{"id":18888,"date":"2011-10-23T22:00:50","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T03:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/?p=18888"},"modified":"2011-10-22T22:05:44","modified_gmt":"2011-10-23T03:05:44","slug":"heading-south-with-the-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/heading-south-with-the-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Heading South With The Crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ICW<\/p>\n

We’re on our way south, with the crowd. At the beginning of the Intra Coastal Waterway, Great Bridge, near Norfolk, Virginia, things are a bit crowded. \u00a0But they quickly thin out, and for the most part we’ve been able to find the quiet waterways and anchorages which are to our liking.<\/p>\n

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\"ICW<\/p>\n

As we mentioned on our way north, there is a definite protocol to passing. Call the yacht ahead, discuss the side to pass, have them slow down, and then pass at a speed where your wake does not roll the other vessel.<\/p>\n

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When the faster yachts pass us we do not slow down, and advise them to just roar on by. Sometimes it takes an extra VHF transmission to get this strange point of view across (since we do not roll why not keep everyone going at their best). On occasion we get to surf the passers wake, spicing up an otherwise boring sea state. Yachts which are slower than the rest occasionally pull over to allow those trapped behind to get by.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

On occasion we have a chat on VHF with other yachts. These are usually a source of information about stops along the way, shallow stretches, and are a nice way to break up the day. Most yachts go from marina to marina. Perhaps it is the shore power outlet that draws them in.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Our preference is to find a wide spot, work \u00a0our way to an area with at least four feet (1.2m) of water at low tide, and enjoy a quiet evening.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

The view outside has us wanting to just sit.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

We’ve been fortunate to have several raptors for company.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Several times we have stopped, backed up, and watched in awe as these flying machines went about their business. we are \u00a0particularly fond of eagles.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

The holding has been good with the anchor standing up to 1500 RPM on both engines in reverse. This has allowed us to shorten down to two to one scope, typically less than 30 feet chain deployed, which makes it possible to place ourselves outside of the traffic lanes in narrower stretches of the ICW.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

The scenery along the Waterway is mostly shades of green. Some might find this boring.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

But we love the colors, textures, and geometric designs. It changes constantly as we move along.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

We are most pleased to tell y ou that tagging (grafiti) along the way is minimal, this being one of the few examples we’ve noticed.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

There are a variety of eagles on this trip. We think this is a juvenile baldy.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Then there are the strike eagles, F-15s training near our anchorage off the Alligator River.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Some might be put off by the roar of these jets as they chase each other around the sky. But their thunder sends shivers down our spines when they do close flybys.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Being former pilots we can relate, and dream about what it must be like to have the stick of one of these jets in our right hand.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Speaking of flying, we are once again in the territory of the elegant pelican. They are amazing acrobatic pilots, and we never tire of their in flight maneuvering.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

We have been fortunate to have a frontal passage during one afternoon, providing wonderful light and clouds to enjoy.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Early morning departures from our anchorages has left us with minimum traffic.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

And the odd pedestrian swimming across the river (this youngster failed to look both ways and he would have been run over had we not done a hard stop).<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Most of the yachts we see are of the motor variety, typically running on a slow plane.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

A few are less concerned with their fuel costs and rocket by. The fastest of these typically have much smaller wakes than their lumbering cousins.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Sailboats are a definite minority, perhaps a draft issue. We were taken with the design of this dodger, then we noticed the hull. Bare aluminum rocks.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

We liked Gary \u00a0Hoyt’s early Freedom designs a lot. The problem with this configuration is easy to see on this chilly day. How does one rig a dodger?<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Not everyone is afloat. A few are enjoying the parade, taking advantage of the fair conditions, working on their fish tales.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

The Coast Guard is on patrol, even in these rivers.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

There’s even a Coast Guard base and you ignore the “no wake” signs at your peril.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

There are many species of birds, some in huge flocks that would make Alfred Hitchcock smile.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

The clean up crew is circling on the thermals. There must be a lot of work as buzzards are everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

Closing in on Oriental, NC, the wake of the day prize is awarded. The roostertail is impressive on this cat, but the actual wake is quite small.<\/p>\n

\"ICW<\/p>\n

And at the end of the day there is almost always sunset spectacular, which helps to digest the day’s visual impact on our pysche.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re on our way south, with the crowd. At the beginning of the Intra Coastal Waterway, Great Bridge, near Norfolk, …Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dashew-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18888"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}