Galveston to Shell Island May 25

We arose in our anchorage near Baffle Point behind the Bolivar Peninsula about 0615 to find that we had been joined by several shrimp boats.  It had been a very convenient location due to proximity to the Bolivar entrance to the ICW, but otherwise had little to commend it.   We had some rock and roll (though not severe) from ships transiting the Houston Ship Channel, and the holding in soft mud was acceptable, but not superior.  This is definitely an anchorage for a quick overnight in settled weather.  I enjoyed the ICW trip up the Bolivar Peninsula, having routinely patrolled this area 40 years ago during my tenure with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Department.  We were in the ICW at Port Bolivar by 0700, and passed Rollover Pass at Gilchrist at 0910.  At 1015 we passed under the High Island Bridge, a different structure than its predecessor which was in place and the subject of one of those many Sheriff’s Dept. tales which must not be committed to print.  We reached signs of civilization again about 1340 as we passed the Taylor Bayou Outfall Channel.  We were not stopping here, as we hoped to mover farther east today, but it was a very wide, deep channel which would provide an excellent anchorage.  We soon passed under the West Port Arthur Bridge, and by 1345 were at the Sabine Pass ship channel.  This was a fairly busy intersection, and we proceeded on east behind a large ship which turned off into the Neches River to head for Port Neches or Beaumont.  We crossed that same intersection at 1500, and continued east in the ICW.  By 1545 we had passed Shell Island, and turned back in to enter East Pass between Shell Island and the small island adjacent to the ICW where we would anchor.  We anchored near the north side of Shell Island about 40 yards from shore in 13 feet of water.  This is a delightful anchorage, and depending on the location selected could provide shelter in almost any weather conditions.  I did spotlight the edge of the thick reeds before bedtime looking for alligators, but did not see any red eyes peering at us.  Perhaps after a long day I did not persist late enough into the evening…