Here's how it went...
As per our usual New Year tradition, we took the boat out for the night, anchoring in the Laguna Madre to watch the fireworks at midnight. This is Izzy’s first overnight on the boat.
Vertical clouds building as we headed out...
izzy rode next to Joan while we made our way to where we planned to anchor. The wind had come up, and the Laguna is not particularly protected. We dropped the anchor, put out extra chain, and settled in. Izzy had no problem, but was a bit of a pill... poking her nose into every nook and cranny on the boat. At one point, she was about to disappear in a small opening behind the refrigerator, but Joan caught her just in the nick.
By 10:00, the wind had let up, and the boat settled into an easy motion at anchor. Izzy had eaten twice. We watched a movie. Izzy wandered around even more... lots of places to explore on this boat. Joan was very concerned that she’d chew some of our wiring (kinda important since it runs to all our nav gear and electronics!!); we kept a close watch on her.
We watched TV and played Yahtzee and cards to stay awake until midnight so we could enjoy the fireworks. At times, clouds rolled in then out, but we never got the forecast thunderstorms or rain. Right on schedule, at the stroke of midnight, the firewords started. We had positioned ourselves at anchor so the viewing would be good, and we weren’t disappointed.
The display went on for about 20 minutes. And when it was over, unlike the folks onshore who had to drive home, we were able to go right to bed! Yeah, we know how to party. Mother Nature did provide some additional fireworks, but it never rained and the wind didn't come back up.
Izzy slept on Joan’s side of the v-berth, and we all had a relatively quiet night. I got up once about 4:30 to check the anchor (good holding) and used the upstairs bathroom. With that movement, Izzy got up and started nosing around; she is certainly a curious little rascal.
We were up to see the sunrise over South Padre Island. The visibility was good, the temp was in the upper 60s, and light winds... a great way to start the new year. Joan made French toast and sausage for breakfast... chow always tastes better on the water. By the time we were done eating, the predicted fog rolled in.
It was thin enough overhead that we knew it would burn off in a couple hours. Decision time: pull up the anchor now or sit here and wait for better visibility. Well, I was due for some radar practice, so we fired up the motor and raised the anchor. To quote our friend, Roger (Dreamer)... "Might as well find out if all this expensive nav gear works."
Izzy had been doing well... until the windlass started pulling in the anchor chain. Just before she could disappear behind the fridge, I got ahold of her and put her in her carrier. Joan was out on the bow, wondering why I wasn’t running the windlass.
We motored south and the fog thickened... about 100 yards visibility. Under the causeway and south to the ship channel; as we turned west in the channel, the fog began to lift. By the time we got to the Port Isabel Turning Basin, the visibility was good and the sun was in full bloom.
We turned into our canal and made our way home... "clear and a million" when we pulled up to our dock. Yep, a very nice way to ring in the New Year.
Best wishes,
Jim B.
and he died about a year after she did. :sad 
hoto :cat 
