Crew Wanted: ICW Loop and Around Again

[star dust]

I am thinking about doing the ICW loop on a sailboat starting from Florida September 2016 (date and locations not set in stone). This would be a year long project, you could come and go at will. Seeking one other adult who might like to join.

[Vasco]

What is the ICW loop?

[Shrew]

Are you referring to "The Great Loop"? The ICW is only about 1/2 of the Great Loop.

[alittle4me]

I would love to come. I am available for the entire trip

[JoJoLady]

We are doing the Great Loop leaving Bradenton, Fl in the beginning of April. Your plan to leave in Sept will take you north to the winter snow and cold with fewer marinas available

[ardenlester00]

Cruising America's Great Loop

[thruska]

Originally Posted by star dust

I am thinking about doing the ICW loop on a sailboat starting from Florida September 2016 (date and locations not set in stone). This would be a year long project, you could come and go at will. Seeking one other adult who might like to join.

Please explain 'ICW loop and around again'.
I recall pushing snow off our deck in James River in October in 2014.
And very cold Christmas and new year in oriental. And two inches of ice in Southport n.c.
I'm thinking it's not an especially good time to sail up to those regions.
Just sayin'

[bruce v]

Originally Posted by star dust

I am thinking about doing the ICW loop on a sailboat starting from Florida September 2016 (date and locations not set in stone). This would be a year long project, you could come and go at will. Seeking one other adult who might like to join.

What you are talking about is the "Great Loop". It goes up the Atlantic ICW to Sandy Hook, NJ, around the outside to Hudson Bay and from there to the Hudson River to the Eerie Canal. The Eerie Canal takes you to Lake Eerie and you travel the Great Lakes around to Chicago. From Chicago you travel the upper Mississippi to Cairo, Il where you chose to go all the way down the Mississippi or across the Ohio River to the Tennesee River to Cumberland and Barkley Lakes and to the Tenn-Tombigsbee waterway down to Mobile. If you are really interested in running this route, look into the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruiser's Association) and Active Captain. Both have a plethora of great info on your proposed travel.
My wife and I are planning to do the Loop (at least once) in our newly purchased sailboat. We are unable to start until November because of prior commitments. Our boat is Located in Sandusky, Ohio and because of the notoriously unpredictable fall/winter weather and storms of the Great Lakes, we have chosen to miss the Lakes first time around and have our vessel overland shipped to Cincinnati to be splashed on the Ohio. Though it may be cooler on our first leg, we plan to head down to Mobile and winter there. I would strongly suggest you start earlier as to reach Chicago by the end of September w/o rushing through. After all, it is the journey, not the destination that is prized. Remember too that you will have to unstep your mast and restep it along the Eerie Canal toward Lake Eerie and do the same thing to go under the bridge over the passage onto the upper Mississippi. Taking this route does not allow a great deal of sailing once you hit the rivers and canals (exceptions would be the inland lakes - Cumbeland and Barkley and, of course Mobile Bay to the Caribbean). There are also approximately 102 locks you're going to have to navigate (not hard but time consuming. Hope I am not overwhelming you with info but I have done a lot of research and preparation for our trip. A lot of people's you meet doing the Loop are power boaters (Trawlers and Tugs) but there are some of us that like our sailboats. That being said, I just remembered the draft on your boat needs to be under 6' (preferably under 5') as this will affect your ability to travel much of the chosen route. We will be traveling aboard a 1984 Ericson 30 with a draft of 4'11". Hope we can cross paths somewhere along the way and perhaps spend some time traveling together. Best of luck to you. Fair winds and following seas. BruceV