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You have just bought that new 40' trawler and are prepared to hit the water. You are excited to get her out on the ICW and take her south. This has been your dream and it's finally coming true. You have previously invested some time learning about your brand new boat, her mechanical systems, her plumbing, her electronics; you believe you have it all covered. And what about navigating in the Intracoastal waterway? That 25 foot center console you upgraded from to your new yacht gave you adequate practice, didn't it?

Most of you new to boating might or might not understand there are certain regulations to follow when approaching a bridge. Even as a good number of the older draw bridges have been replaced with higher bridges of sixty-five feet, there are still a number of lower bridges to deal with on the Atlantic ICW. Some of these draw bridges are as low as eight feet. Before you get underway, there are, nonetheless, a couple of items to bear in mind. On that 25 foot boat, bridges were not an issue; you were not elevated enough to matter. But this 40 foot vessel will require bridges to go up permitting you to go by beneath.

So what are the rules when you are coming to a draw bridge? To begin with, check your chart to see what the vertical height is of the bridge. You should be familiar with the height of your vessel too. You can also read one of the cruising guides where they present bridge information. As you draw near the bridge, you need to look for the tide marker on the right side of the bridge at the water line to confirm if your trawler or motor yacht can safely clear the bridge at the http://www.dailymile.com/people/brentwpeterson/entries/31579717 on demand, raise the bridge tender on your VHF radio. Bridges in many states monitor VHF channel 13 while bridges in South Carolina and Georgia monitor channel 9 and bridges in Florida monitor both channel 16 and 9. Only raise the