The Intercoastal What???
                                                                              

 Hardly anyone on the West coast has heard of the Intercostal Waterway (ICW).  We get asked what it is all the time.  So here it is:

  The ICW is a collection  of rivers, canals, inlets and bays that runs from the Florida Keys all the way up to Norfork, Virgina - kind of like a boating highway.  The natural rivers/bays were already there, but it was dredged  so it could be used for steady boat traffic during  WW11.  The US felt  their supply and military boats off the East Coast were very vulnerable to attack, so they created this extensive inland  channel system.  This way they could move boats from Florida up to New York without risk of attack.   Just a little history!!

FYI- There  is also an inland waterway system through Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.  We also hear that Canada has some kind of inland waterway system parallelling the border.

Shoaling, shifting sand,  is a big problem  as the bottom is constanty changing from one day to the next.  The charts are incorrect in many places.

It winds like a snake.   10 miles as a crow flies means we go 25 miles.  You can't be in a hurry!

It is shallow - 4 feet in spots at low tides. We haven't hit ground yet!  Tides are a huge deal.

It can range from 40 feet across to really wide. The dredged areas between markers can be REALLY narrow.

Lots of dolphins everywhere!  Haven't seen any alligators.

It changes all the time.  It can be really, really remote, or run through small towns or large cities.

Oysters all over, and shrimp.