If you’ve ever traveled on the ICW, you can relate to the nuisance of the draw bridges. Of course that’s also true for the road traffic which is being interrupted by the opening schedules of the bridges on busy waterways, which they might see this as a nuisance. Yesterday, we woke to thick fog in the Lake Worth anchorage of West Palm Beach, but since we were going to clean our dinghy’s bottom before leaving, the fog didn’t bother us. By the time we were done with our chores, the fog had lifted and we decided to move on with no plans of where we would stop for the night. Kind of ad lib.
Had we both paid any attention to the charts and guide books that provide details of the fixed and the draw bridges, we probably would have gone out through the inlet to do a run outside on the Atlantic. As it was, the first bridge, “Flagler Memorial Bridge” after leaving our Lake Worth anchorage, opens only quarter to and quarter after the hour and we got there just as the bridge closed. Bad timing on our part and there was a strong tidal current, making the waiting for the next opening difficult.
The bridge tenders like to be called ahead of time by VHF radio of your intention to pass. But they do not like to be called too soon, just about 5 min. before, and they also like to have a visual on you. From the time the bridge stops traffic until the spans are fully open it usually takes 3 to 5 min. So if the next bridge, which might be two miles further ahead, is scheduled to open on the hour and half hour, you can guess that for most cruising boats it’s a mad dash to try and make the opening. A call to the bridge tender to hold the bridge if you trail other, faster boats, will seldom be met with kindness.
To make a long, busy, and demanding day into a short posting, we managed 20!! bridges by gunning our engine numerous times, sometimes up to 8 ½ knots and giving her a hell of a workout she had not seen in years, until we dropped the hook in Fort Lauderdale. But the scenery was beautiful in-between bridges with super yachts and mansions lining the ICW and their perfectly maintained properties.



20 years ago a big boat on the ICW was a 50 foot Hatteras. Nowadays the boats you see look like mini cruise ships just like this yacht tied up on the ICW.