Lake Grapevine Cruise

So Covid is sliding into our rear-view mirror and Texas, in particular, is opening up to its residents and visitors. Just before Covid hit big, Diane and I had planned an ocean cruise with Norwegian, a five-dayer from San Diego to Mexico to test out her sea legs. Diane hadn't been on a real, lengthy cruise and this would be her first. On that fateful day, Covid was racing through the country (and the world) and suddenly, cruise ships had become Covid petri dishes for the virus and, in March 2020, they were shutting down.

The night I was preparing to fly to San Diego to meet Diane and get on the boat, I got an email from Norwegian saying "thanks for playing but we've cancelled your cruise with no new sailing date scheduled." With no other real alternative (well...except for an indefinite future cruise date to be named later), we took our refund and did a stay-cation in San Diego as, slowly but surely, everything around us began to close down as stay-at-home orders were permeating the countryside.

As we celebrated our first wedding anniversary in May of 2021, the question came up.... what are we going to do? Well, cruise lines were debating the viability of starting up with limited numbers of passengers, Covid vaccinations or not, and the end of the buffet-style dining (kind of a non-starter for me). Diane had a brilliant idea (one of the many.... many reasons I married her). How about a dinner cruise on a local lake? We have several of those here in North Texas and if there's food involved...I'm in.

Diane suggested a dinner cruise on Lake Grapevine a short drive from home (well.... for Texas standards, about 40 miles one-way). Captain Dave and  Black Watch Sailing Charters offered a cruise package including a sunset cruise with a chef created dinner on a sailing yacht. The best part is your party are all that's aboard so you get the whole boat to yourselves (how cool is that?).

Lake Grapevine is located in the heart of Dallas/Fort Worth on the northern border of the City of Grapevine (home to DFW airport). The roughly 8,000-acre lake is home to many outdoor activities like fishing, recreational boating, camping, and hiking.

Little known fact...Texas only has one, count 'em, one natural lake, which is Caddo Lake in East Texas. Everything else is reservoirs thus our struggle with water in our rapidly developing State of Texas thanks to all those recent transplants (you know who you are).

In anticipation of future water needs, in March of 1945, the U.S. Congress approved the River & Harbors Act of 1945 which, among many projects, provided for the construction of Benbrook Lake, Grapevine Lake, Lake Lavon and Lake Ray Roberts, as well as modifications to Garza Dam for the construction of Lake Lewisville. All the projects were for the purposes of both flood control and navigation. These lakes became part of an extensive floodway system that is operated in a coordinated manner to minimize flooding along the Trinity River floodplain.

The Grapevine Dam and Reservoir project, as it was originally known, was initiated in January 1948. Located on Denton Creek, a tributary of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, the project spans both Tarrant and Denton Counties. In this area immediately north of the City of Grapevine, the Corps of Engineers obtained approximately 15,700 acres (63.5 km²) of land.

The dam is a rolled earth-fill type (scary earthen dam), 28 feet (8.5 m) thick, which spans 12,850 feet (3,920 m). The crest of the dam is located at 588 feet (179 m) above sea level.

Interesting sidelight is that just as the lake had been finished and ready to fill, heavy rains fell, unexpectedly filling the lake in weeks before all the construction equipment could be removed. A mammoth gravel washer and a towering conveyor, along with a tractor and two dump trucks, were on the lake’s floor when the dam’s gates were closed.  When the lake opened in 1952, the machinery stayed. They have lain dormant, undisturbed, since. In some dryer years, the rusting hulks lurk just beneath the surface of Grapevine Lake.

The City of Grapevine's story began in 1843 when General Sam Houston and representatives of the Republic of Texas met with members of 10 American Indian nations. They joined to negotiate a treaty of peace and friendship at Grape Vine Springs, also known as Tah-Wah-Karro Creek. It resulted in a document, the Treaty of Birds Fort (because, coincidentally, they met at nearby Birds Fort), which opened the area to homesteaders. I'm sure, in retrospect, the natives probably regret signing any such agreement. By 1859, Texas had removed all Native-American tribes from the state and most other tribes were in Reservations by 1892.

Within a year, the first settlers started arriving, rolling in on covered wagons, on the Grape Vine Prairie. The wild mustang grapes that were abundant there gave the area its name, Grapevine. Grapevine is the oldest settlement in Tarrant County (the largest City and County Seat in Tarrant County, Fort Worth, was established in 1849), originating under the Lone Star flag of the Republic of Texas in 1844, a year before Texas was annexed by the United States of America.

Although a now modern city with a great historic downtown, Grapevine has a more onerous history leading back to the days of the notorious Bonnie and Clyde. Always on the run, Bonnie and Clyde had parked their car by the side of Dove Road (now South Lake, Texas) on Easter Sunday 1934, maybe to catch some sleep, maybe to await a rendezvous with Bonnie's mom, who lived nearby. Their plans changed with the arrival of two curious motorcycle cops, State Troopers H.D. Murphy and Edward Wheeler, who were immediately shot dead, their pistols still in their holsters when they were found.

Sixty-two years later, a memorial to the two slain officers was erected on the spot. The slab pins the officers' deaths directly on the outlaw lovers, labeling them "infamous criminals." There is disagreement among historians as to whether Bonnie ever fired a shot here while others say that Clyde didn't either and that both patrolmen were possibly killed by another gang member in their car.  A month later, both Bonnie and Clyde were both killed in Louisiana.

Ok...I digress (a lot) so back to the cruise. Diane and I contacted Captain Dave for an anniversary sunset cruise in early May. Only problem was, May turned out to be the wettest month in North Texas in like forever. Thus a few cancellations later, we settled on June 14th, a warm but clear Monday.

Now, some of you may know, I'm a bit of a worst-case scenario kind of a guy so understand when I say that I went prepared. I had my water-proof bags for our phones and wallets, my three-way flashing 30,000 candle-power flashlight, distress flares and Google Map images of the lake and surrounding area. I was in want of a cutlass in case we encountered Pirates if they wished to board but could find none around the garage. All Diane was armed with was an eye-rolling sigh and mumbled her recurring mantra that she "should have asked more questions" before we married.

When we got there, as we boarded, I was intently seeking out life-preservers and the quickest and easiest path to the life boats. Back in the day, we actually had to show up to the Lifeboat drill wearing our life vests to show we knew how to put them on for the Titanic moment I knew someday would come. I had always been dismayed on my recent cruises where we no longer had to stand on the wind-swept deck by our assigned lifeboat, clad in our vests, lined up in the positions we would take to board.

When I inquired about the lifeboat drill, I'm accustomed to on my many past cruises, Captain Dave looked at me quizzically and said, "No sir.... we’re just a 50-foot sailboat. We have some life vests available and a raft, but hopefully we won't need them." He did mention in the safety brief that the ship had "tons" of preservers in various locations in case we needed them.

The captain’s ship, the Fourth Watch, is based on a Bristol 477 hull design with a whole bunch of upgrades that make the interior nautical but quite plush. The sailboat is 13 feet wide, 50 feet long and 70 feet tall from top of the mast to the bottom of the keel and displaces 50,000 lbs. A typical 477 may only weigh 36,000. Clearly the extensive use of heavy woods in and around the ship make the difference and adds to its stability. The boat was designed and built by Ted Hood in the 90s for a wealthy couple who wanted Ted to build them the ultimate sailing vessel to retire in where cost was not a factor.

We started out with a little tour of the Silver Lake Marina and an introductory history lesson about the boat and Capt. Dave's life on the high seas talking about the "A" list folks he's skippered for around the world. Then we boarded the beautifully appointed craft, a single mast surrounded by a weathered grey Teak deck. We stepped down from the pilot house to the main salon and were greeted by the green marble counters anchoring exotic wood walls and cabinets with a bedroom fore and aft. Twin diesels provide propulsion and generated power with a full (though really) compact kitchen) with a wine refrigerator and an icemaker that makes "Sonic Ice" (a proprietary form of ice cube by Sonic Restaurants, who knew?) and a freezer. We’re reminded that the ship is not only their "office" but also Captain Dave's and his partner Deana's home as well. Of course, what's a ship without a sea dog. There was Dobie on his bed monitoring the latest guests to his domicile.

We were seated in the main cabin and handed an amazing appetizer and cracked open a bottle of wine to start things off. The appetizer was an assortment of cheeses, marinated artichoke hearts, olives and a thinly sliced ham. Accompanied by some great scratch-made bread slices and the exquisite Danish whipped sweet cream butter that invaded all the nooks and crannies of the bread and literally melted in your mouth.

Capt. Dave

Dobie

Deana

We then moved on to the main course. When we made the reservation, we had five meals to choose from, I decided on the Chicken Rollatini, a chicken breast wrapped in baby spinach and mozzarella cheese swimming in a pink vodka sauce. Diane chose the Chicken Carciofi, chicken breast sautéed with Portabella mushrooms and artichoke hearts in a white wine and olive oil sauce on top of Rigatoni noodles.

 

Barely able to rise after all that food, we made our way topside to the bow and settled into our seats for our cruise around the lake. We were delayed when we first booked the cruise in that North Texas experienced an unusual Spring rainy season. All the runoff accumulated in our reservoirs and the seemingly constant rain closed down operations in many lakes, including Grapevine Lake. 

We finally got a date when the sky opened up but now, we were heading into Summer and temperatures were starting to rise. But what started out as a humid heat on shore dissipated once underway and with a gentle breeze across the lake brought the temperature down significantly.

The lake is quite expansive and soon the marina was well behind us as we were heading out into deeper water with other pleasure craft darting in and out as the sun slowly slipped from the sky above. As described, the Fourth Watch is heavier than most and even with the occasional meeting with a wake or two from passing boats, she remained stable and had very little rocking to speak of.

As we bobbed along, Capt. Dave brought forth a wonderous dessert. A miniature, delicately baked pie cup filled with French vanilla custard with blue berries, kiwi, a peach slice and a strawberry on top on a bed of sweet orange slices. Really sweet and refreshing. By now the sun was setting and the sky was turning a kind of pinkish-orange and it was time to head in. 

Back to the dock and the ending of a great experience and some quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle. There's something to be said about living life large and having the ability to set sail and disconnect from your everyday life. It does require a life style of the rich and famous but it’s good to know there are folks like Capt. Dave, Deana and, of course, Dobie to give us a taste of the high life without breaking the bank. Thanks, Dave, for the great ride!