As a captain on tugboats that haul loads up and down the Atlantic Coast, he has to know the ins and outs of the narrow ribbon of water. If not, he'll get stuck in the mud.

But getting stuck is more likely nowadays because funds for maintaining and dredging the channel have been drying up in recent years. Captains on larger boats increasingly find themselves having to time their journey with the tides to make sure there will be enough water to get past shallow spots.

That's a headache for those like Briggs, who on Friday was heading up to the Chesapeake Bay as relief captain of the Island Progress tugboat.

"It's aggravating, and it does slow you down," he said. "It's a big problem."

The problem has been growing in recent years as dredging funds have dwindled, according to those who regularly use the waterway.

In many places, the water level is well below the authorized depth of 12 feet, and operators are worried things are only getting worse.

"It's getting very frustrating," said Bryan Pahl, a port captain for Stevens Towing, which operates out of Yonge's Island. "We're starting to think it's got the potential to stop us from running at all."

Shallows near places such as the North Santee River in South Carolina and Lockwood's Folly Inlet in North Carolina force tugboat captains to either hit shallow spots at high tide or pause until the waters rise.

Pahl said that the problem has forced the company to limit drafts, which translates into lighter loads and less efficient trips up the waterway.

In McClellanville, shrimpers have increasing difficulty getting in and out of Jeremy Creek, said Rutledge Leland, who owns Carolina Seafood.

Shrimpers there don't make heavy use of the Intracoastal Waterway, Leland said, but the creek connects to the waterway and also is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.

"We've got some pretty serious issues up here," he said. "It's really critical before the shrimping season that we get some dredging here."

Without dredging, the waterway tends to fill up with silt, creating plenty of places for the unwary boater to run aground. The problem is that money for dredging has dropped significantly in recent years.

In 2000, the Corps received $5.6 million to dredge the section of the waterway that covers most of South Carolina. This year, that figure is $1.4 million.

That is not enough to keep up with the need, said Gary McAlister, a project manager for the Corps. It is not even enough money to completely address problem areas, he said.

"It doesn't get all of them," he said.

Right now, no money is budgeted for next year, McAlister said.

Funding for dredging is related to the commercial use of the waterway, which has been dropping in recent years.

Pahl said that the lack of dredging will drop commercial activity even further, creating a kind of vicious circle. He recommends that recreational activity, which is brisk, be factored into the equation.

The impact of the shallower channel is most severe on larger boats with deeper drafts, but recreational boaters are not immune, said Pahl. In fact, in some ways, they might be more likely to get stuck, he said.

"Our captains do it so much they know the shallow spots," he said. "A recreational boater has very little information."

Robbie Freeman, managing partner of the City Marina in Charleston, said that the lack of dredging in the waterway is a hot topic in the marina world.

"We hear about it a lot. It's an issue, really, nationwide," he said. "Some areas, it's really bad." The situation is beginning to push traffic away from the waterway into the ocean, he said.

It doesn't take a gigantic boat to potentially run into problems, he said. A 30-foot sailboat might have a six-foot draft, he said.

"There are a lot of places where six feet of water can get you in trouble," said Freeman.

The issue is drawing some political attention. Operators are waging a campaign to persuade the federal government to provide more money.

Members of South Carolina's congressional delegation, including U.S. Sens. Fritz Hollings and Lindsey Graham, say they are working to obtain money for dredging.

Pahl believes it should be obvious that the channel is a resource that needs to be maintained.

"We just think the waterway is so valuable," he said.

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