I had a great time on the trip back, here is some of what I learned. We had a reservation for the north pass causeway bridge in the lake. This was at 04:30 am. We reached the operator via CH 16 the previous night and he said he would pass it on to the next guy. Well 04:30 came and we were at the north pass. The operator mentioned that the guy he relieved told him about us coming at 04:30, however he denied an opening saying his supervisot would not approve it and the traffic was too heavy. Well the curfew started at 05:30 so I don't know what the problem was but we had to go to the south pass which was way out of the way. We made it through the hwy 11 and railroad bridge just fine. The rigolees sorry about the spelliing, was shut down until further notice. this we found out after after radio contact. We had asked several people if it was open and they said yes, well it must have broke inbtween the time they went through and we were wanting to go through. So... we had to go to the Chef pass. WHOA! we were very up close to the damage it was unbelievable. Not much traffic on the waterways. From there we hopped into the ICW and headed North. Between the two bridge mishaps we lost about 8 hours. We left the river in Mandeville at 3am that morning and got to Cat Island (off the coast of Gulfport,MS) at 5pm. We awoke again at 3 am and were home in Pensacola at 10pm. We motored the whole way due to damage to my transom where the backstays are connected. In the lake with no wind we were doing 8.2kts by GPS thanks to a 3 bladed prop and unversal m25 xpb running at 2200 RPM. the second day was slower at 6-6.5 knts due to current and wind off the bow at 20+ kts. The navigational aides were all up for the whole trip. I was worried we would hit a sunken car, house, boat, or tree. We did see some tree branches in the lake next to I-10 on the eastern side. The only other problem was the engine overheated whil we were going down the river in Mandeville. We pulled the raw water intake hose off the seacock and water was just trickling in. We cleared it with a screwdriver. It was full of wooden splinters and reeds. Other than that a great trip. I just wish we could have sailed.
NO to Pensacola
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Which bridge
The bridge that wasn't operating, was that the Hwy. 90 bridge, entering the Rigolets. I have been thinking of taking a cruise over towards Pennsacola, Ft.Walton area before long. I live in Eden Isles, and if the Hwy.90 bridge is down, not worth it to me to have to go that far out of the way. I also understand that the Chef Hwy. bridge is out, so not too sure which way you went.
The bridge that wasn't operating, was that the Hwy. 90 bridge, entering the Rigolets. I have been thinking of taking a cruise over towards Pennsacola, Ft.Walton area before long. I live in Eden Isles, and if the Hwy.90 bridge is down, not worth it to me to have to go that far out of the way. I also understand that the Chef Hwy. bridge is out, so not too sure which way you went.
Rigolets
YES, It was the Hwy 90 bridge. I would estimate it would be a 4 hour detour for you through Chef pass. It may be working by now. I was able to get the phone #s for the causeway and hwy 11 bridge. Cmon to Pensacola. IT IS WORTH THE TRIP. If you are into multihulls the national Alter cup is being held in March. Our sand is the whitest in the world. so bright on a moonlit night you can read a book without a light. Plus lots of emarld green water you can see straight to the bottom; lots of dolphins, turtles, and rays. Respond if you are interested and I will hook you up with the local sailing community.
YES, It was the Hwy 90 bridge. I would estimate it would be a 4 hour detour for you through Chef pass. It may be working by now. I was able to get the phone #s for the causeway and hwy 11 bridge. Cmon to Pensacola. IT IS WORTH THE TRIP. If you are into multihulls the national Alter cup is being held in March. Our sand is the whitest in the world. so bright on a moonlit night you can read a book without a light. Plus lots of emarld green water you can see straight to the bottom; lots of dolphins, turtles, and rays. Respond if you are interested and I will hook you up with the local sailing community.
BEER Cruise in Pensacola
Yup Pensacola is a great place to sail. Last year I drove down from Canada, with my trailer sailor in tow, to attend the 5th annual(I believe) B.E.E.R. Cruise. We joined roughly 40 to 50 other trailer sailors from all over. It's everything Tony describes! If you have a really shallow draught boat, or centreboarder, you gotta come and participate. You can get more info over on the TrailerSailor Forum, another of Phils forums
. Thinking of Pensacola is making me feel real warm, up here in the frozen northland Eric S/V Paradise Barrie ON
Yup Pensacola is a great place to sail. Last year I drove down from Canada, with my trailer sailor in tow, to attend the 5th annual(I believe) B.E.E.R. Cruise. We joined roughly 40 to 50 other trailer sailors from all over. It's everything Tony describes! If you have a really shallow draught boat, or centreboarder, you gotta come and participate. You can get more info over on the TrailerSailor Forum, another of Phils forums
. Thinking of Pensacola is making me feel real warm, up here in the frozen northland Eric S/V Paradise Barrie ONDid you go
outside or inside from Cat Island? Stop at LuLu's or Pirate's Cove? We made the trip in the opposite direction last year about this time & stopped overnite at LuLu's. Had a great time there, but REALLY hard getting going the next morning. Whew. Thinking about going out to Cat Island later this year. How much do you draw & how close to the island could you get? Does it seem like the bottom contours have changed much since the storm?
outside or inside from Cat Island? Stop at LuLu's or Pirate's Cove? We made the trip in the opposite direction last year about this time & stopped overnite at LuLu's. Had a great time there, but REALLY hard getting going the next morning. Whew. Thinking about going out to Cat Island later this year. How much do you draw & how close to the island could you get? Does it seem like the bottom contours have changed much since the storm?
LuLu's looks good Sandy
We anchored on the Northern side of Cat Island dur to winds out of the SE. We saw Lulu's and it looked reallllyyy nice. We were in a rush so we didn't stop there. It is on the list of places to go this year.
We anchored on the Northern side of Cat Island dur to winds out of the SE. We saw Lulu's and it looked reallllyyy nice. We were in a rush so we didn't stop there. It is on the list of places to go this year.
Pennsacola
Tony, Thanks for the invite. My travel will depend on how quick the work on the house gets done, and a little to do on my boat. Katrina got me pretty good. Just lost the wind generator and Bimini frame on my boat, but entire house had about six feet of water in it. Definately heading that direction though. Was over that way last summer, matter of fact I rode out one of the little storms, Christy I think, in Biloxi. How big a deal is it to get diesel and groceries between here and there. Can probably do it without a stop if necessary, but always better to know. I used to make a stop at Biloxi, at Pt.Cadet for a couple of days and enjoy the Isle of Capri, but Pt. Cadet is no more. And by the way, Cat Island is one of my favorite stopping places for an overnight.
Tony, Thanks for the invite. My travel will depend on how quick the work on the house gets done, and a little to do on my boat. Katrina got me pretty good. Just lost the wind generator and Bimini frame on my boat, but entire house had about six feet of water in it. Definately heading that direction though. Was over that way last summer, matter of fact I rode out one of the little storms, Christy I think, in Biloxi. How big a deal is it to get diesel and groceries between here and there. Can probably do it without a stop if necessary, but always better to know. I used to make a stop at Biloxi, at Pt.Cadet for a couple of days and enjoy the Isle of Capri, but Pt. Cadet is no more. And by the way, Cat Island is one of my favorite stopping places for an overnight.
Pennsacola
Tony, Thanks for the invite. My travel will depend on how quick the work on the house gets done, and a little to do on my boat. Katrina got me pretty good. Just lost the wind generator and Bimini frame on my boat, but entire house had about six feet of water in it. Definately heading that direction though. Was over that way last summer, matter of fact I rode out one of the little storms, Christy I think, in Biloxi. How big a deal is it to get diesel and groceries between here and there. Can probably do it without a stop if necessary, but always better to know. I used to make a stop at Biloxi, at Pt.Cadet for a couple of days and enjoy the Isle of Capri, but Pt. Cadet is no more. And by the way, Cat Island is one of my favorite stopping places for an overnight.
Tony, Thanks for the invite. My travel will depend on how quick the work on the house gets done, and a little to do on my boat. Katrina got me pretty good. Just lost the wind generator and Bimini frame on my boat, but entire house had about six feet of water in it. Definately heading that direction though. Was over that way last summer, matter of fact I rode out one of the little storms, Christy I think, in Biloxi. How big a deal is it to get diesel and groceries between here and there. Can probably do it without a stop if necessary, but always better to know. I used to make a stop at Biloxi, at Pt.Cadet for a couple of days and enjoy the Isle of Capri, but Pt. Cadet is no more. And by the way, Cat Island is one of my favorite stopping places for an overnight.
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