After departing Southwest Harbor, ME, on Labor Day, Bluewater is back in Fort Lauderdale. With the boat in the Mediterranean for a couple of summers, Judy and I haven't made that trip since 2006 but what a difference this time around--a real paradigm change! Back in 2006 we found marinas along the way often filled to capacity and reservations booked at least a day or two in advance were essential. In contrast, this year we could simply arrive and find overnight marina slips waiting. Back then marina prices were high, and this year they're much reduced. Something about supply and demand, eh? Perhaps the biggest surprise was the stretch between Norfolk and Fort Lauderdale. We did most of that offshore so I cannot speak for the whole stretch, but in past years heading south in the fall we've seen the lock at Great Bridge filled to capacity with several late-arriving yachts having to wait for the next lock-thru; this year we locked thru with just two other yachts. Not only that, but our 7-knot trawler was not passed by a single sportfishing yacht between Norfolk and Beaufort, NC, something unheard of in the 20-some years we have been doing the ICW. The trend continued wherever we used the ICW: Charleston to Hilton Head and Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale. Wasn't it James Carville who coined the phrase in the 1992 Clinton-Bush race? It's the economy, stupid! --Milt Baker, Nordhavn 47 Bluewater, Fort Lauderdale

Milt, We too found the traffic on the waterway very sparse on our cruise from Beaufort, SC to the Chesapeake, UNTIL the last week. The migration began in force and the number of boats, power, sail and sportfish, increased considerably. The marinas along the way all remarked how traffic was down, most quoting 20%. I beleive the timing has a great deal to do with this and what you experienced may have a lot to do with the dates you traveled south. Many insurance companies will not allow policy holders south of Hatteras before November 1st so they will wait north of there or chance having their policies canceled if caught, a new tactic of the insurance companies. It will be interesting to see how much, if at all this changes in the next month. Chuck To follow our adventures, go to http://trawler-beach-house.blogspot.com/ http://sea-trek.blogspot.com/ --- On Sat, 10/24/09, Milt Baker <miltbaker@mindspring.com> wrote: > After departing Southwest Harbor, ME, > on Labor Day, Bluewater is back > in Fort Lauderdale. With the boat in the Mediterranean for > a couple of > summers, Judy and I haven't made that trip since 2006 but > what a > difference this time around--a real paradigm change! > > Back in 2006 we found marinas along the way often filled to > capacity > and reservations booked at least a day or two in advance > were essential. > In contrast, this year we could simply arrive and find > overnight marina > slips waiting. Back then marina prices were high, and > this year they're > much reduced. Something about supply and demand, eh? > > Perhaps the biggest surprise was the stretch between > Norfolk and Fort > Lauderdale. We did most of that offshore so I cannot > speak for the > whole stretch, but in past years heading south in the fall > we've seen > the lock at Great Bridge filled to capacity with several > late-arriving > yachts having to wait for the next lock-thru; this year we > locked thru > with just two other yachts. Not only that, but our > 7-knot trawler was > not passed by a single sportfishing yacht between Norfolk > and Beaufort, > NC, something unheard of in the 20-some years we have been > doing the ICW. > The trend continued wherever we used the ICW: Charleston to > Hilton Head > and Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale. > > Wasn't it James Carville who coined the phrase in the 1992 > Clinton-Bush > race? It's the economy, stupid! > > --Milt Baker, Nordhavn 47 Bluewater, Fort Lauderdale