Author Topic: ship spotting along the houston ship channel  (Read 2581 times)

Offline clayton stephens

  • Just popping in
  • Posts: 17
    • View Profile
    • http://none
ship spotting along the houston ship channel
« on: January 17, 2010, 06:04:43 PM »
hey everyone, i looked at bing maps and found a few places along the houston ship channel that look goof for ship spotting. one of them is the bolivar ferry landing, there is a small parking lot next to the ferry landing along with a small building and some gazebos. another spot is the very end of seawall blvd. in galveston. i'm not sure if those locations are still open for public parking since hurricane ike hit galveston over a year ago. another spot is el jardin del par in pasadena. there is a small parking lot at the end of el jardin dr. though i'm not sure how far the ship channel is from there. the houston yacht club as lots of parking but i'm not sure if you have to be a member just to park and do some ship spotting. of course morgan's point is nice case it's very close to the channel but i would like to try and spot from a different location someday. please let me know about how good these locations are and if there are other good locations for ship spotting along the houston ship channel please let me know. thank you.

Offline Robert J Smith

  • Top Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,820
    • View Profile
Re: ship spotting along the houston ship channel
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2010, 06:20:40 PM »
Hi cstephens

I only had the chance to look around this area once. The sites in Galveston were OK but I found that the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site near the battleship USS TEXAS a better spot with plenty of parking right on the edge of the ship canal. There may be better places but I never had time to explore further.

Good luck with your spotting, look forward to seeing some photos.

Regards

Bob

Offline Michael Martin

  • Top Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 574
    • View Profile
Re: ship spotting along the houston ship channel
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2010, 10:04:03 PM »
My two usual spots are the USS Texas Battleship Park as mentioned by Bob and another good spot is/was the little spot at Morgan's Point. I say was because from a previous thread here it would seem that Morgan's Point is undergoing some security "enhancements" like a fence to keep out people who like to fish from the end of the point and of course, shipspotters.
Of course, the security angle is a bit of a farce as like Bob says, the USS Texas Battleship Park has plenty of parking and even nice benches facing the channel. Personally, I'm thinking the fence is being used to keep the hobby fishermen from driving by the ritzo rich houses. Mustn't have the wrong class passing through one's neighborhood, must one?

That aside there is also a nice little park at the free Lynchburg ferry not to far away to the east of Battleship Park. It is also visited by the aforementioned so called lower class fisherpeople and shipspotters. No fences there, either.

Offline Thomas Millard

  • Home away from home
  • ****
  • Posts: 171
    • View Profile
    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/79103259@N00/
Re: ship spotting along the houston ship channel
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2010, 08:23:17 PM »
Hi CStephens,

As Pinemikey has already pointed out, the Battleground and Morgan's Point offer 2 of the best venues for spotting at the HSC. Indeed per a thread that I started some weeks back, a large chunk of Morgan's Point is being fenced off. Still there are photo ops from the areas that are not closed off, but get out there quick, god only knows when the PHA might try to grab the remaining areas of Morgan's Point.

Again as Pinemikey  eluded to, Sequin Park, just a few feet from the Lynchburg Ferry landing offers some great spotting and photo ops. It should be noted that the park, while not fenced, the park "officially" close down at dusk and is patrolled by the Harris County Sheriffs Office and they will likely ask you to leave ant nightfall. Personally I love the area behind the Battleship as this offers some great views of the port along with ships departing and arriving. Try  'The Monument Inn' restaurant, across from the Lynchburg Ferry another nice venue. I have not had any problems with the owners of the restaurant, but I would suggest parking your car at Sequin Park and walk over, or have nice dinner and then go and spot.

Some samples.....

Morgan's Point

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1053094-US+Coast+Guard+Defender  

Inbound
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1047564-Jo+Aspen

Morgan's Point being fenced off.

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1050239-SPT+Champion

Outbound

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1048737-Magnum+Energy

Now Fenced Off

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1047224-Andermatt


I'll post photos from other venues later.

Thomas


 

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk