Staycation – Port tour 

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Staycation – Port tour 

If you missed seeing the massive aircraft carriers Forrestal, Constellation and Saratoga towed to their final berths at the Port of Brownsville, you can still see these behemoths up close.  At least three Valley companies offer entertaining cruises of the Brownsville Ship Channel, taking you past the unique ship-breaking yards and the carriers as well as the shrimp basin and marine oil rigs under construction.

Trawlers are docked in the Shrimp Basin, just east of the Brownsville Ship Channel.
Trawlers are docked in the Shrimp Basin, just east of the Brownsville Ship Channel.

I boarded the Osprey at Pier 19 with 31 others, all of us excited about spending four hours on the water and taking a look at the nation’s largest ship-breaking hub.  Plentiful outdoor and upper deck seating allowed us to bask in the sun, enjoying the salt air and sights, while the large, enclosed and refurbished cabin provided a refuge during cloudy moments.

Christy Atkinson, who sailed for seven years as Pirate Queen Ruby on Port Isabel’s Black Dragon pirate ship, provided light-hearted, informative and audible commentary as the Osprey crossed the Laguna Madre and passed through the Long Island swing bridge (the only such bridge in Texas). She chatted about the Spanish shipwrecks in 1554 which spilled treasure onto the sands, the history of the original and current causeways, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

Osprey guide Christy Atkinson, right, provided information on the aircraft carrier Constellation which arrived at a shipbreaking yard in January.
Osprey guide Christy Atkinson, right, provided information on the aircraft carrier Constellation which arrived at a shipbreaking yard in January.

Soon we were slipping past the Customs and Border Patrol station and the homes on Long Island toward the monstrous submersible oil rig, whose tower is visible as you drive into Port Isabel from Highways 100 and 48.   Retrieved from the Gulf of Mexico, the mobile driller is temporarily beached not far from the permanently-beached Russian drilling ship and Texas Pack, where Gulf-caught shrimp are sorted and packed.

After the TIFT dock and the wharf for the submarine-pipe-laying ship, Subsea 7, Atkinson pointed out the islets ringed by mangroves and aflutter with gulls, black-necked stilts and herons. Soon the Osprey moved into the Intracoastal Waterway and turned into the 200-foot wide Brownsville Ship Channel, a marine highway 42 feet deep. From this point it is 15 miles to the Turning Basin at the Port.  Three shrimp boats with nets raised on trawler arms glided by, on their way to Brazos Santiago Pass and a month of shrimping.  Coastal plains bristled with Trecul’s yucca and cactus on both sides of the channel.  Two dolphins arched through the water and began riding our bow wave.

The Osprey turned to starboard to bring us into the Brownsville Shrimp Basin, the home port of 130 trawlers. We tied up to a dock, where a Zimco spokesman told us about shrimp boats:  how and where they catch shrimp and freeze them on board, their crews and equipment.  This fervent proponent of domestic, wild-caught shrimp handed over a cooler of boiled, Gulf shrimp for us to sample.  Verdict:  two claws up.

To read more of this story by Eileen Mattei, read the March 2015 edition of VBR under the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this website, or pick up a copy on news stands.

Ship channel cruise passengers get long, close looks at obsolete vessels from aircraft carriers to freighters. The aircraft carrier Saratoga began being recycled one year ago by All Star Metals.
Ship channel cruise passengers get long, close looks at obsolete vessels from aircraft carriers to freighters. The aircraft carrier Forrestal began being recycled one year ago by All Star Metals.

Freelance writer Eileen Mattei was the editor of Valley Business Report for over 6 years. Her articles have appeared in Texas Highways, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Parks & Wildlife and Texas Coop Power magazines as well as On Point: The Journal of Army History. The Harlingen resident is the author of five books: Valley Places, Valley Faces; At the Crossroads: Harlingen’s First 100 Years; and Leading the Way: McAllen’s First 100 Years, For the Good of My Patients: The History of Medicine in the Rio Grande Valley, and Quinta Mazatlán: A Visual Journey.

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