Weather and the ICW

 First posted February 9.

We'll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not. 


We left the Chesapeake in mid December, a month later than planned. And soon encountered ice in the canals. But we eventually worked out way south into Florida with palm trees and bougainvillea. From winter hats and warm jackets to t-shirts and bare feet. 


I'm continually impressed with the weather forecasting available to us. Several different models are available at the click of an internet button. And it's not just for rain and sun. Detailed info presented in easy graphic form let us see the offshore wave heights days in advance. Wave period too. Same with wind speed and direction. We can plan a week ahead when to be offshore and when to stay put and when to motor down the ICW. 


The ICW (InterCoastal Waterway) is an amazing bit of engineering. One can navigate from Texas to New York almost entirely protected from the open ocean. It follows a series of canals and rivers and other bodies of water just inside the coast and provides access to all the coastal cities for both ocean capable vessels and flatwater craft. It's a boon to the manufacturers of pleasure boats, marinas, and for commercial barge traffic. 


But it can get boring and tedious. Most places it's 100yards wide and about 12 feet deep. Outside of the ditch it may be 3 feet deep for a quarter mile before the shore. Were Athena to stray from the dredged confines we would soon be mired in mud. We have an excellent auto pilot connected to GPS, and with minor adjustments we can keep her on the straight and narrow. Or we can download a set of data points as a track that another boater has made, and she can follow that, turn for turn for miles and miles. Even when automated, we always have to keep watch for other boats, flotsam, etc. 


There are anchorages along the way where we can spend the night in wilderness or near a town. And sometimes we'll stop and explore an interesting locale. Some cities encourage boaters with free docks or inexpensive moorings with a convenient dinghy dock. For ground transportation we can walk, or use our two folding bicycles, and some places have reasonable bus service. Or there's Vero Beach, which has an amazing bus network, and it's free! 


Once in town we often find the local museums, some of which are excellent, noteworthy examples include Solomons in Virginia and the whaling museum in New Bedford MA. There's always shopping and re-provisioning the larder, Amazon pickups, and hardware stores to purvey, and occasionally we've met up with friends who live nearby to share a meal and socializing. 

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