06/17/2010 - Bayou Coden (1 of 2)

Launch: Was going to launch free at Bayou La Batre but it was bustling with oil spill related activity so I launched at nearby Bayou Coden. Launch cost had gone up from $3 to $5 thanks to the oil spill profiteering opportunities.
Destination: Bayou Coden, Bayou La Batre and Coffee Island.
Distance: Approx 16 miles.
Paddle time: Approx 6 hours.
Weather: Hot and humid (90s) with nearby thunderstorms.
Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

1) While at Coffee Island, an oil spill worker on a boat called me over and advised me that although it was okay to be padding inside the booms today, tomorrow all this area may be off limits to recreational boat use.

2) When these oil booms get coated with oil, kayakers will have to find somewhere else to paddle. I saw streams of light brown particles getting past these booms but it didn't appear to be oil so I didn't take a photo. According to another photo seen on the web on this web page, the light brown substance is indeed oil related. No petroleum fumes could be smelled.

3) Like Bayou La Batre, Bayou Coden is another waterway that leaves boat wrecks in their waterway that are navigational hazards.

4) An abandoned building is slowly overtaken by growing vegetation.

5) A photo taken along Bayou Coden's shoreline. I recently paddled in the northeast and never saw trashy shorelines like this, even in working harbors.

6) A shorebird feeds among crab trap material, plastic trash and rope. Bayou Coden was very trashy.

7) A crab feeds along the edge of a pier.

8) A cat looking for fresh fish.

9) Swallows in their protective nest under a bridge.

10) Further up in Bayou Coden, it is much prettier.