Anyone sailing Lake Pontchartrain?

[Joesplace]

Seems I may be moving to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana soon. Is anyone sailing there or could recommend a good marine?
thanks . . .

[Boasun]

I'm at the South Shore Harbor Marina... and there are plenty of slips available... Not sure about the North Shore though.

[nolatom]

Me neither. I also sail out of SSH. But ask around, a number of places could work for you.

Start with Mandeville and go from there.

[Stumble]

Joe,

Where exacally are you going to be moving? There are a couple of yacht clubs and more marinas than I can count on what is called the 'north shore'. There is a lot of good sailing down here, and some truly amazing talent.

[Joesplace]

Hi all - thanks for the fast reply! Looks like we will be moving to Baton Rouge and thought the north shore would be a shorter drive. Is there more activity on the south shore? We have a Southern Cross with a 5 foot draft and are concerned about grounding a lot. Hate to leave Monterey Bay CA, but it's time - beautiful ocean sailing! Anyway it will be a month till the riggers can pack everything and get her ready for the road. Last question, is it easy to head out of the lake into the gulf? Haven't done much racing, our boat is setup for cruising . . .
joe

[Stumble]

There is a lot of racing all over the lake east of the causeway bridge. The north shore has more cruising since there are no protected places to anchor out on the south shore. We have to go either to the north shore, or Slidell (far east part of the lake) areas.

Getting out of the lake is pretty easy. There are a few draw bridges that you have to get thru, but they make it pretty easy, and the channel (called the rigolets) is pretty easy to navigate. There is some shallow water on both sides of the channel, but inside the marks is an easy 20'.

The only place on the lake you have to worry about is called Goose Point on the north shore. It well charted, but mostly unmarked. But the bottom is soft mud, so even a hard grounding you can almost always self rescue from.

[Joesplace]

Thanks everyone . . .

I talked to Lake Pontchartrain Harbor Marina today and they have a few slips available and Northshore Marine Boatyard can supply a rigger and splash her within a week.

Looks like we may be back on the water by the second week in April!

See you on the water, thanks again - Joe

[sevennations]

Joe,
Tried to PM you but apparently I don't have enough posts to do that... I live and sail on the northshore. IMO it would be easier to get here from BR than to try to get to a marina on the southshore due to traffic(but I could be wrong). You may want to take another look at Lake P Harbor Marina. Their info on Active Captain has the approach depth at 4'. Prieto's in Mandeville usually has a waiting list and they are about to start rebuilding some of the docks. I'm in Oak Harbor Marina (Slidell) and there's plenty of room. I'm paying $4/ft/month. If you need anymore info, let me know.

[Joesplace]

After spending the day looking at marinas on the north shore, I've decided NOT to bring my sailboat here for now.

We looked at Lake Pontchartrain Harbor Marina (not deep enough), Cypress Cove (no electricity), Colbert Cove (no electricity), Heron's Way ($6.50 ft & electricity), Prieto Marina (6 yr waiting list)and the Landing (slip too narrow).

We also went to Northshore Marine Services but I feel they are way out of line in pricing. $1,400 to unload, two coats of bottom paint and drop in the water and we are not allowed to work in their yard, everything done must be done by them . . .

I know things here are changing so I don't have a problem leaving mt sailboat in Monterey Bay and paying someone to care for it. I will keep looking so it's not a rush . . . just not satisfied with what the local marinas have to offer.

[sailguy40]

The Harbor Marina not deep enough? What size boat you have and whats your draft? Last I looked there where some very big boats docked over at Harbor. Have you considered Marina Del Ray over in Madisonville? On the south shore, try New Orleans Marina and I give South Shore Harbor a big plus, they have many available slips.