Intra Coastal Waterway Bridges

I have heard that the bridge tenders on the ICW are trolls that have moved from under the bridge to ontop of the bridge. "They are mean and cruel, making everyone wait and yelling at everyone around them!" 

While this is a common thing to hear about the bridge tenders, this is certainly not the case. Bridge tenders along the ICW operate and control the swing and draw bridges that cross the waterway. Most of the bridges that cross the waterway are fixed bridges at 65 feet in height, but some of the older bridges have not been replaced and are still the antiquated system. 

Bridge tenders spend their days inside a small room that overlooks the bridge and roadway. On one side, they have the cars, which are filled with people in a rush, crossing the bridge as they go about their lives. On the other side, they have the yachts that are passing through the waterway, heading North or South, depending on the season. The yachts are filled with people who are trying to get somewhere and are probably trying to adhere to a schedule.  

If the bridge is allowing cars to pass, then boaters have to wait. If the bridge is allowing boats to pass, then cars have to wait. It seems there is no possible way to please both cars and boats at the same time! When currents are strong, yachts will radio the bridge complaining about the flow of water and request that the bridge be opened sooner to avoid a problem. Opening the bridge to allow a few boats through means that many, many cars will have to wait as the yachts make their slow transit through the open pass. Then the cars will begin yelling at the bridge tender, giving him grief. 

I really feel bad for the bridge tenders, they try their hardest to make everyone happy, but it seems that everyone is in a rush and mad at them for not letting them cross the bridge. 

While it may seem like a horrible situation where the bridge tender chooses when to let someone cross the bridge, the truth is the bridges operate on a schedule. They open on the hour or half hour, and they will gladly tell you the schedule from far away if you merely ask them via radio (on channel 13).  

To make the bridges simple and easy to navigate, we simply radio the bridge when we are a few miles away.  I introduce myself as "South-bound sailing vessel" and ask what the opening schedule is for the bridge. They will either respond with "top of the hour" meaning they open on the hour (10am, 11am, noon, 1pm, etc.) or "top and bottom of the hour" meaning they open every hour and half hour (10:00am, 10:30am, 11;00am, 11:30am, etc).

With this information, I simply plot the distance on the chart plotter and adjust my speed so that I will arrive merely 10 minutes before the bridge opens. This means that I will only have to wait about 10 minutes, and also ensures that I won't be late and just miss the opening. 

With our electric motor, we can't always go very fast for a long time, so we find that adjusting our speed so that we can run as slow as possible and still make the next opening in time.  This is in contradiction to what we see other yachts doing, where they will pass us at hull speed, and then reach the bridge in a few minutes arguing on the radio with the bridge tender as they ask him to open the bridge early for him.

They must do this at every bridge, but yet they never get a bridge to open early. All they do is anger everyone around them as they try to bully their way through the waterway. The worst victim in the scenario is the lonely bridge tender who has to deal with these kinds of people on a daily basis.  

Many of the bridges are visible from miles away, so it is always nice to let the bridge tender know what time you will be arriving, that way he doesn't think you are trying to make the next opening. One that stood out to us in particular was about 5 miles away, and opened on the hour and half hour. The bridge tender radioed us asking if we would speed up to make the next opening, but we responded with the statement "our engine is small and weak, so we won't be able to make the next opening. We will be arriving in 1.5 hours, so we will see him at the third opening."  

One final thing you can do to be extra nice to the bridge tender is to let them know when you have made it out the other side. Bridge tenders can't always see very well when you have cleared the pass and do not want to hit you with their bridge. Letting them know you are clear of everything will let them start closing the bridge and get the cars flowing again which will make their life easier as fewer people will be yelling at him.

Going Where You Don't Fit

When we set off cruising, our plan was to travel down the East Coast of the United States offshore, and never venture on the ICW. This plan was cemented by our choice to repower with an electric motor when we pulled out our Diesel engine. Due to deteriorating weather, we have found ourselves in the ICW anyway and have had to make the most out of the situation.

The electric motor was far from our biggest deterrent to the ICW, the real deterrent was our deep keel. We draw 6.5 feet and that makes the ICW a tricky waterway to navigate. We have friends on trawlers who cruise down to Florida every winter and draw only 4 feet, and they run aground from time to time in the ICW. Having an extra 2.5 feet of draft means that we don't fit in most anchorages and are forced to anchor on the side of the channel where there is a bit of deep water beyond the edge of the channel. 

Being outside of the dredged area though means that we will be on the bottom at low tide, and forces us to wait until the following high tide to keep moving because that is when we will float off the bottom. 

We have run aground at least once everyday since we entered the ICW, and somedays even more than that. Luckily, most of our groundings occur when we are setting the anchor and letting out the appropriate amount of scope. It seems that we can find deep water that is about 60 feet long, so when we let out 80 feet of rode, we will leave that deep area and bump the bottom. 

In places where the tide is more pronounced, low tide can be quite uncomfortable. With our long keel, the bow will dip down as the boat rests on the keel. This makes the inside of the boat slant forward significantly. If the tide goes out even further or a strong wind blows on the large and exposed side, we will tip over and lean around 10-15 degrees until the water next to the boat can support the weight. Sleeping becomes a challenge as you feel like if you are trying to sleep on the side of a wall. This makes for a less restful night that is followed by waiting for the next high tide to float off the bottom. 

Going where you don't fit doesn't mean you won't get where you are trying to go, it just means that it won't be pretty and it will be slow going. 

Marina vs. Anchoring

While cruising, you will frequently be faced with many choices to be made. Some are mundane such as "What should I eat for lunch?" Others are much more profound such as "When should I set off on my long passage?" 

While these two questions may seem obvious in their importance, one question that may seem simple actually caries a lot of importance with it. "Should I anchor or tie up in a marina?" 

Anchoring is free while marinas charge by the foot to tie up. Marinas also offer many amenities such as water and electricity, amenities which are not found while anchored out. The most obvious advantage of a marina comes when you decide to leave the boat to go ashore. All you need to do is step off the boat and onto the dock, then you can walk into town and enjoy the local wonders. 

Anchoring, while free, means that you will need to row to shore and find a place to land your dinghy upon arrival. Some towns are more friendly towards dinghies than others and will provide free dinghy docks for you to tie up. Others discourage dinghy usage and will charge you to tie up your small craft as you make landfall. 

While these may seem like small and insignificant decisions to ponder, the commutative effects are astounding! Anchoring is free, so every night that you anchor is a night that you don't have to pay anyone and a night that you get to keep your money so that you can cruise longer.  

Marinas typically charge somewhere between $1 per foot and $3.50 per foot. If you have a 45 foot yacht, you will be spending $45 to $157.50 per night that you are tied up in a marina.  A month of nights in a marina will end up costing you $1,350 and $4,725! You can see how a little decision such as tying up can add up significantly and greatly affect your cruising budget.

We, as a rule, anchor out all the time. We feel that $45 spent at a marina is much better spent on a nice dinner ashore! We value food more than a marina berth and invested in a large and secure anchor before going cruising. 

When you set off cruising, these small and insignificant choices should be revisited and evaluated much closer as they can drastically affect how fun cruising is and how long you can cruise for. 

Tides and Currents

Tides are the rise and fall of water levels as dictated by the moon. High tide occurs every 12 hours and low tide also every 12 hours. The tide rises for 6 hours, then falls for 6 hours, over and over, every day for all time. 

The incoming tide is called a "Flood Tide" and the outgoing tide is called an "Ebb Tide". It makes since when you think about it because a floor tide will flood low level tidal land and when the tide recedes, it "ebbs" away. 

Tides are simple to comprehend as they are easily visible, but currents are what can be really fascinating! It may seem obvious that as the tide comes in, the current will also flow in and as the tide ebbs, the current also flows out. 

What might not seem too obvious at first is that at slack tide, when the high tide is at its highest and then begins to fall, the current can still be flowing! As the tide ebbs, the current can still be flooding! It is even possible for the current to never change direction as the tide floods and ebbs. This begs the question: How can water flow in while it is flowing out? 

Currents and tides may seem interlocked, but they are actually two separate animals. Tides are merely the height of the water level, and current is the flow of water. If you have a large river that drains into the ocean through a narrow inlet, the current may always flow out even with a strong tidal variance. Having more water present will cause the tide to climb, but the current can still flow regardless of water levels. 

When you are looking at waterways, it will be a huge help to learn the local water patterns. Look up tides and the currents in areas to see if you can figure out how they operate. If you can't get the information, it would be helpful to just anchor and observe it for a while. 

While transiting the ICW, we have encountered some very strong currents and we use them to help us travel south, towards our destination. The tides will rise and fall, but the currents seem to run on their own schedule, several hours delayed of the tide's shedule. By anchoring, we can visually see the intensity and direction of the tide by looking at the anchor rode.  

When the current is strong, it will actually form a wake behind the rode. When the current reverses, the boat will actually shift direction, letting us know the change has occurred. Writing down the times it changes is helpful as this lets you know when you will be traveling and makes sure you are prepared to leave when the tide will become in your favor. 

Once moving, looking at other stationary objects will help you determine the intensity and direction. The wake will always form on the downstream side of the object and the larger the wake, the stronger the current. Buoys will also tip over and create a wake when the current is strong!  

When the current is helping you, enjoy the bonus speed that it gives you. When the current is on your nose, drop anchor and wait for conditions to improve. Pushing along against the current is foolish when in a few hours, you will get a hefty push. 

If you are unfamiliar with how the local waters operate, simply ask a local fisherman and they will give you all the clues and know-how available to navigate the waters safely and easily. 

On a side note, flood and ebb tides are when water comes in or out. Slack tide is when the tide is at its peak or trough and the water level is not changing. With currents, you have the same setup, but the time with no current is called "Slack Water" and this is the time to navigate narrow or dangerous areas, as there will be no current pushing you into obstacles. Slack water only lasts around 15 minutes and occurs only 4 times a day, so if there is an area that requires slack water to pass through it, it will be imperative that you time it perfectly and don't be late!

Bilge Pump Syphons

I discovered a rather dangerous situation today in our bilge. The bilge has always seemed to have a fair amount of water in it. I strive for a dry bilge, but this is an old boat and water makes its way into the bilge; in the end, I would rather go cruising than stress about a few drops here or there. 

Regardless, I check the bilge a few times a day and pump it out when it looks full. My go-to pump is the electric rule pump, as it only takes the flip of a switch to drain the bilge. I also have a manual bilge pump in the cockpit and a massive manual bilge pump that is operated from inside the cabin.  

Our water tanks in the bow are a little low, about 80 gallons shy and we are anchored with 100 feet of chain out. This is a lot of weight removed from the bow (640 pounds of water missing, 165 pounds of ground tackle missing) so the bow of the boat is sitting a bit higher than normal. We are also loaded up to go cruising so our waterline is a bit higher than normal. 

Since the bow is high and the rest of the boat is low, the through hulls in our stern are now awash. Most importantly, the through hull to the bilge pump is now submerged! When I ran the bilge pump, I drained the bilge and primed the line to create a syphon to fill the bilge back up as soon as I turned off the pump. Thankfully I was watching and saw about 8 inches of water fill the bilge in a few minutes! I turned the pump on again and the water vanished, only to return again when the pump stopped. 

I realized what was happening and needed a way to break the syphon! The cockpit manual bilge pump is teed into the electric bilge pump discharge hose, so in theory, pumping it when the bilge was dry would draw air into the line and break the syphon! It worked and the bilge stayed dry after the pump shut off. 

It is very important to check your bilge and to make sure that your through hulls are above the waterline, otherwise your bilge pump could turn into your water intake and sink your boat! Check valves are nice to have, but they are prone to clogging and stopping up your much needed bilge pump, so the best defense is to keep the through hulls mounted high and dry, where a syphon is not a problem.