Ahoy Mates and Lasses!

Welcome aboard the 55' topsail schooner "Capt Kidd"! She's a 19th Century replica of the schooners that once sailed the seven seas. She is a USCG inspected vessle that can carry a maximum of 28 passengers. We offer scheduled sails all year that are open to the general public. We also offer "private charters" for your special get togethers and celebrations. All of our scheduled sails open to the general public are 2 hours long. The following is a tentative schedule for departure times this year:

Jan:  Mon-Fri-4pm(sunset)   Sat-1pm & 4pm(sunset)   Sun-2pm only

Feb:  Mon-Fri-5pm(sunset)   Sat-2pm & 5pm(sunset)   Sun-2pm only

Mar:   Mon-Fri-5pm(sunset)   Sat & Sun-2pm & 5pm(sunset)

Apr:  Mon-Fri-6:30pm(sunset)  Sat & Sun-12pm, 3pm & 6:30pm(sunset)

May - Aug:  Mon-Fri-7pm(sunset)  Sat & Sun-12pm, 3pm & 7pm(sunset)

Sept:  Mon-Fri-6pm(sunset)  Sat & Sun-12pm, 3pm & 6pm(sunset)

Oct:    Mon-Fri-5:30pm(sunset)  Sat & Sun-2:30 & 5:30pm(sunset)

Nov & Dec:  Mon-Fri-4pm(sunset)  Sat-1pm & 4pm(sunset) Sun 2pm only

Times are subject to change!  Please make sure of your departure time when making a reservation.  You can board 30 minutes before your departure time.  You should be on board 15 minutes before departure time.  We do leave on time!

Day sails are $23.00 per person (tax is included) all passengers

Sunset sails are $28.00 per person (tax is included) all passengers

Reservations are taken on a first come, first serve basis and held with Dicover, Visa, or Mastercard.  Sorry, we do not accept American Express.  Once a reservation is made, you have purchased a ticket for that date and time.  WE CANNOT MOVE YOUR RESERVATIONS ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN MADE!  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE CERTAIN WHEN YOU WANT TO GO WHEN MAKING A RESERVATION!  There are no cancellations once a reservation is made except by "Capt Kidd" due to inclimate weather or mechanical breakdowns.  You don't need a reservation to sail, but we cannot guarantee a seat without one.  Empty seats are filled on a first come, first serve basis.  TICKETS ARE PAID FOR AT THE BOAT WITH CASH OR CHECK ONLY!  WE DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS AT THE BOAT.  Your reservations are only being held with a credit card and your card will not be charged unless you don't show up.  Once again-"Capt Kidd" is the only one to cancel the sail.  If you're not absolutely sure when you want to sail-DON'T MAKE A RESERVATION-YOU WILL BE CHARGED IF YOU DON'T SHOW UP!

DO BRING:  Drinks and snacks(alcohol is permitted except red wine, no red wine)sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, jackets, coats, blankets, and cameras.  Bring your child's life jacket if they have one.  If they don't have one, they will wear one of ours.  ONLY ALL WHITE SOLED SHOES, GUM SOLED SHOES, OR APPROVED DECK SHOES ARE ALLOWED ON BOARD.  If you don't have the proper footwear, you can go in your socks or barefoot.  Your shoes will be left in our dock box.

DO NOT BRING:  Pets, red wine, coolers, adult life jackets(a cooler, ice and life jackets are provided), or colored soled or leather soled footwear.  ONLY APPROVED FOOTWEAR WILL BE ALLOWED ON BOARD.

Private charters are booked on a first come, first serve basis.  A 50% nonrefundable deposit is required to hold your date and time.  All times are available as long as it doesn't conflict with an existing schedule.  Private charters can occupy our regularly scheduled times as long as nobody has already made a reservation for that time.  You can bring your own coolers on private charters.  Passengers will not be allowed on board on a private charters unless you invite them.  Day rates for private charters are:  $560.00 plus tax for 2 hours.  Evening/sunset times:  $700 plus tax for 2 hours.  If you are tax exempt you will need to provide us with a tax exempt form before we set sail.  If you cannot provide a tax exempt form, you will be required to pay the tax-no exceptions.  These rates include the boat, cooler and ice, captain and crew.  It does not include any gratuity (15-20% is custo mary). Additional time is available at the rate of $200.00 per hour plus tax.

Capt Kidd is located across the street(Texas Ave) from the Conoco gas station located on the corner of Highway 146 and 6th street in Kemah, Texas.  We are berthed on "A" dock which runs along the parking lot on the south end of the Kemah Boardwalk Marina.  Entrance to the boat is via a gate located at the S.W. corner of the marina.  We are in slip A29, the 4th slip from the gate.  If the boat is not in the slip when you arrive, please wait as we are probably out on one of our trips.

Please visit our website at: tropicalexpress.com.   For reservations please call 281-334-5433(KIDD).

Hope to see you sailing with us soon!

Capt Joe 

---

Please don't underestimate how important a little card or postcard can be to a homesick Marine.  We appreciate anything you can send for encouragement. 
Friends,
 
If any of you belong to clubs, civic organizations, or church groups that are looking for military personnel to send mail, cards, or packages to, please consider sending to my son, Jeffrey Rooke, or to his Sgt., Jeffrey Ritter.  They are Marines currently stationed in the Middle East. My son is getting
several packages a month from our family, but Sgt. Ritter receives very little mail and my son says he needs some encouragement from home.  Their address is the same, except for the top line which contains their name.
 
CPL JEFFREY T. ROOKE USMC
COMMAND ELEMENT, RADBN DET
22D MEU, DET B
UNIT 74043
FPO AE 09502-4043
 
or
 
SGT JEFFREY D. RITTER USMC
COMMAND ELEMENT, RADBN DET
22D MEU, DET B
UNIT 74043
FPO AE 09502-4043
 
Some of the items they appreciate:
!! Soft toilet paper !!
Instant coffee or flavored coffee creamer
Sodas or snacks with caffeine
Energy bars or energy drinks
Coca-Cola or name brand soft drinks (with caffeine)
Jerky or beef sticks
Nuts
Sunflower seeds
Gum and mints
Cough drops
Seasonings
Disinfectant wipes
Texas stuff
Jolly Ranchers, Non-chocolate sweets: hard candy, jelly beans, gummy worms, sweet tarts,
peeps, circus peanuts, etc.
 
They like things with caffeine or energy items because it helps them to stay awake on long shifts.  Things like sunflower seeds keep them occupied.  Anything that is a sauce or a sprinkled seasoning will help add flavor to the boring MREs (Meal Ready to Eat).  They are in less than ideal sanitary conditions, so anything to help disinfect is appreciated.  They are in a very sandy area, so their throats are constantly irritated, so cough drops or sore throat drops are great.  And of course, we Texans have to keep up our reputation, so when they get a package from Texas, they get lots of attention for stuff like jalapeno chips, jalapeno-stuffed olives, Texas picante sauce or barbecue sauce, etc.
 
Please do not send anything that melts.  We have been advised that any cleaning or soap products should not be sent in the same package with food products, because the food products will taste like soap.  If you wish to send things that can be crushed, such as cookies or crackers, it is good to purchase a cheap plastic shoe box from the dollar store to mail the items in.
 
I like to send a quantity of two or more of whatever I'm sending, when I can.  When one guy opens his package, all his buddies who didn't get anything in that mail call gather 'round to see what he got, and Marines have a tendency to share with their comrades before they keep it for themselves. 
 
Remember as you collect items for donation that it is expensive to mail packages, and everything is by weight!  Mailing a 6-pack of toilet paper will cost about $5 or $6 - more than the toilet paper costs!  A plastic shoebox filled with goodies will run roughly $9 or so to mail.  Drinks are very expensive to send because of the weight.  Keep size and weight in mind as you purchase your items - not only for your cost of mailing, but also for the guys!They have to carry anything they don't give away.  It's better to send 1 small package every week than 1 huge box once a month.
 
For any packages over 2 pounds, the Post Office requires a white form called  a "Customs Declaration and Dispatch notice" in addition to the normal addressing requirements.  It is PS Form 2976-A, and must be filled out by hand.  It takes a couple of minutes to complete, so you may want to grab some of the forms the next time you're at the Post Office so that you can have one completed when you bring a package to send out at Post Office.  Where you have the option on the
form to check Documents, gift, or merchandise, things will go smoother if you
just check "Gift". 
 
Last piece of advice: put clear tape over your return address and the mailing address on the package.  This is to protect it from water damage or being torn.  If you don't do it at home, they will ask you to do it when you get there.
 
Please feel free to forward this message to other friends who might be interested!
 
Blessings!
Kathy Haigler
Deer Park
a Marine Mom

-- because it relates to the contemporary. On Hennity and Colmes this evenings discussion on the precedent for the marines firing a Hellfire missile and calling in a F-16 Eagle to drop a 500 pound bomb on the outer wall of a Sunni mosque was never brought up, there or anywhere else in the news media.  The issue was whether this action was against the Geneva Convention. 

In the WWII Italian campaign, the Nazi army had occupied the Abby of Monte Cassino located 50 miles northwest of Naples and was used as a lookout and fortress.  The American and allied troops were taking tremendous casualties after repeated attempts to push northward and to climb the mountain to take capture (they never did take it; made a bypass landing to the north).  So on February 15, 1944 the United States Army Air Corps launched medium and heavy bombers from North Africa and pummeled the Abby into near rubble.  Thus, in the Geneva Convention August 12, 1949 it was held that a religious building that was used for military fighting lost its protection and sanctuary. 

In the fighting in Fallujah the Sunni mosque was used as a fortress, and the U.S. Army and Marines were taking casualties during six hours of fighting coming from the mosque.  Therefore it lost it's Geneva Convention protection and was justly attacked.  Period!

Dick Cheney,
Kemah