Intracoastal questions

[Capt Len]

I've just delivered a vessel to the Yacht Path Inc for drop at Fort Lauderdale.It's going to New York up the inside. What did I miss by not taking that end of the job ? And what's a reasonable skippers fee for that?. Its 46 ft power, cruises 7 kts.

[SVAuspicious]

Why would anyone take something that size up the inside? Easy peasy offshore hops single-handed, and super fast with two or three aboard as a straight shot. I'd leave this minute from FLL and run offshore in the Stream all the way to Norfolk watching weather - if things hold I'd keep going. You should be able to get two qualified crew in a day in FLL.

If you want to talk numbers give me a call 443-327-9084. I'm leaving tonight for a Panama to Guatemala delivery so if you don't get me before 5.30 it won't happen.

[speciald]

I ran my Sea Ray 460 South on the ICW to Fort Launderdale from Baltimore averaging 21g/hr (ouch). The weather outside was bad as Sean was out there. We had a great trip and I took crew that had never cruised the ICW. They loved it. The boat went by DockWise to St. Thomas where we picked her up and brought it here to Sint Maarten

[Capt Len]

I should have added that the vessel is not much more seaworthy than a house boat and not near as graceful . .I was interested in the inside passage information specifically.

[billyruffn]

I recently completed a delivery of a 50 ft mv (draft 5 1/2ft) from Deltaville, VA to Port Everglades. We were inside the entire way except for the bit between Beaufort, SC and St. Augustine. We took it easy, averaging 60+nm/day stopping every night. If I subtract a couple of lay days it took us about two weeks (VA to FL). Unless you’re in a speed boat with unlimited fuel budget it’s hard to make more than 75 nm/day this time of year even if you start just before sunrise and run until sunset. (There are a few places where you could risk traveling at night, but in general it’s not a good idea as the bridges don’t operate after dark.)

If you’re going to make a few stops along the way, the ICW doesn’t add that much mileage to the trip vs the run offshore. One issue with running offshore is getting back inside when the weather gets snotty. Many of the inlets are not passable in rough conditions and even those with deep shipping channels can be exciting with onshore winds and out going tides. This time of year I would definitely recommend the ICW over offshore passage making.

It’s a pleasant passage, more scenic than I had imagined. We had good weather all the way. Weather is an issue only in those areas where the ICW crosses broad sounds / bays where the chop can get up and/or wind vs current can effect the seas. There are a few shallow spots where we touched and kept going and the tidal currents can add to the excitement when you’re passing close to ocean inlets. You need to keep in the channels, some of which are narrow enough that you need to be at the helm and paying close attention all the time even if you’re on autopilot. (What I’m saying is that you won’t be reading may books while on watch).

Bridges are generally not a problem. Timing the passage between scheduled openings is not difficult and many bridges will open on demand. In total I don’t think we waited more than a couple hours for bridges to open during the entire trip.

Marinas are scattered through out the ICW. Dockage runs $1.50 - $2.00. Fuel is readily available everywhere, as is pump-out. Anchorages are an option many places, but the depths can get shallow in many of them.

There are a few “speed zones”, mostly in So.FL where you need to be careful of wake, but most places wake is not an issue. This time of year most boats and many floating docks are out of the water. In summer, it would be a much slower passage due to wake restrictions.

If you’ve got the time, I’d recommend the inside for a slow, interesting and boat trip that doesn’t put a lot of strain on boat or crew. Re fee for the trip -- a mileage based fee makes more sense than time.

[Capt Len]

Thanks Billy. That pretty well covers it. I think I made the better decision ;ie not to. I've made several deliveries to Skagway from Vic up the jnside passage.and still feel that's my choice of world. I'm a west coast kind of guy.

[Captcam]

One other question since there seems to be some knowledgeable folks chiming in here.

What is the max draft that's easily navigated in the the intracoastal? Just in general if you want the full distance.

[billyruffn]

Originally Posted by Captcam

What is the max draft that's easily navigated in the the intracoastal? Just in general if you want the full distance.

“Easily navigate”? With a 5 1/2 ft draft we struck bottom softly several times but never got stuck and motored on over the shallow spots. These spots were few and far between, but they’re there. Most channels showed depths of 10-12 ft or more in late Nov 2011. I’d say we had things pretty easy, but we were careful to stay in the channels, read the guides, listened to others on the radio, and generally kept a sharp eye on the depth sounder the entire trip. When the water got thin, we slowed down to avoid a really hard landing.

Note we didn’t do the ICW between Beaufort, SC and St. Augustine. I’ve heard the ICW in GA has more thin water than other areas.

Tides come into play in many areas, so you have to be aware of the state of tide, especially when the sounder starts reading in single digits.

"Max draft"? My guess is with care the ICW can handle a 7 ft draft, but you should be prepared for groundings. SeaTow or similar insurance would be a good idea with drafts of 7 ft. or so.

I believe the official “controlling depth” for the ICW project is 12 ft. Dredging keeps most of it at or above 12 ft, but there is a lot of shoaling (less than 12 ft) due to currents that can be quite strong near the ocean inlets.

[TQA]

7 foot draft ?

I would say 6 foot max and even then you will find the bottom from time to time.

Some brokers on the Intracoastal will not list anything that draws more than 6 feet.