Biloxi Waterfront, Looking West
The weather has broken. It was nice not waking up to a cacophony of slapping halyards, hail, and thunderstorms.
The dock master had an interesting story: a waterspout went through the Marina yesterday. No worries though, it missed Nellie by at least one hundred yards :-0
When leaving port I find myself wondering how large the seas will be. It turns out that a fair gauge can be had by simply observing the vessels moving around in port. It's going to be rough if only commercial fisherman are moving. It's moderate if the sports fishermen are moving too. Finally, expect seas of glass if the recreational boats are heading out. Today, just the commercial fleet was moving.
Biloxi to Gulfport, Mississippi
Gulfport, today's destination, is the second largest city in Mississippi; only the capital, Jackson, is larger. The strong north winds were really stirring things up. We minimized Nellie's motion by keeping one foot on the beach. At no point were we more than a mile off the shoreline. Our route, as indicated by the red line above, follows the 8' depth contour.
Evidence of Katrina is everywhere but redevelopment seems farther along than in Biloxi. There are huge ships and shore side structures supporting the oil and gas business. I wonder if the dramatic fall in crude prices is portending a financial hurricane for Gulfport.
Beignets and Cafe Au Lait--Yum
It was a 'baby steps' day. Still, we made 14nm in the right direction and now have gone 862nm to date. DBH
