Once we entered the inlet at Ft Lauderdale, we were officially in the Atlantic intracoastal Waterway, also known as the AICW, and the ICW, and the “Ditch”.  It’s a 1090 mile waterway that runs from Norfolk to Miami.   Some of it follows natural waterways, such as rivers, bays and sounds, and much of it follows  man made cuts, through land or between bodies of water.   Parts of it goes through big cities like Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Charleston, and  Norfolk, and other parts goes through smaller towns, like Beaufort and Beaufort, (pronounced BYOO fort and BOWfort) in South Carolina and North Carolina respectively.   And then many parts wind through marsh land with no civilization for many many  miles, surrounded by grasses, creeks, swamps and some trees.  More of the waterway goes through areas with big houses, mansions, ostentatious homes that scream money, cottages, shacks, trailers, even a tent now and then.  Some parts pass marinas, resorts, restaurants, many wildlife reserve parks and an occasional  rotting dock with no logical meaning.

 

The stretch from Ft Lauderdale up  to Ft Peirce took us through  dozens of bascule bridges that we had to call on VHF channel 9 to open. There is an expected courtesy when talking to bridge tenders. They like it when you know the exact name of the bridge, or they may not respond!  Our chart plotter does not have the names, so I got into the habit of asking each bridge tender  the name of the next bridge North bound so I would be ready.  Some open on request, others only on half hour increments, which can be interesting  if you have to hang around and  wait with a swift current in a tight spot.  But the most interesting thing I noticed during the whole bridge episode, was the chatter on channel 8 sounded more like the old CB radios in cars on the  New Jersey Turnpike,  so many people in the Ft Lauderdale area have new York and New  Jersey accents!!

 

Much of the ICW is very shallow. And the currents south of North Carolina can be wicked strong. 3 –4 knots at times!  Especially in  the man made cuts that connect tidal rivers, bays,  and sounds.   Our schedule has depended largely on  the timing of the tides.  There are a few stretches that we cannot get through except on a mid rising tide. And even here we get depths as shallow as  6 feet. If we were to go aground on an outgoing tide, it could cost us dearly.    Some of these area have 9 ft tides.  So we need to be very aware!!

Steering along the ICW is more work than in the middle of the Ocean, not physically but mentally. You can’t let go of the wheel even to scratch your nose or the current might shove the boat sideways, possibly into a shallow  bank in some of the super skinny parts, or worse, a bridge.  And then there are so many numbers to look at, the depth sounder, the boat speed, the wind speed, the marker numbers, the water temp, the oil pressure, the fridge temp.  Sometimes, I’ll look at the boat speed, which may get down to 4.5 if going against the current and I think “Oh no,  it’s getting shallow!”  So many numbers.

The imagery is outstanding!   Brilliant golden green grasses, tall skinny palm trees, old gnarly trees with hanging moss,  funky trunks at the water’s edge, tall pines and some beaches.  Along with charming villages, old fishing boats, sparkly cities and manicured parks. And the wildlife is spectacular!  Lots of dolphins! We also saw a manatee, a stingray, a few turtles, lots of cormorants,  herons, egrets and pelicans. I especially love the snowy egrets and how they have white  feathery tops on their heads that they can raise and lower at will.   I would love to be able to do that with my hair! Like when I meet someone new, a could make my hair go straight up, and then back down.  And I also love the pelicans!  They are huge birds! And they look like they haven’t changed much since dinosaur days.  These birds often fly inches above the water with their wings spread wide, and sometimes they fly in formation with  other pelicans, like the Blue Angel pilots.  Pelicans may think they are intimidating due to there size, and long strong beaks, but they have fluffy yellow fuzz on the tops of the heads that just make you want to go up and scratch their furry heads!  I would love to have a pet pelican!  I’d name him “Mr P”, and he would follow me around where ever I go.      yeah right.

 

Traveling up the ICW has been much different than our European part of the adventure!  For one thing the locals all speak English!   We can read the signs!  And we see land the whole time, sometimes  almost too close for comfort.   But as it has been during the whole time, the people have been so friendly.  They really light up when we mention that we are returning from a sail to Europe!   And they light up more when we clearly are as excited about being in whatever town we are in as we were in every place in Europe!!   SO we will continue up the ICW and into the Chesapeake as we trek on home!  Me, Robert, our two cats and Mr P.   Well, maybe not the pelican.