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The ICW seems like such a hassle, besides I did not buy the boat to sail in a ditch.
I did some commercial fishing out in the golf, bottom and long line. That current during a full and new moon can really get moving, I understand that it really shallow around NC coast to the point of forcing you well off shore. Someone suggested I go to Florida via Bermuda.
I am curious regarding any suggestions for a 35' boat making the trek down.
How far should I go offshore, and what are some can't miss stops on the way down? I will more than likely take the treck down to Annapolis and Chesapeake for a weak or so before heading down.
I am thinking that hiring a delivery skipper might not be such a bad idea after all, as the valuable experience and lessons could be priceless in the overall picture of bringing me up to speed. I figure this would probably be the best way to learn the inside and outs of my boat, from dealing with the delicate procedure of docking a sailboat to dealing with rough sea conditions.
The catch is I think it would be wise to get to Chesapeake first before hiring the delivery captain, so as not to rude him out as far as the delay in Chesapeake would go. I might even fly the girls up to stay with me on the ship from Florida so they can soak up the atmosphere.
So I guess I might need two delivery captains. Heck maybe 3 or 4 at this rate. I'd appreciate any suggestions and information regarding the trip down. I can't get to the boat right now because it is stored for the winter.
Many delivery captains will charge you an extra fee if you want to come along and learn as crew. They're not in the business of teaching owners how to sail their boats as a general rule—they're in the business of moving boats.
Going offshore shouldn't be that much of a problem, but it depends on the winds and the gulf current... I don't have my pilot books here, otherwise I'd look up what the prevailing winds and currents for the trip would be for different parts of the spring.
Certain parts of the Atlantic coast, like the NJ shore, do not have any good harbors of refuge during bad weather, so there is nowhere to hide if a storm comes up.
Where is the boat currently? Is it in shape to make an offshore passage? Is it equipped to make an offshore passage?
Jags...I'm gonna be contrarian here and suggest that you go via the ICW. It is undoubtably a longer journey but it is beautiful and there are many places along the way that are wonderful and that regular folks never get to see. I think everyone ought to do it once...then forget about it as you won't want to do it twice but can use it as needed.
Going south offshore can be done but you are generally working against prevailing currents and winds so you will need to be prepared to do a lot of motoring out there as well.
If you do decide to go "outside", I'd suggest you go down the ICW to Beaufort NC...3 days... and then hop outside to avoid the long and relatively dangerous path around Hatteras. You can do the rest of the journey relatively near shore and duck in to a safe harbor within 24 hours if an adverse weather forecast pops up. Steve Dodge's guide to SE US inlets is a great resource for doing it this way.
The Bermuda route is the only practical way to actually SAIL down south but it involves extended ocean passages that both you and the boat must be well prepared for and you will be truly on your own 600 miles from shore.
Coming back north offshore from Florida is MUCH easier and faster as the gulf stream and winds are working in your favor.
Is the ICW something I should even try to attempt navigating through with only 3 months sailing experience? I wouldn't mind even getting a skipper to sail me down to like lets say Chesepeake bay to help me work out the wrinkles with my new to me boat.
ICW is EASY but you have to prepare for the trip with the right resources. It is 90% motoring so pretty much like driving a car and you CAN do it. If you decide you want to try it, I can give you some advice as can others here but I don't want to go into it heavily unless you have decided to do it this way. You should allow 30 days for the trip from the Chesapeake to South Florida. A few days less for Jacksonville.
I would definitely advise getting some help from NY to the Chesapeake with a new boat and offshore coastal passages along the Jersey shore and the slog up the Delaware or offshore the Delmarva coast. That is the toughest part of the trip.
Piloting on the ICW is fairly straightforward. Good marks and lots of them. Most of it is motoring or motorsailing although there are stretches where you can sail. From NY you'll get lots of sailing until you get to Norfolk and the ICW. With a good weather window you can do the Atlantic stretch in a day, this'll be the longest stretch of open water till you get to Florida. With your experience the ICW would be your best bet. You might be able to find an experienced sailor to start the trip with you. Post a few notices around the local yacht clubs. As for getting to the Chesapeake first before hiring anyone, your longest stretch will probably be Sandy Hook to Cape May. This is about 20 hours. After that it's all day sailing or motoring. If you really want to go outside I'd wait till Charleston and set out from there for Florida.
what you have to say about the ICW trip, Camaraderie. How bout if you were in a 24' S2. Just contemplating it, very seriously. My wife and I teach so we have the summers off and were looking for a little trip, we have family in Beaufort, SC. We're based south of Annap.
So I guess in planning I ought to break this trip down into 3 phases
1. I arrange a skipper to get me to Chesapeake, while teaching me the ropes of my boat. While in the bay sail my tail off for a week or so till I can feel comfortable enough going offshore in SC.
Phase 2
Motor down to SC via ICW.
Phase 3
How do my odds look going about a mile or two offshore between Jacksonville and SC to pull this off singlehandedly, while being so inexperienced? How do my harbor options look in case the weather turns south? And at what point in SC is it safe to go offshore?
Look at a chart, on the course from Charleston to St. John's River you go about 50 miles offshore. If you're going to hug the shore might as well go down the ditch. Hugging the shore won't help as there are very few good inlets.
Sailing your tail off for a week won't do it. When I started I gave myself (jokingly) ten years to learn to sail and I already knew piloting, navigation and seamanship being a former merchant navy officer. After 22 years I'm still learning.
I knew it sounded too easy. I plan on taking sailing lessons starting in a week or so, so by the time I got to SC I ought to have 4 or 5 months of full time sailing under my belt. Now thinking about it I wouldn't mind spending a month or even 2 at the bay.
I thought maybe if I could be a day from an inlet while hugging the coast I could pull it off if by keeping a good eye on the weather. I would much rather be sailing down the coast than motoring through the ICW. No way am I going 50 miles off shore by myself right now. As a matter of fact I am not going to do squat with out approval from more experienced sailors at this point.
OK...Since there seems to be sufficient interest...I am gonna start an ICW Southbound thread and that way we can all chime in with advice and point others with the same question to the thread. Nomad...absolutely do-able and a nice trip if you have a good engine. I'll try to post some detailed tips shortly on the new thread. Vasco...from Charleston south there are a good number of navigable inlets including
Beaufort (bewfort) SC, Tybe Road (Savannah), St. Catherines sound, St Simons Sound, St. Mary's River...all of which I have done with a 6ft draft.
Nonetheless, if I were single handing I would stay inside and stay rested except for the jumps I could do in one day like St. Simons to Fernandina. Double handed I would split the difference and stay 20-30 miles out and not try to do more than 2-3 days at once. Triple-handed I'd point her right at Jacksonville as you suggest. Jags..I would not start out my offshore single handing experience with an overnight trip. Suggest taking the day hop from St. Simons island (ICW) to the St. Mary's River (Cumberland Island/Fernandina) ...then going outside again from the St. May's to the St. Johns. Make sure you have a good forecast and clean fuel tanks!
Thread? This topic ought to have its own forum IMO. BTW what is the big deal with anchoring a few miles off shore for a few hours to get some zz's in between inlets? I imagine I'd try to go offshore at the bay, if the weather permits. How is that inlet BTW did I read somewhere about it being hairy?
I normally will do the Georgia stretch outside, usually on my way home as the weather doesn't seem to cooperate on the way down. It only takes 30 -36 hours but if you stick close to shore it'd take a lot longer and doesn't serve much of a purpose. There is no advantage to staying close in. For this stretch it's all or nothing as it just takes too much wasted time (and I'm not on a schedule) going in and out, especially if the tide isn't in your favour. Either do the whole of Georgia in the ICW or go outside and skip it altogether. Going outside on this stretch also avoids some of the skinniest water, especially going past Jekyll Island. Now from Fernandina to Jacksonville it's better and faster inside, a much shorter trip.
This MB is turning out to be a tremendous asset. NO DOUBT
Thanks for the heads up Vasco. I guess it is a good thing I started planning this trip down now. There are a lot of options and plenty of things that must be determined and arranged. One thing for sure I am in no hurry, as long as I get back in Jax in time for my daughters summer vacation from school, we'll be spending it on the sailboat, Lord willing.
Nothing wrong with anchoring a few miles offshore to get some zzz's as long as someone else is pulling the anchor up again and you have a fairly long piece of string. I don't know the depths there a few miles offshore say half a mile = 3.5 miles of string or maybe chain. Maybe the wife can do anchor duty.
Sailing isn't about being able to do some basics, you might learn some of them a bit in some hours but about building a wide range of experience and skill so you can handle whatever comes up, and more so the judgment to anticipate it and possibly avoid it beforehand. Build your competence first by learning to crawl then walk before you get too carried away on big plans.
Jags: BTW what is the big deal with anchoring a few miles off shore for a few hours to get some zz's in between inlets? I imagine I'd try to go offshore at the bay, if the weather permits. How is that inlet BTW did I read somewhere about it being hairy?
Anchoring in the open Atlantic while single handing to catch some zzz's means getting very close to shore and breaking waves and generally a LOT of chain required...even in benign conditions, things can happen while you are sleeping so I would not recommend it and don't know anyone who has done it except in daylight while awake on a nice summer day.
I assume you mean the entrance to the Chesapeake bay. It is pehaps the easiest "inlet" to navigate on the whole east coast BUT it is wide open to the ocean and 6-8 foot seas approaching the bridge tunnel are not unusual if the wind is over 20 knots or something is kicking up offshore....especially when the tide is running out. When you go south out of the Bay...then you face going around Hatteras which is not called the Graveyard of the Atlantic for nothing.
I am hoping to take time off from work one spring of summer and just motor/sail the ditch for all the sights and sounds. It is a "roadtrip"unlike any you can experience in a car. You will have plenty of time to go offshore during better circumstances later. Think about restaurants and marinas and small towns... that you can see in a leisurely stroll downthe ICW.
pigslo
Jags-
"BTW what is the big deal with anchoring a few miles off shore for a few hours " Well, anyplace that is shallow enough for you to ANCHOR offshore, is also going to mean the shallows will cause intense wave action and you're probably going to get your brains bashed around.
The extensive areas off NJ or Hatteras where you might think you can anchor? Are known for eating ships and boats. You want to stay far offshore, totally clear of the shoals (even 100' depth is a shoal for ocean water) that are going to cause rough water.
Plus, if you have mechanical failures (rigging failure, engine failure, anchor failure) and you are being driven up on a lee shore...you are better off being far enough offshore so that you have time to make repairs or call for assistance, before incoming bad wx can put you on the beach.
I'd also suggest, MOST strongly, doing some shakedown cruising in nearshore or sheltered waters, taking a long day trip, an overnight, a 48-hour, during which you can load and stress everything on the boat to find out if there are problems which could really bite you on a longer trip, or further offshore.
My 6' draft appears to be an issue here and there on the ICW, to the point it will require some exhaustive planning. I know there are all kinds of give and takes when purchasing a sail boat, now I am wondering hw big of an issue will a 6' draft wind up being. Is that something I should be concerned with. I am starting to feel that the depth of the draft could severely impact and limit my recreational abilities.
Anyone live in NE Florida care to comment on the topic? For instance how far up can I sail the ST. Johns River before it becomes a concern? I am flying up to NY to make the purchase on the boat Tuesday.
Six foot draft is not really a problem. Boats deeper than that regularly go up and down the ICW. The only thing is the deeper the draft, the more care you must take. As for the St. Johns River your draft will not be a problem. There's lots of water all the way to green Cove Springs (that's as far as I've been). Lots of good sailing in NE Florida. If you're going to be based in the Jax area or Ortega River there's lots of water.
jagbch -- a couple of comments -my former sig other and i did it after the annapolis boat show a couple of years ago - we did come down the ditch to avoid the cape - a couple of things -
first does your insurance company know you are bring your boat to fla at the start of hurricane season??
second -- get boatus unlimited towing - just in case as you do have to pay attention all the way down the ditch and a few yards can put you on the hard -- no big deal - as they say there are sailors who put her aground and those who say they never have are just not telling the truth
third - get a good guide and the latest edition you can for the ditch and read and study it
-
the two of us did it and went off at cape fear river for a long run but the flu finally forced us to put in at cape canaveral
good luck
chuck and s/ soulmates
Hey Rick...I was plowing through the mud in the Ortega River last spring with my 6 ft. ....has it been dredged?? I got in through the bridge but the approach was hairy!!
The problem with the entrance to the Ortega River is the approach. It is very difficult to get the right line heading for the first mark. Coming out is a lot easier. My first time in I was anchored out the night before because I was a bit wary. A boat drawing six or seven grounded and Towboat US came out, got her off and towed her in. I watched all this on my radar overlaid on my chart (brand new toys then) and the next morning followed the towboat's track in. No problem, I draw 5 1/2.
"those who say they never have are just not telling the truth "
Hey, Chuck. Some of us have only been sailing twenty years or so, and still can't figure out how to run aground. But if I can borrow *your* keel, I'll be glad to try harder.<G> Ain't gonna say I haven't come close, am gonna say I haven't gone aground yet.
I'll rockhop on request, but my personal preference is never to sail in water that's shallower than masthead height. That way, I can even *roll* the boat without getting stuck on the hard bits.<G>
Give me another ten years or a good reason to try sneaking in someplace, and I'll send you a postcard when I do.
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