ICW

Being a cruising sailor, one is already practicing a kind of social distancing. But coastal cruisers, and those transiting the Intracoastal Waterway, in particular, still have to return to land for re-provisioning and things like water, fuel, and pump-outs. When you dock in a ...read more

There are many mantras experienced cruisers like to pass on to those less experienced. First and foremost among these is: “Never sail to a schedule.” After that comes: “Choose your weather window carefully.” Unfortunately, this past spring, my husband, Brian, and I violated both ...read more

Last summer, I was delighted to be invited to join two of my girlfriends on a sailing trip—my third, no less! This trip would surely herald my promotion from nautical novice to savvy seafaring expert. I was to join them on a charter in Southwest Florida and sail along the ...read more

The magenta line was first added to charts in 1913. It was created to aid commercial navigation up and down the East Coast and around the Gulf Coast. To aid pilots running through the convoluted mix of waterways, a magenta colored line was drawn on the charts to indicate which ...read more

Travel on the ICW is made simpler if you follow the mantra “half tide rising”. If you are headed towards and planning to transit one of the infamous ICW “trouble spots,” the advice is: enter the area on a rising tide and exit the area before the tide starts to drop precipitously. ...read more