'You can't get from Savannah to Ossabaw except at high tide,' he said. 'Psyche' needs 4 feet, 9 inches of water to pass through. Richmond Hill resident Daniel Grant, who's been boating in the Savannah area since the day he was christened, said his 29-foot Columbia sailboat 'Psyche' could have easily grounded in the mismarked Hell's Gate channel. They say the federal government prioritizes dredging needs with an antiquated formula that fails to take into account the burgeoning economic impact of recreational boaters. That's the depth Congress authorized for the length of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which runs from Boston to Key West.īoaters are outraged at the lack of maintenance. 'It should be 12 feet at mean low water,' said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers survey discovered the ominously named stretch of choppy water was only 2.5 to 3 feet deep in places. The latest example of its decrepit state, boaters say, is what's happening at the mouth of the Ogeechee River at an area called Hell's Gate.Įarlier this spring, a routine U.S. Navigation charts frequently are out-of-date and cause serious problems for even the most experienced. The shallow depths cause serious damage to yachts and other boats and can be very expensive to the individual boat owner. Recreational boaters encounter the same situations. Another company reported to AIWA that annual repairs, due to damage caused by improper depths, cost an average of $287,000 a year. One tow company owner estimates that his company alone has at least one grounding every 24 hours. Vessels are running aground and experiencing substantial damage. Tow boat and barge operators are forced to work in unsafe conditions every day. Both types of vessels are increasingly apt to run offshore in the open ocean rather than chance damage using the inland route. Tow boats and barges touch bottom or run aground almost daily while recreational boaters report frequent damage from navigation hazards since nautical charts can't keep up with actual conditions. However, shoaling and silting have reduced controlling depths in some spots to as little as five feet. Anyone who uses the ICW knows the situation is deplorable,' he said, adding, 'but we want to get beyond today's problems to develop a vision for the future of the waterway from the perspective of those who use it, those who depend on it.'įederally maintained, the authorized depth of the 1,100-mile ICW is between 10 and 12 feet. 'It's a vital artery for recreational and commercial vessel traffic and many waterfront communities rely on it for their livelihood, yet waterway maintenance falls further behind each year as budgets are cut for dredging and repairs. 'The ICW is at a crossroads,' says BoatU.S. is aboard, sponsoring a series of town hall-style meetings this summer to invite public comment on future plans for the Intracoastal Waterway. Their strongest support comes from barge companies, but yachtsmen are in this too, and BoatU.S. According to, an organisation called The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association was created because the ICW is ‘too good to kiss off’. However, users are not taking it lying down.
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