Mermentau River to Bayou Petite Anse May 27

We awoke earlier…it gets lighter earlier in the day here!  After getting underway at 0645 from our great anchorage in the Mermentau River, we joined the ICW about 0700.  The stretch today is pretty boring except for transiting the Leland Bowman lock.    Not too long after entering the ICW we spotted a small alligator swimming along the side of the canal.  We passed the Forked Island Bridge about 1025, and neared the Leland Bowman lock about 1100.  We had a brief wait for a westbound tow to exit, and then entered.  We were instructed to get a line “on a steel pin”, which turned out to be like a circular cleat set between various fender boards of the lock sidewall.  The lockmaster then closed the west gate behind us, opened the east gate, and honked a horn to instruct us to begin departing.  I could discern no change in water level; I suspect they are just limiting the amount of salt water that may enter the stretch of ICW we had transited to allow irrigation of the many rice fields with fresh water.  We cleared the lock about 1130, and passed by Shell Morgan Landing in Intracoastal City about 15 minutes later.  It was good to spot this potential stop, as most folks undertaking this journey seem to stop over there.  It was certainly “industrial”, and we were glad to follow our original plan of continuing on to Bayou Petite Anse.  We exited the ICW into the bayou at about 1330, and slowly worked our way up the bayous, mostly visually following the center of the bayou and adjusting course based on the depth sounder readings.  We had read about Avery Island, its boat basin, and the adjacent Tabasco factory, so we decided to work our way in that direction just to see where it would lead.  We passed many salt barges from the nearby salt works, Avery Island being composed of a large salt dome.  We wound our way past innumerable bayous and indeed, some 2.5 miles off the main bayou we finally arrived at the small Avery Island basin.  It is quite small but very picturesque.  The couple of slips available for free dockage are in water way too shallow for us, but we did ½ anchor, ½ tie a line to shore just inside the basin entrance at about 1500.  The scenery on the way in was amazing…truly one realizes that he is deep in the heart of swamp country, and I am grateful that the “track” feature on my chartplotter will help me find my way back out!