Bring your Beach Umbrella

Thanks for posting this Franz. My 20th century brain couldn't figure out how to do it from Don's email... There has always been this silted in area, but I've never seen the sand exposed. And what is so fascinating is that just a few hundred yards downriver and out in the middle where the current self-cleans the bottom, is the deepest part of the Mississippi - usually 180 ft. or so of water. This whole area is known as Algiers Bend, for those of you unfamiliar with the NOLA harbor. By the way, the river stage is 3.89, quite low. Years ago I recall it getting down to a foot, and the salt water got intermingled in the river water as far as a few miles below the city, around the Algiers Canal, but even then this phenomenon didn't appear. Amazing what a combination of extremely high water and low water can create - just ask the AQ on the UMR this year too!

And Its Getting BIGGER !!

Greetings From New Orleans ,
This has to be only one of the very few times that in recent history that a Bar has been built up and out of the water off of the New Orleans Moon Walk . It is my guess that due to the recent and un-seasonal High River
and then the rapid fall of the river , the up-stream eddy that deposited this silt , was then unable to wash out the Bar that it deposited . Check out in the pictures how high out of the river the Moon Walk is and how high the Bar is out of the river as well . Today on the New Orleans , Carrollton Gage , we have just over 4 feet and its predicted to fall even futher . I am also told that Memphis has about -4' (minus four feet) and is predicted to fall even futher to -9' (minus nine feet) . My friend , Capt. Finley Frasier , whom is now on board the Str. Delta Queen , as Pilot , tells me that when he served on board the Str. Natchez , that is was quite common during Low River , for him to witness all manner of vessels that came to close to both the Natchez and the Moon Walk , to " Run Aground " with rather sudden and abrupt stops when in this general area . I also believe that this year will go down in the River Stage history book as a very unusual year due to both the extreme High and Low river stages . Time will tell !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson

Franz Neumeier;13190 wrote: Judy just sent this picture. Her comment:

"This is just below the Natchez' Toulouse St. landing, right in front of the Moonwalk. I've never seen the river that low, and its probably also a combination of silt deposited from the lengthy flood waters last spring. But it is a spectacular shot, when you realize how deep the NOLA is."

Picture by Capt. Don Houghton. Thanks, Don and Judy!