Ornery, adverse, pesky, and downright mean are just a few of the words to describe this body of water that is fraught with weird currents and steep waves. But we had to cross it once again if we wanted to get to the South Texas coast where we'll stay for awhile; visiting children and grandchildren, and also greeting a new adopted granddaughter from China, soon to be a beloved part of our family.

So off we went April 10th, leaving from Key Largo, Florida. This time we had the luxury and joy of having my daughter, Erika, with us as crew. An experienced sailor, she was an asset to the boat and we spent many hours laughing and telling sailing lies - I mean stories. And for the first time we weren't sailing short-handed. We stood one four-hour watch and then had eight hours off. That is unheard of on Tigger and I smiled with happiness at the thought of a full night's sleep. It was everything I hoped for in the sleep department, but after all these years of our own brand of watch keeping, it was rather disorienting to have so much time on my hands.

But there were delightful surprises as on every trip. Dolphins by the hundreds came to visit and came on days when the seas were calm enough that we could go to the bow and call and talk to them. We also were crossing the migration path of several North American songbirds as they came home after wintering in Central and South America. Several Palm Warblers and several Barn Swallows landed on Tigger and took a rest before heading north again. A measure of their exhaustion was that they were not afraid of us, and hopped about the cockpit, landing on our shoulders and heads.

Sailors always worry about storms in the Gulf, but the biggest trial was not too much wind, but the lack of wind. We burned much more fuel than we normally do, and fretted about fuel consumption on the windless days. However, as we neared the entrance to Matagorda Bay, a thunderstorm pounced. We had an anxious hour with lightning around us, and blinding rain. But then mercy was granted and we motored through the channel - under heavy dark clouds but no rain - and the seas as benign as they probably get in that channel.

Another 20 miles across the bay to Palacios, and we were at our new home at the Serendipity Marina, which is proving to be one of the more delightful stops in our gypsy life. We will stay here for hurricane season and then look south to Mexico and Belize and other quiet places in the northwest Caribbean.

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