Houseboat Adventure in the Atchafalaya Basin by Braxton Hobdy

A friend of mine and I were lamenting that January was such a dull month after all the holidays and we needed to do something to change that. Kayaking road trip!!! But where?

I got on the Internet and found a website for Houseboat Adventures at Cypress Cove on the Atchafalaya Basin. Since we live in Natchez, MS that was a perfect distance.

In early December I called and spoke to Laurette Mequet and asked about her boats. They have six houseboats that will sleep 4 to 8 people depending on the size of the boat.  I reserved the Atchafalaya Queen. We liked the name and it was one of the larger boats.

We had a really interesting group. John Holyoak is the manager of Dunleith Plantation here in Natchez and one of the best cooks around, so he was in charge of food and cooking. Randy Wepking is from Phoenix and is in charge of making sure that the Camelback (Marriot) Resort  in Phoenix, AZ opens everyday, so he was in charge of everything mechanical. Howard Jones is in the lumber business and is a forester so he was in charge of navigation. I am in insurance so I am not really good at anything except fetching beers and washing dishes. So we all had our function as the crew of the Atchafalaya Queen.   

On Friday morning, January 16th the four us headed out with 4 kayaks and a small john boat. We got to Cyrpess Cove landing and were met by granddad (Doug) and son (Jude) Mequet. They helped us load the Queen with all our gear and pushed us out to our place in the swamp. We had asked for some where that was out of main traffic and isolated. They up put us in a cove and tied the Queen to the fire tree. They showed us how to operate everything and were off.

The houseboat was great for four. There was plenty of room inside and outside the boat. There was deck down each side that was a perfect place to keep the kayaks and equipment. It has a kitchen area, which was well used on this trip, large living area, and a real bathroom or head. A shower with hot water is a real amenity.

By 2:30 p.m. we were settled in so it was time to paddle. John and I have been kayaking for a while, Howard had been a couple of times with us and Randy had never kayaked.  We spent 30 minutes deciding which boat each of us would paddle with the goal that we all paddle each boat at least once. After gearing up and figuring how to successfully enter the boats from the deck of our houseboat we paddled out into lake Henderson. It didn’t take long for everyone to get comfortable and we paddled for a hour and a half or so.

The evening was spent cooking, rigging up fishing equipment that was never really used and telling tall tales. John had told us we would have duck for dinner, but when he opened that package it was salt pork. He got and continues to get considerable ribbing about that.

Saturday morning after a breakfast of spicy eggs over hot tamales (I am serious and it was wonderful) we decided to take a long paddle. We paddled up to I-10 on the east side of the lake and then headed south through bayous, little lakes and narrow cuts. It rained a good bit of the time, but that didn’t matter. The basin was beautiful even in the dead of winter and on a dreary day. When you get back in the small lakes the water gets really clean and clear. Waterfowl and osprey would settle in the back waters and didn’t really pay much attention to us. We made a loop and paddled about 14 miles on that trip.

For all the kidding John got that for the salt pork incident he truly made up for it at the Saturday evening meal. We had wild boar tenderloin over bow-tie pasta fettuccini. Outstanding!!!

Sunday morning the weather had cleared and after a breakfast that included left over tenderloin and pasta we did a short paddle to a small lake. What was neat about the lake was the entrance. It was a small cut about a 1/8th of a mile long with button bush growing on the sides and forming a tunnel effect. I really want to go back when there is foliage on the bushes to get the full effect.

About 10:00am we loaded up the boats and paddled up to I-10 again on the east side, but continued north and then west. Most of the paddle was open water between small islands. We just adventured around until we got into canals on the west side of the basin and headed back south. Again there was waterfowl and empty duck blinds everywhere. Except for an occasional oil company work boat and the roar of airboats (geological crews) we had the waterways to ourselves. This was a long day. We paddle between 18 and 20 miles and the last stretch was in open water with some wind. Everyone made it fine.

The storm and colder weather that was supposed to arrive Sunday did not make it until Sunday night. When we woke on Monday morning ready to leave it was cold, but clear. Mitch Mequet was there at 7:30 am to push us in and our adventure would be over. After packing up the trucks ready to head home we agreed that we would make this trip again. Next January we plan to rent two boats and we have already recruited friends to go. The hospitality of the Mequet family combined with the beauty of the Basin and a perfect setting for kayaking makes this an adventure you should all try.

For more about Houseboat Adventures visit www.houseboat-adventures.com.