To be run Saturday Sep XXX, 2004
with overnight camp on the beach
TCBoats.com here is a direct link to the info page.
Invitation:This cruise / race is an unorganized event where we sail out to a beach and camp there overnight, head back the next day. Some of us sleep in tents on the beach, and some of us anchor out. Anyone is welcome to join us in any type of boat. Would be neat to see the smaller pocket cruisers, board boats, pdracers, kayaks & dinghies . If you don't have a boat, you might be able to catch a ride with someone else, post up a message at pds-tx discussion group to see if someone can take you as crew. If you plan to go, please send me an email with your name & info so I can put your name on the list, and email everyone each other's cell numbers a couple days before the event. When we return on Sunday to Palacios, there are some very nice restaurants we can visit for lunch, but most close at 2pm.
Special Guest: John Welsford, the famous small boat designer from New Zealand. He will be racing with Chuck in the Lady Bug. To see some of the boats he has designed, see the catalog page at DuckWorksMagazine.com, also you can search from the DuckWorks home page for many articles that he has written.
For inspiration, see stories on the Board Boat Cruising page. Here are pics from last year (we didn't have a race then). List of other events on the PDRacer Schedule
The Race:
We will have a casual race, starting from Palacios going 18 miles South to Bird Island which is near Port O'Conner, then 11 miles back to Palacios Point beach. Everyone starts on their own, and will report their own start / finish time. If at any point in the race you decided not to complete it, record how far you got and just make a turn to head for the Palacios Point beach which is only 7 miles from Palacios. You are also welcome to launch from any location, the ramp at Palacios is just a suggestion. There are no trophies, the only prize is to have your picture, info & stats posted on the web page afterwards.
Non-Races:
If you don't want to race, then just come on out and sail around and camp on the beach with us. You can launch from numerous locations around the bay, including one ramp which is only 1.5 miles away along the beach in very protected water. The wind usually blows from the South, so if you stayed close to the North edge of the peninsulas, you will be in fairly flat protected water.
Map of easy route in protected water
Warning:
Boating is a dangerous sport, and this is potentially a dangerous trip. By going on this trip you are responsible and liable for your own actions. There is no committee or organizing body that will provide any support or safety. Bird Island is right at the entrance to the ship channel with lots of barge traffic, and there are shoals all around it. Be very careful in that area and keep a lookout for large ships.
Launch Points:
#1 Palacios Public Ramp N28-41.924 W096-13.111
Free public boat ramp which is 1/2 block west of the Luther Hotel, which is at 408 S Bay Blvd, Palacios, TX 77465. You can use MapQuest to figure how to get there.
Directions from Houston: S on I-45, go 30 miles from The Woodlands
S on 59, go 69 miles
L (south) onto TX-71 go 21 miles
slight Right onto TX-35 W. go 12 miles
road curves right, continue for 2 blocks
turn left at 6th Street
ramp is near the south end of 6th street
** There are a couple of other free launch ramps in the Palacios area.
Map 2 Detail of Palacios area, the star is the launch ramp
luth1.jpg The beach and break water in front of Luther Hotel.
luth2.jpg The Luther Hotel
luth3.jpg The launch ramp near Luther Hotel. It has a parking lot to the right, and just beyond the ramp to the right is the beach area shown in the next picture
luth4.jpg Beach area at the launch ramp, inside the break water. Plenty of space to setup a boat with a complicated rig.
#2 Palacios Bayou Small Boat Launch N28-36.616 W096-12.985
(about 1.5 miles from destination beach)
From TX-35 & TX-71,
go S on TX-35 for 7 miles
R on 521, go 5 miles
R (south) on 1095, go 4 miles
Road curves to right (west), continue 2 miles
Curves left, curves right, take 1st road on left - CR 365 (Oyster Lake Rd)
Follow CR 365 South for 8.5 miles, it is all gravel road
Go over small bridge, road ends 1/4 mile after that at water's edge
eroute The launch is at #2
sb1.jpg At the end of CR 365, Looking South along coast
sb2.jpg further along small boat launch, looking South
sb3.jpg along beach area, looking south, showing some parking area
sb4.jpg looking NE towards bridge at end of CR 365
sb5.jpg looking E from point towards bridge at end of CR 365
sb6.jpg on bridge, looking South West
Turn Around / Far Point of Race:
Bird Island N28-27.034 W096-20.796
Map 3 Close up of Bird Island
Warning: the island has lots of shoals around it, and it also at the cross roads of the ICW so watch out for barge traffic.
Destination:
Palacios Point Beach N28-35.172 W096-13.771
Pic 1 The beach, looking North
Pic 2 The beach, looking South
There is a geocache there. There is a series of channel markers from Palacios (#50) to near Bird Island (#2). If you go to marker 24R and head due East, you will run into our anchorage.
Maps & Tide Data:
Here is the tide data from TexasMojo.com. A 15-20 mph wind from the North can blow a lot of water out of the bay in just a few hours, so if there is a wind like that you can throw the tide predictions out the window.
09/25/2004 Sat 10:10AM LDT 1.3 H 11:01PM LDT 0.3 L
09/26/2004 Sun 02:08PM LDT 1.2 H 11:55PM LDT 0.5 L
Map 1 Overall map of area
eroute Easy route in protected water
Map 2 Detail of Palacios area, the star is the launch ramp
Map 3 Close up of Bird Island
Map 4 Chart of area
Maptech.com nautical map of area
FishNMap.com Sells good maps that cover this area
Communication:
Please send me your cell phone numbers, I'll post on this page and email everyone all the numbers I have collected a couple days before the event. Unfortunately my sprint cell phone doesn't get service down there, but others have reported that they do get cell service.
VHF radios on channel 16
FRS and GMRS family radios on channel 3
The FRS and GMRS family radios can be purchased for as little as $10. The FRS only has a range of 2 miles, and the GMRS a range of 5 miles, so is probably only good for chatting between near boats. Also suggested is to keep it in a ziplock or other waterproof bag. (you can talk on it while it is in the bag)
Bad Weather Cancellation:
On the Friday before the raid we will decide if it should be postponed. Will talk about it at pds-tx discussion group .
Who is Signed Up
| Name | Boat | Launch Point | Launch Time | VHF | FRS | Cell * |
| Racers | ||||||
| Shorty |
12' Holder | #1 | 7:45am | Y |
Y |
|
| Chuck Leinweber John Welsford |
13'9" LadyBug | Port O'Conner | ? | |
|
|
| Doug Day | 15'6" Windsprint | #1 | |
|
|
|
| James Banik |
16' AF3 | #1 | ? | |
|
|
| Mike Malone |
17'6" Stevenson Pocket Cruiser | #1 | |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| Kevin O'Neill |
18' Proa | #1 | ? | |
|
|
| BlackDog |
19' Prindle Catamaran | #1 | ? | |
|
|
| Non-Racers | ||||||
| Gerard Mittelstaedt |
13' "Ocean Breeze" | ? | ? | Y |
N |
Y |
| Bill Tosh |
14' Meadowbird | #1 | 9:00am | |
|
|
| Andrew Creamer |
15' Dolphin Sr. | ? | ? | ? |
? |
? |
| Randy Watkins |
15' Montgomery | ? | ? |
|
|
|
| Tim Cowden |
16' Binder Clip Canoe | ? | ? |
|
|
|
| Hugh |
17' Hunt 5.2 | #1 | 9:00am | |
|
|
| Richard Rudis |
??' SneakBox | |
|
|
|
|
Emergency Numbers:
Local Palacios police direct number: 361-972-2112
I talked to a local police officer, he said that there is hardly any crime there and our cars should be very safe if kept locked up and parked for the night.
Tow Boat U.S. -Port O'Conner- Capt. Steve Pfuntner, mobile- 361-920-0600, VHF 16 -- $450 for a tow !!!!
Note: I was not able to use my cell phone while in the Palacios area, they don't seem to have any Sprint cell towers.