Baton Rouge to New Orleans

Well, a cold front was moving in! A frigid front to be exact!😳🥶😬😲

Leaving Baton Rouge was pretty uneventful that early morning, just as expected busy with heavy river traffic! Real busy, and the ships were getting larger! 😲

But, we knew that from this point on it would be preeeetty much like that all the way down past New Orleans.

The next couple days had also some very interesting shorelines.... SUPER industrial in parts and then in parts absolutely nothing, just beautiful nature!

The frigid front that was moving in, was going to be accompanied with gusts up to 50 mph (80 km/h) , so a safe anchorage, protected from wind and river traffic was once again a priority, on a section on this River with no available marinas, locks or docks or even sloughs to tuck into and hide.🥴

Our one nights anchorage, before coming into New Orleans, was thus a small indent on the river, around a bend, with a shore tie, and TWO anchors cast. Trying to tuck away from river traffic and getting some shelter from the wind and gusts.

Took us a while to get things set up, as we ended up in an eddy, that was moving the Gem in the opposite direction we wanted her in for a safe anchorage! But, after a couple hours working on it all, we settled in for the night. Enjoyed a beautiful sunset outside, for a split second! It was way too cold to enjoy it longer, outside!

As the frigid temperatures dropped to 22°F (-5/6°C) we knew we would have a super chilly morning getting these lines handled. So sure enough, anything that touched the water, froze immediately and was very though to handle! Anchor lines, gloves, anything! Brrrrr...

The whole next day was freezing cold! Only about 30°F (-1°C) and THAT north, northwest wind was brutal!

Nick was nicely tucked in the aft cabin, steering and communicating and negotiating passage with traffic, while I braved it outside, bundled up as best as I could, helping him see debris, obstacles in the water, as those are too low for him to see out the pilot house!

This section on the Mississippi River is one of THE busiest on the whole River!

Frozen but safe, New Orleans anchorage at the old industrial lock was made later that afternoon!

A loooot of industry down here! I mean a lot!

A quick Uber ride to Walmart to resupply with fresh food items was a treat, and saying THAT on a Friday night before Christmas Eve, should say a lot! 🥴😳

In a part of New Orleans that was hit very hard by Hurricane Katrina several years ago on top of that!

I made it back safely while Nick tended and watched the boat, and most importantly kept it warm for us!

Next stop will be Empire, LA before hopefully we can get into the Gulf!