I love boating and what better way to entertain your clients and friends than on a gorgeous 40 foot motor yacht!  March 22, 2014 I took 12 of my gals on an outing from Clear Lake to Galveston aboard the “Sea Tejas”.  Our Captain and 1st mate took command of the waters while the rest of us enjoyed cocktails and lite bites.  It was a foggy day causing us to take our time.  What would have been a 1.5 hour trip took us 3 hours!  Along the way dolphins entertained us with their jumps and tricks. Who would guess in the brown murky Houston Ship Channel dolphins would call it home?  Well, just three miles out of Galveston is when the real attraction hit….literally!  Around 11:30 am (the news incorrectly reporting 12:35) an oil barge carrying over 900,000 gallons of oil was struck by the motor vessel Miss Susan.  Miss Susan was transiting from Texas City to Bolivar at the time of the collision.  I must say we were all in shock.  We witnessed the thick oil in the waters; in fact we motored through it and the smell was very potent.

We were eyewitness to the sinking barge. In fact, here is a video I took from my I-Phone which was broadcasted all over the CBS news stations in Texas.  Yep, my two seconds of fame! :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xGdGFD9w9U

We ended up docking at Willie G’s in Galveston and had a nice lunch.  The Coast Guard announced the closure of the ship channel so we were not able to come back via boat.  The boat to this day is still docked in Galveston. I won’t even discuss the financial impact on my pocket book for this diversion.  But, we were able to get back to Lakewood Yacht Club safely via cars.  This was definitely a trip to go down in history.  I am saddened by the accident for the sea animals.  I hope we can get the wildlife protected and clean up their homeland soon.

On Board: Annette Amaya, Anna Kaplan, Laura Cernock, Marina Kaplan, Laurie-Leigh White, Jan Vitenas, Colleen Nichols, Liliana Cuellar, Jennifer Gravenor, Nicole Brende, Lisa Bridle, and Lori-Lemon Geshay.