Galveston, Texas – Not all cruises from Galveston go to the Caribbean or Mexican Riviera. Some go to … Galveston.
Tropical breezes and midnight buffets are far away as the catamaran Seagull II explores the important harbor and shipyard, but the relaxing sailings sparkle with surprises.
Cruises by the 80-passenger craft operated by the nonprofit Galveston Historical Foundation depart the dock behind the Texas Seaport Museum to tour the No. 1 cruise port on the Gulf of Mexico and its surroundings. Every sailing, which lasts an hour or longer, takes a slightly different course, depending on what’s interesting or happening in the harbor.
Elegant cruise ships gather and disembark vacationers at the blocks-long passenger terminal just a few hundred yards from the no-party zone where workers scramble over huge ships docked for repairs. Nearby, cargo vessels disgorge supermarket-filling mountains of tropical fruit and fleets of construction and farm equipment.
A late-May voyage aboard the 50-foot Seagull carries its passengers past skyscraper-tall drilling platforms in port for resupplying before being towed back to the oil patch at sea. At their feet, dolphins and porpoise swim through the water.
The craft glides past Seawolf Park on the eastern shore of Pelican Island, where the World War II submarine USS Cavalla and destroyer escort USS Stewart welcome boarders. Beyond, the concrete hulk of the 1919 steamship SS Selma slumps in the channel, partially sunk to form a man-made reef, and now a landmark and seabird nesting ground.
Our red-painted craft briefly paces a cargo carrier headed to sea, then shadows the petite boat Miss Charlotte, outbound to deliver groceries, other supplies and workers to vessels offshore.
On the horizon, we see the lighthouse spiking from the Bolivar Peninsula, where a handful of refugees from Galveston’s catastrophic 1900 hurricane climbed to safety above surging water.
Before returning to the museum’s dock, the Seagull ambles past million-dollar homes, the yacht harbor’s pricey craft and a rusty clutter of fishing boats to pause beside the ghostly image of a sea captain’s face glowering from a wall at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
However eye-opening and refreshing the trip, education is the undercurrent.
Capt. Vandy Anderson says he tries to relate ecology to passengers’ daily life.
“Nature,” he says, “is alive in this water.”
The details
The Seagull II sails at 11 a.m. and 1, 3 and 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday from the Texas Seaport Museum, Pier 21 (Harborside Drive at 21st Street). Tickets are $10 for adults; $9, seniors and children ages 4 to 18. Soft drinks and water aboard are $1 each. Waters are generally calm, the vessel smooth- riding. Contact: 409-765-1700; galvestonhistory.org.
PEEK AT THE PORT
Galveston is the largest cruise port in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-largest in the U.S. It handled more than 500,000 passengers in 2005.
Galveston became a port in 1825 when Texas was part of Mexico.
It’s Texas’ oldest.
The pirate Jean Lafitte lived here, 1817-21.
Among cargoes handled: bananas from Guatemala, grain for overseas, and construction and farm equipment built overseas.
The water depth is maintained at 40 feet.
In 2005, 1,059 cargo and cruise ships called.
SOURCE: PORT OF GALVESTON
