Louisiana Passage - Part II

To the Mississippi and beyond!

Sunday, May 19 – New Orleans and Seabrook Marina

We left Bonnie Isle early in the morning and got back on the Harvey Canal portion of the ICW. This took us to our first tidal lock experience at the Harvey Lock.  We called to alert the Lockmaster that we were coming and asked to pass through. He instructed us to join the barge ahead of us, “GI Joe,” by snugging up alongside the lock wall on the starboard side. This took a little doing, but then a crew member from above the lock threw us a line to hold us in place as the lock filled with water. We literally held onto the rope while the boat rose in the lock.

This was the first lock of this kind that we had encountered on the trip. It took about 20 minutes for the water to rise and then we followed GI Joe out of the lock. It was an exciting and nerve-racking experience.

Shortly thereafter we were on “The Mighty Mississip” whose strong current carried us South as if we were a piece of driftwood. Ever under control, Adrian kept us on course. I was surprised at how few vessels of any kind were in the water with us.

New Orleans

We had our first view of New Orleans from the Mississippi River. The buildings shone in the sun on this bright May day. The was the first real city we’d seen since leaving Houston. I took dozens of pictures of Downtown New Orleans and points of interest.

On the far side of the Crescent City Connection (CCC) Bridge a Carnival Cruise Ship was docked. Its bow was within a quarter mile of the bridge and there was not way that ship could go under it. There didn’t seem to be passengers on board. They were likely on “excursions” into NOLA.

Further down, we glided passed the St. Louis Cathedral which looked quite majestic from the water.

Soon we approached the Industrial Lock on the opposite side of the Mississippi.  A “double-wide” barge, “Huckberry” was just before entering the lock. The Lockmaster had us pull off to the starboard side of the entrance, along the “short wall” and park behind two lifeboats* from the Carnaval Cruise ship we’d seen earlier which were there for repairs.

Adrian’s skill at maneuvering his boat never ceases to amaze me. He entered the approximately 50 by 100-foot space, turned the boat around to face the way we came in and snugged up to the small deck behind the lifeboats with a few feet to spare. That’s what years of practice handling boats gets you.

*These small boats are covered and looked to be very warm inside the cramped spaces. One of the drivers hung out on the deck and told Adrian that the lifeboats have a maximum capacity of 60. I found that impossible to imagine.

The Industrial Canal Lock A Bascule Bridge

After waiting for over two hours, we finally got the go ahead from the Lockmaster to enter the lock, just as a 70-foot pleasure cruiser called “Bare Necessity “pulled into the channel leading to the lock. We went in first, this time on the port side, caught hold of the line from above, and waited as the water drained several feet before the lock opened and we were once again on our way. We had two drawbridges to pass under before we got to Seabrook Marina.

We had reserved a slip at Seabrook Marina, but when we got there, we were told that someone else had docked in that slip, who wasn’t supposed to. We ended up at the last slip on the far edge of the dock, which worked out well, since we were closer to the office, the laundry and the shower.

We took 2 large trash bags full of laundry to be washed. There was one washer and one dryer. We took turns in the unisex shower while our clothes were being laundered, which required several trips to and from the boat to drop in quarters for the dryer. It was air conditioned, so I folded clothes inside the laundry room.

On my way back to the boat after my shower a man and his elderly mother were at the fillet table just at the corner of the pier. I asked them what kind of fish they’d caught. “Sheep’s Head,” was the reply. They’d caught 8 – 10 good sized fish. The man offered to fillet one for us for dinner.  I readily accepted the offer, intending to find room in our tiny freezer for a meal or two in the upcoming days. A while later the woman brought us a baggie with 2 meals worth of fish. I was told that Sheep’s Head is a delicious fish, pan-fried in butter with salt and pepper. I prepared it for dinner a couple of days later. It was amazing!

We had originally thought we’d get an Uber and go into NOLA French Quarter for a nice dinner that night, but we were both very tired from cleaning up the boat and several laundry trips, plus the fact that it was a warm and muggy evening, we nixed that idea and decided to order from DoorDash.

When you’re in the Gulf and that close to New Orleans, one must find a good Seafood Restaurant to order from. I found one that looked promising and put in our order, only to find that the restaurant I’d chosen was in Houston. Even though I had searched on “Seafood restaurants near me” my program still had our Houston address. I reset our location and tried again. This time I found a place with a menu that looked promising. I ordered crab cakes, beans and rice and a tiramisu. We were both starving since we’d eaten very little during the day due to all the excitement. In a few minutes I received a phone call from our DoorDash driver telling me that Bourbon Street was blocked off and he couldn’t drive to the restaurant. Which was about three blocks from where he was, and that he’d have to walk there to pick it up. What’s more, there was nowhere to park and could I come pick it up myself. I told him we were miles away at a marina, we had no transportation, and that I’d just cancel the order and hung up. I tried several times to reach to restaurant, but no one would pick up.  Hungry and grouchy, I went into the boat and started searching for leftovers in the fridge. I found some leftover chicken and potatoes, fried some breakfast sausage and two eggs. We were eating our dinner when I got another call from the DoorDash driver to tell me he had our order and was trying to find us. I encouraged him to keep the order and eat it himself. He insisted that he get it to me. Apparently, the address for the office did not take him directly to us. So, once again, I walked past the office to the road while talking to the DoorDash driver. He finally rounded the corner, and I picked up the order. He had pictures to prove that Bourbon Street was crowded. I counted maybe 10 people. By then we were full from the dinner we’d just eaten, so we picked at the crab cakes, but devoured the Tiramisu. I repackaged the rest of the food and rearranged the fridge to accommodate the extra. By then I was once again hot and sweaty.

We had the AC on in the boat, but even after I cooled down my skin felt sticky. I washed down a bit in the bathroom, but nothing helped. I lay in bed all night half asleep, feeling sticky and icky. The only thing I could think of was that the water had something to do with it. Google told me that “sticky water” really is a thing. It may have been too hard, too acidic or reactive to some peoples PH. When we left after two nights at the marina, we had two tanks of water filled with the stuff.

Monday, May 20 – Into NOLA

We were up early by habit. Most of the morning was spent cleaning and reorganizing the boat inside. After my shower the day before, I’d left my bag with shampoo, brush, and other toiletries on the seat in the galley. It may have gotten sat on, or I left the cap unsnapped, but either way, almost half a bottle of shampoo had leaked out and soaked through the bag, three layers of the seat cover, the foam cushion and out the other side. So, we spent a good amount of time hosing down all the cushion components on the deck where we were tied up, until we got as much of the soap out as possible. This delayed out plans to go into the French Quarter, but we finally left, having had little breakfast and no lunch.

We took and Uber into the French Quarter. Our drive entertained us by telling us all about his upcoming knee surgery. He dropped us off at Café Du Monde on Decatur Street where we ate Beignets with Chicory Coffee.

We walked to French Market, where I bought a T-Shirt and took pictures of interesting details along the way as we tried to find the Royal House Oyster Bar on Bourbon Street. I’d been told that was a good place to eat, so we followed Google maps toward the restaurant anticipating lunch. Along. The way we stopped in some art galleries and jewelry shops. One gallery exhibit featured an amazing photographer, Frank Relle, who uses light to create dramatic effects in the hinterlands of Louisiana. The gallery manager was only too happy to email me pictures of a couple of the photos, with prices attached. I've kept them large to display the dramatic effect.

Augereaux

Allemands

After stopping in a shop that featured raw crystals and natural stones, Adrian bought me a necklace of my choosing. What a sweet guy!

We kept going, looking for our lunch spot. I’ve never had good luck using Maps for walking directions, and this was no exception. The directions kept changing and when we had three more blocks to after being directed three blocks already, we stopped to eat at Pere Antoine’s on Royal and St. Ann Intersection. I had an Oyster shooter, and we shared an order of spinach, crab and artichoke dip with French bread and a cup each of chicken gumbo and sausage gumbo, washed down with Yuengling beer.

We Ubered back. Our woman driver got a little nervous as we turned into an old, desolate black top road near the back of the Marina. We assured her we were going in the right direction. We remembered we’d left the cushion covers in the washing machine before we left and luckily, they were still there. We filled the tanks with water and were relaxing a while on the aft deck when Ray came by.

Ray is a nice-looking young man who looks to be in his early to mid 30’s. Ray is very talkative. He told us a good deal of his life story. He lives on his sailboat, works odd jobs and gets some VA benefits. He has a 4-year-old daughter, is paying child support and has a contentious relationship with the child’s mother. Ray was on his way to Tennessee to see her. It’s entirely possible we will see him again as we are going the same way. He told us of some of his harrowing sailing adventures, that he doesn’t eat as well as he should and much more.  He had heard about Steve (with the broken mast) from a mutual friend and that Steve was on his way to this marina to meet that friend. Steve then came then by on his way to the shower and told us he’d indented to go to Boomtown Casino and have a big steak, but when he got there, he couldn’t dock his boat near the Casino boat and then found out they didn’t serve food. Only drinks and gambling. So, his dream of a big steak didn’t come true.

We ate left-over gumbo for dinner and went to bed planning to get up early to head to Rabbit Island, a seven hour trip.

Monday, May 21 – Rabbit Island, Louisiana

We left Seabrook at 7:15 only to have to wait on a very long and very slow train crossing the Almonaster Bascule* railroad bridge. This Bridge provides two lanes for vehicles and a single railroad track crossing down the center.As we waited, we hung out under the preceding bridge to stay out of the sun as the day was already warm and uncomfortable. We were spoiled from having the AC on in the boat for a couple of days, so we were feeling the heat. Finally, the train passed. We had to wait another 10 minutes before the bridge opened. These bridges are kind of amazing. Their counterweights are huge, and they sound like something from a horror move, all loud and creaky, metal on metal.

*Aside: According to Wikipedia, “A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. The name comes from the French term for balance scale.” Also known as a drawbridge they can be single, or double leafed. Chicago has 37 moveable bridges of the 1,037 in the U.S.

Back on the GWI, (Gulf Inter-coastal Waterway, the same as the ICW, just different names), we only encountered one barge and two or three pleasure boats. I was amazed that we were alone on the GWI for so many miles. The shoreline was mostly grassy areas with a few trees. The waterway cuts through a land mass bordering Lake Saint Catherine to the North and Lake Borgne to the South. Our anchorage, Rabbit Island, was surrounded by water and grassy islands. There is a lot of sky to see, the water was slightly choppy, causing the boat to continuously rock. It is also home to biting horse flies. Which didn’t bother us much. When we first arrived at Rabbit Island, Adrian had a more difficult time finding an anchoring spot than he expected. Decaying parts of an old, demolished, oil well lay on one side of the island and lobster pots were strung across the other side. He finally found a spot he was halfway pleased with, and we dropped anchor. There was a train close by, so we heard it rumbling along at intervals. We could see an expansion bridge from our spot. Otherwise, it was a very peaceful. One of Adrian’s favorites.

Our view from the Rabbit Island Anchorage. RR track over the Rigolets, Decomposing oil derrick, one of a dozen lobster pots, sunset.

That night we ate leftover crabcakes and greens from the DoorDash order for dinner and called it an early night. The next day we crossed into Mississippi into the Mississippi Sound portion of the ICW.