I cannot resist taking another sunset photo from a very nice Sunday.
Tag: Lake Travis
Upriver.
It was another beautiful day. Clear blue sky, temps in the 60s. We went back out to the lake for a sail with Teri and Jim. The lake is at 628.23′. Up about 10 feet from our low this year. Not nearly enough, but I can tell the difference.
Keep it coming!
This is a shot of the breakwater in front of Lakeway Marina as we sailed past.
Ace & Deuce.
Our friends Teri and Jim are visiting us this weekend – some of our good sailing buddies who moved out of state a couple years ago. We had a fun reunion party last night. Today we went to the lake and anchored out for a few fun hours. We made it back to the marina in time for a pretty sunset sky. The moon is the nearly full Cold Moon.
Sunday, funday.
The skies never cleared last night. So, even though the Leonids might have been shooting across the sky, and the ISON comet should have been visible before sunrise, we didn’t get a chance to see them. Another time.
We sailed a bit this afternoon, but the winds were slacking during the day. Made it home in time to listen to the Seahawks win their game against the Vikings. 10 & 1, BABY! 😀
This is a shot of Dancer, today, as she dropped sail and headed for the marina in light winds.
Orange you wishing you were here?
Saturday on the lake. Raftup with Kurt & Kevin on Dancer. What a glorious sunset sky.
The full moon rose as the sun set.
If the clouds break we might get a glimpse of the Leonids meteor shower or the comet ISON.
Four month high.
We rafted up last night with Lori, Dave & Jake on Camelot, and Rory & Greg on Sapphire. It was a fun night in the cove, as usual. It’s a treasure, to me… time spent with friends, just sitting outside, on a boat, on a pleasant evening, playing music, dancing a little, and chatting and making one another laugh.
After the rain of the last month the lake is actually up about 7 feet. The bulk of the deluges that hit Austin missed the basin that feeds the lake, so we are up only 7 feet instead of 20 or 30 feet. At 625.5′, Lake Travis is back up to what it was 4 months ago. My blog post on July 6th included a shot of the cove at the same level as it is today. On that day, 625.5′ was a 50 year low, and dropping. Today it’s a 4 month high. I’ll take it, though. Keep praying for rain.
This is a shot I took of Nirvana at anchor, as I was paddling around the cove this morning.
Paddlin’ round.
It got a little chilly on the boat overnight. I fired up the oven this morning to bake scones and that warmed things up.
I got in the water today with Colleen. Brrrrr! The water temp was 73. That may very well be a record for me – latest dip in the lake: October 26!
Colleen took the kayak for a spin. Then we sailed for a bit. A nice day!
Lake bound.
Hit the lake after work with Colleen and Julie. We’re anchoring out tonight.
Saw two of these flying contraptions. One of them flew right by us as we were sailing and circled the mast.
Later, yet another stunning Lake Travis sunset.
A (more specific) prayer for rain.
I’m very happy to see all the rain that has been sent our way. It’s an answer to countless prayers over the last few years of severe drought in Central Texas. I’m sure the Austin City Limits music festival-goers are bummed about yesterday’s cancellation, but they did have an extra weekend of music to enjoy this year.
My trees and lawn are drinking in this much needed water. It’s truly a gift.
However, the rain this week and in the year past seems to fall where it flows into the creeks and river below the lakes. Onion Creek is raging right now, having received 6-10 inches in the last few days. Barton Creek and Williamson Creek were flooding for the same reason, but all of them dump into the Lower Colorado river below the Highland Lakes. E.g,:
I see that there is more rain in the forecast for this week. So, more thanks in advance for that. But I’m sending a humble prayer for that rain to drop in the Lake Travis watershed. Right over Marble Falls and Burnet would be simply awesome. Or even a bit southwest of that, in Fredericksburg, Johnson City or thereabouts would be fantastic, as all that rain would end up in the Pedernales River, which feeds into Lake Travis.
After all the rain in the past week, Lake Travis is up only 2′. And I do sincerely appreciate every drop that ends up in the lake. But we need to come up more like 50-60′. So, I’m praying for it to dump buckets of rain in the shaded are below. That would be divine. Seriously divine.
I have another prayer for better management of our lakes and water reserves than what the LCRA has provided over the last decade or so, but I’ll leave that for another day. Just please keep the rain coming.
Amen,
Sheila
Sunday sunrise.
Hello September, and… good morning! One of the nice things about anchoring in Arky cove is that you are treated to beautiful sunset and sunrise views – this was the view off the port-side of Nirvana, as I was drinking my morning coffee.
Back at the marina, we popped into Shades for lunch for the last time this season, after this weekend they close up shop until next spring. This is the sobering view of the marina from the restaurant. The lake is at 620′ and some change. Just 6 feet from the all-time low for Lake Travis of 614.18′ in August of 1951. Less than 3 years ago, the lake was brimming at 680+ with the lakewater lapping the parking lot. With the LCRA’s mismanagement of this incredible natural resource, and with no rain in the future, we’re sure to go much lower than that this year. All docks are now moved out, off-shore, accessible via shuttles that leave from the courtesy dock. No electricity or water on the docks for the forseeable future. This is sad, not only because we love playing on the lake, but scary because this is Austin’s drinking water supply, quickly disappearing downstream.
Pray for rain.
Saturday sunset.
A three day weekend! Yep, you guessed it, we headed to the lake. Lori and Dave anchored out with us. Here’s our favorite spot at sunset, the view off the starboard side of Nirvana.
We layed on the deck and played ipod wars ’til we couldn’t keep our eyes open. The breezes were light all night, so we rigged the windscoop for the first time, and it worked great. We were very comfortable in the v-berth up front.
Goodbye, August!
Fair breezes.
We enjoyed a fun raft-up last night. It’s been a long time since we’ve had 5 boats rafted up overnight. Last night it was Monte and I on Nirvana. Nick, Isabel, Lorene and Dimitri on Kalliopi. Wally, Kurt and Kevin on Zen. Kirk and Lilly on La Cima del Cielo. And Brent and Lawrence on a Catalina 27 that came in under the veil of darkness before the near-full moon rose, so I didn’t catch their boat’s name. We played ipod wars into the wee hours. This morning we lounged around on deck and floated behind the boats till after noon. Then Nirvana and Kalliopi sailed down to Carlos & Charlie’s, and then turned around to make way back up to our slips. Isabel sent us this shot that they took on our way back to the marina.
Back at the marina we checked out the boat to make sure everything was ship-shape, since our docks are now offshore by nearly a mile. We will allegedly have power hooked up in a few weeks. We shall see. The lake is at about 621′. Terribly low. It’s no longer a lake. It’s just a windy river with lots of new hazards around every corner. I’m starting to think it will never rise again.
Joe came out visit with us on Nirvana for the afternoon. It was really nice to get a visit in with him.
A boatload of kids. Seriously.
Julie joined us on Nirvana for a raftup last night in Arky South with Rory & Greg on Sapphire. Kurt, Barbara and some of their friends came out on Dancer and tied up to us until after sunset. Nick & Isabel came motoring into the cove on Kalliopi right before sunset to join us. Even from a distance, we could see many people on the deck of their boat. As they came closer, we counted 14 teenagers + Isabel, Nick and Dmitri. Whoooa nelly, that’s a lot of people. And they were staying the night! It was a going away party for Morgan who is heading to college next week. Everyone had lots of fun. And we didn’t lose anyone! Never a dull moment. 🙂
Lovely day.
We headed to the lake today. Julie joined us. We saw Joe on the docks. And we floated with Rory and Greg for a bit in arky south. Tonight is a Texas Sailing raftup but have plans for tomorrow, so headed home tonight. I wish every day was a weekend. Cheers to my peeps. To those if you I haven’t seen in a while – I miss ya’ll !
We made it home in time to grill up some yummy grub,too.
Sheila365 