North on the ICW - Day 3

[Kyle]This day was planned as my longest. It was necessary to run the whole day on both engines just to make sure I made it to my anchorage by sunset. The fuel leak in the starboard engine was being managed and the older port engine ran without trouble.

The ICW on this section runs just behind the barrier islands fronting the Atlantic. The cypress swamp was gone, and the day was spent zooming past the backside of one beach after another.

I was pushing hard to make it to my anchorage by sunset. A couple of hours from the end, it seemed I was going to be just a few minutes late for a bridge that only opens once an hour. I called the operator, saying I was almost there, hoping they would stall a bit. A woman with an unmistakable Bulgarian accent told me the bridge was opening in 6 minutes and made no offer of delay. My ETA was 12 minutes. Six minutes later, I was within sight of her bridge, but she didn’t open. I got a little closer and she told me she would open for me now. Whew! That saved an hour. It also got me to the next bridge right at the time of their next opening.

I dropped anchor right as the sun went down. I was miles from anywhere nestled amongst little sandy islets that completely disappeared at high tide, making it look like I anchored in the middle of a giant lagoon.

Sunrise the next morning