Another Report of Reduced Clearances on AICW Bridges, Statute Mile 557.5
Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net has received so many reports of reduced clearances at both fixed and opening bridges, plus damaged tide boards and higher-than-normal tides, that we would have to post a Navigation Alert at practically every bridge. This has been a major annoyance for our tall masted friends and our advice to all is to assume a lower vertical clearance and wait for a lower tide.
Our boat is a 43′ Fontaine/Pajot catamaran. Our mast is 62′ from the water. Hilton Head says it’s 65′ fixed clearance and our VHF radio antenna hit the bottom of the bridge as we passed. We went under the Hilton Head Bridge on December 23, 2012 at about 1 PM at about a 4.6 tide. A bit of a close one.
Sandy Horn
Click Here To View the South Carolina Cruisers’ Net Bridge Directory Listing For Hilton Head Bridge
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Hilton Head Bridge
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