Life in ‘The Ditch’! Ep. 58

Poor Thalia, she hasn’t seen open water in over a week and a half! She’s been livin’ in the ditch and is not too happy about it, since her hull at the bow is growing the “ICW mustache” from the murky/muddy water she passes through. As Tom mentioned last week, “The Ditch” is the name boaters use for the section of the ICW (Intracoastal Waterways) from Norfolk, Virginia, to Miami, Florida. Even cruisers from Australia call it by this name, as we heard from our friends aboard “Our Island” who so thoughtfully gave us a guide to these waters which they wouldn’t be having a need of. This waterway even looks like a ditch in many areas as you navigate narrow cuts made through marsh lands and along canals sliced deeply into hard rocky terrain! Yet what a tremendous asset this waterway is for all boaters along the Atlantic coast of the US. 

A Little ICW History ~ 

The official ICW stretches from Boston to Florida and then along the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas, at the Mexican border. The section we are in begins at Norfolk, Virginia–mile marker zero–and runs to Miami, Florida–mile marker 1090. This stretch is actually named the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Further north, both the Cape Cod Canal and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) are a part of the ICW and are heavily used by both commercial and pleasure vessels.

Thoughts of an inland waterway of sorts began during the Revolutionary War when the need for better transportation between colonies was made obvious. The original vision to create much of what we have today came in a proposal submitted to congress in 1808 by then Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. Various projects were begun in the individual states and slowly creeks, rivers, sounds and harbors were linked to create continuous and longer waterways. It wasn’t until 1909, however, that congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete surveys along the entire Atlantic coast and then began to fund a series of dredging and canal construction projects which would bring to fruition Gallatin’s vision. Most of the construction and dredging projects were completed in the late 1930s. Today, the ICW is still maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers; however, they struggle with budget constraints on their dredging efforts. Boaters like us who draw 7 feet feel these effects and must keep a vigilant eye on our depth sounders and our course.

We have traveled an additional 70 miles up the ICW since Tom left us off a week ago in North Myrtle Beach, NC, at Barefoot Landing Marina. We spent an additional day at Barefoot Landing to complete school work and make a major provisioning run. Though I despise shopping at a Super Walmart at home, it serviced our needs well on this occasion! We took a local bus to the Walmart and had the number of a taxi company to call for the return trip (lovin’ our new cell phone!). Whenever we know we will be having a taxi drop us off right at the dock, we go crazy on our purchases of larger and heavier items. Lists in hand, we split up to conquer Walmart! Tom and youngest headed to the electronics and hardware departments while Zachary and I went to “Grocery”! Tom called over his shoulder, “we’re out of beer, so get a bunch since we’ll be taking a taxi back”. Zachary and I tossed lots of cereals, granola bars, pasta and sauce, canned items, breads, veggies, fruits and meats into the cart. In the beer section, I grabbed two six-packs of bottled Sierra Nevada (a treat, since we normally get canned beer to minimize breakage). At this point, Tom and youngest were finished and added their items to the cart. Again, Tom asks about beer selections and was clearly not satisfied with the quantity I had decided on. He takes the cart from me and loads two additional cases onto the lower shelf. I guess it had been since we were in St. Croix in early April that we had a ride home from a store!

We should be supplied with non-perishables for a while, if not the remainder of our trip!

At 8 am on Thursday, June 21st, we tossed off the dock lines and radioed the bridge tender for the Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge to request an opening. It is always exciting to pass through an opened bridge while traffic is stopped, bells clang and pedestrians look on. I hope I never grow tired of this experience. No time to get all nostalgic, however, as we are immediately in an area of the ICW written up in our guide book as “the most worrisome segment of the whole ICW trip”. Yikes, here we go! Each night, we read up on the segments we expect to pass through the following day. When transiting such a narrow waterway, it is an absolute requirement to know what awaits you ahead, since you may not have room to turn and circle back to assess the situation. This section of the ICW is so troublesome that it even has its own name — “The Rock Pile”. The warnings babble on for four paragraphs! Here’s the gist … The Rock Pile is a four mile section of Pine Island Cut that is extremely narrow and has rock ledges jutting out into the deep canal on both sides with only some of these ledges marked by buoys or day-markers. The guide recommends listening to the radio before passing through this section to ensure that a large vessel does not intend to pass through while you do. We issued a “security” call requesting any vessel traveling southbound through The Rock Pile to notify us and, hearing no reply, we continued on.

Below are some photos taken from aboard Thalia while passing through the Rock Pile. The rock ledges behind Zachary in the first photo are no more than 25 feet away, and the starboard side of Thalia is equally close to ledges. We passed through at low tide — these ledges would not be visible at high tide. While it is helpful to see the dangers, it was nerve racking to have solid rock so close, and it brought home the realization that we could definitely NOT turn around if we got in trouble or came upon a barge. Furthermore, we all knew we had at least a half a knot of current pushing us along at all times, sometimes more.

My stomach was in knots! Here is a shot from our stern of what we just passed through (while holding our breaths).

… and one from our bow … This next section required a little ‘S’ curve as the two markers seen below pointing out ledges are off-set from one another. It is at times like this when it is really best not to think about what is underwater and, therefore, not visible!

Ok, this experience ranks “up there” with our coral-head dodging episode in the Caicos islands. Well… ok… not really “up there”, but at least in the top half of the scale of scary things you have done in your life. Thinking back on the maze of coral we found ourselves in, I can not remember a time in my life when I have felt less in control nor more fearful than our Caicos islands reef experience. Even the 70 mph winds we experienced in Castine, Maine last summer didn’t invoke as much helplessness or fear.

Anyway, back on the ICW … and happy to have those four miles at our stern!

I guess today is going to be bridge-opening day! We already had Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge open for us and a short 6 miles later, we find ourselves calling to have Little River Swing Bridge opened for us. The bridge tender indicates a 15 minute wait, so we circle slowly and wait. A total of three sailboats are queued up when the bridge opens and we pass safely through. Once past Little River, we find ourselves in North Carolina, our third state in just over two weeks!

The next bridge we need to have opened for us is 10 miles further and it only opens on the top of every hour since it is the primary means of access for a substantially populated island. The Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge is the last remaining pontoon bridge on the Atlantic ICW and, according to our guide, there is some local interest in preserving this historically significant bridge. As the name suggests, the bridge sits on pontoons right on the water so there is zero clearance for boats to pass. Sure enough, as the top of the hour approaches a sizable collection of ski boats, fishing boats and sailboats amass and jockey for position to pass through the bridge opening! Usually, the pre-bridge-opening dance occurs with only sailboats who all need to turn on a wider radius and do not rely on their reverse gear to keep themselves from running with the current. This was going to be interesting. I was at the helm and was slowly coasting toward the bridge with a good 10 minutes before the scheduled opening. I needed to circle sometime soon … yet, I had a small power boat on each side of me. Hhmmm?! I tried to slow further with hopes that they would pass by. Nope. Ok, a gentle touch into reverse for a second to further slow my speed. Good, that seemed to work. I rounded just shy of the stern of the boat off my port-bow. At that point, I think he realized he had pinned me in as he gave me some more room. After that, I stayed in the back of the pack where there were less movement constraints.

Here is the collection of boats just as the bridge opens and the first few pass through:

Many of the bridges over the ICW are built at a height of 65′ off the water (when the tide is high). We can pass safely under all of these bridges, as we measure 60.5′ off the water.

Southport, North Carolina ~ today’s final destination ~ is strategically located at the intersection of the ICW and the Cape Fear River. For a small town, Southport has a rich and colorful history.

A step back …

During the Civil War, the confederacy was at a significant disadvantage to the Federalists when it came to acquiring war supplies (guns, ships, ammunition, etc.). The northern states had the vast majority of factories and ship yards in the 1860s. As the war approached, the Confederates realized they would need to look outside of the United States to obtain their implements of war and thus nurtured existing relationships with Britain, France and the Bahamas for this purpose. Just after the first civil war shots were fired, the Lincoln administration proclaimed a naval blockade of the confederate states. Initially, this blockade was little more than the policy statement itself. However, as the US Navy recalled its ships from distant ports, bought or chartered merchant ships, and brought old sailing vessels out of moth balls, a blockade fleet came into being. Blockade runners who had initially been able to get nine out of ten of their ships safely into confederate ports began to face less success.

Our town of Southport, NC was named Smithville at this point in history. Wilmington, NC, is up the Cape Fear River from this Smithville and was an active port for off-loading supplies from these blockade running ships. The areas pilots or sea captains, who assisted vessels entering inlets and port cities, worked out of Smithville and used a tall look-out tower erected on the waterfront to spot incoming vessels which would require their skills. When such a ship was spotted, a pilot would be rowed or sailed out to the incoming ship, climb the offered Jacob’s Ladder, and assist the crew in navigating the ship through the local waterways. These Smithville pilots were extremely successful in getting the blockade running ships past the Union vessels. At this point in the war, the Confederate states extinguished all aids-to-navigation and had town-wide black-outs in coastal communities so as not to aid the enemy with any sea-side lights. The Cape Fear River inlet is difficult to navigate today, even with the satellite-guided GPS systems, lighthouses, buoys, and accurate printed charts. I have tremendous respect for these confederate pilots who boarded unfamiliar ships in the middle of moon-less nights and literally felt their way past enemy vessels, sand bars, marsh lands, and islands, often in as much as 3-4 knots of current before safely securing the vessel in their care to the Wilmington docks. Amazing.

By the end of 1864–and near the end of the Civil War–Wilmington was the confederacy’s major port and virtually its only lifeline to the outside world. Fort Fisher, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, together with the brave ship pilots and townspeople kept the confederate effort supplied almost to the end. Today, Southport is still home to area ship pilots who guide commercial vessels safely to port. Southport also has a terrific maritime history museum which works diligently to keep the areas’ history alive, quite literally!

On our final day in Southport, we witnessed a pirate invasion …

… and a town not ready to surrender.

Below, the mayor of Smithville surrenders the town to Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate, originally from the Smithville area who tired of dealing with a nag of a wife and joined forces with Blackbeard for some time.

Apparently, Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) frequented the Carolina waters and was captured and be-headed just up the Cape Fear River from Smithville. Furthermore, what is commonly believed to be Blackbeard’s flagship, The Queen Anne’s Revenge, is currently being excavated off of the Cape Fear River Inlet. Artifacts from the wreck-site can be viewed at both the Southport and Beaufort NC Maritime History Museums. See, one little town with a lot of great history!

After walking through the pirate encampment and witnessing antique cannon demonstrations, we decided to look for a beach! So, on we go, further up the ICW. It is a Saturday afternoon and there is the equivalent of a traffic jam of boats in the heavily populated areas of the ICW. Big boats, small boats, jet skis, house boats, sail boats… where to look!? It was such a relief to drop the hook in a waterway just behind Wrightsville Beach (NC). We only went about 20 miles, but it felt like 40 because of the intensity of having to watch so many crazy boaters at once!

On Sunday, we had a glorious and well deserved BEACH DAY! We had so much fun, we didn’t even remember to take pictures (sorry!). We all swam a bunch, relaxed enough and read a little. Aahhh … Rejuvenation.

After a ten mile taxi ride on Monday, we found ourselves walking the streets of downtown Wilmington. While we could have taken our boat up the river to visit Wilmington, we decided it would be more efficient to keep the boat near the ICW and take a taxi up-river to the town. Tom and our youngest took a water taxi over to the Battleship North Carolina and, apparently, really enjoyed their experience. Zachary and I were military-ship saturated, so we walked around the town and then had a nice lunch. It is special to spend time with just one child every now and then.

When they rejoined us, we took a narrated horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic district. There are many restored historic homes and the architecture is beautiful. After Savannah, though, a city is going to have a tough time measuring up.

Back on Thalia, we had a quiet dinner and went to bed early so we could rise with the sun and move Thalia to Beaufort, NC. It would be a full day’s sail and we decided to go outside (in the ocean, versus the ICW) as the ICW had several shallow and tricky spots in the next few segments to the north.

I’ll leave you with one last photo from within the pirate encampment which was set up as a historic replication in Southport.

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