Bluewater highway has large section washed out between San Luis Pass and Surfside. Fingers of surf now slice through what once was blacktop. You can see where TXDOT has detoured traffic to the right of the road in the second picture. The new road goes right through someone's front yard.The devastation of Hurricane Ike on the Upper Coast of Texas is vast. We were blessed in that we only lost some fencing and a few shingles . There is some water damage due to water running down through the roof where the shingles were torn away. All in all, very minor damage and we are blessed.
There is a small subdivision called Treasure Island (TI) just West of San Luis Pass on Follet's Island. This place has been a meaningful part of my life. Four of my friends have houses on canals on the bayside and, while the houses were largely spared, all of the lower rooms were either swept away or severely damaged. My friend JG introduced me to saltwater fishing by taking me to Port O'Connor to fish with SS back in July 1995. As luck would have it, surf conditions were optimal and we limited out on trout. I was hooked. Since then, I have had more days than I could count on the water with JG. He essentially taught me the basics and left me to my own devices. He provided advise on request and let me figure much of it out.
SS met JG when they were teenagers. Their parents had houses in TI and these guys were turned loose on the bays and marshes. They are both very experienced and are great troubleshooters. I always feel confident when fishing or hunting with them that no matter what we encounter, we'll persevere. I am indebted to each of these fine gentlemen for introducing me to the salt. It may not have been life changing, but it was certainly life influencing.
Two other friends, ML and MS also have houses in TI. My friend CG had a contract on a house in TI and was supposed to close the day preceding Ike's landfall. Obviously, that was tabled but that underscores what a core place this is within the lives of me and my friends. Two more of my friends, BM and TB, met their wives at events hosted by my friends, JG and KW. Where did they meet? Yep, TI.
So whenever the request from SS and JG came in for assistance in getting their houses and belongings back in order, I and my other friends were quick to volunteer. We met at 8:00 AM on the frontage road of the Gulf freeway just South of Hwy 6. Boats and debris had now been pushed off the highway in great piles. We proceeded on to Galveston Island and piled on to the side of the West side of Gulf freeway near Tachmann street were an astounding number of sailboats, yachts, cruisers, and sportfishers were jammed against the shoreline. We exited onto 61st Street. as this is the most direct route to TI and we wanted to minimize the number of checkpoints we had to clear. Galveston still has a 6:00PM - 6:00AM curfew in effect. The street had been cleared for traffic with debris and boats piled onto the curb. I was anxious to see the beach. The water was superclean and green to the beach. There were gentle slow rolling ankle slappers rather than the waves I expected. A lulling gulf was lapping gently against the seawall with debris and rocks of seawall scattered about. A stark contrast, to say the least.
We drove through checkpoints West of the Seawall, Jamaica Beach, and San Luis Pass. When we passed the Western edge of Galveston, we began to see the devastation of the old subdivisions. It was shocking to see and difficult to describe. I can't begin to describe the damage to the houses, so I won't go into it. As for the landscape, the dunes were all knocked down. You could see the surf from anywhere. Next, all of the picnic tables from GISP had been cleared from Road 305 but were strewn about everywhere else. Now, we began to see the effects of Ike on the new houses. They seemed to hold up well but in many cases, three feet of sand was missing beneath the foundations of the beach houses.
The law in Texas is that the state owns the beach and whatever structures are on it. All houses forward of the vegetation /grass line become property of the state. There are huge million dollar homes that are suddenly in legal jeopardy. I'm sure they will fight to change this legislation, but I agree with the state's position. Seven Seas grocery and other longtime businesses have been totally destroyed. As we crossed San Luis Pass and were able to look at the surroundings from an elevated position, the view was both beautiful and disheartening. The beach has a number of new fingers in it and we lost a lot of beach front. The dunes were knocked down , but the new sand was clean and inviting. Compared to the usual mix of sargassum, driftwood, junk, etc. that normally lines the beach, the clean beach was beautiful. That mix of trash had been pushed up to the highway or into the bay.
After arriving at TI, we found heaps of debris amidst knee-high saltgrass that had washed beneath the houses. You could see the water line was at about 6 feet. After pulling washing machines, dryers, commodes, and lawn mowers out of the canals, we set about shoveling and sweeping debris washed out of the lower rooms. I don't have any idea how many contractor grade trash bags we filled, but there were a bunch. Ike left a little of the lower room walls that we knocked out and cleared. We swept the slabs and it looked clean again. A running joke was, "do we have any (whatever - wire cutters?) around?" "Yes", came the reply. "Look downstairs on the top right shelf." It was hilarious and worked multiple times since you're fighting a 10 year habit of running down the stairs to the lower room to retrieve whatever. The cleanup crew consisted of KW, SM, SS, JG, MS, JHH, BM, CG and son, DC and son, and my neighbor BW. BW selflessly volunteered to help after meeting JG and KW only a few times. I'm blessed to have such a good neighbor.
We took a break in the afternoon and JHH, CG and I drove towards Surfside. Bluewater highway had washed out and had been completely washed away in more places than not. TXDOT had already marked an alternate path and an instant road now meanders from the highway into someone's yard, onto the beach, and back onto the blacktop. It was an incredible sight. Again, the surf was small and inviting - a trout fisherman's dream. The beach was clean to the highway. At that point, the debris was stacked 6 feet high. Looking back toward the surf, I let the boys know that I had brought down a couple of rods and would like to fish on Sunday morning.
On Sunday, JG, JHH, and I hopped in the trucks and set off towards Surfside. After locating a spot of beach where a new finger of water ran deep onto the beach, we bailed out and headed toward the surf. I stayed on the beach and began casting in to the first gut. On my third cast, I got bit by a solid trout and thanked God for this moment. The trout shook her head and dislodged the hook from her mouth. That was my one and only strike in seventy-five minutes of fishing. JG had a blowup on his topwater but missed the fish. I suppose that he, like myself and JHH, was simply enjoying a beautiful sunrise into a cloudless sky over a flat ocean. It was one of the best that I have seen.
I always find wadefishing as a spiritual thing. I constantly pray and talk with God. I listen for that still small voice and seek His guidance. This morning was a restoration of my Saltwater Soul and I thank God for the opportunity. I saw no one else in the water for miles. It was just me and my friends. The beach was beautiful and Ike had washed up some exotic shells. I found one of the thickest that I have ever seen and it is larger than my hand. JG and JHH left to go back and I was left alone with my God and the ocean. I stand amazed at the power of the storm and meekness of the morning surf.
After a while, I decided to drive the beach as far East as I could to locate some sign of fish. The water looked too good for there not to be fish. I drove past a bunch of brown pelicans and terns sitting on the beach. They were waiting but not feeding. Continuing on, I found pelicans and gulls crashing bait. I hopped out of the truck and ran down into the surf. I cast out and within ten feet of my plug, a huge dolphin surfaced attacking bait. I yanked the plug away from him and reeled in, content to watch the dolphin and his following pod feed on the bait. No more casting for me today. All in all, one of the finest mornings that I have had in a while.
Location: Somewhere between Surfside and Treasure Island
Date fished: Sunday, Septmeber 28th
Lunar phase: 3 days after last quarter moon
Winds: none early, very light from the North
Water Condition: Trout green
Nautical Twilight 6:21 am
Moon Rise 6:29 am
Civil Twilight 6:48 am
Sunrise 7:12 am
Low Tide 10:00 am 0.68 ft.
High Tide 4:22 pm 1.46 ft.
Moon Set 6:43 pm
Sunset 7:09 pm
Civil Twilight 7:33 pm
Nautical Twilight 8:00 pm
Baits: JH threw a Blk/Chrm Superspook Jr; JHH threw a Pink Skitterwalk;
I threw a Blu/Chrm Skitterwalk and a Pumpkinseed/chart Corky Surf Devil with ball tail
Fish Caught: none
Currently Reading: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
No comments:
Post a Comment