The Intracoastal Waterway

The Complete Cockpit Cruising Guide

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Contents

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

The Intracoastal Waterway: What's It Really Like?

Officially, it is called the Intracoastal Waterway. Officially, it runs from theAnnisquam River in Massachusetts, north of Boston, all the way down the EastCoast and along the shore of the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas. Officially,it was constructed to provide a protected route for vessels that otherwise wouldhave to travel on more exposed bodies of water.

Actually, it is called, variously, the Inland Waterway, the Ditch, Inside, theIn ter coastal, or the ICW. Actually, when most people refer to thiswaterway, no matter what name they call it, they are referring to the sectionthat stretches from Norfolk, Virginia, to Miami, Florida. And, actually, manymiles of this waterway offer no real protection at all, since it includes suchopen bodies of water as Buzzards Bay, Block Island Sound, Long Island Sound,Delaware Bay, and the Chesapeake Bay—not to mention the Atlantic Ocean offthe New Jersey Coast. (The official Intracoastal Waterway follows an insideroute along nearly the entire length of the New Jersey coast, but depth ofchannel, overhead clearances, and frequent severe shoaling make it unusable forall but small, shoal-draft boats.)

The truly protected "inside" section of the Waterway, and the one mostmysterious to those who have never traveled it, begins at Mile 0 in NorfolkHarbor and ends at Mile 1095.0 in Miami. This is the part of the Waterway thatthis book covers.

Waterway Myths

Myths abound about the Waterway, and, it seems to us, the difficulties oftraveling along it have been publicized disproportionately. Even thosepublications and articles that extol the Waterway have an uncommon amount of"buts" and "howevers," implying that you must be ever alert in order to avoidproblems. In truth, the Waterway is fun to cruise and will present no moreproblems than any other body of water to anyone who uses good judgment, can reada chart, and has a properly equipped boat.

The home ports of many first-time Waterway travelers are on the large bodies ofwater mentioned above, which are part of the official Intracoastal Waterway, andthe home ports of many others are in the Great Lakes. Open bodies of water arefamiliar to both groups. When they are on their boats in such waters, they knowwhat to expect and they proceed with equanimity. It is the more confinedsections of the Waterway that tend to cause concern—the "real"Intracoastal Waterway with its reportedly narrow channels, many bridges, shallowdepths, and heavy commercial traffic. What many don't realize is that when theyreach the "real" Waterway, they have already left the worst of it behind them.

Upon hearing the Waterway referred to as a "ditch," many people interpret theword literally, envisioning a narrow canal. Perhaps they have read accounts ofdodging tree branches that overhang the Waterway, and of traversing narrow land-cuts and canals. This all contributes to a feeling that one will be closed inwhen on the ICW. Some have the impression that the Waterway is filled withhazards and obstacles and spanned by bridges that open only on the whim of thebridgetenders.

Even the names of some of the places on the Intracoastal Waterway are enough totrouble someone's mind about the trip: Great Dismal Swamp, Alligator River,Lockwoods Folly, Cape Fear River, Mosquito Lagoon, Haulover Canal, several HellGates. And then there are all the many creeks that are a part of the ICW in somesections—the very word "creek" bringing to mind something small, shallow,and narrow.

Waterway Myths Dispelled

Well then, if the Waterway isn't a narrow, shallow, tree-choked, hazard-filledobstacle course, what is it? The answer is, it is water. Water in wide soundswhere the shore isn't visible (like parts of Long Island Sound), water in canalsand land-cuts (like the New York State Barge Canal and the Cape Cod Canal),water in rivers (like the Hudson and St. Clair Rivers), water in creeks (likethe many branching off from the Chesapeake Bay), and water in bays (like theGreat South Bay on the south shore of Long Island). It is deep water, shallowwater, blue, green, gray, and brown water. It is tidal and nontidal water. It iswater formed by the wind into waves of varying heights, short and steep chops,and cross-seas. It is water that is millpond-still and water with currentsranging from strong to weak. The waters that make up the Intracoastal Waterwayare really no different from the waters anywhere else where boating is done.

The part of the Waterway that isn't water is the land along its route. This isbeautiful, fascinating, and rarely commonplace. From Virginia to Florida, you'llpass from a temperate climatic zone to the subtropics. The vegetation along theway will reflect this: holly, sweet gum, magnolia, and cypress trees, clumps ofmistletoe in tree branches, live oaks draped with Spanish moss, palmettos,palms, Australian pines, and mangroves. If you aren't traveling too fast, you'llsee an incredible amount of wildlife: birds of many kinds, including thousandsof migrating swans in the fall, alligators, turtles, snakes, bears, deer,raccoons, muskrats, dolphins, mullets, and perhaps even a tarpon or a manatee.The Waterway passes through or near towns, cities, and sites that have figuredin the history of the United States: Norfolk, Wilmington, Georgetown,Charleston, Beaufort, Savannah, and St. Augustine; Forts Fisher, Frederica, andMatanzas, and the Castillo de San Marcos. The earliest settlers sailed throughthe waters of the North Carolina sounds. During the Revolutionary War, alongwhat would become the Waterway's route, battles were fought by such men asFrancis Marion, the Swamp Fox; General Nathanael Greene; and the infamous SirBanastre Tarleton. The Civil War began when Fort Sumter, South Carolina, wasfired upon. And later in the war, the naval battle between the ironclad shipsMonitor and Merrimac occurred near Norfolk.

Only someone with little imagination could fail to be intrigued by some of thethings to be seen along the Waterway: pirates' hideouts; the mysterious,haunting Marshes of Glynn; bleak swamps with stark dead trees; dense stands ofmajestic cypress mirrored in still, dark waters; impenetrable masses ofjunglelike twining vines; ruins of plantations and manor houses; old cemeterieswith moss-covered stones shaded by ancient oaks; piles of strangely out-of-placeballast rock dumped by long-forgotten ships; abandoned rice fields; and hugeheaps of shells—piled there by whom, or what?

Incredible as it seems, even with this wealth of things to see, some people findthe Waterway trip boring. These are often people who hurry down the ICW as fastas their boats will carry them, not knowing or caring about the country they aretraveling through. Those who enjoy the Waterway the most are usually interestedenough to learn something about it. We never cruise an area without referencematerial about it, as well as books for identifying the flora and fauna that wemight see.

Waterway Concerns

If we have dispelled any doubts about the Waterway itself, you may still beconcerned about commercial traffic, bridges, shallows, and overnight facilities.Be assured that Waterway traffic will cause no trouble if common sense and goodjudgment are used, and if the Rules of the Road, which apply on the Waterway aselsewhere, are observed. Commercial traffic is infrequent, and it is highlyunusual to meet more than one commercial vessel at a time. The most-fearedconfrontation seems to be meeting a tugboat with barges in a narrow place andbeing forced out of the channel. We note the few places where such an encountercould be a problem, but chances are you'll have these places all to yourself. Noone piloting a tug on the Waterway wants to cause a problem for anyone else. Infact, most commercial skippers go out of their way to make things easy for thosein pleasure boats. In some extreme cases, they go so far out of their way thatthey go aground. Generally, they won't cause you trouble if they can avoid it;they are more inclined to help than to hinder you.

Bridges

Of the approximately 141 bridges that cross the Waterway's main route, about 77need to be opened for most pleasure boats to pass through. We say"approximately" and "about" because new high-level bridges are being built as wewrite, and some opening bridges are being eliminated. Dividing 77 into the 1,095miles covered in this book tells us that we'll encounter an opening bridge, onaverage, every 14 miles or so. Fortunately, this is not the case along most ofthe Waterway; unfortunately, however, opening bridges are spaced much closerthan 14 miles apart in southern Florida. After an 80-mile stretch in centralFlorida without any opening bridges at all, you'll encounter no fewer than 38 ofthem in the last 130 miles! (If you need to open the 55-footer at FortLauderdale, make that 39.) Of these bridges, 32 are restricted, which means theyopen at certain times. The only way to avoid these bridges is to head to seathrough an inlet and travel in the Atlantic Ocean for a short distance.

Fuel and Overnight Stops

The longest stretch on the Waterway proper between marinas where you can obtainboth gasoline and diesel fuel is about 87 miles, in Georgia. The second-longestdistance between fueling stops is about 50 miles in North Carolina. (We notewhere these stretches begin.)

As for overnight stops, there is usually at least one marina or anchorage every20 to 25 miles. If you can't make it from marina to marina, there are plenty ofanchorages within an easy day's run, even for slow boats, although determinedWaterway cruisers wanting to anchor every night might some times have to settlefor less-than-desirable spots. In the past, some communities in southern Floridainstituted time limits and permits for anchoring in a few places, though in 2009the Florida legislature passed a law that limits the ability of communities toinstitute anchoring restrictions outside of the designated mooring fields.

In the busy seasons (spring and fall) it would be wise to call ahead on yourcell phone or your VHF radio to make advance marina reservations, especially insouthern Florida. Reserving space in other areas where there may be severalmarinas isn't absolutely necessary, but in places with only one marina, areservation assures you of a berth. Reservations or not, marina operatorsusually make every effort to accommodate transient boats.

If you are a member of an accredited yacht club, you may be able to stay at someyacht clubs along the way. Call ahead to find out if transient space isavailable, especially at big-city and southern Florida yacht clubs. Expect topay for dockage at a yacht club just as you would at a marina. A few yacht clubswill accept transients who are not yacht club members. Some so-called "yachtclubs" are actually commercial marinas and/or residence communities, and theyoften have space for transients.

Tides and Currents

On the ICW, you'll have to be aware of tides and the swift currents thataccompany them, especially in the Carolinas and Georgia. In Georgia you'llencounter high tides 8 to 9 feet above maximum low water, and the swiftestcurrents on the Waterway. Currents can affect the time it takes to travel fromone point to another, and they must be taken into consideration when anchoringand docking as well as when approaching bridges that must open for your vessel.A current runs more swiftly in narrow or confined sections, especially atbridges where the bridge fenders or supports reduce the area through which thewater has to flow. A firm hand on the helm is necessary when passing throughbridges in a swift-current area. Remember, a boat traveling with the current hasthe right of way.

In some sections of the ICW, catching a favorable current could save you timeand fuel. The most critical of these sections is in the Cape Fear River, wherethe current can be as swift as 3 knots on the ebb. But in many areas of theWaterway, in the Carolinas and Georgia for example, you won't be able tocalculate with much accuracy the direction of the current in any given timeperiod. In the course of a day's run, whether you have a slow boat or a fastone, you'll pass so many inlets from the ocean that the currents will switchfrom favorable to unfavorable several times a day. These currents, however, tendto cancel one another out, and you can usually cover a normal day's run for yourboat.

There are a few places, notably Elliott Cut in Wappoo Creek, near Charleston,and Snows Cut near Carolina Beach, where planning for a slack or mildlyfavorable current will make your day much more pleasant. Both cuts are narrow,rock lined, and can experience current flows that are strong enough to stop low-poweredvessels. Conversely, going through with the full blast of a favorablecurrent may make for a rather wild and uncontrolled ride.

Weather

The Intracoastal Waterway can be traveled in any of the four seasons. Thesummers are hot and humid from Norfolk to Miami. Even though the temperaturerarely climbs to 100°F in Florida, we have been as uncomfortable there in thesummer as any place we've cruised. We think it is due to the intensity of thesun. One miserable July we traveled north on the ICW, passing through Florida,Georgia, and South and North Carolinas, all of which were experiencing record-breaking temperatures. Even though the thermometer read about the same in eachstate, we found that we weren't quite as uncomfortable in the Carolinas as wehad been in Florida. We decided it was because we were moving farther north,"away" from the sun.

A normal winter anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line is not too cold,especially in places along the water, which has a tempering effect on both hotand cold weather. On occasion, we have been comfortable outdoors without ajacket in January as far north as Wilmington, North Carolina.

Spring and fall are the best seasons for cruising the Waterway. The weather canbe delightful, with warm days and cool nights, but this combination oftenproduces fog, which can occur on the Waterway just as quickly and just asthickly as anywhere else. A bright, clear morning is no indication that fogwon't occur later. If the conditions are right, a dense fog can close in withinminutes, without warning, so you must be prepared for it.

Spring and fall may be the best seasons to travel the Waterway as far astemperatures are concerned, but they are also the busiest. More pleasure-boattraffic is coming and going; consequently, marinas and anchorages are morecrowded.

As to winds along the Waterway, in the summer they are generally light tononexistent except for a possible onshore afternoon breeze in some places nearthe coast. From the middle of December to the middle of February, heavy windsoccur frequently. Winds are not often so strong that you can't travel, but theycan blow with enough force to make for an uncomfortable passage. One mildwinter, when the temperatures were delightful for traveling, we had gale windson an average of every third day for an entire month. January has the most dayswith high-velocity winds.

Florida experiences a unique pattern of winter winds that begins with what iscalled a norther—a strong wind that blows out of the northwest. Asthe wind shifts slowly into the northeast, the velocity diminishes slightly.Next, the wind shifts farther into the east-southeast, diminishing even more. Asit moves through the southern quadrant, wind force drops to no more than a lightbreeze. When it again goes west of south, building from the southwest, andeventually coming strong from the northwest, the whole sequence begins again.The complete cycle takes about three or four days, and cruising people learn toplan their runs accordingly. It is not at all unusual for the northwest winds toreach velocities of 40 to 60 knots.

Very high winds can cause as much as a 5-foot variation in the water levels inboth tidal and nontidal waters. Most winds, though, cause only a 1-foot or lessvariation.

If boating people encounter bad weather in home waters, they don't think muchabout it; they are secure in their knowledge of where to run for shelter, andthey know how their particular body of water will act in a given type ofweather. Take it from us: all along the Waterway you'll find plenty of places torun to or stay put in if bad weather hits. This handbook points out the safespots, and also warns you if weather may be a problem in any area.

Other Navigation Materials

It is not sensible to try to cruise the Waterway (or any place else for thatmatter) without charts. Small-craft charts (also known as strip charts), issuedby the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are thecharts that cover the Waterway. As of this writing, they cost $20.75 each, andyou'll need ten of them to cover the Waterway from Norfolk to Miami, for a totalcost of $207.50. (A list of all the NOAA charts for this portion of the Waterwayis found in Appendix A. A few other charts you'll need if you go to places wemention off the Waterway are included in the list.)

For about one-third the cost of individual charts, you can purchase thechartbook companion to this book: The Intracoastal Waterway Chartbook:Norfolk, Virginia, to Miami, Florida, 5th edition, edited by John and LeslieKettlewell (International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2008), hereafter referred to asThe Intracoastal Waterway Chartbook (or simply, the Chartbook).The charts in the book are reproduced directly from the NOAA charts. Charts ofthe major inlets and alternate routes are also included.

Of course, many of you will have onboard a dedicated chartplotter or a PC-basednavigation system that utilizes electronic charts and GPS, and you may havefound these devices provide a great way to navigate in your home waters. In ouropinion, when on the Waterway it is far easier to use the chartbook referencedabove or the paper small-craft charts. It is critical to have your charts at thesteering station at all times, and to be able to view the charts easily in fulldaylight. At the same time, it is also critical to be able to easily flip backand forth through the charts in order to plan your day, time arrivals atbridges, and to prepare for upcoming navigational difficulties. These processesare much handier using the chartbook.

In addition, some electronic products do not provide the same level of detailfound on the paper charts. Things like side rivers, road and land features, andeven soundings may be missing. Even if you do find yourself using electroniccharting on the ICW, be certain to have a paper backup of some sort. Despite themany navigational markings along the Waterway, it is very difficult anddangerous to navigate without up-to-date charts.

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(Continues...)Excerpted from The Intracoastal Waterway by Jan Moeller, Bill Moeller. Copyright © 2010 by Jan and William Moeller, John Kettlewell. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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