Hurricane Ike Update

I just wanted to post a quick update on all my family living down in Texas. As some of you know my parents live 25% of their time on a 40ft sailboat in Galveston, TX. Thankfully they safely rode out the storm in their 3rd level apartment in Sugar Land which is about 40 miles inland. They along with most everyone in the storms path are currently without power. There were a lot of downed trees and powerlines and major flooding in most areas. Yesterday after a majority of the storm had past they made the drive down to the Harbor Walk Marina through a lot of high water and past tons of debris and destruction. The scene at the Marina was extremely heartbreaking for my parents. About 50% of the boats (many boats estimated in the millions) were either under water, stranded on land or sitting stacked on top of other boats that were now completely submerged. Much to their surprise their boat Yaga was mercifully still tied to the dock floating above water (thankfully they have floating docks plus my dad is an expert at tying knots). She made it through the storm in one piece but was pretty banged up…she’s got lots of cracks and cosmetic damage in the fiberglass on the hull and her sails were completely ripped to shreds. My parents are so thankful that their beloved home was spared because a lot of there friends at the Marina were not as fortunate. Not wanting to make the dangerous drive back to town they stayed the night on the boat…one bonus is that Yaga has a tank full of clean water and a generator so at least they had power. The initial report from my mom is that the rest of my family in Dickinson, Pasadena and up north in Huntsville and Trinity made it through the storm safely with relatively low property damage. Due to power outages and busy cell signals I have yet to hear from my friends from our old neighborhood in Clear Lake which by all news accounts was hit rather hard with high winds and storm surge.

Our hearts are sad today for the island of Galveston. Most of my childhood memories were made on that island as were a lot of wonderful memories with my own children: Mardi Gras, my grandpa teaching me how to water-ski in Offets Bayou, 4th of July fireworks over the water, fishing at San Luis pass, eating at Shrimp and Stuff, my grandparents house on Tiki Island, Moody Gardens…I could go on and on. Also as I have mentioned in early posts Galveston is the sight were two very special marriage proposals took place…my parents and my own. John bought the little sea shell ring he initially proposed to me with at Murdoch's, our favorite surf shop that was out over the water…that shop is now completely gone.

My mom will send me her pictures once she has internet access and I'll post them here as soon as I get them…in the meanwhile here are just a few of our Galveston and Clear Lake pictures from the past.

Murdochs we'll miss you!!