No fixed bridges is not the same as fast

This is the phrase that gets the most excitement out of buyers, and the one I have to slow people down on the most. No fixed bridges means your boat’s height is not permanently capped. It does not mean your trip to the inlet takes no time.

What it does not tell you

A route with no fixed bridges can still run through several drawbridges, each on its own opening schedule, and each one adds real minutes to a trip regardless of how tall your boat is. The difference between a fixed bridge and a drawbridge is whether your boat can physically fit under it at all. It is not a promise about how long getting to the ocean takes.

Three no fixed bridges routes can mean three different actual trips:

• A short run past one drawbridge on a generous schedule, adding a few minutes at most.
• A longer run past three or four drawbridges, each with its own opening window, where a poorly timed departure can cost you half an hour of waiting.
• A route that now includes a bridge with a new rush hour restriction, where certain windows of the day only allow one opening an hour instead of the usual half hour cadence.

The three questions that settle it

How many drawbridges sit between this dock and the inlet, and what is each one’s opening schedule? This is public information through the Coast Guard, and it is worth mapping before you assume a route is quick.

Have any of those bridges’ schedules changed recently? Schedules do get revised, and a route that was easy a year ago can carry new restrictions today.

What does this route actually look like at the time of day I would normally want to head out? A schedule that looks fine on paper can still mean a real wait if it lines up with when you actually want to leave the dock.

Why I lead with this

I would rather tell you honestly that a route involves four opening bridges and a real time cost than let no fixed bridges do the selling for me. It is still a meaningfully better position than a fixed bridge that caps your boat permanently, but it is not the same as an open shot to the ocean, and buyers deserve to know the difference before they buy, not after their first Saturday run to the inlet.

If you want me to map the actual bridge schedule on a route you are considering, send me the address and I will walk it with you.