Departing for bridge opening at eight we passed through the only lock on ICW in this area and headed north to next bridge.

Clearance for that bridge was 46ft at high tide and we were between low and high tide.

With Dora Mac reaching maximum 42ft I told Mercedes there would be no problem but reaching the bridge we became unsecure.

Reaching the bridge tender on Ch 13 she told us “Sir,you definitely need a bridge opening for passage. I will arrange it as soon as I can”.

A couple of minutes later she opened the bridge and all was well. That was the last bridge on ICW north bound , and passage through Norfolk was easy.