Our Route - The Intracoastal Waterway

I thought I'd pass along some information about the route we will be taking. Most assume that we will be traveling in the ocean to get to Florida. We will actually be using the Intracoastal Waterway for most of our trip. It is a waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are man-made canals. It's part of the Great Loop which circles the Eastern half of the North America. After the Chesapeake Bay, we will be traveling the portion that extends from Key West, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia (milepost 0.0).
Along the way, there are low bridges that will have to be opened for us to go under(luckily, there are many more that we are able to clear without opening). Most have scheduled openings, and we are timing our travel to get to them at the right times. We will also be passing through some locks along our route. All of this makes for slow going, as well as many stretches where there is a 6 knot zone(slow speed). There are two days during our trip when Scott would like to "go outside", and travel in the ocean - weather permitting, avoiding avoiding stretches of shallow, and therefore challenging, waters.
We have heard stories of people seeing many things along the way, from submarines in Norfolk, to cougars in North Carolina...to Elephants(yes, you heard me right)in Myrtle Beach! Needless to say, our camera will always be at the ready!

Preparing to leave

So.. we've decided to head south for the winter. We are under the three week mark, and our heads are spinning! Scott is making endless trips to Home Depot and West Marine, and I'm wearing a path to and from Walmart and the grocery store. Stocking up for two months is a bit challenging. Our boat has limited space, so we are finding every available nook and cranny for storage!

We are hoping that the weather holds, and doesn't get too much colder, as that will present problems for the boat(we are usually winterizing this time of year), so fingers are crossed. The party boat will be pulled this Saturday, to spend the winter on land. The house will also be "winterized", with anti-freeze in the water lines and the heat off. That means we will be living on the boat, at the pier, before we actually leave.

All in all, we're very excited to begin this adventure. Can't imagine what we're going to see and do along the way...stay tuned!