Gone With The Wind Homeward Bound

Of the many places Gone With The Wind visited, Key West ranks high among our favorites. We anchored out and took Miss Scarlet, our dinghy ashore and tied up bumper to bumper among a mass conglomerate of dinghies along with other yachtsmen with the same plan. We visited such attractions as the Earnest Hemmingway Home and the many shops, galleries and restaurants. One could take a local day cruise on a tall sailing ship. Here everyone spoke English.

After leaving Key West, we sailed the west coast of Florida to St. Petersburg, then directly across the Gulf to Mobile Bay, Alabama. These waters were teaming with life. Often, playful porpoises escorted us. They are fast agile and a joy to watch, as they seem to love hugging the bow wake. A porpoise jumped 5 feet out of the water just a few feet ahead of the bow. A pair of sea turtles was mating at the surface. A pair of small finch like yellow birds hitchhiked a ride with us. It seemed odd that these tiny land birds could be 100 miles from land and survive. They showed no fear and curiously explored about, hopping from my hand to my knee. One flew down below where I found it jousting with its own image in the wall mirror at the foot of the bed.

On the 3-day passage from St. Petersburg to Mobile Bay, in the deep blue of the Gulf, I caught something on my rod and reel. I was afraid I had hooked a porpoise. In the excitement, managed to hopelessly tangle my line, but I landed it with an awful mess tangled around the reel. It was a beautiful Blue Fin Tuna. Within 2 hours, Karen and I were feasting on the freshest, tastiest seafood treat we had ever enjoyed.

From Mobile Bay we traveled the Inter Coastal Waterway, stopping in Biloxi, Mississippi. We made landfall there after dark and found it difficult to distinguish the red and green navigational buoys from the many brightly colored lights from the Casinos. We visited the Confederate President Jefferson Davis Home and the casinos. Gone With The Wind flew the Stars and Strips and the Lone Star Flags plus the Confederate Stars and Bars as the courtesy flag of the South (and as tribute to REL).

While traveling the ICW through Louisiana, we passed through several locks and under fixed bridges, drawbridges, swing bridges and lift bridges. Gone With The Wind has a mast height of 65ft. We were unable to take the Lake Pontchartrain route, favored by pleasure boats, because the I-10 Bridge had a 65ft clearance and I did not want to chance shaving of my sails, so I took the industrial route. This precluded our stopping in New Orleans since all the marinas were on the Lake Pontchartrain route.

When cruising on the Mississippi River, past the French Quarter, we found no place suitable to dock. This was most exasperating since I had no charts or ICW guides to navigate the last 375 miles to Kemah. New Orleans was my best hope to obtain these charts. Fortunately, at a fuel dock, I found a New Orleans to Houston ICW barge pilots guide, which provided detailed info on bridges, locks and obstructions. We quickly learned the procedures and jargon used by the barge pilots and maintained a constant contact with them by monitoring of the VHF radio. It made the experience safer and all the more fun.

Cruising through the ICW in Louisiana was a real treat. We saw Moss laden Cypress trees, waterfowl, water moccasins, a deer that swam across the ICW in front if us, and several alligators. One ol’ granddaddy gator over 12 feet long, we caught on camera.

There were tugs pushing as many as 6 barges (six pack formation). The last lift bridge at Lake Charles was unmanned and we were delayed almost 2 hours until an operator we radioed for arrived. In the early morning, the water was glassy and steamy with the tree-lined banks mirrored upon the water giving a serenely beautiful, but eerie appearance. There was a sweet essence of Magnolia and Honeysuckle in the clean air.

Crossing the Sabine River in to Texas with a joyous feeling…home, family and friends are close. You can take a Texan out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of a Texan. Karen says she wasn’t born here, she got here as quick as she could.

Home at last! We arrived in Kemah in the dark of night, crossing under the Hwy 146 Bridge and hugged with elation that we had come a very long way together. It has been almost a year since we left San Diego on this quest. Our odyssey covered thousands of miles, many ports and anchorages in the Caribbean, the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the ICW. We were in close quarters, weathered rough seas and smooth, held together in the face of fear and felt loneliness from the great distance from family and friends. We have gained a lifetime of experiences and memories. Though the tans will fade, the wonderful memories won’t. Many would say this is an acid test to a relationship. If so, we passed the test and have grown closer as result. Yes, there were times we wanted to throw the other overboard, but we are here…we made it!

Karen and I were married in Highlands on May 18^th. We are looking forward to our next cruise.

Tommy Prince

See photos: 1, 2, 3.