Irish Bayou in Louisiana

Trip Overview

We arrived at about 1pm and weather was nice. Overcast but pretty, not too hot; temp maybe in the high 70s. We had some fairly strong winds out of the east at about 20-25mph which we paddled against without much trouble.

The launch area I had chosen could have been better especially since the sharp boulder punctured a hole in the floor on our Tahiti kayak. We launched just across the Texaco station and small restaurant just off the I-10 exit. I recommend going down a few blocks further and launching from a pier. Easier to get in and out the Kayak plus you won't get a hole in an inflatable.

We only paddled out about 1/10 of a mile east of hwy 11 just into Lake Ponchartrain where we encountered some small 1 foot waves and then bigger white caps out further. Floated around a bit before bringing them back in. Our Sevylor Kayaks (pointer k1 and tahiti) were extremely stable and handled the waves and wind easily. Almost no boat traffic and a lot of open water once you get into the lake.

Overall, a great place to Kayak, just find a better place to launch then I did. Its not hard either, there are several places.

Accommodations:

There is a Texaco station and a couple nearby restaurants

Outfitting:

A Sevylor Pointer K1 and a Sevylor Tahiti Classic.

Fees:

None that I know of

Directions:

I-10 to exit 254 then take Hwy 11 west.

Resources:

mapquest.com prior to leaving