Great Loop

April 26 Haircuts On The Boat The admiral gets a little over zealous when it comes to cutting my hair.  I wonder why?  Maybe we have been on the boat a little to long ..... The Albemarle Loop The InterCoastal Waterway (ICW) between Norfolk and Key West brings prosperity to the towns that line it.  As boat travels up and down the coast, owners stop and spend.  Studies differ on the exact number, but indications are that a new dollar to an area will circulate 6+ times.  Therefore, a $100 expenditure from an outside source has the economic impact of ~$600.  For example; If you hire a boat mechanic, he spends that money at the farmers market for food.  The farmer spends the money on help to harvest the crop ... and on and on.  Lots of boaters on the ICW bring lots of spending that brings prosperity. Towns not on the ICW do not benefit from boat traffic that is moving just miles away.  The North Carolina Albemarle Sound communities, they came up with a clever solution.... Create a scenario

April 11, 2024 Day 330 The InterCoastal Waterway We have really enjoyed the InterCoastal Waterway (ICW).  Lots of areas (New Jersey .... Western Florida ...) list waterways as ICW.  However, the ICW from the Florida Keys to Norfolk Va is managed and maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).  Thus it tends to be deep and extremely well documented.  For example, in my carting software (Aquamaps) I can overlay the USACE survey to see exact depths.   To make this easier, a gent named Bob developed "Bob423 Tracks".  No idea where the 423 comes from. Bob423 Tracks presents the optimum path through the ICW trying to keep boaters off the bottom.  Almost daily Bob reads the reports of "shoaling" along the ICW and adjusts 1000+ mile route and posts these tracks for free for all boaters. There is great comfort in having an exact route to follow.  But that is not the charm of the ICW. We were less than enamored by the Florida ICW.  It was opulent and excessive to an ex