Rollin’ On the River

 Hello Readers!  

We are meandering our way thru the swamps and marshes of southern Louisiana.  Here, the ICW mostly utilizes existing rivers (as opposed to dredged canals).  Long-time followers of my sailing adventures will remember that I came thru these parts some three years ago traveling the opposite direction.  Well, the scenery here is just as beautiful and awe-inspiring to me now as it was then! 

one of many drawbridges

Wednesday was mostly rather uneventful, working our way southward and westward from New Orleans.  We passed along waterfront towns and neighborhoods, crossing under many bridges of all types:  fixed, lift bridges, bascule (hinged), and even floating pontoon bridges that swing aside.  Commercial traffic was light, encountering a barge only every couple of hours or so. There was also a lot of the floating hydrilla, the invasive waterlilies that clog up the rivers and lakes.

our anchorage

We dropped anchor in Black Bayou, a few miles east of Morgan City, after about 70 miles of traveling, and were treated to the absolute best of Louisiana’s back-country.  We had fish jumping, birds wading in the shallows, and alligators swimming around, with background sounds of owls hooting, frogs croaking, and cicadas buzzing.  Dragonflies fly thru the cockpit and landed on the lifelines.  All this against the back-drop of those majestic, 100-foot-tall cypress trees with hanging moss.  

Unfortunately, there were also lots of @#$%& mosquitoes. 

swamp critter

Anchoring in a river is different from anchoring offshore.  Those little barrier islands off the Mississippi coast had sandy seabeds, where the anchor easily gripped, and the sand just rinses right off.  But these riverbeds had that thick, sticky, nasty mud that doesn’t always hold well, yet clings mightily to anchor and chain when you raise it up, and is a PITA to clean off. 

200-ft tall floating "jack-up"

The scenery changed 180° as we cruised thru the industrial area around Morgan City.  There was mile after mile of shipyards and drydocks and other not-so-aesthetic manmade facilities where commerce and progress had taken over.  There were like thousands of ships, tugboats, barges, and other industrial watercraft everywhere, in all sorts of conditions. 

Like every day this week, Tuesday started off sunny, but later it clouds up and rains, rains, and rains.  The never-ending foul weather is tiring. 

crew of Just One More Day

The day’s traveling ended at a collection of small businesses that cater to ICW traffic known, ironically, as “Intracoastal City”.  I say that because it is surely no city; it’s not even a town!  It's near the west end of Vermillion Bay, and about 10 miles south of Abbeville.  Anyway, there lies Shell Morgan marina, which is barely a marina, but did have a nice slip to accommodate a boat such as ours. 

The plan for tomorrow is to head straight to the Gulf from here, about 15 miles away, and sail all the way home.  Winds are predicted to be from the south - but there’s also much rain in the forecast.  Stay tuned! 

Capt. David