Well, that day finally came. We experienced our first locks!! More about that later.

We got a later start than expected because “Biscuit” has some mechanical issues …. a common event for boaters that we all need to plan for. Fortunately, Captain Rob was well prepared with spare parts. Spare parts is a running joke on our boat. We think we have mores spare parts and tools than we do anything else. If we removed it all, we are convinced the boat would rise an inch or two. Ha.

Once Biscuit got operational, Jen pulled up the anchor, cleaned it off and then disposed of her crushed crab pot catch from the night before. Off we headed for the locks.

The Harvey lock is about an hour and a half from the anchorage. Just before the lock is a busy industrial channel that does a lot of zig zagging and competing currents. Aside from its challenges, it is really cool to see. It’s where ships come for repairs.

Biscuit approached the Harvey lock first. Lockmaster tossed him a rope, his crewmate and brother Todd cleated it off so he could help us tie off on their port side. It happened very smoothly. Once Todd got us tied off, he held the rope as it slipped through his cleat with the rising water. It was fun watching the gates close. It felt like we were in a big bathtub for boats. We watched the water rise on the wall ladder about a foot. After the gates opened we exited the lock based on the order we came in. One lock done!

The Industrial lock was fun. We tied up to a Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries barge. We met a friendly man who told us they were dredging areas filled in from the hurricane. He enjoyed hearing about our loop travels. After the gates opened, it was the same routine. One by one we safely exited and was on our way.

At New Orleans, we waved goodbye to our dear friend and buddy boat, Captain Rob and Todd on Biscuit. Rob was meeting friends in New Orleans for a crew change. We decided to push on to Bay St. Louis Marina.

It was a close call but we got there by sunset. Wishes previous owners had a rule that the boat was in her slip before dark and we didn’t want to break tradition. We were held up by the CSX Railroad bridge but it was worth it. Such a cool bridge. It swings opens like dial hands moving on a clock. Hard to describe but worth seeing. So far our favorite bridge. After 8.25 hours and two locks, we were ready for bed.

Another chilly day! Today, we decided to drive from the inside instead of the flybridge. It is bit tricky due to some blind spots. Our dinghy makes it hard to see behind us so we have an Arlo camera that we put on a tablet. The windshield frames seem small but still get in the way. Kelly and Jen are vertically challenged so standing and driving is tough and the helm seat is a bit of a reach. Eventually, we will figure out how to make it work.

Jean Lafitte Anchorage is a small spot with lots of swamp tour boats. We felt like we were part of the sightseeing spot with everyone looking at us. Our anchor chain got stuck in the anchor locker so we let out the secondary anchor. Since we don’t trust our anchoring capabilities yet, our process has been to take a picture outside our cabin window every couple hours. As long as the picture looks the same, its not likely we moved. It proved to be a good move, because we realized the anchor wasn’t hold and we were moving. Jen pulled up the anchor along with a crushed crab pot!! Jen cleaned up the secondary anchor, un-kinked the primary anchor chain and let out. All good over night. Our Raymarine also monitors the anchor but it needs to prove its reliability to us until we trust it. Ha

With the anchor issues out of the way, Mike went to work cleaning the shrimp from our new friends, Full Moon shrimpers, in Morgan City. Wow!! They were so generous. We will have shrimp meals about 10 times! We are looking forward to meeting up with them again when we cross our wake in 18 months. We froze most of them and Jen made shrimp mac n cheese for dinner. Yum!!

While Mike cleaned the shrimp, Kelly & Jen did some yoga and a short workout, which was ended by Teddy. Teddy has been nervous on the boat and hadn’t pee’d all day. I guess the yoga was relaxing for him too because the flood gates opened on Kelly’s leg in the middle of namaste. It was a mood killer.

Today was another chilly day. It was a good decision to buy some warm coats before we left and packed more than one pair of pants!! It was also the first day we got to sleep in and boy, we were happy to do it! Driving the boat takes a lot of concentration and multi-tasking. It can be tiring for newbies!

The journey has exceeded our expectation. We didn’t expect the ICW to be as wide and deep as it is. Frankly, we expected shallow, narrow, swamplands. It is fantastic travels. The industrial traffic has been so much fun.

We tied off on the wall at Downtown Houma. Because of the hurricane damage, we were allowed to tie off for free. Fortunately, the power was operational.

Once we got settled, we walked a couple blocks past the hospital and enjoyed a great dinner at the 531 Liberty Cafe. We highly recommend the food and hospitality. Mike’s home cooking is so good that it makes us big food critics and this was great food. I recommend the bacon jam burger. Yum!

After dinner, we met a someone walking along the dock with his dog, Hunter… a beautiful, loving poodle. He and his crew traveled to Houma by boat to help with the hurricane cleanup. There is a lot to cleanup here. We are seeing first hand what Mother Nature is capable of. God Bless Louisiana.

Started the day by getting fuel. The fuel dock hand at Shell Morgan Landing helped us He was very nice and helpful. After we left the marina, Jen started her driving lesson. She did great! One of the more exciting things was calling the tow captains on the radio and letting them know our intentions, and finding out wether we should pass on the 1 or the 2. There was a particular friendly barge captain on the boat “Corky”, who she chatted with. When the captains found out it was her first time driving and manning the radio, they all came out and waved to her. Kind of a salute to a new captain in training!!

The Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge was open, and the Coast Guard gave us helpful directions on how to avoid some shallow areas when docking. We had no issues docking, and seem to really be getting the hang of things.

We met the most wonderful couple on the boat Full Moon. They are a retired couple who traded in their corporate life and bought a shrimp boat and are now in the shrimping business. They gave us a ton of fresh shrimp, and recommended we eat at JoJo’s Cafe. It was right across from the marina. It was a good and we enjoyed eating with the crew from our buddy boat Biscuit.

Everyone slept well, and dogs enjoyed the land again.

Another early morning for the Wishes Crew. Kelly got her driving lesson today! She did great, she passed a few barges and went under a bridge. Jen’s lesson is tomorrow, as we only have till Monday before Mike goes back to work full time.

Our buddy boat, ’Biscuit’ captained by our dear friend Rob, did a great job leading us down the ICW and through our first 2 locks. We were a little nervous, but had no issues and were able to drive straight on through.

Well cruising today, we talked to a really nice barge captain who said after seeing “Biscuit” and ”Wishes” pop up on his AIS he was ‘wishing for some biscuits’. And once he found out that ’Biscuit’ had named their dingy ’Gravy’ he was loving it even more. We’ve really enjoyed getting to talk and listen to people on the radio.

Once we made it to Shell Morgan Landing, the dogs were so excited to run and take care of some bathroom business on land. They ran around together for about 20 minutes.

Jen made pasta with hatch chili bacon, green beans, and shrimp… so yummy! We are really getting used to of boat life and are loving it!

After a good night sleep at Taylor Outfall Anchorage, we headed out at sunrise. It was another peaceful day out on the Inter Coastal Waterway. Not very much barge traffic, and the barges we did pass were very friendly.
Our furry friends are getting more comfortable being on the boat, as time goes by. We made it to the Calcasieu River Oxbow Anchorage in about 7 hours, no issues anchoring or getting the bridal on.

Jen worked out on the bow while the dogs napped in the sun. Mike and Kelly got a few little projects done. Jen cooked chicken fajitas for dinner and smores with chips ahoy cookies for desert. The sunset was gorgeous, and we loved anchoring here.

Happy Halloween!

Our day started at 6:00am, as the alarm went off the excitement set in. At 8:00am, we untied our ropes, pulled away from Blue Dolphin Marina and waved goodbye to our friends. Our companion boats, Biscuit and Mississippi Girl followed us as we headed out to the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway). We had super calm seas and beautiful sunny weather. For the first time, we turned left towards Louisiana.

There wasn’t a lot of boat traffic and everything went smoothly. Our furry friends loved the cool breeze and cuddling up with some blankets. We made it to Taylor Outfall Anchorage (Port Arthur TX) around 5:00pm, going an average of 8.4 knots. We traveled 75 miles in 9 hours today. Mike and Jen dropped the anchor and we learned that leaving the windows open at sunset lets in a lovely breeze as well as lots of mosquitos. Homemade pot pies for dinner, a halloween movie, a good night sleep for a 7:00 am start time tomorrow…be sure to follow us on Instagram for more!