Summer Sailing Trips . . . Curituck Sound Entry

[jmanboating]

My friend has a house in corolla north carolina. I plan on leaving out of inner harbor going south down the chesapeake bay.. Overnighting around Patuxent River. Then continuing south towards the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel. Turning right before tunnel towards Hampton Roads, ultimately ending up in Norfolk..

There is a canal in Norfolf that emptys out into the Curituck Sound. And from there my friend has a dock.

Can I Make it from Norfolk through canal, to the Curituck sound with a 28.5 foot sailboat?

[ActiveCaptain]

How about providing a lat, lon of where you want to get to and let's see exactly where it is.

Hundred foot megayachts go between Norfolk and Beaufort, NC through Currituck Sound and along the ICW.

[jmanboating]

Heres a map of the route I plan to take.. I used arrows to show route not where i plan to stop.

[ActiveCaptain]

What you should do is poke around Active Captain using the NOAA Charts option and see what the water depths are. You're not really giving enough detail about where you're heading - a specific latitude, longitude would help. But so will looking at the charts - it'll become obvious if there's enough depth and what specific route to take.

[Sunspot Baby]

Looks like Corolla is at about 36 deg 23’ N, 075 deg 50’ W. The ICW (the canal you refer to) will take you to the northern end of Currituck Sound. From there the water depths are generally shallow and there is no marked channel going south toward your friends dock.

Additionally, there is a restricted area at the north end where you would pass. It is labeled 334.410. Since the route of the Knott’s Landing runs through it, I imagine it is not closed all the time, but you need to check Notice to Mariners to understand what limitations apply.

Your boat is 28.5 feet but what is important here is your draft. The deepest water I see on the chart is 8’ but there are a lot of 1 and 2’ depths. If you have a center board you can pull up, you might make it but it would be tricky.

Since your friend has a dock, he presumably has a boat, and just maybe some local knowledge of the best way to get from the ICW to his dock. I’ll bet he has a power boat.

It’s about a 4 to 5 NM run from leaving the ICW to Corolla.

I strongly recommend you buy some good charts of the area. The Maptech chart books are the most useable. Not cheap but worth the price.

I hope this helps.

George

[jmanboating]

I have a program that shows me depth of that little canal.. From what I can see theres a small channel down the entire thing. And then it emptys out into the Currituck Sound. I just wanna make sure that with a 3-4' draft, I also want to make sure I can fit under any bridges/ or make sure the bridges raise. My other option maybe to go out in the Atlantic Ocean once I get out of chesapeake bay and enter outerbanks from the more southern tip, which you can see a bit in the second picture I posted last time.

[jmanboating]

Latitude: 36°43.260'N
Longitude: 076°13.577'W
there is a fixed bridge 65ft. no restrictions. can I fit under that in my 28.5 foot sailboat?

I also see a swing bridge at Latitude: 36°43.423'N
Longitude: 076°11.184'W which may be a good sign that boats my size can make it through to the currituck sound.
And at Latitude: 36°43.070'N
Longitude: 076°06.014'W another swing bridge.

At the end of the canal there is aother 65 ft fixed bridge Latitude: 36°36.878'N
Longitude: 076°02.977'W
As long as I can make it under 65 feet fixed bridge which I think I can, the depth is the main issue because the software I have doesnt show depths the entire way just a channel.

In my opinion I thing I can make it to the currituck through the channal that starts in Norfolk.

[Sunspot Baby]

The canal you speak of is the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and as Active Captain said, large yachts go through that. Unless you have a strange 28.5 foot boat, then you will fit under the 65 foot bridges. I doubt seriously your mast is over 45 feet. But you need to know your height from the waterline, often called air draft. You also must know how much water you draw (draft).

Do you have a depth gauge? Your going to need one.

The so called canal (ICW) is not your problem. You problem is when you leave the ICW and head into Currituck Sound. It is that last 4 to 5 miles after you leave the ICW and try to sail down Currituck to Corolla that is tough. If you have a chart, look at the depths there. There is a lot of shallow water.

I don't think we are getting through to you. This is a great forum and people here will try to help but maybe I am not explaining myself well.

I suggest you find an experienced cruiser in your area and have them sit down with you and a chart book and talk it through. You also need to know the protocol for requesting openings from swing and lift bridges. I assume you have a VHF radio.

George

[jmanboating]

I am unaware of my air draft, but I could figure out its not 65 feet, just asking questions about the water way.

Hey SUNSPOT BABY/ George, don't be a di*k!!This is help forum, I may be asking a elementary question but it doesn't mean Im retarded. I have a Boaters License and know how much my draft is. And I have a depth finder and, charts, wont be sailing alone, pay for annual tow from anywhere, and race on 2 current sailing teams, have passed under many different bridges, and have been in multiple regattas.

Im planing on making this trip in a few months and am completely unfamiliar with the area Iv had questions about. I am asking questions so that I can have a flawless safe trip, not just free ball it.

[Sunspot Baby]

Since I am obviously a di*k would someone else please try to help this young man? I withdraw.

[Auspicious]

+1 to George. If you ask for help there is an expectation that you will listen to the answers.

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

If you have charts, read each foot of them. And check your tow policy, there's a difference between towing and grounding. All Sunspot was trying to tell you was that you might not be able to make the last bit off the AICW. The AICW is dredged to a stated depth by the Army Corps of Engineers, the side channels are not. Good luck.