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ICW in a Nutshell

6K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  PBzeer 
#1 ·
can someone tell me where I can find out what the boat size restrictions are on the ICW.....from the Hampton area going south. What is the tallest mast size you can have? Draft?
How long does it take to I guess mostly motor a sailboat down the ICW to Florida?
Arenthere plentiful anchorages? How much planning needs to go into the trip....ie planning for bridge openings, currents, tides, anchorages etc.
Is there a site that gives this info?
Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I've done the ICW many, many times. From when it was over 100 draw bridges to about 12 years ago.
Controlling mast height is 64 feet, period. That means antennas, windex, everything; 64 feet from highest high tide of the year (before global warming, of course).
We used to be able to carry 10 feet from Miami to Norfolk, but I hear that three is too deep in some ares of NC or SC, but that is in areas where you might be able to go out an inlet & back in farther down, but you will need local knowledge. We had a great time at Elizabeth city (they had specials for us delivery captains to entice us in to stay) but I have heard you can't get in any more & several towns have gone bust from shoaling.
Navigation in the ICW must be done as if you were captaining a tug drawing 10 feet pushing a 250 foot barge. The Corps of Engineers puts banks around the marks so the barges can't hit them. Stay away from the marks!
I don't know your boat's speed, but you can encounter up to about 6 knots of current in places. If you're slow, find a place to anchor until the tide changes.
Watching & understanding the buoys is very important. As you head toward a town, you have "red right return", but if you pass an inlet it can change to green on the right, BEWARE. Channels cross the ICW and that further confuses things.
I always use a highlighter to mark buoys as I pass as there are many places that look similar (some of my deliveries were SF boats & we did 35 knots!).
Anchorages are available, but you must see if you can make them in daylight. I'd plan a few marinas into your budget. How long? How fast are you? Remember, unless you've got x-ray vision, it's daylight only. I wouldn't count on the tide/ current tables being accurate, especially around inlets.
I've been all over the world, but consider the ICW from Ft. Lauderdale to Norfolk to be one of the greatest trips anywhere.
Good luck and I envy you; we're 73' high.
 
#4 ·
Some resourses that I would recommend are Skipper Bob books, "Marinas Along the ICW" and "Anchorages Along the ICW". The latter gives bridge information which you will require. You can order them on line at Home | Skipper Bob Cruising Guides On his site he also has waterway updates. Another resourse is The Active Captain here https://activecaptain.com/X.php which is an interactive cruising guide book and excellent if you have internet aboard.
With your specs you can do the Dismal Swamp. They close the canal from time to time because of low water so check before heading that route. If you plan to go as far south as Miami note that the Jean Tuttle bridge just north of Miami was designed by a dyslexic engineer and has only 56 foot clearance instead of the usual 65 feet.
 
#5 ·
I concur with everything above and will add that the Salty South East Cruisers Network is a very good source for current ICW conditions. Take the alerts posted as though you were getting the info from a friend at the dock, it may be current, may be outdated or may be that the conditions have changed since someone passed through the area. Check 'em out at Cruiser's Net
 
#9 ·
Adding to the above post; Here is a picture of how it works;
 
#7 ·
We have done the ICW 4 times now, 6' draft and 50' mast, no problems.
Ditto on Skipper Bob and Active Capt, two of the best resources for this trip.
With your draft dismal swamp should be no problem, to make sure check with corps of engr before you depart Norfolk.
Couple of hints, don't religiously follow the magenta line on chart plotter, use the marks and read the water. Have a mike or handheld vhf in the cockpit, makes life easier for bridges/barges.
In NC, Ga there are some real shallow areas, but with the 7+'tides easy to get past if you play the tides.
 
#8 ·
I'm starting to like this one almost as much as Skipper Bob's: » ICW Detail OnTheWaterChartGuides It lists the anchorages but has a little less detail about them than Skipper Bob does, and makes up for it by including marinas, phone #s, helpful hints, and some stories about the places you pass through.
 
#23 ·
We have friends who do Annapolis to Marathon in 21 days. We take considerably longer as there are so many great places to stay and explore.
A good strategy is push for 3-4 days, then stop for 2-3 days. Using this as a guide it will take you 6-8 weeks, but it will be a very enjoyable trip vice a slog.
 
#11 ·
How hard do you want to work? Norfolk to Charleston, about 10 travel days of 50 miles per day. Add in weather, currents, bridges, and tourism, and you can make it last as long as you want. We figure about 3 weeks southbound in autumn for that stretch. About the same Charleston to Miami - luckily the farther south you get, the less you worry about the weather. Still, 6-7 weeks for a pleasant trip.
 
#12 ·
When we went south, in 2003, we left Great Salt Pond near the end of October. I'm not sure of the exact date but I do know that we were in Elizabeth City, NC. for Halloween. We went to a wine and cheese party in the cemetery of the Episcopal Church that night. We arrived in Brunswick, Ga. November 25th. We made stops of a few days in places along the way to do the tourist thing. Places like Charleston and Savannah.
Brunswick is where we keep our boat. It's another nine days of travel on the ICW. Again there are some interesting places to stop, for example St Augustine. I would definitely recommend going outside at some points but especially from Lake Worth to Port Evergaldes (Ft. Lauderdale) to avoid the 21 bridges you have to have opened. At that point you will have to go outside again to get to Miami because the Jean Tuttle bridge I mentioned previously. Going outside gives you a chance to sail.
Most importantly enjoy the journey or it will be a ***** of a trip.
 
#16 ·
There are plenty of places where you can go outside. Maybe the biggest obstacle to doing so is the distance you must travel to get from the seabouy to a suitable anchorage -- in other words, the distance in and out. In many places, it can take a couple of hours to reach the seamarker. If you spend 2+ hours at both the beginning and end of the day not making progress, you won't make much progress on the "outside". On the other hand, there are a few spots that set up nicely for runs on the outside (Beaufort / Wrightsville, Cape Fear / Little River come to mind as good day runs on the outside).

One way to make some time is to make an occasional 24-30hr run on the outside. If you run outside for 30 hours instead of 8, you significantly lessen the impact of the time heading in / out and the number of possible outside runs increases greatly. However, you need to factor in the fatigue that accompanies coastal over-nighters - particularly if you are solo or 2-up, it may take you time to recover from short overnight trips.
 
#14 ·
There are plenty of good places to go outside. Any of the class "A" harbours like Charleston, Brunswick, Port Everglades or Miami are good. Whether it's an overnighter will depend on the distance and what the destination entrance is like. For example to go from Brunswick to St Augustine I would want to arrive in good light but from St Augustine to Brunswick I have arrived in the dark. There are places outside to avoid, Hatterass for example and places inside like the stretch from Lake Worth to Fort Lauderdale. Many people dislike the Ga ICW because it snakes through the marsh lands of coastal Georgia, the tides are large, anchoring can be tough and marinas are few and far between.
As far as I know there are no places to anchor once on the outside. You are after all in the wide open Atlantic. So before you venture out make sure of your weather window.
 
#20 ·
Ditto on Active Captain. They seem to have a good list of problem spots. I just finished putting every one of them, from Norfolk to Beaufort, as markers in my plotter. There were 19 just from this section. I make text notations right on the charts so as not to need to wonder why I marked a spot.
 
#21 ·
Note that if you use PolarView Navigation Software ($39) it downloads ALL of the markers, and all of the other crowd sourced data automatically, and keeps it up to date - In addition, it makes a pretty good chart plotter too!
 
#22 ·
I have messed around with Polar View a bit. Will have to check that out. My old Jeppesen charts are starting to get long in the tooth (although I really like the Sailcruiser nav software).
 
#25 ·
Here's some outside hops you can do overnight.

Beaufort Inlet to Charleston,SC, (or if you make good time North End of Hilton Head Island) is the one two nighter. I would at least though make the long day's run to Masonboro Inlet (Wrightsville Beach).

If you go to Charleston, you can go outside to Hilton Head in a day. Or 3 days inside.

Hilton Head to St Augustine.

St Augustine to Fort Pierce.

Fort Pierce to Miami. I go past the Government Cut (port entrance), to Cape Florida)

There are marinas and anchorages at each stop.
 
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