Key West - We're in for a lot of entertainment going north in the spring

Shallotte Inlet, shallowing in!

It looks like we are in for some exciting times on our trip north in the spring. Lockwoods Folly and Shallotte are both shoaling in with Shallotte as low as 4 ft at low tide by going outside the channel. It's down to 1 ft in the channel at low tide. Last year at this time there was news of dredging but I haven't heard anything yet about these two areas. Aqua Map app  will load and display them flawlessly. They only charge $15 for a chart of the entire US with updates forever, a bargain. The download is free, the US chart is $15. Of course, one could always go outside and bypass the shallow spots but where is the fun in that!

Detail south of R80A

Still, there is a best route through as recommended by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) who does the depth surveys. I entered the waypoints and made a GPX file that will be on this blog site sometime tomorrow. The GPX route will give you the best chance of getting through but even that route is only good for 4 MLW at the low points by Shallotte Inlet. The GPX routes will download and display directly on Aqua Map.

Dinner tonight! At least for next door.

The weather continues to calm down and several fishing boats have taken up residence nearby. The one next to us caught dinner and they were cleaning their catch on the back of the boat. It looked pretty good. We had homemade fish sandwiches, ala Ann - my favorite cook! We'll do more of the same Tuesday, that is, rest and relax on the back of the boat. I'll post the new GPX routes too.