Why to take the ICW when traveling down the US East Coast (Calico Skies Sailing, Ep 85)

There are two options when heading south down the US east coast, you can take the offshore route which is more exposed to weather but more direct or take the "inside" route down the ICW. The ICW is a 3,000 mile long inland waterway down the Atlantic and Gulf Coast. The waterway is a combination of natural waterways and man-made canals. The stretch through North Carolina runs fairy direct right along coast and does not add many extra miles.

In this episode we travel through a beautiful stretch of the ICW in North Carolina. The Alligator Pungo Canal is one of our favorite spots on the ICW with an abundance of wild life like bald eagles and black bears.

We take our dinghy up a sweet little creek to find a boat ramp where we can stretch our legs making the most of the unseasonably warm weather. We get the drone up to capture the dramatic North Carolina coastal lands.

The weather turns cold and we continue south down the ICW to Cape Fear where we will head back out into the ocean on passage to Florida.

0:00 Intro
1:25 Recap
2:00 Transiting the Alligator Pungo Canal/What is the ICW?
7:36 Exploring North Carolina Swamp lands
12:20 Last few days on the ICW before we head offshore
16:20 Up next!

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[markbuskens]

This trip through the icw was great, I live very close to the icw in Alabama and have traveled all the way to Appalachicola Florida to mid Louisiana.Great seeing it from your prospective 👍👍Thank you 🙏🙏

[barbaralane]

You have some of the most beautiful and peaceful videos - always a perfect when I need a reset. Wishing you safe travels on your passage to Mexico. 💛

[salnichols]

I really enjoy these inland adventures. It’s a nice change from blue on blue.

[carlosschner]

Grace and Bill, thanks for the beautiful video in your journey through the ICW. Inspiring and awesome!!!

[rabukan]

Grace and Bill, this was your best production so far, as you are really getting a feel for the tempo and pacing of progressively artistic videos. The visuals are stunning, and the music and silence were well balanced/blended. It brought us all deep into those intimate points of natural beauty. Well done!

[jimm]

Welcome to NC, it's a pretty cool state from the Atlantic to the Blue Ridge mountains. Thanks for all the videos!

[dianabentley]

Beautiful weather for December! Doesn’t get better than that. So peaceful ⛵️☀️take care 😎

[elsiesmith]

So wonderful to have the safety (and beauty) of the ICW. I remember poor Delos battling their way south outside of the ICW in some really nasty weather.

[IslandSpirit]

The east cost boating is this....#1 Oct Annapolis Boat Show ends, head south. #2 Nov Thanksgiving in Florida at the many cruiser gatherings. #3 winter between Florida and Bahamas. #4. MAY is the month to head north. #5 Arrive back in Chesapeake Bay June 1. Spend June in Chesapeake. #6. July 1 head for New England and Maine. #7 Summer Block island to Acadia Maine. #8 leave Maine end of Aug, get back to safety of Chesapeake Bay End of Sept. #9 Fall in Chesapeake Bay and here comes the Annapolis Bit Show again....NOW....THIS....is how you run the ICW and USA east coast. We have done this ten times south, ten times north. stayed long in Maine and it made your south run crazy!!!!

[allenshepherd]

Founder's all day IPA? one of my favorites! Great episode as usual.

[stevelambert]

That is a beautiful area no wonder why you like it

[WindoverWater]

Grace and Bill: Great work as always. Brings back some great memories of our trip down the East Coast and back. We chose to go through Georgia on the ICW. Some depth issues but very beautiful. Some nice spots to visit along the way as well. We did it twice. By the way, something we learned after making the same mistake many times, it is called the intracoastal waterway, not intercoastal. I think we used the wrong word on camera a hundred times before someone pointed it out. Keep up the great work.

[debbieraby]

Do consider the South Carolina/Georgia section of the ICW sometime - equally gorgeous! We had black bear cubs cross the Dismal Swamp canal right in front of us - awesome.

[loniallorenz]

Oh my, that was the best intro to the ICW / wilderness. All we've seen is mega homes on cruises from Marina Bay in FL in the late 70's thanks to Intel for picking up the tab on a vintage luxo yacht. Al was one of the earliest Intel field engineers helping to sell product, actually number 7. EONs ago. Wonderful video guys... ❤️❗️

[Johndadiver]

Hey Bill & Grace, back in the 80's I was stationed in Coast Guard at Station Hobucken which you pass on the ICW. Many years later I prepare my own boat to transit these same waters. Great episode Grace,

[great]

I live in the section up in Virginia that is in between the split. One end of my road has a ramp to the Dismal Swamp Canal (near the feeder ditch) and the other end of my road has a ramp to the NW River system that comes out to the other/main part of the ICW.

I have seen TONs of bears here on my homestead. They have left my animals alone... one thought about going after my bees. I added strong electric to the whole property after that and have not seen any bears cross the fence line anymore.

FYI, bears don't hibernate here.

[sailingwind]

Wished I had known that you were there in December I was just there then I would have loved to met you guys nc is my back yard 😆

[BillB]

Your content and production values continue to raise the bar. I love the chill vibe of this one. Fair winds and following seas. Edit: How's that for contemporary verbiage from a boomer?

[Tommy]

Great video, focusing on the journey, all the better with your gentle style.

[sailboatbob]

I must say you take very good video. beautiful trip. things i'll never get to do