The ICW south of Charleston, SC , all the way to north Florida, especially Georgia, had some interesting challenges mostly due to higher tidal ranges  (10 feet) and greater currents due to the larger volume of flowing water. Also, being closer to the Atlantic Ocean with many inlets, full moon tides, and howling north winds for two weeks straight meant that we had to be on our toes all the time. Georgia has very limited resources to keep up with the constant shoaling (our most commonly used word for a week) which often occurs at the ocean inlets creating underwater banks that cut right across dredged waterway channels. The lack of dredging in Georgia provides a great livelihood for companies like Seatow and Towboat US who, for a fee, will pull unlucky and unprepared mariners alike back into the ICW.

We spent many nights anchored in small creeks just off the waterway in what is called the " low country", sheltered from the open Atlantic by a chain of barrier islands. There were very few trees and at night, with the north wind howling through the rigging and Windspell dancing at her anchor due to strong tidal currents, this made for some restless nights with poor sleep. Are you beginning to get the picture? Perhaps the drizzling 50 degree dampness and having no more than 12 inches of water under our keel with less lucky boats aground for us to use as channel markers as we inched by them, helps to paint the picture.

Windspell became a "channel marker" once ( it was our turn) at Dafuskie  Island, Ramshorn Creek, mile 570 of the ICW. A local power boater pulled us off on a rising tide. We would have had to wait six hours if we had gone aground on a falling tide. The good Samaritan told us that the buoy marking the shoal we hit was washed away two weeks earlier by hurricane Sandy.

But all that is passed us now.  The water is clear and turquoise. Windspell has dried out with the warm sunny weather and we saw our first manatee yesterday. The beaches of Fort Lauderdale are wonderful.

Earlier,  Dafuskie Island was mentioned. It got its name because it is " The first Key" encountered along the Eastern seaboard.

The ICW ( we now refer to it as the icyW) has new challenges in Florida, called bridges. We went under at least ten of them yesterday, each of which you have to contact by radio to request an opening. They are like synchronized traffic lights. Heaven help you if you get out of sync. If you do it is a least a 15 to 30 minute wait until the next opening and if there is a 20 knot wind and a 3 knot current pushing you toward the bridge span and you are in line with several other boats that missed the opening it can be dicey, but diplomacy and sound seamanship has prevailed so far.....

We will be in Miami in the next few days which marks the southernmost point before we sail across the Gulf Stream to the Bimini islands of the Bahamas. But first we will visit our kids in Ottawa and restock Windspell.

High tide in St. Augustine..evidence of global warming

Spanish soldier circa 1700, Castello de San Marcos

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Dental extraction tool in a Spanish colonial surgeon's kit, works like a pipe wrench!

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Down jacket weather

The top 1% of America's rich

Fort Lauderdale fish sculpture made of disguarded pop bottles

The beaches of Fort Lauderdale

A small cottage on the ICW

Charleston

We sailed into Charleston past Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  The next morning we took a tour with a veteran tour guide to get an overview of the city and a rice plantation.  The rice plantations were in their hay-day in the early 1800s to mid-1800s, but after the Civil War when there was so much destruction and slavery was abolished, they were no longer viable.  Many of the land holdings were sold off to the potash industry.  The rice fields of the Magnolia Plantation, which we visited, had reverted back to Cypress swamp.  It is now home to  alligators and migrating waterfowl.  The main house and gardens have been remarkably well preserved, providing a source of tourism today.
We were impressed with the historic city of Charleston.  Their strict rules dealing with the preservation of their historic sites made walking through the streets of Charleston an absolute visual delight.  It was like walking back in time.  The homes had been built by the plantation owners so they had a "town" home in addition to their plantation mansion.  We learned how there are single-room houses (1 room wide) and double room houses (2 rooms wide per floor).  The advantage of the single-room home meant less frontage on the street so there was less tax to pay.  (Some things never change!)  All of the porches faced the ocean to catch the prevailing breeze. The homes and gardens were beautifully restored.  A visit to historic Charleston city was well worth the visit!

Sunbathing ...our first alligator sighting!

Red shouldered hawk looking over the Cypress swamp

Cypress swamp.  Nodules let air into the submerged roots.

Floating duckweed is food for the migrating waterfowl

Ibis birds?

Magnolia Plantation

St. Paul's Cathedral..gothic architecture

Single-room home

Double-room home

Calhoun mansion garden fountain

Hitching post and carriage step