Tennessee River to Jacksonville

[MissDarlin459]

Hello,

We are planning a cruise from the Tennessee River via the Tenn-Tom and the ICW to the St. John's River in mid-November. We are hoping to avoid (active) hurricane season.

I am waiting impatiently for our cruising guides to coming in and the charts are on the boat and the boat is far away .

I would really appreciate any information on point to point distances, estimated amount of time it would take, marinas, weather, cruising across the gulf instead of staying close to shore and anchorages. Suggestions?

We are also looking into leaving the boat somewhere near Jacksonville for a few months.
Thanks
Darlene

[GordMay]

Distances on The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
From Tennessee River to Mobile, AL
thestorydoctor.com/calcs/Bhn.ports.tntmww.htm
Bhn.ports.tntmrv

Lots more info’ at Blue Heron's Nest
The Voyager's Planning Site
thestorydoctor.com/bh/bhwwtenntom.php
Blue Heron Locations>Waterways>Tenn-Tom

[gonesail]

if you are coming up the St. Johns River .. check out the marinas at Ortega River just south of downtown. Nice quiet protected area.

[MissDarlin459]

Great information--Thank you

Does anyone know how I can remove my duplicate posts. I had trouble last night and thought it kept deleting my post.

[Lynx]

What is your draft and mast height?

How long can you cruise?

There is so many places you could spend a few years to see them all.

Salty Southeast Cruisers' Net ~ Your home for all the cruising news along the ICW here is a site with some good info.

[GordMay]

US Army Corps of Engineers - Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Main Page
Downloadable Maps:
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Maps Page

[Wmiii]

I've made the trip up and down the Tenn/Tombigbee from East Tennessee several times. We just came back up in June and will be going back down Nov 1st.
Where are you leaving from and about how fast will you travel?
Wm Mayberry
OPTIMYSTIQUE
IP 37-30

[Amgine]

G. Bickley Remmey, Jr. put together "A Planning and Cruising Guide to the Greact Circle Cruise around the Eastern USA", ISBN 0-9669987. I used the part from Lake Michigan through Chicago toward the Tenn-Tom and it was a reasonably useful guide.

From Iuka, MS to Mobile, AL approx 456 (statute) miles.
Mobile to Carrabelle, FL 549 miles
Carrabelle to Key West (outside from Tarpon Springs to Longboat Key) 456 miles

Big note here: you may be planning to take the waterway through Lake Okeechobee, which messes up this section of distances rather completely.

Key West to West Palm Beach, FL 204 miles
West Palm Beach to Jacksonville Beach, FL 272 miles

As everyone will probably be mentioning to you, if you're taking the ICW - especially on the west coast of FL - plan to run aground. And that goes for motor boats and sailboats.

[Chuck Baier]

[/quote]As everyone will probably be mentioning to you, if you're taking the ICW - especially on the west coast of FL - plan to run aground. And that goes for motor boats and sailboats.[/quote]

We did the entire gulf coast from the Keys to Texas and did the Gulf ICW including the West coast of Floriduh with our 6 foot draft without ever touching bottom. Read the post from the link on my signature line. We found the Gulf coast including Floriduh much deep than the east coast for the most part.

[hatteras]

Let me know when you come to mobile. I live 1 mile from the Dog River Marina. You can find them online and they can do any boat work you may need. They also have a car you can use to go to the store or out to eat.
Larry

[MissDarlin459]

Thank you to everyone for your great information.

We have done the Tenn-Tom several times either returning from the Mississippi or going to the Tensaw to visit family. We did stay at the Dog River Marina overnight to wait for a bridge to open in the morning on the Tensaw (bridge has never opened and we are too big to go that way now--so we go in the back way.)

We are powerboaters (deep blush). We are 19' to the radar and have a draft of 40". So we can make it in lots of places. We have about a 300 mile+ range.

The only salt water running we have done is to come acroos the Mississippi sound from New Orleans to Moblie.

We are "thinking" about leaving the shore somewhere near Dog Island (Carrabelle, FL) and running in open water down to somewhere near Clearwater, FL. If anyone has information on that I would be really interested.

Thank you also for the distances and websites with that info. It made the Captain happy to have something to think about while he is working .

[MissDarlin459]

Failed to mention we are leaving about November 16th

[Lynx]

You can go just about anywhere with 3 1/2 foot draft. If you deciede to go around the bottom of Fl, make sure it is a day time trip. Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City is a treat. Watch your charts. Stay in deep water, in Fl that is over 5 feet.

If you do not have much time, cut through the waterway in Ft Myers, it will save 150 miles on your trip. If there is much west to south wind, use the waterway, much smoother, however a lot of bugs at night. Both are very nice.

Try not to move the boat on the weekends, way to much traffic. Most of the guides are good, but call ahead if you need services. Palm Island Resort in the Port Charlote area is very nice boat motel but call ahead as they are often full.

[Wmiii]

You might run the ICW from Mobile Bay to Carabelle (Pensacola, Ft Walton/Destin/Panama City, Appalachacola), then with a good weather window, shoot across to Anclote Key just North of Clearwater.
Some follow a longer but maybe more protected route around the edge of FL. We've always just gone straight across.
The trip across FL on the Okeechobee Waterway will save many miles and time. Be careful with water depths. This year it has had some 3' depth issues, as I understand.
We'll be leaving East Tennessee Nov 1st and will take about 10-11 days to get to Mobile. We're heading down to Bradenton, FL. so you might pass us somewhere.
Wm Mayberry
OPTIMYSTIQUE
IP 37-30

[dakno]

i am trying 2 go from knoxville to ten-tom with 3.3 draft and 37' mast height, is this possible. What about watts-bar, is this a lock/dam, can we pass ?