Monthly Archives: September 2014

Two Tales of Inexperienced Boaters on the ICW

All sorts of people use the Intracoastal Waterway and, after a while, I began to realize that some of them were ill prepared for navigating the ditch, which really should not have been as much of a revelation as it … Continue reading

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Getting Bear Ready for Hibernation: How We Winterized Our Boat

Before we even had the boat hauled out of the water, we began winterizing her systems. While we were anchored off in St. Mary’s, I changed the lube oil, the oil filter, and the transmission gear oil. Since there are … Continue reading

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Attack of the Midges

After a long day heading from Norfolk through the Virginia Cut – with a wonderful stop at Coinjock Marina for dinner – we anchored in the North River, just north of Buck Island. We dropped the hook in the charted … Continue reading

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Wrightsville Beach: A Beach Town on the ICW

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina is a welcome oasis on the Intracoastal Waterway. Masonboro Inlet provides a nearly all-weather cut to the ocean, though boats going south from or coming north to Wrightsville would be better, distance-wise, coming into the Cape … Continue reading

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Hell Gate 2: The Devil Went down to Georgia

Waking up on the Herb River, just south of Thunderbolt, Georgia, we took our time getting going in the morning. We only had about 16 miles to go before transiting Hell Gate, another short section of the Intracoastal where we … Continue reading

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Best Bar of the Intracoastal Waterway, Summer 2014

Since returning to Peoria, a few people have asked me what the best part of our summer aboard Bear was. I have given a variety of answers and hemmed and hawed a few times, as there were so many great … Continue reading

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Navigating Fields Cut on the ICW at the South Carolina – Georgia Border

Fields Cut is the last obstacle that we would have to overcome before we entered Georgia. In fact, it is the final stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway before the Savannah River, which marks the Georgia-South Carolina line. The project depth … Continue reading

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A Buoy in the Bushes

This morning, Margaret and I were out at the Illinois River Sweep, a river-long cleanup effort put on by the Friends of the Illinois River every September. Along with about 15 students from the local high school and a friend … Continue reading

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Branford Landing Marina

We began our relationship with S/V Bear at Branford Landing Marina, where she had been on the hard for 18 months. In February 2014 we conducted the survey which was followed by a sea trial in May. While Bear was … Continue reading

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The Showers of Summer 2014

As you can imagine, after a long day on the water a nice shower to wash away the salt, sweat, and sunscreen is a real treat. Bear has a shower on board, which we make use of pretty frequently. However, … Continue reading

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