I had also intend to work on the water bladder, but the weather was so nice and the wind was up, that I decided to sail to Mud Island and spend the night. Mud Island is 6 miles South of Rockport and is a common ancorage for the locals. It was a little stressful getting to Mud Island (I got withing 1 mile) since it was a windward slog into ~20kts, and in the end, I turned tail and headed back to Rockport and the shelter of the marina. The sail was a learning experience, my first sail in salt water with Prana. I celebrated with blacked shrimp cooked on my little stove... and a Dead Guy.

The morning was spend removing the old water bladder and piping. In all, it was easy to remove, and I took my time. A slow day, as a day on a sailboat should be. The excitement of the day came when I blew a tire on the interstate just outside of San Antonio. There was a quarter size hole in my front right tire. First time that has happened to me, and I'm very glad it happen today rather than last weekend in the rain.

The drive to Rockport was uneventful, and I was extremely happy to have the boat in good shape when I arrived. I packed away most of the small stuff that I brought, the books from the party, some kitchen stuff, etc. Had a shrimp dinner with a glass of wine from a bottle Scott from ARG gave me. Tommorrow will be a busy day.

Today was a rare day. Rare in that I got all my boat work done. It was cold last night, so I threw on Karen's blanket she knitted for me. Thanks, Karen. The day was in the 70's and I could see all the way across Aranass Pass, to the oil rigs and beyond. The installation of the new water bladder went as planned, only requiring one trip to Seaworthy to fetch another water intake hose. I was done by 1pm. Therefore, I inflated the new Zodiac, put the Nissan 3.5hp on it and went out for a ride in the bay. I was a little nervious with the new motor and boat, so I packed a paint bucket with a VHF radio, GPS, chart, compass and water. My new self prepared dingy kit. It was fun, but a little wet. Much better after I adjusted the pitch of the motor. The funny thing is that I have to sit in the center of the boat or it steers to one side. The flexible bottom acts like a keel. Kiva got to try her new harness today. Thanks Ross, Scott, Melissas and Kim. Sure makes moving her to and from the boat easy. Effectively, she becomes a carry on.

Not a lot interesting happened today. Last night, I had gone to HEB and picked up a load of groceries and dog food. Filled the entire cart. This morning was spent removing all the labels off the cans. Yes, I did label them. And I also balanced out the boat a little bit by strategically placing cans all over the place. 6 rolls of papers towels, 12 rolls of TP, and a few tissue boxes went up in the bow. Basically, I was expermenting with the placement of stuffs. I also removed and rearranged previously stored stuff, trying to reduce weight. The dumpster near Prana will be a gold mine for the dumpster divers this evening.

My good friend Rob drove me to Rockport this morning. We had spent Thanksgiving on Mustang Island and I much appreciated his send off. Pete, who owns a Union 30 on Lake Travis was on the coast looking for a marina for his boat. He stopped by and we made a outboard motor bracket for the stern rail. We did not do a very good job, but it will work for now. At least, the dingy motor is out of the cabin. Pete and I went for a sail in the late afternoon spent the night on the hook just off Rockport. It was a bumpy night, as the wind shifted on us and came across the bay. Kiva was sick all night with the shits, a delayed revenge of the beach.