New Sailor in Louisiana

[jaydducote]

Greetings SailNet!

I started sailing with some lessons in Ireland back in 2006 and have fallen in love with it even more since then. I've sailed in San Francisco, Baltimore, Chicago, and Alaska. Now I'm ready to start sailing in Louisiana. I live in Baton Rouge and would like to start sailing on Lake Pontchartrain. Anybody that has any friendly advice about sailing Pontchartrain would be very appreciated. I'd like to know any tips of getting around on the Northshore, how to navigate the Causeway, and what the best places around Madisonville/Mandeville to drop anchor are. Cheers!
Jay

[MARC2012]

Welcome to La & sailnet.Thanks to bp we are definatly the oil state.marc

[PriorityCruiser]

Hey Jay!

On Saturday when you posted to my introduction thread, my wife and I were actually exploring the north shore marina scene around Madisonville and Mandeville. Even though we are probably a couple of years out from purchasing our first sailboat, I wanted to go explore and see what kind of facilities were available. I've never visited any of the north shore cities before, and I thought that we might also see some interesting boats for sale. Do you already have a place picked out where you will be keeping the Catalina?

How did you come about finding the Catalina for sale in Slidell? Even though I am expecting to wait a few years before purchasing, I still want to keep my eyes and ears open for any good deals that may arise.

I'm glad to see some good activity on your other thread concerning sailing around Lake Pontchartrain. Let me know if you're ever going out and need an extra crewmember or just some help around the boat. I don't have a huge amount of experience, but I do have basic knowledge and learn fast. Plus, any excuse to get out of town and be on the water is always welcome.

Garrett

[jaydducote]

Awesome Garrett! I'll definitely keep you posted once I get things figured out a bit. I haven't picked out a place yet but I'm looking in Mandeville. My worst case scenario right now is for it to stay in Slidell for a while, which wouldn't be the end of the world. I found the Catalina through browsing for boats online. I did google searches and filtered through some other online sailboat postings. I actually found the boat on Sailboat Listings - sailboats for sale. The boat also had a webpage of its own as well as a listing on BOATFAX – Buy, Sell and Check a Boat - Welcome.

I'll be in touch. I imagine I'll be doing plenty of sailing during July and August!