Creative Texan gifts for the holidays

Texas is home to a huge boating community ported out of Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi and plenty of destinations along the coast. The state also sports more than 367 miles of coastline along the Gulf of Mexico and many more when you add all the bays and the Laguna Madre. This holiday season give your favorite Texan boater a gift from their home waters that’ll stroke his Texas pride and simultaneously support the state’s local businesses.

Sea Dart Boats
Boatbuilding is an evolutionary process and Texan craftsmen are reaching back to traditional wooden boats and joining them to modern styles to create hybrid designs that serve the creeks and near shore waters of the state. Craftsman David Escobedo of Escobedo Boatworks is doing this on the outskirts of San Antonio in the one-horse town of Buda, Texas. His Sea Dart is a 16-foot lapstrake-type build—a type of creek boat ideal for lake, creek fishing and hunting redfish along the coast—that combines the look of a canoe and a kayak. seadartboat.com

Tom Sterne has been building custom surfboards since 1997. His handcrafted boards are specifically geared to handle the Gulf’s “slower” wave action. Photo: Third Coast Surfboards

Third Coast Surfboards
Not only is there a Texas Gulf Surfing Association, but only a few miles inland from the barrier islands along Texas’ long Gulf Coast in Victoria, Tom Sterne has been building custom surfboards since 1997. His handcrafted boards are specifically geared to handle the Gulf’s “slower” wave action rolling onto South Padre Island with a flatter bottom. thirdcoastsurf.com

Texas Rums
It’s a cliché for a reason—boaters and sailors enjoy rum whether mixed with tropical fruit for “boat drinks,” with soda water or simply enjoyed neat. These days Texas is exploding with artisanal rum distilleries that produce anything from pecan to vanilla flavored rums with many using ingredients and sugarcane from Texas and Louisiana. No. 4 St. James (a Texas lifestyle brand) has a good Texas-sized spread of these tipples for exploration. fourstjames.com

Books for boating
Texas has a long and fascinating maritime history and is ideal reading material when at anchor and enjoying a fine Texas rum. Books such as From Buffalo Bayou to Galveston Bay: The History of the Houston Yacht Club by Dora F. Akkerman; From Sail to Steam: Four Centuries of Texas Maritime History by Richard V. Francaviglia, or Corpus Christi: A History by Murphy Givens and Jim Moloney are fascinating reads and delve into the deep history of the Texas Coast. Most can be found at your local bookseller or online.

Guayabera Crew Shirts
Whether your significant “skipper” races in Galveston Bay, Corpus Christi or in the Great Texas 300, their closet is likely filled with piles of crew shirts that are collecting dust. Shake things up with an embroidered and custom shirt inspired by the folk traditions of the Yucatán and Cuba from Dos Carolinas out of San Antonio that sports the boat’s name. doscarolinas.com/guayaberas

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating, December 2015

Motherships Expeditions

Dean Gladney has been running his 65-foot custom charter boat Beachwater II south into the Mississippi Sound from Biloxi for 35 years. She belongs to a group of eight similar vessels, dubbed the Chandeleur boats (aka motherships) that make the unique run to Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands and the Breton National Wildlife Refuge for what Gladney describes as a “paradise of fishing.”

The Chandeleur boats are unique in that they act as mobile headquarters with six or more 14-foot skiffs loaded on board and are able to tow their charter’s personal boats for long three-day tours of nonstop fishing and camaraderie for up to 12 people. The spacious Beachwater II has the feel of a rustic fishing camp, and Gladney’s three-man crew cleans the days’ hauls of redfish, speckled trout and flounder, and cooks massive amounts of some of the finest Gulf Coast meals imaginable. They take care of everything—all you have to do is catch the fish.

“The Chandeleurs really are a paradise even though they have been ravaged by hurricanes over the last 30 years and are a quarter of their size now,” says Gladney, who at 22 years old started working as a deckhand for his father in 1979. His institutional fishing knowledge of the area is unrivaled. “There are so many coves, little bayous, points, and grassy habitats out there that are magnets for these fish, and when they turn on, boy, do they turn on,” Gladney says. “In the late summer we get my charters out on the Gulfside beaches for surf fishing.”

Ideal for large groups of friends or families, the motherships are a sensational way to spend a long weekend. The sunsets are spectacular on the large stern deck or on the bow for stargazing, socializing or hanging down below for poker games late into the night in the rarely visited and out-of-cellphone coverage Chandeleur Islands. In the spring, thousands of pelicans and other sea birds come to the island chain for nesting, but if the shoreline beach combing is ideal their real goal is fishing.

It’s a unique experience running the little skiffs out from the mothership up into the marsh shallows with an ice chest and then drifting along the shore until you find that one perfect spot where the fish start biting. Since you’re never far from the floating base, it’s truly a relaxed fishing expedition without the worry of returning to the boat launch to get home in time for supper.

This is the last month of the season that started in April. It’s best to book early—Beachwater II and the other Chandeleur boats fill up quickly with many repeat customers extending their trips by staying at the casinos adjacent to the marinas. “It’s really just been a good life out here on the water and helping so many people see and explore these islands with me,” says Gladney reflecting on his years aboard Beachwater II.

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating, November 2015

Texas’ Flower Garden Banks

The Gulf of Mexico is a true tropical sea and one of the deepest bodies of water in the world. From the height of a cruise ship, one might not notice that the electric blue expanse is teaming with life from aquatic animals such as giant Kemp-Ridley turtles and recently discovered 55-foot-long Baleen whales. Stirred by the Great Loop Current that flies between Cuba and Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula at over four knots, this current eventually becomes the Gulf Stream that affects the weather and ecology as far away as England. However, this warm current also throws off giant eddies into the Gulf and feeds one of the most unique ecosystems in North America—the Flower Garden Banks.

Located a little over 100 miles offshore of Galveston, Texas, the Flower Garden is the most unique and extensive coral reef system in all of North America and considered to be the most pristine in the entire Western Hemisphere due to its relative remote location. Designated a Marine Sanctuary in 1992 by the U.S., this flourishing ecosystem is made possible by giant underground salt domes that push up the deep, featureless seabed to within 60 feet of the surface and allow an undersea oasis of tropical life. The nearest coral reef is 400 miles south along the coast of Mexico and as such, it has become a secret scuba-diving magnet and cruising layover in the Gulf of Mexico by boat owners in the know.

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First discovered by fishermen in the late 1800s who suddenly noticed bright, vibrant colors beneath the waves, this marine sanctuary is now known to harbor more than 20 species of tropical corals and over 180 species of fish. Comprised of three separate salt domes that rise up and plateau, the largest expands out over 250 acres. As a designated marine sanctuary, fishing and anchoring are not allowed by law, however, there are three mooring fields that are available to transient cruisers in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico where the depths below them explode in color.

As a well-known overnight scuba-diving site, charters and private boats tend to visit on two- or three-day excursions primarily in the summer when the water is over 80 degrees. As such, mooring availability may get a bit tight. For cruisers who do not dive, it’s still a unique destination in the great expanse of the Gulf of Mexico to tie up and enjoy the blue waters where colors rise from the depths and the stars follow after sunset. February is also a heavily visited month due to the hordes of thousands of hammerhead sharks that transit the banks annually.

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating April 2015

The south Texas coast launches a new draw for curious cruisers.

The Laguna Madre is an unheralded and stunning cruising ground running along most of the 367 miles of Texas’ coastline. Lined with barrier islands, the vast stretch from Corpus Christi south to the Mexican border is a postcard of undeveloped dunes and massive cattle ranches such as the enormous and legendary King Ranch. Best known as a Spring Break destination, South Padre Island and Port Isabel are frequented by cruisers in the know, but now they are primed to become a cruising destination for something unexpected—rocket launches.

Cruisers on the east coasts of Florida and Virginia have long understood the cruising appeal of anchoring in the designated locations for rocket or (in the past) space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, or the Wallops Island facility in Virginia. However, Texas billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX Corporation is constructing the first commercial orbital spaceport immediately south of Padre Island and Port Isabel and is expected to become operational in 2016. Local government officials are already in the planning phases to upgrade coastal parks and other viewing areas, including new boat ramps and mooring areas.

Located only 500 feet from the Boca Chica Beach on the Laguna Madre and the Gulf of Mexico, the site was originally a finalist for the Apollo moon launches before NASA selected Cape Canaveral in Florida. Only a few miles to the north, South Padre Island and the waterfront restaurants of Port Isabel will all see a boon to tourism as the launches will be easily visible from their decks, waterfront parks and campgrounds.

This past October, a wayward sailboat forced the scrubbing of an Antares rocket launch from
a NASA facility in coastal Virginia and the rocket subsequently exploded during the launch the next day. This boat violated the serious boating restrictions in place in the shadow of the launch trajectory, and while having no direct or indirect effect on the loss of the rocket, it makes the point of how serious NASA or private space corporations’ safety and security precautions are, and undoubtedly they will be in place in south Texas.

Rocket launches have always been a major draw for the curious and the enthusiasts with RV parks, motels and highways crowded with sightseers, but cruising down the pristine Laguna Madre in your Hatteras or Beneteau will be an ideal way to escape the traffic and congestion. Anchoring and grilling offshore with friends and family is one of the great boating experiences. Add to that the awe and anticipation of watching (and feeling) a heavy rocket launch or resupply missions to the International Space Station only brings the added depth of witnessing space exploration while conducting your own cruising explorations into new territory.

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating February 2015

Is the Lone Star State’s Cruising Scene Running Dry?

Texas, like much of the West, has been battling ferocious droughts for much of this decade. The effects are cascading throughout the boating world as some reservoirs used by recreational cruisers become severely depleted and rivers that feed the estuaries dry up and negatively influence the breeding grounds for fish and commercial seafood harvests. With the insatiable thirst from growing cities such as Houston and Austin, there simply isn’t enough water to go around and fights are brewing between economic interests built up around these reservoirs, cities, commercial fishing, and farming.

The effects are severe enough that many sailing and boating organizations regularly post updates on water legislation alongside photos of regattas or fishing tournaments where lower water levels are clearly visible along shorelines. Lakes such as Ray Hubbard, Granbury and Nocona have reached record low water levels since their dams were constructed in the 1960s and Lake Whitney alone has dropped 13 feet. Public ramps on Lake Travis have been closed due to the low water levels, and marina operators have to shift boat slips further from shore and into deeper waters. Cruiser safety is also becoming an issue in some places as boats hit shallows or newly exposed debris causing significant damages to hulls or engines.

As rivers and creeks dry up, so do the estuaries that are the nursery grounds for redfish, speckled trout, black drum, and flounder. As saltwater moves in to replenish the depleted fresh water, entire ecosystems are being damaged. Gulf oysters that normally thrive in the bays from Port Aransas to Galveston are taking huge hits from the hyper-salinity levels that are occurring. The effects are beginning to reverberate throughout the $17 billion tourism economy along the Texas Gulf Coast in higher costs and smaller recreational and commercial fishing hauls.

Texans recently voted to dip into a $2 billion “rainy day” fund in order to create new reservoirs, water pipelines and to fund new conservation projects. While not as heavily affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, Texas could also reap another billion dollars from impending fines against BP, and these funds should go directly into coastal conservation and reconstruction projects. However, individuals have expressed concern that some of this money could be redirected towards projects that have nothing to do with environmental restoration, just as Alabama recently did by directing millions from these penalties toward a hotel project.

Texas has a unique boating culture that has grown up around these reservoirs, and combined with the state’s already wild and beautiful rivers and coastline, every effort should be made to not sacrifice them for the sake of water intensive lawns or even rice farming. While Texas is faring better than states such as California, which is being ravaged by drought, it is crucial to protect the waters that make Texas such a beautiful state for all boating activities.

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating December 2014

Zebra mussels invade Texas

Invasive species are a very real threat and a menace to natural ecosystems across the planet, and the lionfish is one that has garnered a lot of public and media attention as of late. However, a new foreign scourge is rampaging through the lakes of Texas and has forced strict new boating and fishing guidelines in an effort to halt its spread.

The zebra mussel was imported from its natural Eurasian habitat into the Great Lakes around 1988 and has since spread rapidly down through the Mississippi waterway. Preferring still or slow moving bodies of water, their larvae can be easily transferred via rivers, bait wells or bilges and survive in this stage for up to 30 days and allows their population to multiply aggressively.

With colonies large and concentrated enough to actually sink buoys with their weight over time, the Zebra Mussels adhere themselves to keels, boat trailers, pilings—basically any solid structure under water. Very difficult to remove from even the hull of a boat, the mussels can damage or block any water system on a vessel including heads, air conditioners and engine cooling systems. On a larger scale, the mussel colonies are specifically wreaking havoc with drainage, irrigation, cooling supplies for power plants, and pipes for local water supplies. The colonies bloom out and adhere to each other and block these larger water intake and discharge systems similar to blocked arteries. The environmental damage to local ecosystems is also radical, with entire populations of fish dying off due to the large colonies of mussels’ ability to alter the temperature of lakes via their natural filtration of the water columns.

One of the many efforts the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are using to control the Zebra mussels. Photo credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.

Already discovered in Lake Texoma, Lewisville Lake, Lake Belton, and multiple others across Texas, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department began enforcing new regulations that went into effect over the summer. Applying to flatboats, skiboats, personal watercraft, sailboats, kayaks/canoes or any vessel of any size—whether powered or not—owners must now flush and clean all livewells, bilges, motors or any other item or machine that comes into contact with public waters, a good boating habit to begin with.

With their larvae capable of transiting in any standing water from one lake to another, cruisers are now the first line of defense in staving off infestation between bodies of water throughout the country. Already discovered in California and even Utah with recreational boats the likely transportation, cruisers throughout the South must become vigilant or the millions of dollars already being spent throughout the Great Lakes region on removal and eradication will surely arrive on lakes across the Gulf Coast—along with higher boating fees necessary to pay for the damage.

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating October 2014

Craftsmen in Texas Revive the Art of Boatbuilding

The Gulf Coast has a long history of artisanal boatbuilding that stretches back to when it was first settled. Marrying Native American designs with European influences and tools birthed entire classes of boats uniquely suited to regional waterways all along the coast. With the arrival of fiberglass and the consolidation of boatbuilding into large corporate enterprises, many traditions and generational knowledge were on the verge of being lost. However, there is a recent resurgence of artisanal builders with legacies and techniques being rediscovered that result in gorgeous, fully functional nearshore and inshore boats ideal for these coastlines.

In southern Louisiana, French colonists quickly learned that their deep-hulled European vessels were not navigable in the naturally shallow bayous, so they adopted the designs of the Indians’ flat-bottomed, 16-foot boats that were carved and burned out of single cypress logs. As these pirogue (pee-rouge) developed and became the standard for trappers and fishermen, eventually cypress planks were used to significantly drop weight and further the boats’ maneuverability in shallow marshes.

Today, Cajun craftsmen like Tony Latiolais of Henderson, Louisiana, in the Atchafalaya Basin utilize “sinker” cypress logs reclaimed from the bottom of bayous and logged swamps. Other builders like Keith Felder of Denham Springs, Louisiana, are constructing them out of marine-grade plywood and finishing with cypress. Stacked on board powerboats, these boats are prized possessions that allow duck hunting enthusiasts to enter shallow ponds and sloughs off the deeper bayous. They are now being revisited by anglers who tackle the incredibly productive fishing grounds of the Louisiana marsh and are ideal for cruisers looking to explore shallower, protected bayous.

Boatbuilding is an evolutionary process and Texan craftsmen are joining traditional wooden boats with modern styles to create hybrid designs that serve the creeks and near-shore waters of their state. Craftsman David Escobedo of Escobedo Boatworks is doing this on the outskirts of San Antonio in the one-horse town of Buda, Texas. His boat Sea Dart is a 16-foot lapstrake-type build that combines the look of a canoe and a kayak ideal for lake or creek fishing, as well as hunting redfish along the coast.

Arrowhead Custom Boats in Austin, Texas, is another wooden boatbuilder helmed by David Nichols, who has long embraced the art and traditions of classic construction. His boats range from traditional canoes to ideal fly-fishing platforms.

Part of the resurgence of these wooden shallow-draft boats and classic Gulf Coast boats like the Lafitte Skiff were initiated by the determination of organizations such as the Center for Traditional Louisiana Boatbuilding and wooden boat festivals such as the hugely popular celebration in Madisonville, Louisiana. Small maritime museums like the one in Port Aransas, Texas, are also determined to re-introduce these skills and knowledge. Many of these organizations conduct traditional boatbuilding classes and are reviving these old processes and designs, which are creating a new legacy of hobbyists and entrepreneurs who are constructing beautiful heirloom paddleboats.

By Harlan Leslie, Southern Boating August 2014