It’s that time of year when the big north-to-south migrations get underway, birds and snow birds alike. On the West Coast, the Baja Haha will set sail from San Diego on November 4 bound for Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. On the East Coast, the Salty Dawg Caribbean Rally will get underway from Hampton, Virginia and Newport, Rhode Island on or about November 1, weather permitting. It looks like the rally will have over 100 boats.
For those not heading offshore on the East Coast the migration south along the Intracoastal waterway is already underway. For those who haven’t made the run down the ICW and back, it’s one of those cruising experiences to look forward to and enjoy.
There’s a lot to see and do along the ICW. There are historic towns and cities to explore including Annapolis, Norfolk, Beaufort, NC and Beaufort, SC, Charleston, Savannah, St. Augustine and more. There’s an awful lot of American history to discover as you walk the streets of these towns. And, along the river banks in the south, you occasinally motor by an old plantation that may have been there since the 18th Century.
Because the ICW can get busy and crowded during the fall migration, planning for marina stops well in advance makes sense. Dockwa has become the go-to app for booking slips along the ICW. Plus, you need to be up to date on which bridges may be under repair, which channel day markers are missing and which channels have silted up. The cruisenet.net website keeps an updated list of all things to do with the ICW. The Waterway Guide will be your cruising guide from north to south and back again.
If this is you year to fly south with the geese and with the other snow birds, the ICW can be a real adventure.
Check out Dockwa here
Check out cruisernet.net here.
Check The Waterway Guide’s basic ICW primer here.
