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The ICW - Single Handed - Well, Almost!

24K views 182 replies 37 participants last post by  Minnewaska 
#1 ·
After leaving the Chesapeake's upper reaches on October 2, just two days after my 50th Anniversary, I've finally arrived in sunny Florida. Yep, it took that long. 12 days lost to weather, days when I've been tied to a dock freezing my butt off, days when the winds howled at 50 or more, 12-hour days of battling waves to 7 feet, 4 knot tides, 5-foot wakes from idiot power boaters, and naturally, two groundings.

Fortunately, I've also been blessed. I beautiful, young lady, who is an avid sailor, has been with me for the past 5 days and nights. She can sail a boat better than 99 percent of the sailors I've come across during the past 7 years, she can cook, but I would rather cook for her instad, she loves my Green Coconut Margarettas, and best of all she has helped restore my sanity. This wonderful lady I'm talking about is our own Mel (Melissa), who graciously accepted my plea for help in traveling to south Florida in my trusty, old 33 Morgan Out Island. Yep, she likes the boat too.

I'm not really sure if I could have made it this far without Mel's help. Her knowledge of boating, and lots of other subjects if unsurpassed. She and I seem to have a lot in common, and in many respects we've almost led paralell lives, but under totally different circumstances. Yes, I'm in love with Mel. ;)

During these many weeks on the water I've also met a lot of other wonderful folks, Mario and I keep in touch almost daily and I hole to meet up with him sometime tomorrow. Roger and Sandy, a wonderful couple I met 500 miles to the north, traveled here from Detroit and have been on the water for three months. We get together for dinner once in a while, toss a couple margarettas, and they got to hear me perform at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club. The lady at the YC wanted me to stay a few weeks, but I declined.

The trip thus far has been mostly alone. The ICW has been nearly deserted, some days I saw up to a dozen boats, but most days I traveled 10 to 12 hours in the wilderness, completely alone.

More to come,

Gary :cool:
 
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#6 · (Edited)
Ahhh, sailing, booze, ICW, wakes, bugs, rain, and running aground. It just doesn't get any better
than that.
Glad to hear you are doing it Gary.

If you get to Malabar, stop by the Malabar Mariners area and say hi.
 
#9 ·
'Always good for me to hear of other liveaboard cruisers moving about,- especially other Out Islands. The last I recall you were in Ft. Myers. I guess we've passed by a few times. We're back in Florida too as of Oct. 19th. 'missed some of your harsh weather. I think we were ahead of the wave.
 
#10 ·
Great to hear from you Gary.....I still have visions of you traveling down the ICW with the speakers on deck and the music a playing.

Glad to hear you are safe and sound and living the dream.

Dave
 
#12 ·
It has been a real treat this week sailing with Gary. Great person, great boat and great music. Both the boat and Gary having been treating me like a queen. Might never leave. Trying to turn the boat toward the Bahamas and beyond.:>).
Those Green Coconut Margaritas are Deadly and Oh so good!
Chasing Sunsets and getting serenata on the ICW!
 
#15 ·
Good to hear that things are going great for you Gary!

So, awhile back in a discussion about boat heaters, I seem to remember your recomendation about a nice comforter from Bed Bath & Beyond & ..... LOL

Have fun & enjoy!
 
#16 ·
My wonderful lady Mel left me tonight. She has only been gone for a few hours and I already miss this charming woman. Hopefully, we'll get together again at the end of the month and caravan down the keys.

We did an overnighter down the coast, about 25 miles offshore from just below Paris Island, NC and hoped to make Saint Augustine by noon the next day. The weather turned real nasty just after midnight, wind switched around and pushed us farther east, about 30 miles offshore, and the waves and swells were such that making headway was just about impossible. Finally gave up and headed due west for Fernadino Beach, got there about 10 a.m., had lunch, then motored down the ICW to Jacksonville Beach where we spent the night.

During the 5 days Mel has been with me I've managed to regain some of my sanity, which I was slowly loosing. She won't admit it, but she really taught me a lot, for which I'm eternally grateful.

Cheers,

Gary :cool:
 
#18 ·
It's a chilly, rainy day here at Saint Augustine, and when my brother gets here at about 10 a.m. I hope to get underway. Just 21 miles to his home in Palm Coast, about a 4-hour motor down the ICW, so I have two hours to get the boat ready to go.

I thought this might be a good time to post some of my observations about the trip. First and foremost, going solo down the ICW is not without mixed emotions. Much of the length, at least from Florida to Norfolk, can be very lonely in October. I left the Chesapeake's upper reaches October 2nd, which as it turns out, was prior to the departure of most of the waterway's snowbird population. Consequently, for much of the past 1077 miles I have been the only boat in sight. This can be a bit disconcerting, particularly when the weather gets nasty, or thoughts begin running through your mind that it could be a huge problem if the engine suddenly died. This would be a bad situation in those stretches of waterway where the channel is 100-feet wide at best and the currents are running at 4 knots. No place to anchor, lots of snags and rocks, bugs big as hummingbirds, and of course, the ever present no-se-ums.

If your boat draft is more than 5 feet, there are lots of places, particularly in Georgia and North Carolina, where you WILL run aground. No question about it. Additionally, there are markers and buoys off station, bridge schedules to contend with, and worst of all, charts that are decades out of date. A quality GPS Plotter is an absolute necessity, both for offshore and in the ICW. However, because of the problems associated with charts being out of date, you must keep in mind that those charts are the exact, same charts that have been loaded into your GPS/Plotter, therefore the accuracy is the same. The big difference is with the GPS you have the ability to look directly at your position while winding through a very, very narrow waterway. This observation reinforces what many will tell you - trying to run the ICW in darkness is insane. I've had just one occasion to do a short segment, a couple miles, in darkness. It's frightening at best.

Offshore, the GPS/Plotter charts are far more accurate, but there are still hazards. You can run aground 4 miles from shore, often in an area that shows 20 feet on the charts. We did that about 130 miles north of Saint Augustine. Fortunately, a shrimper called on the radio and told us which direction to head and we were able to get free very quickly with no damage.

Communications of several forms is a must. A VHF in the cockpit is your best friend, which in my case is a handheld, waterproof model that can reach out about a mile or so to the bridges and marinas. The VHF in the cabin at the map table is just about useless when your alone on the ICW or offshore in nasty weather. Cellular connection is fair to good in most locations, however, there are locations where there is NO cellular connection. My cell phone died yesterday, and at this point I have only intermittent connection at best. Looks as if the marine moisture got to the innards, and there's a distinct possibility that I'll be purchasing a new one this afternoon.

Keeping in touch with the family and friends back home is as easy as the touch of the OK button on my Spot Satellite Messenger. This is one of the best invenstments any cruiser can make. When my cell phone crashed I was able to let the wife and children know that I hadn't vanished from the face of the earth.

Internet connections with a tiny antenna inserted into the USB port have been fair to frustrating. Many places offer WI-FI, but the systems are frequently overloaded and slow. When my cell died I was able to also let my wife know I was OK by sending her an email and telling her why I hadn't called.

These are just MY obversations, and I'm sure there are folks out there with other opinions. I would really enjoy reading some posts from individuals that have actually made this trip during the past 5 years. I've always felt that any knowledge I can garner is helpful, especially from those that have preceded me in their cruise down the ICW.

Cheers,

Gary :cool:
 
#37 · (Edited)
These are just MY obversations, and I'm sure there are folks out there with other opinions. I would really enjoy reading some posts from individuals that have actually made this trip during the past 5 years. I've always felt that any knowledge I can garner is helpful, especially from those that have preceded me in their cruise down the ICW.

Cheers,

Gary :cool:
Too late to be of any use to you, Gary, but a heads-up to anyone yet to pass Mile 0...

I spent last night at Atlantic Yacht Basin in Great Bridge, and their rate was only $1/foot...

I haven't seen a rate that low at a private marina on The Ditch in quite some time...

http://atlanticyachtbasin.com/

 
#19 ·
Gary,

I've long been curious about how you've been faring, your trip report is very interesting. Hopefully Melissa has added to your toolset so that you can better manage things on your own, if you have to.

I have a M33 O/I parked next to me in my marina, so I've finally got an idea of what you're sailing. My limited experience tells me that you made the right choice of motoring down the ICW, where as I would use it to get past Cape Hatteras, and then pop back out, and sail down the rest of the coast in open water. I think my 5' draft would make the ICW a real hassle to do it for the long haul.

It sounds like you're not really a big fan of solitude. There are ways to deal with that. Even though you'll probably never race, there are some very good documents and studies of single-handed Transpac racers that can shed some insight on how people deal with long periods of isolation that may help you.

One fellow on SN (Foolish Muse?) has written a great single-handers guide. It's FREE, and I highly recommend it.

I'm glad you're ok, and that your journey is nearing it's end.
 
#20 ·
Gary,

Living vicariously though you. Glad you were able to have Mels company for the last few days. She always has great posts here so I am sure she was a spirit lifter.

Now you are getting to where you set out to be. Please enjoy the smell of the roses and stay away from the hummingbird sized bugs down there. In Florida they look like and sound like helicopters.

Dave
 
#21 ·
Gary - pretty good writeup, you've covered all the major points that we noticed also.

We also draw 5' and have not had trouble running aground on the ICW. I assume that is a lot easier with two than with one, as one of us acts as navigator and communications and the other is helmsman. We also check Cruisersnet.net religiously for updates on shoals and inlets.

Our posts about our trips are in our blog, Life Afloat Archives Our most recent trip, St Augustine FL to Annapolis MD last spring, starts here Life Afloat Archives: Turning our Bow Towards Home and just keep clicking on "newer post" at the bottom left.

BTW, links to websites and guidebooks for ICW are at Life Afloat Archives: Sources of Information for the ICW Trip
 
#22 ·
I've read many books on single-handed sailing, most were pretty informative, and I have a couple new ones on the boat. I guess my biggest problem with solitude is that I've always been a people person - that's why I'm an entertainer/musician/singer. I have the absolutely best job on the planet, and in my profession I come in contact with hundreds of people every day. In the world of entertainment it's called schmoozing with the audience. When I'm alone for days on end and there's no one to sing to other than myself, well, for me at least, lets just say it's a bit difficult.

Another 180 miles to Stuart, where with any kind of luck I'll be entertaining at a local American Legion for about two or three weeks, then off to Miami to meet up with Mel and a few of her lady friends. A couple days later we should all be in the land of beautiful water, palm trees and warmer temperatures. With any kind of luck I'll be singing my heart out at the Hurricane's Tiki Bar a couple nights a week.

Wing, that second set of eyes is a wonderful assett I wish I had. It's somewhat difficult to look at the chartbook, the companion book, day markers, depth finder, GPS/Plotter, etc..., and still have enough time to avoid the snags. I've only shot about 40 photos thus far, which is a fraction of what I hoped to have in the can by now. Can't get the camera out while steering the boat and not hit something in the process.

I was astonished yesterday when a nice bunch of folks at the city dock in Saint Augustine gave me some high 5's for manuevering the boat and backing into the slip while the current and wind were trying to push me somewhere else. I always like to back into a slip, mainly because it's a lot easier to get out under less than ideal conditions.

More to come, and with luck, some great photos in the very near future.

Gary :cool:
 
#24 ·
I just checked tomorrow's weather, looks pretty good, so with any kind of luck I'll be getting out of here about 9 a.m. and head south to meet up with an old friend in Jupiter. Thought about going outside and exiting Ponce de Leon Inlet, but had second thoughts because there didn't seem to be a lot of locations where I could easily duck back in. Gonna' take another look at the charts tomorrow before departing - just to be on the safe side.

Dave, you've got my number - I love the ladies one and all, especially the many wonderful gals I've met on the sailnet. And, if I were a lot younger, single, and better looking I guess I would be in a lot of trouble. ;)

Stay Tuned,

Gary :cool:
 
#25 ·
Love the ladies??? And here I thought I was the one. Ummm.....:confused:
Hope you had a great time at your brothers house and got a few boat chores done. Miss you lots. My boat is all torn apart fixing the head. See you in a few weeks.
Mel
 
#26 ·
When we were in the marina in St Aug we used to love sitting in the cockpit and just watching the show, people trying to dock who didn't know the currents through there, etc. Some of the best entertainment came from the folks who had bow thrusters, because with those crutches they never had to learn how to really, you know, *maneuver* their boats. (As one old-style, modified-full-keel, heavy boat owner to another, well done!)
 
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