Finally - the Horn Island trip!
I've been talking about paddling to Horn Island since my very first blog post and practically since I first got a kayak. The logistics, planning, weather, and free time just never seemed to come together, especially since Katrina. Things were looking pretty good this weekend. With today being Labor Day I wasn't sure how crowded the boat ramps and waterways would be, but there was plenty of room at the ramp and I didn't encounter much traffic.
The original plan was to paddle TO Horn Island from Belle Fountaine Beach. I plotted the route along the blue dotted line going to the dock out there on the north side of the island. However the weather was a little iffy so we decided to take the Blazer Bay plus kayak all the way out there, for me to paddle BACK. We put the kayak out as close as we could get in the boat. I went to the island first, took a few pictures, then headed straight north all the way to the beach in front of St Andrews golf course. The red line is my paddle trip - 6.75 miles straight from the middle of the island.
I could see Belle Fountaine beach the whole way. Dale says I wasn't too visible except the yellow PFD so that's definitely a recommended item. He fished a bit here and there, and visited me a couple of times along the way. He got this picture when a pod of dolphin were swimming nearby.
The water was very calm. "Smooth-to-a-light-chop" as they say on the weather radio station. It was great paddling conditions. I didn't see a lot of fish, but did run into three patches of these jellyfish, each about a foot and a half in diameter. Each time there were over a hundred of them around me in view. I knocked into a few of them with my paddle.
It's so quiet out there. It's a neat place; the water only 15 feet deep or so, far from shore but yet in protected waters on the north side of the islands. This is where the shrimp and so many other sea creatures live and breed. I saw a blue crab swimming up at the surface of the water. Just coming up for a look?
Pelican came by to check out the kayak.
At the end of the trip I approached the beach at the same funny round house I've seen on bike trips. And more pelicans... the pelicans just love Belle Fountaine beach.
It's so shallow in there I could only paddle in to about 100 yards from the beach. Turned around and met Dale in the boat and we loaded the kayak back on and went around to Graveline (blue line) to head on home.
The preparation was good, getting to know the route was good. I'm ready to do it again sometime soon. The sense of adventure will be more in heading the opposite direction, towards the island. I could go farther than just the 6.75 miles, but I don't know about all the way there and back. Maybe out there in the morning, back in the afternoon? There's always the weather to worry about. I don't want to paddle in rough seas. The kayak could handle it and the waves themselves don't scare me, but any more than 2 foot seas makes me seasick, even in a kayak. Anyway, today was two big accomplishments -- the Horn Island kayak trip, and getting the kayak to Horn Island, which holds big promise for exploring the lagoons and paddling around out around the island for fun.
Awesome Mississippi Kayaking!
10 comments:
Awesome, I am new to kayaking and would like to find a few people that would be interested in another trip to Horn Island in March or April 2008. My Email address is RaymondTJD@aol.com. Thank you
I am planning on kayaking out to Horn Island this Sunday with two of my friends. We are leaving from St. Andrews area and heading straight out. If you could email me at amber.kuecker@mgccc.edu I would greatly appreciate it! I would love to hear a little bit more about your adventure!
How's the weather/water temp late November? I paddled out for three days in June and had a great time.
I have been reading a lot about kayaking to Horn Island. All I seen online are people using Sea Kayaks for this trip. I have an Old Town Vapor 10 kayak, not a sea kayak but it seems to handle waves good and its very stable. I had it in bay st louis without any problems, and grand isle. Not sure about a 7 mile paddle to an island out in the gulf.
I am wondering if my 12.5ft inflatable intex excursion boat would be a better choice. I can either row it and/or motor. It has a small minn kota 30 electric on it. The cargo capacity is 880lbs for this boat. I can easily fit a tent and anything else I want in it. It is a very comfortable ride and stable as can be. I am just quesitioning the wind and also my battery life for the motor.
This weekend is supposed to be extremely nice. I wont have to worry about weather but not sure if I am going to go or not. If I do, I dont know if I will take my hard body kayak, my inflatable tahiti kayak, or my excursion inflatable boat.
I am leaning on the boat, but it will be a slow ride because I will have to row a lot. I want to make sure I keep enough battery mainly to motor most of the way back. I may bring an extra battery, use one on the way there and the other on the way back. I may just wait until I get my sail rig to put on the boat. Would probably be much more practical.
Can anyone give any tips or suggestions?
Here are two things you should consider:
The OT has a limited cargo capacity. How ultra light do you camp?
How well does the Intex handle a crosswind?
If you take either boat, it would be a good idea to file a trip plan with the Coast Guard.
I hope you had a safe trip. Let us know how it went. I don't know much about rowing but I know I like a sea kayak a lot better than a shorter one in any kind of waves. Enjoy!
Hi, I forgot I posted its been a while. I don't see a date so I don't remember when it was I posted. Well I never did take that trip yet. I did however go to deer island, brought my vapor 10. I have a lot of videos on youtube from this trip and all my others, just search for warspite2.
I still plan on going out to horn island the 1st quarter of this year. I am considering picking up a 14' saturn kaboat and putting a small gas outboard motor on it. Looks to be a more practical boat for this trip, plus it still paddles like a kayak. At least for the first time its probably a better choice of boat. So I will most likely add it to my fleet.
Tim
Interesting blog you got here. It would be great to read a bit more about this topic. Thanks for giving that information.
Joan Stepsen
London Indian escorts
was trying to find somone to take me and three other people to horn island in th emorning so we can spend the day there as ship island thay are charging ridiuolus prices no wonder they wont be in busines much longer
There is some great information at the national seashore site. There are lists of boat operators if you don't want to paddle, camping information, shorebird/osprey nesting, leave no trace info, etc. It's at www.nps.gov/guis.
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