lower than forecast for this afternoon, and nothing obvious on the LCRA automated guages site to change it. KVUE's radar shows plenty of rain across the area, and more coming in, but little of the red and yellow variety. Plus it's moving faster than Wednesday morning. The meteorologists have a word for the red and yellow blob that pulled up almost stationary over Marble Falls yesterday that I hadn't encountered until the other day. In keeping with the age of terrorism, I suppose. They call it a precipitation "bomb."

UPDATE  Within an hour, the lake was rising slowly again. Lots of rain falling in upstream Lake LBJ and being passed down to Travis. By 3:30 p.m., it was up to 694.5.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 LCRA graphic of Lake Travis on the way up, flooding some homes, isolating some marinas, and covering some private docks, with up to another 5 feet expected, and more possible. By 11:30 p.m., it was at 693.30.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LCRA is now projecting that Lake Travis will rise to almost 697 feet above mean sea level by tomorrow afternoon, despite having four flood gates open. That would be sixteen feet above full. Have to check but that might be a record height. That's just from the rain that's fallen so far. More rain is expected out there tonight.

UPDATE LCRA has closed the lake to recreational boating. City of Austin has, likewise, closed its waterways. Debris, etc. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Just off the phone with folks at Anderson Mill Marina, who assured me the docks were raised as the water rose and the family sloop and other boats tied to them are okay. Inaccessible, but okay. "Let's put it this way," said the woman who answered the phone, "you could swim to the bathroom." Meaning the restrooms at the parking lot on the shoreline are an island unto themselves. Obviously won't be a trip to Yacht Harbor Marina tomorrow for the rerigging. Maybe next week.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I stare at the LCRA automated rain guages site entry for Marble Falls in disbelief. Seventeen point three nine inches of rain since midnight? The Llano River flowing at 52,871 cubic feet per second? The Pedernales River at 17,548? Lake Travis at 688.31, which means seven inches feet above full and the start of flooding out there on a grand scale. Two floodgates are open on Mansfield Dam with probably more to come, making shore life downstream on Lake Austin unpleasant as well. It's hard even to get into the LCRA's site, so many people must be trying. Indeed, there is widespread flooding in the Hill Country and especially along the Highland Lakes, according to the daily, with more rain to come. Austin spared, so far.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Snickup is Mr. Boy's polite word for screwup. Unfortunately he now knows the impolite word, and we seldom hear snickup, anymore, which I rather like. But not the fact of it. I bought the new, self-inflating Stearns life vest at West Marine this morning, then settled down with the manual to see how to install the CO2 bottle and how it all works. But in my curiosity, I managed to break the little green plastic safety pin. I think I can buy a new one, but I'll have to go back out to West Marine and see if they agree.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing I will do before Thursday's long-distance haul to the rerigging is go buy a self-inflating vest. I never wore one before, but I was never 63 before. People drown on Lake Travis all the time, though I'd not heard this story of sudden drowning on Canyon Lake. Singlehanding as I will be most of the time this year, prudent wins the day.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's not raining out at the lake yet, but with a forecast 90 percent chance of thunderstorms with gusty winds and lightning for the area, I put off the rerigging until Thursday morning when the forecast rain chances are much lower. Just don't want to be out in mid-lake when a storm whips up.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you want to buy a Catalina 22 sloop, fix up an old one or just add stuff, Chip Ford has the site.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Got the gas aboard this morning for tomorrow's early trip to Yacht Harbor Marina, even if the forecast is for a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms. I think the forecast is overly broad, as the area most at risk is east of I-35, not Lake Travis in the hills west of Austin. So, it's worth a gamble. If there's lightning in the sky, I'll call the marina and cancel. If not, I'll motor the 2-3 miles to their dock and tie up. Then... multiple problems. Get the jib off the forestay, and the mainsail out of the mast, detach the topping lift, lazy jacks and boom vang. Then unhitch the boom. If it's not pouring by then, the rerigging might get done. If it is, and the rigger wants to put it off, I can always take a cab back to my car and go home.

UPDATE  Well, I find that LCRA is forecasting only 40 percent for Monday, and they run the lakes.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The rains ended yesterday, but the runoff is still flowing and Lake Travis is now at 682.14, about a foot higher than it was Friday. So LCRA is making plans:

"At 4 p.m. today, LCRA plans to fully open one floodgate at Buchanan Dam and to increase releases from Mansfield Dam from about 5,000 cfs with two hydro units to about 7,500 cfs with three hydro units. Inks Lake will rise to about two feet above its spillway. Tomorrow morning at about 8 a.m., LCRA plans to open one floodgate at Mansfield Dam for a total release of about 12,000 to 13,000 cfs."

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LCRA says the weekend's rain is expected to end tonight, but Lake Travis is still taking in runoff from storms in the watershed, including one area that got almost six inches overnight, and the lake is expected to be about 683 feet above mean sea level by next weekend. That would be about 18 inches above where it is now, which might put the rest of the parking lot at Anderson Mill marina underwater. With the sloop's rerigging scheduled for Monday, the 25th, I'll have to hope the water isn't full of debris and boating banned by then. It should take me about thirty minutes to motor to Yacht Harbor Marina for the work, unless there's logs and other big stuff to dodge.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

It was in the inviting 70s this afternoon so I went out and continued working on the sloop. Decided to stick with the old cabin lights, aged-looking as they are, until they quit, before using the new ones. Hooked up the new gel battery with the trickle-charge from the solar panel on the top of the boom there, but left the new charger installation to another time. The tuned-up Suzuki 4 started on the second pull. Next is the dreaded cleaning and painting of the teak, seen here in all its decrepitude. But if overnight rains don't cause flooding, I believe I'll motor out into the channel tomorrow. See if I can shed some of the marine life I can see on the rudder, and can't see but can assume is on the keel and the bottom of the hull. Want to hold off sailing until the rerigging is done on the 25th.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (114)

LCRA site shows Lake Travis has risen about 12 inches since last night's rain, as flow rates rise in the Llano and Pedernales rivers. Indeed:

"Inflows from overnight rains are slowly filling the Highland Lakes. Flood operations are not anticipated at this time. However the chances of flood operations this weekend have become more likely as the lakes fill."

They'll start later this afternoon with hydrogeneration at Mansfield Dam, and likely stick with that if the predicted more rain in the watershed doesn't start driving the level up too fast. Opening flood gates always seems to be the last resort, given it's a reservoir, and opening too many can flood people living along Lake Austin farther downstream. Those folks are sure to be watching LCRA's balancing act.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Got the mainsail up for airing, and inventoried stuff to see what could be thrown away. Among them an empty Cetol can, which needs replacing for painting the teak trim. Glad to see no dirt dauber nests (or cells, as the learned say) on the sail or inside the horse blanket. But the activity summoned a good many daubers from elsewhere on the dock, because of all the spiders uncovered when the sail was hoisted. Daubers are evil looking wasps, but I've never been stung. Not even when I've uncovered a bunch of their cells and thrown them overboard. They are considered beneficial because they eat bugs, particularly controlling spiders which they line their nest with for their larvae to feed on. So you put up with them.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Meteorologist Troy Kimmel emails that we can expect scattered showers this afternoon from a cold front making its way southeast across Texas. Thought I saw a surprising amount of dark clouds over Lake Travis this morning when I was out there working on the sloop. Got the cabin cleaned out, finally, and all cushions vacuumed and the surfaces wiped down with Lysol. Next I want to paint the interior teak, before starting work on the teak bin boards and doghouse trim. Next big problem to solve is getting the outboard overhauled. The one place that works on Suzukis is swamped with work. Meanwhile I've a re-rigging planned for the 18th at Yacht Harbor marina, a few miles away, but can't get there easily without a motor. Not in a hurry, anyway. I could sail back, after the rigging's completed, but still got to get there.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Caught making lists this afternoon of things yet to do on the sloop before it's presentable and usable again. The memory fades without lists. Proceeding at a stately pace of an hour or so a day, squeezed in between parenting and other things, I have progressed. After more than a year of no use, the boat was (and is yet) pretty dirty, but it's improving. Finally got the hull and the deck clean of dirt, mold and mildew, and yesterday took on the forepeak, vacuuming the cushions and the surfaces and wiping everything. I got out two baseball-sized mud dauber's nests. The smell of bleach finally got to me, despite the open hatches. About then two humongously oversized (for a lake) cabin cruisers chugged by at slow speed. They set up more wake going slow, and I was rolling around in the cramped forepeak like a fish in a can. Finally finished, fought off the nausea, and brought the cushions back in from their airing in the cockpit. Then went home. Think I got dehydrated in the 90 degree heat. Memo: next time, tomorrow, bring more water.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite the storms, the Austin Yacht Club is pressing ahead with its annual 19-mile race on Lake Travis. I've only tried this one three times since 1985, all three aborted about two-thirds of the way from sunburn and exhaustion. Each time, I spent the night in a small cove miles from the finish line and the parties and etc. The last attempt was the most memorable, because Mr. Boy's mom broke her hand, hitting it on the transom when trying to start the manual outboard to help me position the anchor in the cove. Fortunately the First Aid kit had a splint and chemical ice pack, and we watched a sitcom on a small TV we had. Motored home the next morning and went to the emergency room. Hope no one has it that bad this weekend and that all arrive on time, despite the inevitable debris in the water from the flooding.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 1975 Catalina 22 finds a sad end after 32 years. It was abandoned by its owner, who had removed, among other things, the teak trim. It was leaking sufficiently that it had to be pumped out periodically, and Anderson Mill marina was tired of the game. When they couldn't get the owner, who was no longer paying his monthly slip fee, to take care of it, they dragged it, scraping, up the ramp on its folded swing-keel. There's a few more of various makes due to make the trip, victims possibly of the long drought when the docks were moved so far out into Lake Travis that it was hard to get to the boats to maintain them. Some of them were a lot dirtier than ours.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The family sloop, a 1985 Catalina 22, looks better in this photo than it did up close, at the time, as it was covered with grey mold spots after a year without use on Lake Travis. During the drought the docks were moved to where they were inaccessible most of the time. Now it's back and almost four weeks since the photo was taken, the exterior is three-quarters clean. Elbow grease and Sof Scrub is all it takes. Still have to finish the cockpit and clean out the cabin, but it's coming along. The admiral wants to sell it and I had planned to, while it was inaccessible, but of course nobody wanted to buy it then. But after 22 years of sailing it, it's hard to part. Has to be cleaned and the outboard overhauled to sell it, anyway. If I can lure Mr. B. onto it a couple of times once school is out on May 24, I may have the winningest reason to keep it. Racing is something I've never cared to do, but he might find it exciting.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)