Ahoy from the Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW)

Today marks the start of our second day down the ICW on a 56' Sea Ray. The more endearing term for the ICW is "the ditch." Some of you may be wondering why on earth am I on a powerboat and what the heck am I doing...I am a capt-in-training!

Many people own boats but don't know how to operate them...thus they need a captain...and a captain generally has a crew. So for the next week I am crewing on a boat down to Florida. There are two was to get to Florida from Annapolis: head down the Atlantic Coast(going on the outside) or taking "the ditch" which is a small channel that weaves inland through several states. I will be knocking 4 states off my list of states to see this next week.

Feel free to follow our trip blog at: www.allthetoysgoestofll.blogspot.com

Yesterday were were up early to leave the docks by 05:15. At a whomping 30 degrees we untied and left harbour, following the moonlight until sunrise. We traveled at 20kts on average over the water and went 180 miles. That was 12 hours of powering till we reached our first destination of Coinjock. I think that would have taken a week and a half on a sailboat!

I love first experiences so here are some firsts. (1) Traveling through "the ditch." (2) Spotting Pelicans! (3) Seeing warships...and we saw 3 of them! (4) watching a submarine past along my port side (5) Experiencing the backwoods of North Carolina. (6) watching a ridiculously huge ship pass through an open bridge.

Photos from the day:

Brisa

          

The night breeze brushed through my hair tonight...
flowing through my mind endlessly,
impressed on my heart
the clearness of the night sky
clouds above,
water below
wherever I stride the wind follows me
calming my senses, 
leaving its marks on my heart...
dawn comes to bring in a warm spring
and the breeze still calls me,
as it hugs the air, I breathe.