Is the Atlantic ICW ready to take Traffic off the Interstate?

by BoatU.S. News Room on 12 Nov 2009
The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association (AIWA) will examine the importance of the waterway to the entire southeastern U.S. at its annual meeting November 19 - 20 in Savannah, GA. The meeting, at the Hyatt Regency hotel, will also celebrate the association's 10 years of advocacy for this historic and critical transportation artery.

Stretching over 1,200 miles from Norfolk, VA, to Miami, FL, the waterway has been called 'the boater's Route 66,' but it is also a vital commercial transportation route that could be much better utilized to move cargo along the eastern seaboard and relieve highway congestion, according to AIWA. 'With the economic downturn forcing many states to forgo highway maintenance and repairs, truck-based transportation becomes less appealing. The ICW is ready to step in to get some of these cargoes off the road and move them more efficiently on the water,' said AIWA vice chairman and BoatU.S. Assistant Vice President of Government Affairs Ryck Lydecker.

The conference begins on Thursday, Nov. 19, with keynote speakers Terrence C. 'Rock' Salt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, and Brigadier General Todd T. Semonite*, *Commander, South Atlantic Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is charged by Congress with maintaining the waterway. Other conference speakers and panelists will explore the waterway's role in the national transportation system as well as its almost iconic identity with the fabric of life in the southeastern U.S.

A highlight this year is a student essay and photo contest sponsored by the association in cooperation with the Savannah College of Art and Design. Entries will be on display and winners recognized at a reception Thursday evening. Making an appearance to present the contest awards will be 'Henry Plummer,' the waterway's first snowbird cruiser who sailed the inside route from Massachusetts to Miami and back in a 24-foot Cape Cod catboat with his son and the family in the winter of 1912-13. Plummer chronicled the nearly century-old adventure in his book, 'The Boy, Me and The Cat' (Some association members say 'Plummer' looks suspiciously like AIWA vice chairman Ryck Lydecker but he denies any connection.)

More information, plus on-line conference registration, is available at www.atlintracoastal.org or by phone at: 877-414-5397.

BoatU.S. -- The Boat Owners Association of The United States is a charter member of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association.