![Photo Jul 14 2024, 8 42 37 AM AquaMaps with Bob’s blue tracks and my green tracks at the start of the ICW with bridge arrival times. (Image/ Alex Jasper)](https://cdn.practical-sailor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Photo-Jul-14-2024-8-42-37-AM-696x522.jpg.webp)
My dream to sail from New England to the Bahamas involved a trip down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), also known as “the ditch” or the inside route. These are my lessons as an ICW first timer taking a 32-ft. sailing catamaran more than 1000 miles south on the ICW, sometimes solo. After sailing from Rhode Island to the Chesapeake Bay in the late summer of 2023, I planned to take the inside route from Norfolk, Virginia to southern Florida. Then, I wanted to do the shortest day hop over to the Bahamas.
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