The main passage from Terrebonne Bay to Lake Pelto is south of Point Mast Island; it has a depth of 7 feet (2.1 m) or more. There is also a marked passage through Bayou La Poule. The entrance to Bayou Petit Caillou has been described on page 246.

Houma, at the head of Bayou Terrebonne, is the largest town in this vicinity; it is described on page 261.

Lake Pelto, with general depths of 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2.1 m), lies west of Terrebonne Bay and north of the Isles Dernieres. Depths of 5 feet (1.5 m) can be carried eastward into Terrebonne Bay and westward through Caillou Boca to Caillou Bay.

Whiskey Pass, through the Isles Dernieres, is the only entrance to Lake Pelto from the Gulf; the controlling depths are 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) at the north end of the pass.

Caillou Bay is a large bight with general depths of 5 feet (1.5 m) lying north and east of Raccoon Point at the western end of the Isles Dernieres. There is an anchorage site in 8 feet (2.4 m) close inside of Raccoon Point, but with only about 7 feet in the approach.

Western Pass (local name), 3 miles east of Raccoon Point, is shallow changeable and difficult to follow. It is not used even by local fishermen.

A protected inside route is afforded small craft of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) draft from Timbalier and Terrebonne Bays westward through Lake Pelto and Caillou Boca to Caillou Bay.

From Terrebonne Bay to Atchafalaya Bay there is an extensive network of lakes, bayous, and canals. This area is sparsely populated but there is considerable navigation by local fishermen and trappers. The principal entrances from the Gulf are described below.

Bayou Grand Caillou empties into the Gulf about 7 miles north of Raccoon Point. Grand Caillou Light is 13 mile west of the entrance. There are depths of 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) off the entrance and a controlling depth of 5 feet (1.5 m) to beyond Dulac, about 20 miles above the mouth. Bayou Dulac connects with Bayou Petit Caillou. A draft of about 3 feet (0.9 m) can be taken to the Intracoastal Waterway by way of the Ashland Canal and Bayou Lecarpe. The bayou connects with a network of navigable lakes and canals and is used by local boats. A highway extends south along the east bank to below Dulac.

In 1935 a Federal project was adopted providing for a channel 40 feet wide by 5 feet (1.5 m) deep from the Intracoastal Waterway at Houma through Bayou Lecarpe, Bayou Pelton, and Bayou Grand Caillou to Bayou Dulac, a distance of about 14 miles.

Grand Bayou de Large, leading to Caillou Lake, empties into the Gulf half a mile west of Grand Caillou Light. There are depths of 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 m) off the Gulf entrance and 32 to 4 feet (1.0 to 1.2 m) across Caillou Lake to Grand Pass connecting with Bayou de Large and with Lake Mechant. Small boats of 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 m) draft can proceed 13 miles up Bayou de Large to Theriot. A highway extends south along the east side of the bayou to below Theriot.

There is a connecting passage into Bayou Grand Caillou from Caillou Lake with a controlling depth of 2.5 to 3.0 feet (0.8 to 0.9 m). Between Grand Bayou de Large and Oyster Bayou there are a number of shallow entrances leading to a network of shallow inside waters. A draft of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) can be carried through

(27) ATCHAFALAYA BAY

249

the larger entrances to anchorage immediately inside, but generally navigation of these inside waters is confined to drafts of 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 m).

Oyster Bayou, 13 miles northwestward of Raccoon Point, connects the Gulf with Four League Bay, an arm of Atchafalaya Bay. It affords a protected route for small craft of 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 m) draft going to Atchafalaya Bay from Caillou Bay or the waters to the eastward. There are a number of oyster reefs through the bayou which are generally marked by a pipe.

Oyster Bayou Lighthouse is a white house on pile foundation on the east side of the entrance. The light is 47 feet (14.3 m) above the water and visible 8 miles.

The route across the south end of Four League Bay is marked by Oyster Bayou Inner End Light off Oyster Bayou and Mosquito Point Light off Mosquito Point and by a line of closely spaced beacons. Boats follow close along the east side of the beacons and maintain a channel slightly deeper than the general bay depths. Halters Island Point Light marks the entrance to Four League Bay from Atchafalaya Bay. Blue Hammock Bayou on the east side of Four League Bay is another entrance to the network of shallow inside waters in this vicinity. Shallow draft boats (2 to 3 feet on a favorable tide) can reach the Intracoastal Waterway by way of Lost Lake, Bayou de Cade, Lake de Cade, and Minor Canal. Blue Hammock Bayou also connects with Lake Mechant.

Ship Shoal, lying about 10 miles southward of Raccoon Point, is about 25 miles long in a general east and west direction, 1 to 3 miles wide, and has depths ranging from 5 to 18 feet (1.5 to 5.5 m); for 612 miles of its length it has a depth of less than 12 feet (3.7 m). In stormy weather it may be distinguished at some little distance by a choppy or breaking sea. In calm weather its position is not indicated by natural phenomena, and it can best be avoided by use of the lead. Heavy rips have been reported about 15 miles southwest of Ship Shoal.

To mark the best water inside of Ship Shoal, two midchannel buoys have been established respectively 2 miles northward and 10 miles westward of Ship Shoal Light.

Ship Shoal Lighthouse (Lat. 28°54'9"; Long. 91°04'2"), standing in 14 feet (4.3 m) of water, lies 86 miles 271° true (W. % S. mag.) from Southwest Pass Entrance Lighted Whistle Buoy. It is a brown skeleton structure, inclosing a stair cylinder and cylindrical dwelling. The light is flashing white (flash 1 second, eclipse 9 seconds), 105 feet (32.1 m) above the water and visible 16 miles. Ship Shoal Lighted Whistle Buoy 2 "Ship" lies about 18 miles 177° true (S. by E. 34 E. mag.) from Ship Shoal Light. It is moored in the 10-fathom (18.2 m) curve.

ATCHAFALAYA BAY AND RIVER

(Chart 199)

Atchafalaya Bay is a large indentation in the coast of Louisiana 112 miles westward of Southwest Pass, Mississippi River, and 37 miles northwestward of Ship Shoal Lighthouse. It is about 28 miles long in nearly an east and west direction, and averages 7 miles wide. It is full of shoals and oyster reefs, and has general depths of 3 to 9

feet (0.9 to 2.7 m). The bay is partially separated from the Gulf by a fringe of reefs, the eastern end of which is known as Point au Fer Shell Reef, and the approach for 25 miles is shallow, with depths of 25 feet (7.6 m) or less. Atchafalaya Bay is the approach to Atchafalaya River and Morgan City. The usual draft of vessels navigating the bay is 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m). The Atchafalaya Bay Ship Channel (project 20 feet (6.1 m) deep by 200 feet wide) has shoaled to a controlling depth of 62 to 7 feet (2.0 to 2.1 m) and there is about the same depth through the old Morgan Channel. Prominent features. In approaching Atchafalaya Bay, Atchafalaya Channel Beacon 1, a black pyramidal structure on piles, is the most prominent object and the first to be seen when coming from the southward or westward. Channel Beacon 3 and Point au Fer Reef Lighthouse are about the only other objects which can be easily recognized by a stranger as the coast eastward and westward is low and marshy. Belle Isle, on the north shore of the bay, northward of the lighthouse, is 130 feet (40 m) high and is a conspicuous object from some distance offshore.

Point au Fer Reef Lighthouse (Lat. 29° 22′.3; Long. 91°23′.0) is a white wooden house on pile foundation on Eugene Island on the westerly side of the dredged channel. The light is fixed white, 54 feet (16.5 m) above the water, and visible 13 miles.

Southwest Reef Unused Lighthouse, 61⁄2 miles west of Point au Fer Reef Lighthouse, is a black square pyramidal tower, connected to a square house on piles with a pyramidal tower on the roof. This is a prominent object for small vessels approaching close inshore from westward.

Atchafalaya Bay Ship Channel is a straight cut extending from the Gulf northeastward through Point au Fer Shell Reef to the mouth of the Atchafalaya River. It was formerly dredged to the project dimensions of 20 feet (6.1 m) deep by 200 feet wide but these dimensions have not been maintained; in 1935, the controlling depth was 6 feet (1.8 m) in the vicinity of Beacon 3. The channel is marked by lights and beacons on the northwesterly side, Point au Fer Reef Lighthouse marking the cut through Point au Fer Shell Reef. The southeasterly side of the channel is occasionally marked by brush stakes. The former spoil bank along the northwest side of the channel has washed away. There are strong tidal currents in the channel through Point au Fer Reef, especially during northerly winds and extreme low tides.

A Cutoff Channel, marked on the northerly side by pile beacons, leads from the mouth of Atchafalaya River westward through the bay to the entrance to East Cote Blanche Bay, and to a channel leading to the Gulf at Southwest Reef unused lighthouse. This channel has been nearly abandoned and some of the beacons are gone. It is good for a draft of 6 feet (1.8 m). Along the north side of this channel, there is a long line of closely spaced iron piling filled with concrete. These piling are 1 to 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 m) below mean low water and are particularly to be avoided when navigating in this locality.

Atchafalaya River empties into the northeastern corner of Atchafalaya Bay from northward. It is the outlet of an extensive system of lakes and bayous in southern Louisiana which, in part, afford inside

passages to the Mississippi and New Orleans and to other parts of the State.

From Atchafalaya Bay to Morgan City, a distance of 15 miles, the river has a crooked channel 300 to 600 yards wide and 35 to 125 feet (10.7 to 38.0 m) deep, the deepest water generally being found in midstream. Two bridges cross the river at Morgan City, a railroad drawbridge with a swing span 113 feet wide and a fixed highway bridge with a vertical clearance of 50 feet (15.2 m) at mean high water.

Bayou Boeuf, joining the Atchafalaya River from the eastward at Morgan City, is a section of the Intracoastal Waterway which follows the river for 211⁄2 miles south of Morgan City, where it continues westward through Little Wax Bayou. The Intracoastal Waterway is described on pages 258 to 269.

Bayous Chene, Shaffer, Penchant, and Black are described on page 262. The alternate route of the Intracoastal Waterway extending from Morgan City to Plaquemine on the Mississippi River is described on page 262.

Bayou Grossetete is described on page 263.

Bayou Teche, Six Mile Lake, and Grand Lake are described on pages 264 to 265.

Morgan City (population 5,985 by the 1930 census) is on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River at its junction with Bayou Boeuf, a section of the Intracoastal Waterway. The portion of the river immediately north of the town is locally known as Berwick Bay. There are railway and highway connections to all points east and west. Numerous inside waterways radiate from the town, east, north, and west along the Intracoastal Waterway, north to Bayou Teche and to Six Mile Lake and Grand Lake, and south to the Gulf Coast, together with several other adjacent bayous. The town is the center for considerable local commerce in fishing, shell dredging, trapping, lumbering, and growing of sugarcane.

On account of the depths and currents in the river, vessels generally go alongside. There are several landings for river boats with ample depths alongside. Gasoline and fuel oil, fresh water, provisions, and some boat supplies can be obtained. There is a shipyard, with machine shop, capable of hauling and repairing vessels up to 200 tons [length about 75 feet and draft about 8 feet (2.4 m)].

There are no regular pilots or towboats for the harbor. The nearest marine hospital is at New Orleans, but there is a private hospital at New Iberia.

Storm warnings (day and night) are displayed near the water front between the bridges.

Berwick is a small town opposite Morgan City and connected with it by the highway bridge. There are several fish canneries and a small repair yard which can haul and repair boats up to about 70 feet long and 5 feet (1.5 m) draft.

Fog is most frequent during January, February, and March. Southerly winds bring it in and northerly winds clear it away.

Tides, currents, and freshets.-The level of the water surface and the velocity of the current depend to a considerable extent upon the force and direction of the wind. At the entrance to the bay the mean range of tide is 1.2 feet; at Morgan City normal tide action is

57738°-36--17

not perceptible. Northerly winds lower the water surface at Morgan City as much as 1 foot, and southeasterly winds raise it 12 to 2 feet.

Freshets occur frequently during May and June, at which times the river overflows its banks and the current has considerable velocity, making it difficult to keep in the channel. During ordinary stages of the river the current has a velocity of about one-half knot. When there are freshets in the rivers the water in Atchafalaya Bay is quite fresh and that in the Cote Blanche Bays is nearly so. The discolored water coming out of the mouth of the river will be encountered well offshore, the distance depending much upon the direction of the wind.

Directions, Atchafalaya Bay and River.-Vessels approaching the bay from eastward or westward should keep in about 3 to 4 fathoms (5.5 to 7.3 m) of water until a 38° true (NNE. 34 E. mag.) course will bring Atchafalaya Channel Beacon 1 and Point au Fer Reef Lighthouse ahead when sighted. This course will then lead along the axis of the dredged channel. Strangers should select anchorage as far inshore as the draft will permit, and obtain local assistance.

Pass southeast of the lights and beacons and when up to Light 7 haul eastward to the south of Beacon 13 and north of Light 2. When three quarters of a mile past Light 2, haul northward into the mouth of the river and steer midchannel courses to Morgan City. There are a number of lights marking the river channel.

Little Wax Bayou, leaving the Atchafalaya River 21⁄2 miles below Morgan City, empties into Wax Lake and thence through Wax Lake Pass into the Gulf. The northern end of the bayou has been straightened by dredged cuts and forms the extension westward of the Intracoastal Waterway from the Atchafalya River. Big Wax Bayou, a branch of Little Wax Bayou, empties into the Gulf at the entrance to Wax Lake Pass. These bayous form an inside route to the western part of Atchafalaya Bay with a controlling depth of 6 feet (1.8 m) off the entrance to Wax Lake Pass.

The former inside route westward from Morgan City extended through these bayous, thence along the north shore of Atchafalaya Bay and through East Cote Blanche Bay, West Cote Blanche Bay, and Vermilion Bay to Schooner Bayou and White Lake. A depth of about 4 feet (1.2 m) can be carried over this route, the limiting depth being through the entrance to Schooner Bayou from Vermilion Bay. About 5 feet (1.5 m) can be carried through Schooner Bayou, White, and Grand Lakes to the Mermentau River. This route is described on page 267.

ATCHAFALAYA BAY TO SABINE PASS

(Charts 199, 1277, 1278, and 1279)

East Cote Blanche, West Cote Blanche, and Vermilion Bays (charts 199 and 1277) are the names applied to three parts of a large body of water which extends west-northwestward from the northwestern side of Atchafalaya Bay and is separated from the Gulf by Marsh Island. The bays have a combined length of about 32 miles, with varying width of 5 to 15 miles, and average depth of 5 to 9 feet (1.5 to 2.7 m). With the exception of Cote Blanche Island, Weeks Island, and Avery Island the shores of these bays and Marsh Island are low and marshy.