THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER

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 [...]

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. [...]

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. [...]

Mr. B. goes back to imitating a budding scholar, and I go back to imitating a leisurely retired person. While he’s trying to pay attention, and stay out of trouble, I’m going sailing. Photo swiped from Miss Cellania UPDATE: The crush at pickup this afternoon was amazing. More adults than children. I came a half [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]