Mobile Bay has some gas platforms along the bottom but not enough to worry about and crossing the ship channel was no problem.
The marina in Biloxi had some very nice older boats (wooden) that are well cared for. One was a Biloxi Lugger that looked like it was brand new.
Another was a 1950's Norseman which also looked new. Note the caretaker working on the varnish. Most likely a full time job.
There was also a 50' version of our boat there. I understand the owners are from Indiana but we didn't meet them. In the pic below the 50 is in the top and we're toward the bottom. You can see the 50 is the same with the exception of a back porch and a bit more interior space.
After Biloxi we moved to Bay St. Louis where we would spend a week before entering Lake Pontchartrain. BSL is a very nice small town with a new marina. It was well worth a week's stay to visit all the shops and restaurant's. They even have a small Mardi Gras museum which we visited. They have a display of some of the costumes from the past several years.
On Sunday we stopped at a local watering hole and had our first crawfish of the season, 4 pounds to share!!
You may have heard about the tornado's that hit around New Orleans earlier this month. The worst was in New Orleans East which wasn't too far from us as the crow flies. We wisely left the boat and took cover in a bar where we were glued to the weather on TV. It got ugly as the line came through but no tornado and no damage to our boat. We planned on leaving early the next morning but Mother Nature had other plans.
We finally got moving about 11 but were delayed again by a train on the bridge we needed opened so didn't leave the bay until noon. Winds were forecast to pick up in the afternoon and part of the trip was a bit uncomfortable until we got to the pass leading to Lake Pontchartrain. Heading toward the pass we kept seeing debris on the water which we figure had been deposited by the storm.
We got safely into a marina in Slidell where we planned to spend 2 nights until we found out the Mardi Gras boat parade started from here Saturday morning....couldn't miss that!!
Friday night was the "eclipse" which turned out was more of a dimming than what I expected.
Saturday we hung some beads on our boat and made ready to leave as soon as the parade left the harbor to transit the canals. Worked out pretty well and we're glad we stayed the extra night. The following pictures are from the Slidell Krewe of Bilge...
The lead boat contained the King and Queen as well as the court (jesters?)
The theme this year seemed to be "favorite holiday" and some boats went all out. The Halloween boat was the best in my opinion...
We left as planned right behind the parade and headed toward the lake as they went up the canals. It was a very nice day for the 20 some mile run across to New Orleans. A bit hazy but calm water and winds. Jill and I were both excited to be going to one of our favorite places by boat. Turns out they make you run a bit of a gauntlet getting in on a Saturday afternoon. First a group of small sailing dinghy's zipping back and forth right outside the harbor.
Next was in the canal with some pretty high priced yachts lining the way. Shortly after the pic below a sail boat entered the channel heading toward us...pretty close quarters.
We got tied up and headed out to explore the neighborhood which is very nice. Sunday night my sister Kathy flew in to spend a week with us as we explored the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain but I'll save that for it's own posting...it was a fun week!!
We're now back in New Orleans but will be moving again tomorrow. Tune in as we head across the Mississippi River and explore farther west. We'll be going to Houma and Morgan City before returning to New Orleans for March and April.
Very nice!
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