Gulf Coast Pilot Notes
Coastal Summary 198 Mississippi 200
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway 199
Biloxi 204
Alabama 200
Louisiana 204
Mobile Bay/Dog River 200
New Orleans 207
Morgan City 210
Lake Charles 210
Coastal Summary
In addition to impacting the marinas and
The Gulf Coast has been hard at work re- other facilities along the coast, storms signifi-
building the boating infrastructure destroyed cantly altered the marine landscape. Barrier
or damaged by the disastrous hurricane sea- islands changed shape, and in some cases,
son of 2005. While nearly all of the work has were completely washed over and new ones
been completed, mariners should be alert for were created/ Most primary aids to navigation
uncharted shoals, wrecks and nav aids. Con- relied on by commercial shipping have been
sider contacting Notices to Mariners to up- restored, but there are still many lights that
date your charts at www.navcen.uscg.gov. All have been removed or dramatically relocated.
of the Gulf Coast W of FL is in the USCG’s Wrecks and other hurricane-related de-
8th district 504-671-2327 for Notices to bris may still pose obstructions in the open
Mariners. Because the privately owned in- coastal waters and inland waterways. Major
frastructure was also damaged or destroyed, shipping channels have been cleared.
call ahead and seek local knowledge before Use extreme caution throughout the region
scheduling arrivals at a marina or port. and seek local knowledge before attempting
Transiting the coastline from Florida to to visit any port.
Texas, yachts should anticipate continuing to Note: Reed’s mariners are encouraged to
find fewer facilities and the possibility of dif- update and verify all information, especially
ficult navigation in 2008. in the Gulf Coast region. Email information
updates to publisher@reedsalmanac.com.
Planning
Customs Ports of Entry
Mobile, AL • Biloxi, MS • Morgan City, LA
NOAA Coastal Charts 1:80,000 scale
Lake Charles, LA • New Orleans, LA
11300 Galveston to Rio Grande
11340 Mississippi River to Galveston
11373 Mississippi Sound and Approaches
11360 Cape St. George to Mississippi Passes
11376 Mobile Bay & Plan
11371 Lake Borgne & Approaches,
11382 Pensacola Bay And Approaches
Cat Island To Pt. Aux
U.S. Coast Guard: Call for assistance on
11372 Dog Keys Pass to Waveland
VHF 16 or 2182 kHz.
Stations:
Mobile, AL • Dauphin Island, AL • Pascagoula, MS
Gulfport, MS • Venice, LA • Grand Isle, LA
New Orleans, LA
198