ATCHAFALAYA ADVENTURE
RED RIVER RENDEZVOUS

Introduction
Those of you who travel from marina to marina, never venturing off the beaten track may
skip to the next article-this will not interest you.

Location: Louisiana, more specifically 95 miles west of the Harvey Lock (New Orleans) on the
Gulf (of Mexico) Intracoastal Waterway at its junction with the Atchafalaya River.

Time of Year: Fall, September through December. This is by far the best season in Louisiana
to boat. Cool and relatively low humidity. Secondly, this is when the Atchafalaya and Red
Rivers are at their lowest stage-translated-minimum current.

Length of Trip: From the ICW to Shreveport, Louisiana (the end of navigation on the Red)
354 miles.

Facilities: This is what makes this trip-----practically none! As far as industry along the 2
Rivers, ditto.

Traffic: Commercial, very little and the chance of meeting another cruising boat --–don’t
bank on it.

Sights to See: Yes, all along the way. The first leg, the Atchafalaya River is through the
largest hardwood swamp in the country. The Red River courses through rural Louisiana,
with the exception of 2 cities Alexandria and Shreveport.

PROLOGUE

We made the trip on our CHB P/H 45 trawler style, however these are two accommodating
rivers. Two other boats traveled with us, a brand new 26’ full cabin Sea Ray and a 26 ‘ full
cabin Bayliner. Yes, they went ahead and we caught up. It was kind of nice to have “scout”
boats to travel with.

While in Shreveport we met with a group who were leaving in a few days to run the length of
the Red on their trailer boats, some of which were party barges. They were camping out or
sleeping aboard.

The bottom line is, get in your boat and GO!

THE TRIP
We planned to do these rivers in early October, as my research showed this to be the
optimum time frame as previously stated. When I mentioned it to the Acadiana Power
Squadron, Lafayette, Louisiana, several other members exhibited an interest so we had a
small flotilla for the Red River reach.

The Atchafalaya River or “The Swamp Tour”
THE WIFE and I departed our dock on the famous Bayou Teche, near the Atchafalaya and
ICW intersection and headed into the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp. This leg is about 115 miles
long, again, no facilities at all----great! There are a number of places that one could pull off
the river into bayous to spend a day or a week fishing and communing with nature for free.

Just above the ICW is a good stop at American Pass into Bayou Boutte ( Lat.29-45.86 Lon.
91-15.07) on the right ascending bank. Go up to “Orange Barrel Bayou” and proceed to the
end. Tie up to a tree and spend a few days. This is on NOAA ICW chart 11354 and a satellite
photo chart, in color, from Standard Mapping Services (standardmap.com) for about $17.00.
The photo chart, #41A, is great as it shows exactly what is there. You can even see several
small boats running in some of the canals and bayous.

Possible anchorages on the Atchafalaya are: American Pass, Meyete Point, south side at Mile
95.5; a canal on the right ascending bank @ mile 79.5; Tensas Bay Cutoff Mile 74.5; Butte
LaRose Cutoff at Mile 55; Simmsport Mile 4. The last is just a wide spot in the river where
we anchored between the green buoys and the bank in about 10 feet of water.

There are a number of wide bends in the river that have sandy banks and bottoms that look
good for anchoring. The beauty of this leg is the lack of development. There are areas with
a few hunting and fishing camps (houses –beauty is in the eye of the beholder) but that’s
about it. You will not find the palatial homes that line the Tennessee River nor much industry
save a gas well or so every now and then. Even the towns along the Atchafalaya, other than
Morgan City at the ICW, have no facilities on the River. The towns of Melville and Simmsport,
surprisingly, have nothing at all on the river that indicates that anything is there. What you
do get to see is serious swamp! After all, this is what you came for!

From the ICW to Mile “O” on the Atchafalaya is 117 miles with about a 1.5 to 2 mph current
this time of year. We run 8 mph normally so this leg translated to 6-6.5 mph all the way to
the Old River Lock at Mile “O”. A nice side trip here is to lock into the Mississippi River for a
short trip up to Natchez and Vicksburg Mississippi, it’s well worth the effort, I digress.

THE RED RIVER

As soon as you enter the Red River you will notice the high red clay bluffs and the tint of the
water, ergo the name of the river.

A mile or two up the Red you will encounter a very interesting sight. When I saw this the first
time my immediate thought was an “old fashioned” pinball machine. The Corps of Engineers
has constructed dozens of rock wing dikes on both riverbanks. Most of these are 8 to 12 feet
above low water. You feel like you are the ball and they are the flippers!! Fortunately this is
only for a few miles. A yearly issued dike list is free of charge from the Corps at Vicksburg,
telephone 601-631-05042. It is a help if you need to anchor along the river and don’t want
to run up on one of the submerged dikes. Trust me, that would ruin your whole day. The
Corps’ chart book of the Red River is very good, it is about 35 large pages of photos of the
river and a separate chart page for each photo for $22.00. ****NOAA take note.

The Red River Commission has developed a number of parks and boat launches along its
235 navigable miles. Naturally they have several brochures and “tourist “ type maps,
telephone 800-874-9431. These are set up for bass boats, not cruisers. Of course, with a
little additional effort this could be easily remedied.

After clearing Lock #1 there was no current and this held all the way to Shreveport.
This is an easy river; just stay between the prolific buoys and even if a wing dike or
revetment is under water there is no danger. The U.S.C.G. Station is at Colfax where you can
get up to the minute current information as to speed, etc., telephone 318-627-2783 Chief
Davis was extremely helpful and had answers for all of questions peppered with great local
knowledge.

There are five locks with a lift of about 25’ each –at low water when this trip should be done.
There is only one low clearance bridge and that is a railroad bridge in Alexandria, Union
Pacific Railroad, it has a “pool” clearance of about 27’-Don’t even think about arrangements
to get it opened!

The first port of call will be Alexandria. They have built a really nice River Front Park with an
amphitheatre and floating dock. Tie up is free, no services. The beauty part is that you’re
downtown within walking distance of restaurants, museums, art galleries and the historic
Hotel Bentley. There are two churches that are on the National Historic Registry. St. Francis
Xavier on Jackson & 4th Streets has amazing and beautiful stained glass as does the large
gothic design Baptist church just around the corner.

The first park that has boat slips is in Colfax, River Mile 117. The configuration of the slips
does allow a cruiser to pull in and take up 2 slots. There is no water or electricity available.
The restroom and shower facility is first rate. Gasoline only is available at Crain’s Marina next
door, telephone 318-628-0006. There is no diesel but call ahead he may be able to arrange
for a truck to bring some to you.

Above Colfax and Lock #3, the terrain flattens a bit and there are a lot of fishermen in highpowered,
high dollar bass boats. An interesting aside is the number of women fishing in the
same type boats on their own. So for all of you who that say there aren’t any women who
like boats, central Louisiana may be the place to be! THE WIFE would tell me, “Look, Bass
Babe on the green side.” Most were fishing the pools above Locks 3 & 4. As it turned out we
were in the middle of a Ladies Bass Pro Tour Tournament. For you fisherman the pool above
Lock #5 is reportedly another hot spot. That pool has a large area of flooded forest.
There is a terrific anchorage at RM 173 on the right ascending bank. It is an oxbow just 100
yards off of the river with a depth of about 14’. Plenty of swinging room, trees to one side
and open to the west for gorgeous sunsets.

We spent two nights in Shreveport but fair warning; the ONLY dockage for a cruising boat is
on a short pier at a trailer boat launch that is four miles from downtown. This launch is in a
nice park that has a small café on a barge with a gasoline pump. There is a lot of
construction underway on the river ( including a riverfront park and dock) and it is “rumored”
that Bass Pro Shops is to build a marina adjacent to their huge new store. Hopefully they will
think of cruising boats. It is regrettable that cities the size of Shreveport and Bossier, with all
that they have to offer visitors, ignore the Red River as an asset—exception; 5 gambling
“boats”. There is a great walking/biking trail that runs along the river from the
aforementioned park to downtown so all is not lost.

Just north of Shreveport is Cash Point Landing Marina, however at low water there was not
sufficient depth for us to get in.

EPILOGUE

Gas is available from Crain’s Marina at Colfax. La. 318-627-0006, RM 117 adjacent to the Red
River Waterway Park. Also at Clark’s Marina 318-747-2002 (approximately 20 miles south of
Shreveport. The channel is not well marked and there are lots of stumps, etc.

There is gasoline as mentioned at the S’Port Marina in Shreveport. A jobber will deliver diesel
by tank truck at Colfax or Shreveport. You’ll need to make arrangements in advance. Try
Davison Fuel 800-551-4844.

The locks monitor Channel 16 and will have you standby on Channel 12. They will tell you
which side to make up to (generally it will be the side opposite the control house). There are
floating bollards on all locks.

Remember that all commercial traffic monitors Channel 13 and know your “whistle signals”.
If I am on the right, one whistle ---If I am on the left, two whistles. This works in both
meeting and overtaking situations.

THE WIFE Speaks………..

My husband calls them “blonde moments”. My Dad used to ask, “Punkin, are you sure you’re
all right?” I’ll relate the incident and leave it to your judgment to decide.

Picture this…….
It’s a sort of foggy morning on the Red River and the sun is barely up (in other words, I
shouldn’t even be awake). Trying to be helpful I am at the wheel while Charles is getting up
the bow anchor. Basically my job is to shift gears and turn the wheel. I don’t even have to
think about this because Charles tells me what to do and when and I’m supposed to repeat
what he says while I’m doing it. For example, he’ll say forward and right and make a big
circle with his arm. This means put the gears in forward and turn the wheel to the right and
say loudly “Forward, Right”. Seems fairly straightforward.

Now, back to the picture, we’re anchored near the bank in about 7’ of water (the boat needs
a minimum of 4.5’ to float). I’m standing at the helm. Charles is in front (OK on the bow)
taking in anchor line and the first thing I notice is the depth finder winking—this is not good.
Charles says forward, right and waves his arm in a clockwise motion. I say very loudly,”
Forward, Right” and I put the gears in forward and begin to go LEFT, TOWARD THE BANK!!
At that moment Charles turns around to face me and the look on his face is complete and
utter disappointment and he says almost inaudibly, “Pat, the other way, please”. I feel so
sorry for him because I know he’s thinking, all those years, all that training and this can
happen!

Now, upon reflection I really don’t think this is some passive/aggressive rejection of
authority. A feminist stance, if you will. But rather a belief that we are all individual packages
and along with the prospect of doing the totally wrong thing sometimes, included in my
package are some other things that Charles thinks are absolutely charming. Like making
happy faces with food and the ability to wait patiently for as long as he wants to do anything
(even stuff I don’t think is particularly interesting). As far as I’m concerned one of the best
things in my package is that I don’t take anything, including myself too seriously and that as
long as there is laughter, then the answer to the question is “Yes, Dad I’m sure I’m all right.”

About the author: The author and his wife, Pat, live on Bayou Teche at Patterson, Louisiana
where the house overlooks their trawler. They, along with their Wacky Web Master, Liesa,
maintain a boating information web site; geocities.com./charlesculotta. Charles also lectures
on transiting the Gulf ICW.

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 Published in the Oct/Nov. issue of HEARTLAND BOATING