Dear Capt. Paul:
I have heard a lot about two locations south of Dularge — Enstar and the Mardi Gras. What is the easiest way to get there from Dularge, Dulac or Cocodrie.
Thanks, Michael
Capt. Paul’s response:
First, let’s start with the locations you are asking about, the Mardi Gras and the Enstar rigs.
Isles Dernieres are made up of several barrier islands. They are, from east to west, East Island, Trinity Island, Whiskey Island and Raccoon Island.
Raccoon Island is the western-most of the islands, while Wine Pass on the easternmost tip of East Island at Terrebonne Bay is the eastern-most of the islands. These islands cover a distance that is over 20 miles in length.
The western-most point of Raccoon Island is named Raccoon Point. It is in the southern part of Caillou Bay. The western-most shoal of Raccoon Point is at or about N29 03.650 x W90 57.505.
The small structure two miles or so northwest of Raccoon Point is the Enstar rig. It is at or about N29 04.900 x W90 58. 537.
Starting from Raccoon Point and heading west, the bodies of rigs, generally on the same line, after you pass the Enstar rig are called the Pickets, Mardi Gras and the Blue Point rigs.
On fairly clear days, you can see the Pickets from Coon Point. When you get to the Pickets, you can see the Mardi Gras platform, and from the Mardi Gras rig, you can see the Blue Point rigs.
Most all of the Picket rigs are in Ship Shoal Block 26.
One of the larger platforms is located at or about N29º 06.557 x W91º 03.484. From the above location, you can see several of the other “Pickets” platforms in the area.
About 7.25 miles to the west of the large Pickets platform is the Mardi Gras platform. It is located at or about N29 07. 502 x W091 10. 688 in the northwest part of Ship Shoal Block 33.
And about another 7.6 miles to the southwest is a group of platforms that are called the Point Blue rigs. The larger platform is at or about N29 05.598 x W91 16.989.
Now for the hard part of your question!
The aforementioned locations can be reached from the shoreline where Bayou Grand Caillou enters the Gulf of Mexico (N29 10.069 x W90 56.772) and many other points along the coastline or from Raccoon Point heading almost due west.
A route from Cocodrie would be about 28 miles just to get to Raccoon Point on the Isles Dernieres. This route via Bayou Petit Caillou to Sainte Elaine to Bodwin Cutoff to Caillou Boca to Raccoon Point is traversing a lot of open water.
From Dulac, you would simply follow Bayou Grand Caillou to the Gulf. It is simpler saying than doing as parts of the bayou have eroded beyond recognition as it meanders to the southwest from Dulac. So be sure that you get a very good map of the area and even enlist the help of the launch operators on the proper course of the bayou. This trip is about 25 miles to the Gulf, most all of which is in the bayou.
From Highway 315 at Bayou DuLarge, one would follow Bayou DuLarge south to Grand Pass through Caillou Lake to Grand Bayou Dularge to the Gulf. This trip is about 18 miles, which is mainly in closed, protected waters.
Yes, there are other routes that would get you from the launch areas you stated, but you should at least use these as a basis for a definitive route that you would use as well as the distances from the various launch areas.
My positions for the rigs are for the center of the platforms.
Unless otherwise specified, all positions are stated as H,DDD,MM.mmm, and were determined using WGS 84 dati,. All headings/bearings/courses are stated in magnetic degrees.
