Cruisers' Net | Cruisers Helping Cruisers

Sep 4, 2025by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

AIWA Newsletter September 2025

Cruisers Net is proud to be a member of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association, whose lobbying work is crucial to keeping the Waterway navigable and safe. Your membership dollars directly support their vital work. Please join and encourage your boating neighbors to do the same, regardless of their home port.

AIWA Annual Meeting

Registration Now Open

November 18-20, 2025
Savannah, Georgia

The AIWA is pleased to announce registration is now open for our Annual Meeting on November 18-20 in Savannah, Georgia.

We have a number of success stories to share and upcoming projects to discuss as a part of our program, along with a range of topics of interest to all waterway stakeholders.

Invitations have been extended to our federal partners at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, and the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. We will have presentations on navigation successes along the waterway, and you can expect an update on activities and what to expect in Washington, D.C., along with a panel discussion from our dredging partners, and more.

Thanks to our supporting sponsors who make the annual meeting possible. Sponsor opportunities are available.

Learn more by visiting the annual meeting website to access registration and sponsorships.

The Annual Meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Savannah. A limited number of rooms are available for the discounted rate of $289 per night until October 17th.

We look forward to seeing you this November!

What We’re Watching in Washington

Congress considers appropriations bills, final days before fiscal year ends

With Congress returning from the August recess, they have a number of big ticket items to complete before the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like there is much of an appetite to fund the twelve appropriations bills at this time so we are looking at two likely scenarios. Congress will either pass a Continuing Resolution funding the federal government at the current levels, or the government will enter a shutdown. It is possible that both may occur and there’s no current clarity on which might happen first.

Looking forward

Below is a table outlining our recent success and updating the current state of waterway funding in the House bill. It is still a possibility that we could surpass the $220 million in waterway funding over the past five years with another successful funding cycle in 2026. However, we await further progress on how the appropriations process might proceed in Congress.

‘Navigational News’ from our partners at Aqua Map, and
AIWA Member Robert (Bob) Sherer:Auto-routing (Route Planner in Aqua Map) is now available. The auto-routing
function incorporates numerous safety checks and utilizes the latest NOAA and USACE survey data in planning routes. Features include:

• Only the latest NOAA charts are used for planning, updated weekly from NOAA’s chart database.

• Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) survey charts are used where available. This is especially valuable for the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), for entrances to harbors, and for rivers along the Great Loop.

• Trusted tracks or routes can be used in shoaling areas where even the USACE surveys don’t show the current water levels. For example, if part of your route lies on the Atlantic ICW, you can instruct Route Planner to follow the ‘Bob423’ track for the section of your route that lies on the ICW. Any trusted route or track can be used in this manner.

• The auto-routes can easily be manually edited to avoid hazards not evident on NOAA or USACE surveys.

• Hazards detected by Route Planner are highlighted for your examination.

• Starting and ending points can be chosen by name from a Points of Interest (POI) list or manually selected with a long press on the chart.

• The route distance, time, and fuel used are listed for the route.

Read the full article available here from the Waterway Guide.

The AIWA is a national non-profit organization with the mission of securing funding and support for the maintenance of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. We are the only organization dedicated to ensuring the future of the AIWW and proudly represent all stakeholders of the waterway.

Contact:
Atlantic Instracoastal Waterway Association
5a Market | Beaufort, SC 29906
(843) 379-1151 | atlanticintracoastal.org

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AIWA Newsletter September 2025

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AIWA Newsletter September 2025

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