Sailing Lake Pontchartrain

On a blustery day in the windy month of March, Ellie McCulloch is trying to win a race.  But unlike with most racers, terra firma isn’t a factor in McCulloch’s competition.  

Instead, the native New Orleanian is behind the tiller of her Cape Dory sailboat, named Muse in honor of her longtime Mardi Gras krewe. The past commodore of Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association (LPWSA), McCulloch is trimming her sails in the weekly Wednesday sailing regatta, a contest that draws an average of thirty boats from the local sailing community from March through November.  

McCulloch is passionate about sailing, an obsession she’s cultivated for roundabout fifteen years. Muse is her third vessel, a sturdy little twenty-seven-footer that she loves to share with other women interested in getting out on the lake and learning to sail. On this particular evening, only one of her crew is deeply experienced; the rest of the passengers range from taking orders well to not knowing the bow from the stern. 

McCulloch is a conscientious captain, funny in an endearingly deadpan kind of way. “Sailing is not a democracy—even when the captain is wrong, she’s right!” proclaimed the Uptown resident. It’s all good-natured fun, bearing out that McCulloch is generous with both her knowledge and time. Before the race gets underway, she announces that the number-one rule is to stay on the boat. Number two is not to let your head get above the boom. “And did I tell you to be sure and stay on the boat?” she teased. 

Although she’s a member of several local clubs, including New Orleans Yacht Club and Corinthians Sailing Association, McCulloch is most proud of her connection to the LPWSA, a group made up of women, men, and juniors committed to enabling women to learn about sailing. New Orleans may be a place surrounded by water, but truth is that many locals rarely swim, never mind know how to sail a boat. Yet New Orleans has a rich sailing tradition on Lake Pontchartrain, with regional, national, and even international championship regattas parting the waters for decades. The Southern Yacht Club, located in West End on the lake’s shores, was established in 1849, making it the second oldest yacht club in America. 

To the uninitiated, sailing seems a luxury sport—like dressage and heli-skiing—that most folks just can’t afford. Typical yacht clubs are associated with country clubs outfitted with boat slips—again, not for the faint-of-wallet. “We try very hard to be accessible; our dues are just $50 a year, which is a bargain,” said McCulloch. Those dues give qualified sailors access to the club’s restored Flying Scot, a day sailor called Femme Fatale. “And if you’re not qualified, we can help you get there,” she said. 

If there’s even a hint of wind on the lake, sailboats of all makes and models on both the north and south shores head into the Pontchartrain waters. Named for the French politician in charge of the navy during the reign of Louis XIV, the lake is massive, a brackish estuary shaped like a fat, hungry grouper eyeing nearby Lake Maurepas. Traversed by the longest over-water single-span bridge in the world, Lake Pontchartrain is famously shallow, beset by wind-whipped tides, and, when the ever-changeable weather kicks in, presents sailors with an exhilarating challenge. 

“It’s a fun ride out here,” said Matt Daroca, a Jefferson Parish resident who’s been sailing for more than half his twenty-six years. “We had a sailboat and a power boat growing up.” Daroca crews on Muse whenever he has the time, adding his seasoned voice to McCulloch’s sea-faring narrative. “In a race, we’re always watching for signs of wind,” he explained. “When we see boats heeled over and changes in the texture and color of the water, it means it’s blowing. There’s a lot of math and science that goes into this sport. Of course mostly it’s just fun.”

Back in the day, before Katrina, there was a New Orleans municipal yacht harbor with boat slips and a fishing pier off of West End Boulevard that was affordable and open to the public. Hobbled by the storm and the flood, just twenty percent of the marina’s six hundred slips are operable a decade later. After much wrangling with FEMA, (which initially offered around $2 million to rebuild), the project is now underway with some $20 million in its budget, with proposed floating docks replacing the old docking system.  A reconstructed fishing pier, boat-launch repairs, and a handicap-accessible raised building for events and instruction are all in the works under the non-profit New Orleans Community Sailing banner. 

With gradual openings between 2017 and 2018, the outreach to potential sailors will be huge. Youth programs will be run in collaboration with area schools and existing programs to introduce boating to children throughout the greater New Orleans area. There will be adaptive sailing programs for children and adults with physical and non-physical disabilities. Affordable public boat rentals will provide lakefront access to families and individuals. The municipal harbor will also serve as a base for college and high school sailing teams and a place for adult sailing classes as well as corporate and special events.

“It’s going to be a game changer as far as exposing all kinds of people to sailing,”  McCulloch said of the planned community sailing center. “The more people we can get out on this beautiful lake, the better.” 

Clubby Clubs: Ok, so the eight yacht clubs that call Lake Pontchartrain home are private, with dues ranging from the $50 annual charge of Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association, to $500 annually/$55 a month for active membership in the New Orleans Yacht Club. But most clubs offer lower-priced categories, including associate, junior, and collegiate; so it’s always worth an ask. Besides their charitable programs, local yacht clubs work with students and special needs circumstances on a case-by-case basis; and sailors in general are a generous lot, happy to make room for a wide-eyed newbie if the circumstance allows. Sailing camps for non-member kids are also available, most notably through the Pontchartrain Yacht Club out of Old Mandeville on the Northshore. 

Day sails for hire: Not sure if sailing is for you? You and four friends can split the $250 fee to hire a licensed captain out of Murray Yacht Sales near the Lakefront Airport and hit the lake for three hours, ($130 for bareboat, sans captain, if you pass muster). murrayyachtsales.com/adventure-page/sailing-charters/sailing-charters-new-orleans.

Across the lake out of Bayou Castine, Captain Rick Delaune commands a 42’ Sloop for day sails and sunset sails for up to six passengers, two sails per day seven days a week, weather permitting; he’ll even let you take the wheel. So popular it’s the number-two activity on TripAdvisor for things to do in Mandeville, the two-and-a-half hour sail include snacks, wine/beer, and soft drinks, which costs $380 during the day and $420 (including champagne) at sunset. If you’re lucky, you’ll spy alligators; deer in Fontainebleau State Park; and ospreys, eagles, kingfishers, and blue herons along the way. delaunesailingcharters.com.

Like to watch?: Waterfront restaurants on both sides of the lake offer primo views of picturesque sailboats bobbing around on the sun-dappled lake. Rips on the Lake, The Barley Oak, and The Lakehouse are three on the Northshore. The Blue Crab, Brisbi’s Lakefront Restaurant & Bar, Landry’s Seafood, and The Lighthouse Bar & Grill face the lake in New Orleans. 

Or bring your own picnic to the newly redone lakefront recreation area along Lakeshore Drive, where benches and picnic tables await and views of swooping pelicans and sails furled against sunset skies are free for all.