Red Fish Island

[dilast1]

I've finaly found the cordinates for Red Fish Island.

I was wondering is there any rules about the island that I may need to know?

Would like to know if there are up to date depth charts?

What about spending the night on the island or sleeping on the boat anchored vs  a tent on the island...

Thanks
Tom

[Charles]

Several months ago, they were dredging and building up Redfish.  Don't think I would want to camp on the island, mostly because of the wind.  You should be able to anchor in the lee of the island (west side) and have pretty flat water but still have some anti-mosquito breeze.  According to the latest chart, the five ft. contour gets fairly close to the island.
Charles

[dilast1]

Thanks charles, we decided to sail out there this past Sunday.  Just happens that Silver bullet was at the dock so I asked him for advice.  He gave me great advice and other good information too. 

[Danny]

It's been a while since I sailed the bay and I'll be bring a new boat home in the next two weeks.  Any hints?   

[Charles]

How deep is the draft?

[Danny]

Five and a half....

[Charles]

You should be OK in most places on the bay. To be safe, just stay in the Kemah channel till you get out past #4.

[Bee]

Stinger (J105) draws 6.5 feet and can get into Red Fish just fine.  Have to pay attention to water levels, and the marker at the entrance but other then not getting too close to the island itself, getting in and out is not a problem.

[Danny]

What I am trying to do is get around it.  Looking at the charts, marker 60 seems to be the mark to head for to get around it and into the ship channel.  Is that correct?

[gwittich]

Correct. The heading from markers 3 or 1 of the Clear Creek Channel to green marker 59 of the Houston Ship Channel is approximately 90 degrees.
As you approach the ship channel you may want to look out for markers 8, 6 and 5 of the South Cut, which will lead you across the ship channel into Trinity Bay.
If you decide to cross over, it is advisable to stay within this channel, because there are shoals along the east side of the ship channel.
Regarding Redfish Island, it is safe to approach it from the NW - looking out for rigs and rig remnants - but I recommend that you do not try to pass the island to its SW side.

GW

[Bee]

Ahh.  Did not understand.  Herr Wittich is correct.  Both S and SW of Red Fish have issues.

[Danny]

Thanks all, it seems the way around redfish has not really changed at all in a long time.

Bee, just wondering, have you ever owned a Santana 30/30?  Just wondering...

Thanks again guys...

[Bee]

Yup.  Owned the Santana 3030 GP Sea Bee.  Sail #33861.  Still fond of that boat.  Traded it in for a J105 -- Stinger.

[Grind4Beer]

The area between Red Fish and Eagle Point (old-timers call it Todd's Dump) can be great for fishing, but not so good for even medium-size keelboats. Take a look at NOAA chart 11326 to get the general layout, but don't use it as up to date, because every big storm or surge shifts the bottom around. The next time there's a stiff northerly for a couple of days, drive down to San Leon, sometimes there's enough shoal exposed to be educational ...

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html
(Go to the Gulf Coast page, then scroll down the list of charts.)

Like Bee and GW said, stay north of Redfish going in or out of the ship channel from the west side, marker 59 is usually okay. If the water is low, use the marked South Boater's Cut north of 61/62, especially if you head into the eastern parts of the bay. (Also, Dwight reported the east side of the North Boater's Cut as too silted up for Bay Cup the last couple of years.)

G4B