Janet O'Leary wrote:


With a clearance height of only 45', and a depth of only 4' .. that
eliminates many
sailboats, for sure.

In fact, I was just looking at a boat on the net, nice older boat. .. the
draft is 5' 10" I think.

==

So,, if the boat can't go through .. ?? then it is down and around?

How does that trip go? Where is the cut through point?



First, check local and up to date published data. Then subtract some
from both the height and the depth. Frex, last time I wished to passage
Dismal Swamp the clearance was published at 6' but local knowledge said
that there were many sunken logs and the real clearance depth was less
than 5'.

There was one bridge on the ICW which 'rang' my antenna even though I
waited for low tide. This clearly (to me) proved correct local knowledge
that the bridge was below the nominal 65' published minimum clearance.

Yes, it means go around if you wish to get to the Gulf. There are cuts
in the Keys but likewise you need local knowledge. Maybe even more so
because going aground in they keys on that old limestone can be much
more damaging than the mud further north.