Greetings,

It has been some time since my last update, and a lot has been happening to the crew of DREAM AWAY. I will fill you in on the most significant event, and then go back and fill in on our activities since the May 27th update.

I have moved the Rat Catcher page to the General Boat and Family Pictures page. There are no changes to the page because it is still very difficult for us to read about the Rat Catcher. The reason for the move is we have acquired two Birman kittens. Please go to the Kittens Aboard page and read about the newest DREAM AWAY crew members.

I am still working on getting an update to the web page about our trip from Georgetown, SC to Delcambre, LA. It should be ready in a week or two. But, I really wanted to get the update about the two new crew members out soonest!

If you remember from the May 27th update, we were settled in the new North Pier Marina in Delcambre. While Kitty was making arrangements for our slip at the North Pier Marina, she mentioned to the Port Director, that, if he needed any help, he could call on her. Well, to make a long story short, he did call on her, they had an interview, and she is now the part-time Marketing Manager for three markets for the Port of Delcambre. One market is managing the Shrimp Market by helping the local shrimpers to get their catches recognized on the Delcambre Direct Seafood web page, and selling them off of their boats. The second market involves establishing a Seafood and Farmers’ Market here in Delcambre. And the third market is to market the marina to cruisers. This is a part-time job for her, but she is really putting in a lot of time on the various projects. She is having a wonderful time, and meeting a lot of neat people in Delcambre. We were even in the newspaper.

We are actually having a great time living in Delcambre. It is truly small town America, Cajun style! To give a quick example, check out the local Cajun Meat Store, Shawn's. We are going to stay at the North Pier Marina, because part of Kitty's job is to encourage cruisers to stop at the marina when they are traveling via the GIWW to Texas, Florida and The Bahamas.

We were very lucky with hurricane Isaac. The storm passed east of us, so we did not have bad winds, or very much rain. We set out extra lines, and took all of the "windage" stuff off of the boat.

The day before the storm, I went to the fuel dock and topped off the fuel tanks so we could run the generator for an extended period of time if the town lost electricity. The strange thing that happened was that all of the water went out of the canal, on which the marina is located, and we were sitting in the mud! The town’s electricity did go out, but because we were in the mud, all of the thru-hulls were filled with mud so we could not run the generator, AC, or refrigeration. The day after the storm, the water came back in. Then we had to back-flush all of the thru-hulls to get the mud out. By the time we got all of that completed, the town’s electricity was back on, so no need for the generator. It was nice to get the AC and the refrigeration running again.

I am pretty much in the same employment situation as I was back in May, unemployed. I am sending out resumes at least three a week. I have attended training classes in Morgan City, Louisiana, at South Central Louisiana Technological College, and in Pasadena, Texas, at San Jacinto College to add endorsements to my USCG license. Hopefully, these will make me a better candidate for hire with the various crew boat companies.

I am actually working on a “spot” crew boat job for my previous company, Coastal Crewboats. A "spot" job is a temporary position that could be any amount of time … one day or a month, or more. But it is not a permanent position. This particular "spot" job is supposed to be for two weeks. I am docked in Morgan City, Louisiana, doing what is called rig tending. A drilling rig is being installed about 15 miles up the Atchafalaya river. Our job is to run the boat with people and supplies back and forth from Morgan City to the new rig. The supplies are mostly small stuff, usually under four tons. The big stuff is hauled by barges and tow boats. We have not seen the actual location as yet as the drilling rig is not yet in place. It will be moved to the site on Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, I am still hoping for a full time job.

As usual, if you find any glaring errors, please let me know. In the mean time, stay in touch.

regards,

jimk

Member Seven Seas Cruising Association

WEB page http://www.dreamaway.net