I just bought a 1978 Hunter 27 from Long Beach, MS. I will be moving it to Lake Pontchatrain this weekend. This is my first sailboat. The trip appears to be about 70 miles one way. I'm a bit concerned about the calm after the storm as Hurricane Dolly has everything stirred up now and it will probably calm down to nearly no wind for the weekend. Any advise for a newbie? I have a friend coming with me that used to sail the lake 20 years ago.
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call the csx railroad bridge
call the bridge before you get there to make sure it can open. if it cannot open then you will have to go through the pearl river outlet back to rigolets. you will save time by not backtracking.
call the bridge before you get there to make sure it can open. if it cannot open then you will have to go through the pearl river outlet back to rigolets. you will save time by not backtracking.
Taking it home
I am assuming you are going to go via the ICW. Will be quite a bit of motoring so make sure all is in good working order. Have at least one and preferrably two extra fuel filters, and know how to change them. If a boat has been sitting for a while it is pretty common to have some crud in the tank. This is all protected water so you should have a nice ride. Plenty of anchorages along the way. Inside any of the islands is pretty good. Would not recommend running at night if you don't have to. I am going to help a friend bring his new to him boat back to Ponchatrain from Panama City next week, but will not make it by this weekend.
I am assuming you are going to go via the ICW. Will be quite a bit of motoring so make sure all is in good working order. Have at least one and preferrably two extra fuel filters, and know how to change them. If a boat has been sitting for a while it is pretty common to have some crud in the tank. This is all protected water so you should have a nice ride. Plenty of anchorages along the way. Inside any of the islands is pretty good. Would not recommend running at night if you don't have to. I am going to help a friend bring his new to him boat back to Ponchatrain from Panama City next week, but will not make it by this weekend.
The bridge???
Is that the bridge at the mouth of the Rigolets? I was checking it out on Google Maps and couldn't distinguish if it was a train bridge or highway bridge.
Is that the bridge at the mouth of the Rigolets? I was checking it out on Google Maps and couldn't distinguish if it was a train bridge or highway bridge.
B ridge
The CSX railroad bridge is at the Lake Bourne entrance to the Rigolets. Your charts will show another bridge where you come into Lake Ponchatrain, but that bridge has been replaced with a high rise, and there is no longer a swing bridge there.
The CSX railroad bridge is at the Lake Bourne entrance to the Rigolets. Your charts will show another bridge where you come into Lake Ponchatrain, but that bridge has been replaced with a high rise, and there is no longer a swing bridge there.
This link allows you to down load the charts you
will need. Check your destination marina again. Most of us think that Marina Del Ray is a little farther west.
http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/BookletChart/
will need. Check your destination marina again. Most of us think that Marina Del Ray is a little farther west.
http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/BookletChart/
My planned route into the lake
I was planning to go into the Rigolets between Hog Island and Rabbit Island south of Slidell. Is this a good route? This may be the Pearl River route you mentioned.
I was planning to go into the Rigolets between Hog Island and Rabbit Island south of Slidell. Is this a good route? This may be the Pearl River route you mentioned.
HAVE A SAFE TRIP
Bon Jour, T. Frere! For a fair forecast of the winds, go to sailflow.com. Enter the area you are going to be in and you can see some graphical stuff on the winds.. It looks like early morning and late evening there will be wind, with a lull around noon.. Couple of things.. Stay clear to the right of the green markers (3,5,7) of the North Shore Channel (between the Rigolets and I-10 Bridge); the water is more shallow at the markers than the chart shows. You'll need charts # 11371 and # 11369. From Long Beach, be very careful through the canal until you get to markers 20-21. Merrill Coquille really is shallow ... stay in the Intercoastal carefully. The "spoil Areas" that are shown to the south of the Intercoastal really are 8 feet deep so from markers 20/21 in the Marianne Channel until #19 just before the Rigolets, you don't have to stay exactly in the canal. Chuck is right about the CSX bridge.. It fails occasionally.. and do as "Nice N easy" says and get a few filters for the diesel, both for the engine filter and the main filter. Have a great trip!
Bon Jour, T. Frere! For a fair forecast of the winds, go to sailflow.com. Enter the area you are going to be in and you can see some graphical stuff on the winds.. It looks like early morning and late evening there will be wind, with a lull around noon.. Couple of things.. Stay clear to the right of the green markers (3,5,7) of the North Shore Channel (between the Rigolets and I-10 Bridge); the water is more shallow at the markers than the chart shows. You'll need charts # 11371 and # 11369. From Long Beach, be very careful through the canal until you get to markers 20-21. Merrill Coquille really is shallow ... stay in the Intercoastal carefully. The "spoil Areas" that are shown to the south of the Intercoastal really are 8 feet deep so from markers 20/21 in the Marianne Channel until #19 just before the Rigolets, you don't have to stay exactly in the canal. Chuck is right about the CSX bridge.. It fails occasionally.. and do as "Nice N easy" says and get a few filters for the diesel, both for the engine filter and the main filter. Have a great trip!
Nah Rick, they have one of those there too,
along with a Long Beach and probably others, think Socal with hurricanes
they sure spell funny though, what's a Tchefuncte River, Have a safe trip T.Frere, Tim
along with a Long Beach and probably others, think Socal with hurricanes
they sure spell funny though, what's a Tchefuncte River,
Have a safe trip T.Frere, TimKeep an eye out for squalls ...
at this time of year. They can kind of sneak up on you through the haze. As far as sheltered water goes, my wife and I got POUNDED by a squall between Biloxi and Gulfport a few weeks ago. Also, that's good advice to be careful around the west side of Cat Island.
Good luck with your new toy, hope to see you on the lake sometime.
at this time of year. They can kind of sneak up on you through the haze. As far as sheltered water goes, my wife and I got POUNDED by a squall between Biloxi and Gulfport a few weeks ago. Also, that's good advice to be careful around the west side of Cat Island.
Good luck with your new toy, hope to see you on the lake sometime.
Shallow water
Once you get into Mobile bay a couple of miles, you don't have to worry much about shallow water till the west side of Cat Island. I always run a direct course across Mobile Bay. You don't need to follow the ICW. Set a course for the
Dolphin Island bridge and just run straight across. Nice sail on a reach if you have S. winds. Watch for shipping traffic in the Mobile ship channel. You can run across the spoil banks shown on the chart with no problem. West end of Cat Island, watch the channel where it jogs SW through Pass Marianne. You can get yourself aground in there if not careful. Afternoon thunderstorms can make it snotty sometimes, but they don't last long. It's a pretty easy trip, and should be fairly easy to do it in two days.
Once you get into Mobile bay a couple of miles, you don't have to worry much about shallow water till the west side of Cat Island. I always run a direct course across Mobile Bay. You don't need to follow the ICW. Set a course for the
Dolphin Island bridge and just run straight across. Nice sail on a reach if you have S. winds. Watch for shipping traffic in the Mobile ship channel. You can run across the spoil banks shown on the chart with no problem. West end of Cat Island, watch the channel where it jogs SW through Pass Marianne. You can get yourself aground in there if not careful. Afternoon thunderstorms can make it snotty sometimes, but they don't last long. It's a pretty easy trip, and should be fairly easy to do it in two days.
Most of the squalls (sic) are
out here in SoCal running the casinos.
Congrats and enjoy the trip.
out here in SoCal running the casinos.
Congrats and enjoy the trip.
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