Category Archives: Sailing

Perpetual rain

Posted on July 2, 2007 | Comments Off on Perpetual rain

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.

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Posted in Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Lake Travis flag

Posted on July 1, 2007 | Comments Off on Lake Travis flag

Flagpole.JPG

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.

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Posted in Sailing, Scribbles, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Lake on the rise

Posted on June 30, 2007 | Comments Off on Lake on the rise

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.

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Posted in Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Barrett’s Privateers

Posted on June 30, 2007 | Comments Off on Barrett’s Privateers

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.

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Bye, bye rain

Posted on June 29, 2007 | Comments Off on Bye, bye rain

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.

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Posted in Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Mildew & mold

Posted on June 28, 2007 | Comments Off on Mildew & mold

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.

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Posted in Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate

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The Island

Posted on June 28, 2007 | Comments Off on The Island

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.

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Posted in Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate

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