Trawling the ICW, day 9
There are exactly one gazillion buoys and markers along the ICW (I counted them). Most boaters are familiar with the "red right return" rule of markers, which means "pass the red markers on your right side when you are returning from the ocean". On the ICW, you aren't really returning from the ocean, you are traveling along parallel to it. So, someone had to decide which side of the channel to put the red markers on. For the ICW between Charleston and Palm Beach, they decided to put them on the right if you are southbound. Since there are a LOT of these markers on the ICW, you tend to get pretty accustomed to the idea that you need to leave that red buoy up ahead to starboard. However, such is not always the case. The ICW passes by, and sometimes briefly follows, river systems supporting ship traffic, both commercial and naval. These shipping lanes use the "red right return" convention for buoys. The result is that it can suddenly be necessary to pass red buoys on the port side, depending on how the ICW follows this waterway. Of course, all of this becomes obvious if you study the charts like a good navigator. But, you spend so many lazy hours passing so many red buoys to starboard that the sudden change of buoy locations can bite you in the ass.We passed the Kennedy Space Center today. There were no rockets blasting up through the atmosphere; only a huge gray building sticking up into the hazy eastern sky. Apparently, the ICW is one of the popular spots to watch a lift off. However, with all the launch delays you hear about on tv, you could end up sitting at anchor for quite a while in order to catch one of the launches. I noticed there is now a bridge across the ICW near the Space Center called The Christa McAuliffe Bridge.
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