Lake Ponchartrain question for MArk

[Stewart]

Hi Mark,You said you used to live on the Northshore,I am not familiar with the area, do you know of any good places to go for a day sail or overnight. Also have you ever sailed from Mandeville to the Gulf Coast?Stewart

 

[MArk]

Cruising the North Shore of Pontchartrain

Hi Steward,Actually, my boat's previous owner slipped the boat in Madisonville. Since I bought the boat in the mid 80s, I've kept it on a trailer. While living in LaPlace I launched primarily at West End on the South Shore. Now I launch in the Gulf Islands National Seashore Park or at the Ocean Springs Inner Harbor. I'm on the waiting list for a slip in the Inner Harbor. A 10' wide slip here is only $35 a month including water and electricity. The North Shore is much more oriented to water activities than the South Shore. There are a ton of boat and seafood festivals in the Madisonville, Mandeville, Lacombe area. Here is a small sampling of things to do and see. Fontainebleau State Park area:http://www.simplysailing.com/ramps.htmhttp://www.lastateparks.com/fontaine/fontaine.htmThings to do on the North Shore:http://www.insidenorthside.com/june_july/june_july_dept04.htmMarina del Ray (related link):http://www.claitors.com/mdr/history.htmSlips and launches inthe Madisonville/Mandevill area:http://rvclassified.com/marinas/zmr-la.htm#MMore on Lake Pontchartrain:http://www.boatus.com/trailerclub/LakePonchatrain.htmThere's a lot of scenic and historic sites to see between Baton Rouge and Bay St. Louis. With the 26X, you could visit a different one every weekend for a year and still miss something. I recommend you get your feet wet with a trip to the Tchefuncte River. That area has everything: restaurants, slips, launches, B&Bs and lots of history.Happy sails _/), (and Happy Mardi Gras!)MArk

 

[Jim Logan]

For Steward about Lake Ponchartrain

Stewart: I live in Baton Rouge and keep my boat on the South shore in South Shore Harbor - I Sail a lot on both South and North shores - drop me a note at idratherbesailing@cox.net if you want to discuss some of your questions in detail.Jim Logan

 

[Marcus]

I used to live in Metairie...

and Lake Ponchatrain back in the 60' & 70's was about as nasty as could be. Wouldn't be caught dead in that lake. I have heard it has been cleaned up considerably. That it is almost blue and dolphin actually swim there again. Is that true?

 

[Jim Logan]

Lake Ponchartrain is a LOT better

For many years there were shell dredging operations in the lake - they stopped in the late 1980's due to efforts by environmentalists and other concerned citizens - today, unless it has been raining (rivers bring in mud) or the wind blowing hard for days (shallow, so the bottom gets stirred easily) you can see 6-8 feet deep in most of the lake - the water is a clear green, but the bottom of the lake is still a black jello-like mud that was caused by the years of shell dredging - where that didn't happen, there is sand - we are getting dolphin, rays, lots of game fish and even had a manatee on the North Shore near Slidell. a couple of years ago during a dry period when the lake salinity rose, even had giant australian jellyfish (not so great, but awsome to see, 1.5 feet across and 7 feet long). So the lake is back, but still gets rough easily when the wind blows since it is so shallow (20 feet average). There is marina space for about 1500 boats on the South shore, probably about that much on the north shore, and all of it is mostly full - so boating is good.

 

[Stewart]

Pochartrain info, thanks guys......

Thanks to all for the info, this site has proved to be a great resource for me as a newbie to the sailing world.Stewart