The ICW

[Moonstruck]

It is not surprising that so many of us on Trawler Florum live or boat near the ICW.* It can be a river or not a river.* It can be a canal or cut, or it can be a section of open water.* It is the boater's highway from the South end of the Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Keys.* It is the gateway to the Chesapeake and the Florida Keys.* It is the jumping off place to the Bahamas or cutting across the Okeechobee Waterway to the Gulf ICW.* It can have periously shallow spots, but most is easily navigatible.* Its markers can confuse, and it can frustrate.

. . . . . .but most of all it beckons.* It has an almost irresistable allure.* It is the path to cruising---to venturing to new places. . . . . . and it is all there for the taking.* I envy the scenery of the northwest and the perfect weather of southern California,* However, the east coast has something unique-----the ICW and the great loop.* We are only 50 to 100 miles from cruising in the beautiful waters of a foreign country---ahhh the Bahamas.* Cystal clear waters and deserted beaches.* Diving on colorful reefs loaded with fish.

After boating on the ICW on and off for about 40 years, the allure is still there.* It is timeless. It is beautiful, and it's ours.* Come cruise with us.

 

[Besslb]

Very beautifully said Don!!**The ICW*does beckon, Inviting*all*who will listen*to adventures unknown.** Right on our doorsteps is the door to unlimited cruising options. It is our*pathway to the world. * I can't wait to see all of it!!*

 

[Tom.B]

Now, we just have to rally to keep it FUNDED or it will go away!!!

 

[Marin]

Moonstruck wrote:
It is timeless. It is beautiful, and it's ours.* Come cruise with us.

*It's FLAT.* Put some mountains down there with trees and stuff and a bunch of*eagles and ravens and whales and waterfalls and you'll have something.**You need to knock the*temperatures down about 30 degrees, too.* And get rid*of those cyloney windy things.***Until then, and speaking strictly for myself, from what I've seen of it (granted, all in photos although I've experienced the climate in person) what you have is a ditch through flatness and*heatwaves.

There is a lot of fascinating history back there, though.* More than out here in the recently settled frontier.* ('Scuse me, I gotta go feed the oxen and grease the prairie schooner wheels again.)

-- Edited by Marin on Monday 1st of August 2011 08:25:42 PM

 

[Moonstruck]

Mike wrote:

BTW, Moonstruck passed me once, did a nice job. Thanks.

Mike

*

Mike
Palm Coast FL.

*Thanks, Mike.* Where were we passing?* I always tell my crew the one you're passing may be your slipmate tonight.* Many of the slower boats don't know how to do a good pass.* If they don't slow, it takes a long time to make a pass.

Lou's sister-in-law was cruising with us.* We*did several slow passes asking many times to slow for a pass to port.* Her SIL asked what it was like for us to get passed.* Lou and I looked at each other then said, "we don't know.* It hasn't happened".* That's due to the 27 knot cruise speed of Moonstruck.

The Gorgia ICW is definitely an acquired taste.* When you really open your eyes to it, it is a unique and beautiful area.* Plus we have the green head flies to shoo the Yanks back north.

 

[Marin]

Mike wrote:

I would not trade the ICW for living in the PNW but that's just me. We are all a little bit different.

*

*Which is what makes the world go round.* If we all liked the same stuff we'd not only all live in the same place (which would be Bad) but we'd all be writing about the same things on this forum.

I can understand how the ICW and associated waterways would have a lot of appeal to a lot of people.* And I'm no stranger to running a boat in a ditch

While my experience on the southeast coast is limited to only*two places--- Florida, which was on fire when I was there, and Charleston, SC, which wasn't--- I have taken away one dominating impression and that is that the people I experienced in person were much more friendly, outgoing, considerate, and polite than what we tend to have on the west coast.* The attitude reminded my a lot of Hawaii where I lived from 1955 to 1979.

As Mike said, we're all a little different.* I like the*drama and challenge of* big mountains, deep water, strong currents, and (to a degree) constant weather changes.* I like doing things where there is a bit of risk.* I'm no daredevil by any means whatsoever and can be as chicken as anyone else.* But to me, the fog, the strong currents, the rapids in the narrow passes, the wind (up to a point) all make the boating experience more fullfilling to me.* For the same reason I suppose that I enjoy the somewhat scarey challenge of taking a single-engine floatplane into mountain lakes a hundred miles or more from the nearest settlement.

While I don't see myself ever boating on the ICW, if by some chance I found myself on a boat on that waterway I'm sure I would enjoy it, if for no other reason than it would be something new to experience.* You only go around once, and the more things one can see and eperience the better I think.

Now THIS is boating in a ditch..... ** My wife is driving the boat in the first shot and I kept making her go through, then back up out of sight, then go through, back up, probably about ten times until the*horse and the boat lined up the way I wanted them.* Narrowboats don't back up well at all and while my wife is very good at it she was Not Pleased when I finally got* back to the boat.


-- Edited by Marin on Monday 1st of August 2011 09:03:21 PM

 

[Woodsong]

Don, please don't be tempting me with beckoning posts such as this. And you too Marin- stop posting those photos of mountains and the sea and wilderness. I am supposed to be in my working years....responsible...hard working....career minded...saving nonstop...driving kids to sports 24/7....doing the same thing day in and day out.
So what is a fellow to do when his wife starts saying perhaps we should get that 3 stateroom trawler with more room so we can spend more time aboard??? And then a post like this??? Come one. It's enough to make a body think they are supposed to take off and follow that wanderlust!

 

[Moonstruck]

Woodsong wrote:
So what is a fellow to do when his wife starts saying perhaps we should get that 3 stateroom trawler with more room so we can spend more time aboard???

*Awe, come on, Tony.* Do you know how many guys would wish their wives would say that?* I think you need counselling!

 

[markpierce]

Marin wrote:...For the same reason I suppose that I enjoy the somewhat scarey challenge of taking a single-engine floatplane into mountain lakes a hundred miles or more from the nearest settlement.

*

*Riding motorcyles, small planes, and other high-risk behaviors have taken so many persons such as T.E. Lawrence and Audie Murphy, etcetera before their time.* And some say war is risky!* Compared to what?


-- Edited by markpierce on Monday 1st of August 2011 10:20:11 PM

 

[Marin]

markpierce wrote:
*Riding motorcyles, small planes, and other high-risk behaviors have taken so many persons such as T.E. Lawrence and Audie Murphy, etcetera before their time.* And some say war is risky!* Compared to what?

Well, nobody's shooting bullets and missiles at us in the floatplane.

Although*we've seen a few bears who would proably have liked to.* And at a whopping 110 mph we'd be*an easy target.

Life would be very dull (to me) without an element of risk.* And there's risk all around us all the time anyway.* Driving, crossing the street, cleaning the gutters, taking the boat out, you name it.* Hell, every time my company puts me on a plane to somewhere there's a major element of risk as witness the Air France accident just to name a recent one.

I don't view flying a small plane (I guess a Beaver could be considered small) as very risky, because I'm the one flying it.* I view flying in an airliner as a lot more risky because I'm not.

For the record Audie Murphy was killed in the crash of his Aero Commander, a fairly sophtisticated (for its day)*twin engine airplane being flown by a professional pilot (not Audie).**While*considered a general aviation airplane, they were not really what one would consider a "small plane."* They were in dense fog at the time, a condition that has been a factor in the crash of full-size jetliners from time to time.

You pay your money and you*take your chances.* If I had to name the main objective in* my life I would probably say "To see and experience*as much as is practical to see and experience in the time I've got*and*never be bored."

So give me those 25 foot tides up north and all the currents and rapids that go with them.* They make boating anything but boring.*

-- Edited by Marin on Monday 1st of August 2011 10:54:33 PM

 

[markpierce]

You have no argument with me, Marin.* One pays one's money (or gets out of the bed)*and takes one choices/chances.

 

[FF]

"Put some mountains down there with trees and stuff and a bunch of eagles and ravens and whales and waterfalls and you'll have something. "

Yes a big ditch (like the Miss) that required dozens of locks to climb and descend.

UGH, Sounds like the dullest part of the mud run (AKA LOOP) in spades!

 

[Moonstruck]

Trees? Mountains?* Here is the mountain cabin that we just repaired from a white pine tree falling on it during the recent storms.* At 3000' elevation it is always cool under the trees.* Our other boat is kept on the Tennessee River.* The other picture is the Tennessee River from*Signal Point near where I lived for 30 years.* See Tony's post about Living Light to see some mountains and trees.* Splitting time between mountains and coast---I guess it could be worse.



-- Edited by Moonstruck on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 07:05:34 AM



-- Edited by Moonstruck on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 07:22:58 AM


-- Edited by Moonstruck on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 07:30:06 AM

 

[timjet]

You know what makes this country so great, among many other things is the topographical diversity probably no other country has.
Marin has his mountains and whales and eagles and Moonstruck has his hills and cormorants, ospreys, numerous dolphins, manatee's and somewhat protected ICW running a thousand miles.

And Marin if you want some excitement try navigating the Keys or portions of the GA ICW without running aground.

And without a doubt we would not be cruising this time of year without AC.

-- Edited by timjet on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 07:38:38 AM


-- Edited by timjet on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 07:40:11 AM

 

[Codger2]

-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 08:41:56 AM

 

[Codger2]

*


-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 08:39:23 AM

 

[Codger2]

SeaHorse II wrote:SeaHorse II wrote:timjet wrote:Marin has his mountains and whales and eagles and Moonstruck has his hills and cormorants, ospreys, numerous dolphins, manatee's and somewhat protected ICW running a thousand miles. _______________________________________________________________

I think that's great but I'll continue to tough it out here!* :sun:

Photos (from L-R)

# 1,2 & 3* La Jolla, CA

#4,5,6 & 7 Sedona, AZ ( A nice change from staring at the Sea every day.)

*


-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 08:37:54 AM

 

[Moonstruck]

SeaHorse II wrote:SeaHorse II wrote:SeaHorse II wrote:I think that's great but I'll continue to tough it out here!* :sun:

Oh Walt, you have my admiration for adapting and sticking it out under the most rugged of conditions.* You are truly an inspiration to all of us here on Trawler Forum.

*

*



-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 08:32:54 AM



-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 08:36:09 AM

*

 

[Codger2]

Moonstruck wrote:

Oh Walt, you have my admiration for adapting and sticking it out under the most rugged of conditions.* You are truly an inspiration to all of us here on Trawler Forum.

Thanks, Don! We continue the good fight & are trying to make it work.

*

*







*

 

[timjet]

SeaHorse II wrote:_______________________________________________________________

I think that's great but I'll continue to tough it out here!* :sun:

Photos (from L-R)

# 1,2 & 3* La Jolla, CA

#4,5,6 & 7 Sedona, AZ ( A nice change from staring at the Sea every day.)

-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Tuesday 2nd of August 2011 08:37:54 AM

*I've been to both, I envy you.

 

[Marin]

Moonstruck wrote:
At 3000' elevation it is always cool under the trees.

*Three thousand feet?* That's not a mountain, that's a wee hill.* I think the term used for a 3,000 foot hill in BC is a "mound."

I've spent a fair amount of time in the hills of western Virginia and West Virginia.* Very pretty, no question, and I enjoyed seeing it.* But not my cup of tea at all.** Way too tame for me.

But as Mike said earlier, to each their own.

This is pretty much my minimum requirement for the term "mountain"......

*

 

[dwhatty]

SeaHorse II wrote:
I think that's great but I'll continue to tough it out here!* :sun:

Photos (from L-R)

# 1,2 & 3* La Jolla, CA

#4,5,6 & 7 Sedona, AZ ( A nice change from staring at the Sea every day.)

______________________________
*

Ah, the Casa Poulson at LaJolla! I can recommend it highly. :thumbsup:

Five star rating in all conceiveable categories including, but not limited to,: host and hostess, food, ambiance, views, accomodations, entertainment, transportation (wheeled and floating).

And all at very reasonable rates.

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[Marin]

timjet wrote:
And Marin if you want some excitement try navigating the Keys or portions of the GA ICW without running aground.

*Yes, I'm sure it can be challenging.* But it's FLAT.* Flat is a synonym for Evil in my book, sorry.* So the chances of interesting me in navigating anything back there (except Maine which from the bit*I saw*the other year is fantastic) are slim to none.

Also I grew up in Hawaii.* So I've already done my time in hot, sunny, sandy hell.* So my*take on*the Keys is I feel really sorry for anyone who has to endure them.

As for Don's comment about splitting time between the mountains and the coast, shoot, I do that on my comute every day.

 

[Moonstruck]

Mike wrote:

Hope it happens again.

I know the spot.*

Same here.* The plan is to head South again about Nov. 1.* Hope we see you then.* Give us a shout.* Maybe we can meet up at a stop or anchorage.

 

[Moonstruck]

Mike wrote:

Maybe we can meet up at a stop or anchorage.

Don Moon
Moonstruck
Sabre 42 Hardtop Express

Or even better, maybe you could exit the ICW at MM 803 (Palm Coast Marina) and come down to the 4th canal and tie up to the little DeFever (6 ft. mlw).

Cars, trucks, grocery, hardware, whatever you want it's all available at Mikes house.

Join me for a glass, and a cigar if you are so inclined , on the porch..

We'll tell lies and other stories, but who cares?

Mike
Palm Coast FL

*that's a very generous offer.* Thanks.* We would love to do it.* Know just where it is.*

Saw a couple of boats aground behind Mantanzas Inlet onthe trip up.

 

[FF]

"We'll tell lies and other stories, but who cares?"

The difference between a Fairy Tale and a Sea Story?

A Fairy tale begins "Once upon a time"

A Sea Story begins " Now this is no Sh**!

 

[Tony B]

You get what you pay for.

 

[FF]

You get what you pay for.

Not really, a night in a fine anchorage , to me . is worth 100x as much as tied up in some marina.

*

And the fact that is free , not $3.00 a ft is not the pleasure, tho it doesnt hurt.


-- Edited by FF on Saturday 6th of August 2011 04:20:39 AM

 

[Tony B]

FF wrote:
You get what you pay for.

Not really, a night in a fine anchorage , to me . is worth 100x as much as tied up in some marina......
-- Edited by FF on Saturday 6th of August 2011 04:20:39 AM

*I was making a joke about a previous statement*****"that the GULF ICW is one heck of a lot more economical to travel than the Atlantic ICW.....*turn WEST at Mobile Bay and sample the ICW from there to Brownsville....." If you have never traveled the ICW west through La. and also east through Al. and Fl., you wont get the joke.


*

 

[motion30]

I returned from s fl to the chesapeake last spring, anchored every nite only tied up for fuel