I'm planning a trip from Pensacola to Lake Pontchartrain in about a month and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for the trip. I'm somewhat familiar with the MS coast, but have never been further east than Biloxi. I was planning to take the ICW, and keep each leg around 40 miles or less. I don't care to run the ICW at night. I'd also prefer to stay at marinas along the way, but was looking at anchorages around Dauphin Island. This will be on a Catalina 30 with the 5' fin keel. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Pensacola to Lake Pontchartrain
- Thread starter Forrest15112
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Pcola to Ponchatrain
Forest, there are plenty of places to stop along that route. Are you planning on anchoring out or staying at marinas. I have done that literally dozens of times. Depending on were your leaving from, and how much time you have, the first night you might want to stop at Big Lagoon. That's a short leg, but makes the next one more manageable. If you want to anchor out, there is Ingrams Bayou, an easy day from Big Lagoon, and doable from Pcola. Ingrams is pretty small, and on weekends it may be packed. Also in the same area are Wolf Bay, which is a pretty decent anchorage in the back side, but be a little careful, as there is some skinny water in there. There are a couple of marinas in the same area as Ingrams Bayou, Bear Point and Barbers. And Lulu's is just a few miles on west. I have never stayed at Barbers. Bear Point is kind of funky, and has a good restaurant. If you only want to do 40 miles or so, for the next leg you will have to anchor out. It's 20 miles across Mobile Bay, and you can save some distance by going straight across. Once out of Bon Secor, the ICW jogs south, and you can just head straight for the Dauphin Island bridge on the other side, and pick the ICW up there. The spoil banks along the ship channel are plenty deep, so you can just run straight across. Watch ship traffic in the channel. I usually anchor up inside Dauphin Island, once past the bridge. Be very careful of the shallow fingers that run west from the bridge, and be sure you clear them. Marked well on the charts, but be careful. Then just run in towards the island and anchor in about 10 feet. From there you can make any of the marinas in Biloxi, Gulfport or Long Beach, in a day. My usual stop here is Point Cadet, in behind Deer Island in Biloxi. Mostly because it's right behind the Isle Casino, and you can walk in there for the buffet. If your going to anchor out, you can snug in behind any of the barrier islands. The only place I would caution you about is the holding on the west end of Ship Island seems a little iffy, and of course the little tour boat is in and out of there a lot. Any questions you have, just PM me, and I'll be glad to help any way I can.
Forest, there are plenty of places to stop along that route. Are you planning on anchoring out or staying at marinas. I have done that literally dozens of times. Depending on were your leaving from, and how much time you have, the first night you might want to stop at Big Lagoon. That's a short leg, but makes the next one more manageable. If you want to anchor out, there is Ingrams Bayou, an easy day from Big Lagoon, and doable from Pcola. Ingrams is pretty small, and on weekends it may be packed. Also in the same area are Wolf Bay, which is a pretty decent anchorage in the back side, but be a little careful, as there is some skinny water in there. There are a couple of marinas in the same area as Ingrams Bayou, Bear Point and Barbers. And Lulu's is just a few miles on west. I have never stayed at Barbers. Bear Point is kind of funky, and has a good restaurant. If you only want to do 40 miles or so, for the next leg you will have to anchor out. It's 20 miles across Mobile Bay, and you can save some distance by going straight across. Once out of Bon Secor, the ICW jogs south, and you can just head straight for the Dauphin Island bridge on the other side, and pick the ICW up there. The spoil banks along the ship channel are plenty deep, so you can just run straight across. Watch ship traffic in the channel. I usually anchor up inside Dauphin Island, once past the bridge. Be very careful of the shallow fingers that run west from the bridge, and be sure you clear them. Marked well on the charts, but be careful. Then just run in towards the island and anchor in about 10 feet. From there you can make any of the marinas in Biloxi, Gulfport or Long Beach, in a day. My usual stop here is Point Cadet, in behind Deer Island in Biloxi. Mostly because it's right behind the Isle Casino, and you can walk in there for the buffet. If your going to anchor out, you can snug in behind any of the barrier islands. The only place I would caution you about is the holding on the west end of Ship Island seems a little iffy, and of course the little tour boat is in and out of there a lot. Any questions you have, just PM me, and I'll be glad to help any way I can.
Thanks. This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I'm planning to make the trip in about a month. I would love to anchor in some of those locations, but the heat may be on full blast by then and AC power & air conditioning at a marina will be hard to argue with . Dauphin Island appears to be a good break between Biloxi & eastern Mobile Bay. I had called the marina there to inquire about approach depths from the east and was advised that they're dredging now and may be done in a few weeks. They didn't exactly specify how deep it would be after dredging either. I have heard about the area there you are referring to but was concerned about crew boats in and out and it looked small on the chart. I plan on doing a bit of exploring down there before making a plan.
Dauphin Island
If you go under the Dauphin Island bridge, and go west another mile or so, you will be clear of the shallow water on both sides of rhe ICW. There are a bunch of crew boats up and down Mobile Bay, but pretty rare to see one west of the bridge. I have anchored up in there several times, and never had any wake problems. The marina at Dauphin island. The only time I was there, we had to wait on a high tide, and follow someone in, and with a 4 1/2 foot draft, bumped bottom a couple times.
If you go under the Dauphin Island bridge, and go west another mile or so, you will be clear of the shallow water on both sides of rhe ICW. There are a bunch of crew boats up and down Mobile Bay, but pretty rare to see one west of the bridge. I have anchored up in there several times, and never had any wake problems. The marina at Dauphin island. The only time I was there, we had to wait on a high tide, and follow someone in, and with a 4 1/2 foot draft, bumped bottom a couple times.
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