Sailing Vacations
A Maine Windjammer

Good afternoon everyone! What did he say? Yes, good afternoon from Houston. I am here again with Capt Kip Files of the Victory Chimes having moved Elissa from the Houston dock where she has been open to the public and school groups for the last week back to her berth in Galveston. As is the way with boats weather had us pinned down and we are now at the airport hoping to get home by midnite. Gusty NW winds blew 25-30 all of yesterday. We left this morning at dawn and motored down the Houston ship channel back to Galveston. Getting in to the berth was complicated by our inability to contact the dock because of damage from Hurricane Ike. Kip did a masterful job of easing Elissa alonside her berth and we pulled it off in fine fashion with a little help thanks to a push boat donated by the Kirby Corporation. The good news is that the Juan Sebastian de Elcano is currently visiting Galveston. She is a magnificent 370’, 4-masted, schooner and the official training ship for the Spanis...

Good morning everyone. Sailing aboard Elissa here in Texas has been fantastic. The crew of volunteers have once again made this a great experience and their dedication is beyond believable. After completing a series of daysails and an overnight trip offshore we are currently in Houston at the brand new Bayport Cruise Terminal. We brought the ship up the Houston Channel yesterday afternoon, probably the first square rigger in many, many years to sail (well...motor sail) carrying upper and lower topsails, a few staysails and our inner jib. They made a difference giving us another knot and a half of speed along with a helpful push from the incoming tide. The folks here at the Houston Yacht Club have been the best of hosts for Elissa. Our night offshore was lit by the waning full moon. I took the 12-4 watch and had a crackerjack crew able to tack and ware the ship in the 20 knot breeze. The sloppy 4' seas created by the shallow Gulf did not make things any easier so we found ou...

Good morning y'all. As the accompanying photos will tell you I am in Texas aboard the barque Elissa. I flew down on Wednesday for the beginning of 12 days of sailing in the Gulf. Mostly we will be daysailing from Galveston but there is one overnight passage planned for the middle of this week. I brought my camera and hope you enjoy a few of sights. The dolphins were bow riding yesterday on the way back in the channel. This shot is for Sawyer and Nadie. Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Good morning everyone. Barry here, reporting in from Galveston after our trip back from Corpus Christi. With an impending cold front approaching the Texas coast on Tuesday morning and winds forecast to come NE we "beat feet" back to Galveston. I stood the mid to 4 watch. The trip back was largely uneventful. A light southerly tailwind was welcome but the apparent wind was not enough to give us the easting we desired so the 450 hp power plant gave us the boost we needed to keep a 7-8 knot pace through the night. The big excitement came while traveling in the fairway, the channel that passes 10 or so miles off the coast with occasional intersection leading to major harbors. At 0200 we came across 4 seismic research vessels working cables across the bottom in the fairway. A few radio calls established the idea that small floats across the fairway were connected to the seismic cables with wire rope and that wrapping one of these up in Elissa's propeller would hinder o...