Friday, May 11, 2007
Reflections on the Intracoastal Waterway
Cruising America’s Great Loop in protected waters is made possible by the existance of the Intracoastal Waterway, commonly referred to as “The ICW” or sometimes disparagingly, “The Ditch.” Now that the end is in sight, I thought it would be good to pay homage to this amazing system of manmade and natural channels, canals, bays, rivers, and estuaries along the eastern and southeast coasts of the U.S.
The ICW is actually divided into two parts, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which took us from Fairhope, AL to Carrabelle, FL (actually begins in Brownsville, TX) and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which extends from Norfolk, VA, (Mile 0) to Key West, FL (Mile 1244). The two segments were originally supposed to be connected by a canal across northern Florida, but environmental concerns canceled that plan.
In addition to recreational boaters such as Loopers, “snowbirds,” fishermen, and weekend speed boaters, the ICW has a fair amount of commercial activity. Barges haul petroleum products, foodstuffs, building materials, and manufactured goods. Commercial fishermen use the ICW to get to their fishing grounds. Coastal and inland marinas, village shops, restaurants, etc., depend on waterway traffic for their livelihood.
If you’ve followed our journey, you know how much we’ve enjoyed the changes in terrain and wealth of wildlife seen as we’ve cruised along the ICW. Stamped indelibly on our brains are images of south Florida’s palm trees, mangroves, manatees, alligators, ibis, roseate spoonbills and the ubiquitous osprey nests, as well as the clear, turquoise waters of the Keys. These images gradually give way to mental photos of Georgia and the Carolinas: stately oaks draped with Spanish moss, cypress trees, scrubby live oaks, barrier islands, tidal swings, glimpses of the Atlantic surf and coffee-colored water. It’s all good.
We also realize that the ICW is the closest thing to a highway we have while cruising. We can measure our progress by counting mile markers. We can be sure we’ve taken the correct turn in the waterway by locating the little yellow squares on green buoys or yellow triangles on read buoys. When we leave the ICW in Norfolk, our route opens to many, many possible routes and destinations on the Chesapeake Bay and points north. No more clearly charted pathway leads from “here” to “there.” It’s exciting, but also a little daunting to choose which stops to make and which route to take. Now that we can see the end of the ICW, we realize that we'll actually miss it: the waterway has offered us an amazing adventure. We hope that Congress will see fit to fund maintenance so that future cruising folks can experience this incredible waterway system too.
The ICW is actually divided into two parts, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which took us from Fairhope, AL to Carrabelle, FL (actually begins in Brownsville, TX) and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which extends from Norfolk, VA, (Mile 0) to Key West, FL (Mile 1244). The two segments were originally supposed to be connected by a canal across northern Florida, but environmental concerns canceled that plan.
In addition to recreational boaters such as Loopers, “snowbirds,” fishermen, and weekend speed boaters, the ICW has a fair amount of commercial activity. Barges haul petroleum products, foodstuffs, building materials, and manufactured goods. Commercial fishermen use the ICW to get to their fishing grounds. Coastal and inland marinas, village shops, restaurants, etc., depend on waterway traffic for their livelihood.
If you’ve followed our journey, you know how much we’ve enjoyed the changes in terrain and wealth of wildlife seen as we’ve cruised along the ICW. Stamped indelibly on our brains are images of south Florida’s palm trees, mangroves, manatees, alligators, ibis, roseate spoonbills and the ubiquitous osprey nests, as well as the clear, turquoise waters of the Keys. These images gradually give way to mental photos of Georgia and the Carolinas: stately oaks draped with Spanish moss, cypress trees, scrubby live oaks, barrier islands, tidal swings, glimpses of the Atlantic surf and coffee-colored water. It’s all good.
We also realize that the ICW is the closest thing to a highway we have while cruising. We can measure our progress by counting mile markers. We can be sure we’ve taken the correct turn in the waterway by locating the little yellow squares on green buoys or yellow triangles on read buoys. When we leave the ICW in Norfolk, our route opens to many, many possible routes and destinations on the Chesapeake Bay and points north. No more clearly charted pathway leads from “here” to “there.” It’s exciting, but also a little daunting to choose which stops to make and which route to take. Now that we can see the end of the ICW, we realize that we'll actually miss it: the waterway has offered us an amazing adventure. We hope that Congress will see fit to fund maintenance so that future cruising folks can experience this incredible waterway system too.
