Bridge problem

While planning our trip we counted 13 bridges on the ICW from Jacksonville to Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona. While the boat was in St John’s boatyard getting repaired from the wreck we also got other needed boat work done including replacing all the standing rigging and safety lines. The mast had to be removed off the boat to accomplish this, so while the mast was off we upgraded all the mast equipment including LED navigation lights and a new VHF antenna. We also decided to have mast shortened to make traveling the ICW much less stressful and not have to wait on low tides like we had to do in Georgia. With the shortened mast and new equipment our new mast height is 63 feet 2 inches off the water. The rule for fixed bridges in the ICW is that they are supposed to have 65 feet of clearance at Mean High Tide. For two days our trip down the ICW was uneventful. We would approach each bridge slowly, using binoculars to read the bridge height as posted on the fender boards to make sure we had plenty of clearance. This was just fine until we approached the Broadway Bridge (International Speedway Blvd) in Daytona Beach.

64 FEET

64 FEET !! Remember it is supposed to be 65 feet at high tide, meaning at low tide should be even more clearance. This one stopped us in our tracks. Should we go for it? 10 inches of clearance, assuming that we go straight down the middle. I had to take a bathroom break during the deliberations. Then we decided that if the choice is going to make us run for the head, then the answer needs to be no. So we turned around and went north to spend the night at the Caribbean Jacks marina and give us time to do more research on the bridge.

Example: Clearance at Center (Ormond Bridge)

We researched multiple websites including the Coast Guard, Cruisers forums, even icwcruisersguide.com which is basically someone that cruises up and down the ICW taking pictures of bridges and comparing true versus posted heights of bridges. From what we can determine, sometimes a bridge height is based on the height at the middle of the bridge, and sometimes the posted clearance is the minimum clearance at the channel, meaning that it represents the posts and not the center of the channel which gives an extra 1.5 foot of clearance.

From what other Cruisers were posting, it seems as though the Speedway Blvd Bridge height is measured at the minimum height of the bridge over the water which is one of the Eastern supporting posts and not the center. So we decided to spend the night at the marina at Caribbean Jacks and then go under the bridge the next day at low tide.

Stay Tuned….