For the past two days I have posted some pictures of the Intracoastal Waterway. During WWII the German U-Boats were actively sinking ships along the long exposed Atlantic Coast, destroying valuable war supplies including petroleum. The Canal was made navigable to a depth of 12 feet and became a vital life saving route. Unfortunately it has not been well maintained and there are sections that have silted up and the depth may not even be 7 feet. Therefore much of the waterway is limited to barge and pleasure boat traffic.

Although the system stretches from New England to the east coast of Florida, with another disconnected section from the Florida west coast to to Texas parts remain in the Atlantic. From Boston shipping can travel through the Cape Cod Canal to Long Island Sound and down the East River.

There is a vulnerable open ocean section to Point Pleasant, NJ where through the Point Pleasant Canal which was completed in late 1925 to connect the Manasquan Inlet and Manasquan River with Bay Head Harbor on the northern end of the Barnegat Bay the waterway truly begins.
It runs inside the barrier islands to a canal which cuts through the southern tip of the State and up the Delaware River to the 14 mile long Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. This canal was first opened in 1829 and Teams of mules and horses towed freight and passenger barges, schooners and sloops through the canal. Cargoes included practically every useful item of daily life: lumber, grain, farm products, fish, cotton, coal, iron, and whiskey.

However with the advent of modern steam vessels it did not have enough depth and the locks were too small. A 12 foot deep canal with modern locks was opened in 1927 and is used by ships going to Baltimore’s port as a short cut to Europe. Cargo ships of all sizes, tankers, container-carrying vessels (all up to Seawaymax-classification), barges accompanied by tugboats, and countless recreational boats create a steady flow of traffic. Through state-of-the-art fiber optic and microwave links, dispatchers use closed-circuit television and radio systems to monitor and safely move commercial traffic through the waterway.

The waterway runs down the Chesapeake Bay and at Norfolk enters the Elizabeth River. This is the start of the longest inshore segment. Here its history goes back almost 3 centuries. In the late 18th Century work was started on what is now the Dismal Swamp Canal through the eastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. . It opened in 1805 and is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States.

This segment known as The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal was completed by a corporation in 1856-1860 to afford inland navigation between the Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. It was really two canals, thirty miles apart; one eight and one-half miles long, connecting Elizabeth River with North Landing River in Virginia, the other five and one-half miles long, connecting Currituck Sound with North River in North Carolina During the Civil War it became a site of military action to prevent the passage of the Confederate Ironclads from escaping south.

A canal connects the Albemarle Sound with Pamlico Sound avoiding Cape Hatteras and then proceeds protected by dunes and barrier islands past Cape Fear and Wilmington NC. Where the Battleship North Carolina resides.

Along South Carolina the waterway is inside the many barrier islands and cross several rivers, and passes Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Near the Georgia border is the city of Beaufort, which is located on Port Royal Island, and is rich in history. Nearby Parris Island was the location of France's first colony in the New World, founded by Jean Ribault in 1562.

The Spanish colonized St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. The first Scottish settlement in what is now the United States, known as Stuart Town, was founded on Port Royal Island in 1682, only to be destroyed by Spanish forces in 1684. Beaufort was chartered in 1711 and is known as the second-oldest city in South Carolina, after Charleston. It was part of the Carolina colony and was governed by Lords Proprietors.

The Treaty of Beaufort fixing the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia was signed in the city in 1787. Beaufort is also a center for the Gullah culture and language. St. Helena Island, which is considered one of the last strongholds of the Gullah people, lies a few miles away.

Hilton Head is just before Savannah and the Waterway continues sheltered from the Ocean to The keys and Key West’

It is possible to circle the United States East of the Mississippi going up Florida’ west coast to the Gulf section of the Waterway The circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water is known as The Great Loop. Also improperly referred to as the Great Circle Route , the trip varies from 5,000 miles to 7,500 miles depending on the options used.

The boats used range from personal watercraft (jet-skis) to 60-foot yachts. Both sailboats and powerboats are used but the most common boats are 34 - 45 ft trawlers. The main factors that govern the size of the boat is the limited draft (5 feet) in some locations on the loop and the height of one bridge (19 feet) in Chicago, Illinois


Most Great Loop cruisers travel the Loop counterclockwise, taking advantage of the downstream currents on the Illinois River, Mississippi River,Tombigbee River, and Black Warrior River to Mobile, Alabama.

Then one would go through the great lakes to the New York Barge Canal and down the Hudson. It would also be possible to continue on the St. Lawrence Seaway to the canals connecting to Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson.