New Orleans to Lulu's (Gulf Shores, Ala) February 7 ~ Wednesday ~ Boomtown Casino, New Orleans When we got to the second lock (Industrial Canal Lock), we discovered it was closed!! The lock master said it would open, hopefully, at 17:40 (5:40). In the mean time, the other lock closed for repair, so we were stuck between locks in the Mississippi River. We had traveled down the River for about 7 miles and across the River. What a thrill for me! Never in my wildest dreams, did I ever think that I would be on a boat in the Mississippi River. It is huge. We were the only boat waiting to go through. We tied up to a huge post (about 20 feet in diameter), called a dolphin. As the day progressed, other boats, all of them commercial, began to gather. We had to move so that a tug pushing four barges piled high with big rocks could tie up where we were tied up. We wandered around in the tiny lock inner-harbor while all the tugs got situated. A tug called the Laura pulled into the bank and held there. Captain Charlie tied up to the mooring and we asked him if we could tie to him, which we did. I did some filing and organizing, Jim read his book and Phil worked on the computer, trying to get my e-mail to work correctly. Two other tugs came later and went directly to the side of the opening and tried to break in line, but the lock master would not let them go through until we had all gotten through. At long last, the lock master called us on the radio and told us to proceed through with the tug, Captain Charlie, and gravel barges, and the Laura. We tied up to the Captain Charlie while we were in the lock. When we asked his permission to tie up to him he replied we were welcome to do so, but that "nice pretty white boat may not be so pretty after rubbing against my black tires". Still it added to our security by being attached to his bulk and he protected us from the prop wash of the large tows (tugs with loaded barges) ahead and the tide of incoming water that filled the lock. A lock changes the level of the water from one area to another. The water level in the Mississippi River is higher than the water level in the Intracoastal Waterway. The first lock we went through raised our boat up by adding water in the lock to the level of the Mississippi, about 12 feet. When the gates opened on the Mississippi side we were 12 feet higher than we had been in the Intracoastal Waterway. When we went through the second lock, Industrial Canal Lock, we were lowered, by draining water from the lock, about 11 or 12 feet back down to the level of the ICW. It was really interesting. We won’t have another lock until we get to South Florida. By this time, it was almost dark, so we decided to stay at Seabrook Marine. We arrived there about 7:15. Still in New Orleans, for the second day and no way to get to the quarter or anywhere else! This picture shows the large tug that was pushing the four rock barges. We are all in the lock and up close and personal with the "Delta Ram". The next pictures I called, "Buddies Locking" and shows Jim and Virginia sharing the view of what's to come next in the lock. February 8 ~ Thursday~ Seabrook Marine ~ New Orleans Some of the commercial buildings on the waterfront were abandoned or damaged severely. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those people when the levees broke. And the aftermath and how poorly it was handled by all the agencies. On the other hand, how could you ever prepare for a disaster of this magnitude?... Some wrecked, apparently abandoned boats on the banks, some being salvaged and some being rebuilt. The mounds of refrigerators, washer-dryers and cars that Jim had seen on a previous trip were nearly gone, victims of a metal recycling plant that shreds metal. Much clean-up has been done, but certainly not everything is back to normal. It is a monumental task. We anchored at Horn Island, across from Pascagoula, Mississippi. February 9 ~ Friday ~ Horn Island The island is apparently uninhabited. The water was very calm. The sunset was beautiful. We played Jimmy Buffet music, took fabulous sunset pictures and thought we were in paradise. We went to LuLu’s at Homeport Marina in Fairhope, Alabama. LuLu is Jimmy Buffet’s sister. He was not there, but does come occasionally to visit his sister. She was flying to Tallahassee the next day to see him. The marina is new, since the last storm, and was very nice. Our docking in the slip was a little like Laurel and Hardy, but we hope to improve that. I baked cookies and the guys washed the boat. It was very dirty. When we came through New Orleans, there were many areas where they were sandblasting and the sand and grit got all over the boat. We had dinner at LuLu’s, with good live music and shopped a little in her store. It got very cold that night. Jim was still working on the electrical system of the boat. February 10 ~ Saturday ~ LuLu’s at Homeport Marina We left LuLu’s about 7:45 am. The ICW is so pretty here, lined with beautiful homes. Some of them reminded me of the lake house we used to have on Lake Livingston. We crossed Pensacola Bay, Santa Rosa Sound and Choctawhatchee Bay. We saw several dolphins, but they were all busy or on a mission and did not have time to play with us. The birds on this trip have been so funny. We have seen a lot of Great Blue Herons and a lot of water turkeys. I did see one coot, but only one, so far. We passed Fort Walton Beach (several wrecked sailboats) and Destin. There are so many high rise condos! There are big, beautiful homes all through the area. |
Our Travel Log
Travel Log
We got up early this morning and left
at 6:15. We had 2 locks to go through
and, of course, sometimes it takes you
a long time to get through them
because commercial traffic takes
precedence over pleasure vessels.
We got right through the first lock
(Harvey), no other traffic and no
problems.
The second picture
of this group was
taken as we came
out of the Harvey
Lock and Virginia
got her first view of
downtown New
Orleans, the next
picture is close up of
the city and the
fourth picture is a
more distant picture
of New Orleans and
shows the Cathedral.
of this group was
taken as we came
out of the Harvey
Lock and Virginia
got her first view of
downtown New
Orleans, the next
picture is close up of
the city and the
fourth picture is a
more distant picture
of New Orleans and
shows the Cathedral.
Here we are all in very close quarters
in the Industrial Canal Lock. As we
exited the lock the tows quickly
disappeared in the pitch black
environs leaving us to find navigational
bouys which were hard to spot against
the background of distant industrial
lighting. Fortunately, our Cap'n
electronic nav system helped us find
our way to the unlighted railroad
bridge. The bridge would have to
open for us to pass but they were not
responding to our radio calls. This
canal leads to Lake Ponchatrain and is
near where the levies broke to allow
flooding of New Orleans.
in the Industrial Canal Lock. As we
exited the lock the tows quickly
disappeared in the pitch black
environs leaving us to find navigational
bouys which were hard to spot against
the background of distant industrial
lighting. Fortunately, our Cap'n
electronic nav system helped us find
our way to the unlighted railroad
bridge. The bridge would have to
open for us to pass but they were not
responding to our radio calls. This
canal leads to Lake Ponchatrain and is
near where the levies broke to allow
flooding of New Orleans.
We left Seabrook
Marine at 7:00 am.
The city of New
Orleans looked pretty
good from the water.
There were a lot of FEMA
trailers across from the marina.
Jim said that before the storm
it was a neighborhood of older
homes. Now there are only
trailers as far as you can see.
We saw one section of homes
as we went down the ICW that
still had blue tarps on the
roofs, or what used to be the
roofs.
This picture was taken nearly a
year after the storm.
trailers across from the marina.
Jim said that before the storm
it was a neighborhood of older
homes. Now there are only
trailers as far as you can see.
We saw one section of homes
as we went down the ICW that
still had blue tarps on the
roofs, or what used to be the
roofs.
This picture was taken nearly a
year after the storm.
The water further down the
ICW is so pretty. It is not
the brown, muddy water
we have near Houston. It is
greenish blue and actually
clear enough to see 2 or 3
feet down into the water.
We saw several dolphins
today. They are so
graceful. One big one, 6 or
8 feet long, played in our
wake. He jumped the wake
and then swam down and
waited until the next ripple
of wake and jumped it.
Ever so often he would
surface and turn his head
and look at us. When they
jump together, they look
they should be in a water
ballet.
ICW is so pretty. It is not
the brown, muddy water
we have near Houston. It is
greenish blue and actually
clear enough to see 2 or 3
feet down into the water.
We saw several dolphins
today. They are so
graceful. One big one, 6 or
8 feet long, played in our
wake. He jumped the wake
and then swam down and
waited until the next ripple
of wake and jumped it.
Ever so often he would
surface and turn his head
and look at us. When they
jump together, they look
they should be in a water
ballet.
We left Horn Island at 7:45 am. We saw many more
dolphins. The water is absolutely beautiful. We
crossed the Mississippi Sound, Mobile Bay and Bon
Secour Bay. I called my son-in-law, Bill Wade, to
wish him a happy birthday and he got his atlas and
followed our path. It was so much fun to talk to him
and have him know exactly where we were as we
were talking.