This weekend was the annual Harvest Moon Regatta. This is a sailing race from Galveston to Port Aransas. The distance covered is about 150 miles. The race used to begin on Friday and end on Saturday, but this year it began on Thursday. Some captains asked if they could use their motors. Here is the answer. “No.  This is a sailboat race.  In the past, the race started on Friday, and some motoring was allowed in case the winds were light, and people were not able to finish in time to make it to the awards ceremony.  The race now starts on Thursday; motoring is not allowed, except for emergency purposes.  (Note: While you may disagree, the Race Committee does not consider getting to Port Aransas in time to party Friday night, to be an emergency!)

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Here is a shot of the sponsor’s sign

T-shirt concession.

Check-in desk.

A vendor tent with equipment like generators and radar units.

This one is for Dan Antion. Big ole ship.

This is not a participant but looked good navigating the channel.

Like the fact this boat has a Sugarland home. (there is no salt water near Sugarland.)

A shot of some of the boats that took part.

Another boat from a landlocked city.

I liked this shot for the flag.

This Marilyn Monroe flag caught my eye.

A boat from Annapolis Maryland.

A group of catamarans

The Producer says this is her kind of boat.

This crew was a little puzzled since there were a few lines out of place.

Lots of flags

These were displayed at a booth selling boat photos of participants.

This is the tent where the victory party took place Saturday night. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Each year Port Aransas celebrates its roots with an Old Town Festival. This year due to the rain the popular parade had to be canceled. Also, the sand pumpkin carving contest was postponed  Other events went on as scheduled. Here is a photo review of the goings-on.

The sign points the way.

The first stop is The eighth annual Expression Session Surfing Contest. Here you seem some boards waiting for surfers.

The Texas Gulf Surfing Association is here.

A big tent with hot dogs and T-shirts and loud music.

A surfer coming in from the cold under the Horace Caldwell Pier. The Gulf  temperature is in the low 70’s

More contestants going out.

A shot of the surfers using the iPhone zoom.

Wading into the cold water.

Have to have a VW camper which doubles as a kissing booth.

Here is the kisser. A little too stiff for my taste. (a manikin)

Type A surfers.

Some young folks getting ready to surf.

An old folk pretty much done for the day.

There is also The Pawesome Doggie Surfing Contest but it had not begun yet. Here are a trio of spectators.

The next stop is the Port Aransas Hurricane Tree Recovery Campaign.

Native Texas tree plantings are free.

Some of the varieties.

More.

All you do is sign in and pick out which trees you would like.

Here is a shot of the Museum where a special surfing exhibit is on display. The sign points to the community center where storytellers are relating Wild Sea Stories which are tales of Port Aransas’ past.

Here is a shot of the community center where the stories are being told and a lunch is being served.

Here is a photo of the Farley Boat Works which was the location for the Barn Dance Saturday night. In addition to a band, there was red or white clams linguine served.

All in all the rain did not put a damper of the Festival.

 

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I have to admit the activity list was a little sparse this week. There was one event worth noting. It was the Hook ’em and Book ’em Bay and Surf Fishing Tournament. This one benefits the Port Aransas Police Foundation and the Police Department.

Here is a shot of the trophies for the winners.

There is also a sponsor list.

At first, I thought maybe I could win a police pick-up truck, but found out it was a display only.

This tournament has fisher folks out in the bays and along the beaches. The participants were not due back until way later, and I had a Kansas and WVU football game to watch, so I thought I would take some photos of people fishing off the piers at Robert’s Point Park.

Here is a person contemplating the best time to throw the bait net.

A man and his dog.

Poles placed in the concrete niches.

A boy and his fishing rods.

A dad and his boys fishing next to the pier.

This week was to be a pirate parade in honor of “Talk Like A Pirate” day here in Port Aransas. Unfortunately, the parade had to be canceled due to rain. We did get a lot of rain Friday and yesterday. Invest 95L dropped about eight inches before it was over. So instead of a parade here are a few shots of the results of the rain.

This is the pond behind our house. Up to now, this is as far as it rose.

The pond is within its banks.

Given the high tides due to water being pushed against the dunes the city moved all the portable toilets to higher ground.

You can see the tides came up to the dunes.

This is Twelfth Street in Port Aransas. The water did not reach any of the houses. That pile to the left is a house recently torn down due to Hurricane Harvey damage.

The golf course needed pumps to get the water off the greens.

The city put up high water warnings where necessary.

Drainage ditches are very full. Luckily the rain quit last night.

Closer to home here is a shot of the access to the beach and the golf cart path and parking area. You can see some timbers have been dislodged. The white fence surrounds the pool, and the dark structure is the new shade structure recently completed. All Harvey repairs. Sorry about the parade but thanks for getting wet with me on the tour.

Today’s View of the Neighborhood is very modest since it is the first go around. I thought I would capture a typical day at the beach.

First, we take a look at the early morning sunshine through the rain clouds in a photo taken by the Producer. More rain later but the day is forecast to be sunny.

Sunny it is. Here is a shot of the crowds. (Yay there are none)

I took a shot of the beach roadway to show how few vehicles there are.

A lone group of swimmers.

I loved the idea of a bunch of friends cooling off, having a couple of drinks, and plenty of conversation.

A lone kite. During the season the sky is full.

A lone golf cart tells the story of the off-season.

“Hi. I’m Bailey, and the canine sisters finally gave me an opportunity to say hello. The reason I’m here as you may guess is to let you know Pops is still not in a position to be roaming around the neighborhood taking photos. I think he could have done it this week, but I heard him say something like, “The only photo opportunities this week are of Labor Day tourists and who wants to see those?”  So, I was nominated to come and explain. I think Pops also wanted to give me an opportunity which Twiggy and Lucy had earlier. I hope next week we will all be back to normal. At least from a blog sense. You see there is nothing normal about our house. With that I see Lucy giving me the high sign. Have a super day and Happy Labor Day tomorrow.