Philip Kropf Cruise Leader
Laid-back cruise to Bayland Marina
(and with an always-fun afternoon “Goose Creek Dinghy Excursion”)
(and with evenings at O’Neal’s Sportsbar & Grill)
June 26-28, 2026
This cruise was originally organized for us to be there at Bayland to watch some of the Texas Outlaw Challenge mariners arrive at Bayland on Saturday morning as one of the stops on their “Gunslinger Poker Run” event. But as you may have heard, the Texas Outlaw Challenge for this year has been cancelled, and so the agenda has now been modified.
In order to have been there for the arrival of the go-fast boats fairly early on Saturday morning, it was recommended that cruisers headed up that way on Friday afternoon. That obviously is not necessary anymore, although you might still wish to make this a two-night cruise. And so for those arriving on Friday, we can probably do a little Happy Hour on the docks, and then head up to O’Neal’s for some evening fun of dinner, live music (see below), drinking cold beer, and watching the sun set behind the Fred Hartmann Bridge.
During several past Outlaw Challenge Cruises, the planned Saturday afternoon activity was the “Goose Creek Dinghy Excursion”. This exploration was a cruise feature which I “invented” all the way back in 2001 when there just wasn’t much to do there at Bayland on hot summer afternoons! I led that fun event every year for the next several years and there was always great participation. Goose Creek is a close-by waterway which bisects the city of Baytown, and it is an interesting channel to explore. So bring those dinghies, and after we have had our morning coffee, we will get organized and spend a couple of hours in the late morning (before it gets too awfully hot!) cruising up Goose Creek. (Photos from three previous runnings of this activity, in 2012, 2015, and 2017, can be seen by clicking here, here, and here.)
O’Neal’s Sportsbar & Grill (click here and here) opened in June 2018, and at that point it had been a very long time since Bayland Marina had a venue onsite such as O’Neal’s, where one could go for dinner, and/or just some cold beers at the bar out under the palapa. The food is good, the beer is cold, and the view of passing ships in the HSC, and especially of the Fred Hartman Bridge cannot be beat, especially at sunset! And for the weekend on which we will be there, they do have live music scheduled for both Friday (click here) and Saturday (click here) nights.
TMCA has a very long history of cruising to Bayland, and that is ever since it first opened in the mid-90s! It is a fine weekend destination due to its relatively short (10.5nm) distance from Clear Lake, and with its great docks, plenty of electric plug-ins, clean restrooms, and ship’s store, it is well worth cruising to! There have been a couple of recent Bayland cruises where there were some water depth issues, but looking at the tide predictions for the weekend (re: below), I do not think that anyone should have any access problems. And if you can’t make the trip on Friday, just come on Saturday
My “Navigation to Bayland Marina” destinations file, which includes waypoints and other important information is available by clicking here. Slip fees at Bayland are $1.50/ft per night, payable at the ship’s store.
Registration for this cruise will soon get underway on the TMCA website and I am hoping for a nice turnout for a fun cruise to Bayland Marina!
Philip Kropf
s/v Silhouette
713-598-6454
pkropf@flash.net
NOTE: Tim Marshall will be the co-Cruise Leader for this cruise and will step up to the plate and take my place if cruising conditions are not to my liking, this for an 83-year-old single-handing sailor who probably has no business being out on the bay by himself at this point in his life!
Such limiting conditions could include (but not be limited to…) “excessive” wind (I don’t do 15-20 anymore!!), lightning and waterspouts (no one should be out there for those!), and heat sufficient enough to potentially cause heat stroke (hyperthermia)!
Even though the admonition of “Captain Ron” was always: If it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen out there!”, I just don’t want any of this to happen to me!!!
