ICW-East Coast

[Blue Crab]

I can't quite get my head around a month or six weeks of motoring versus 4 or 5 days of sailing offshore.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Yep, it does get narrow especially when you have to sail it, at night, with no engine to rely on....... but I only had to sail 50 miles of it on 4 different occasions. Only 2X did we have to sail late at night arriving at our destination around 3 am. (Ft Walton Beach)

The bitch is the barges when the wind drops and you are in the channel especially when you have no radio or running lights. We did have a flashlight though that we used to point at the sails when near approaching boats. (Beach cats don't have running lights)

Any voyage will be difficult (and dangerous) if you are poorly equipped.

Most folks don't travel the ICW at night regardless.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Any voyage will be difficult (and dangerous) if you are poorly equipped.

Most folks don't travel the ICW at night regardless.

As with any race, sometimes it's only about winning.

On these races, there were anywhere from 40-80 boats strung out on the inside and the outside of Okaloosa Island around the middle of September during the 1990's through about 2005.

The starting gun went off at 0700 sharp off Leeside Park Ft Walton Beach, FL for the 100 mile race. I've seen boats finish by 4 pm that day and have also seen them finish at 1000 the next day during the awards ceremony having sailed all day, all night, and part of the next morning

By 2000, we were carrying green and red light sticks! And some folks were carrying GPS and would sail way offshore trying to catch the wind change just right then tack toward Pensacola

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I can't quite get my head around a month or six weeks of motoring versus 4 or 5 days of sailing offshore.

This may come with the mindset of having a final destination as a goal. When we spend months cruising from Maine to Florida, our actual destinations include about twenty ports. We will always spend several days at places like Gloucester, Boston, Newport, ..... (I'm not listing all)....... Charleston, Savannah, Fernandina.

We don't have endpoint destinations to the north or south. At some point in Maine or the Bahamas we may turn around the next day. We might have many days offshore, but not in a row.

We are not so much "going" some place as we "are" some place.

P.S. - I should add that we usually include a longer stay on the St. Johns River where we spend time with extended family.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I can't quite get my head around a month or six weeks of motoring versus 4 or 5 days of sailing offshore.

Guess you are going to miss seeing all the places along the way then.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I can't quite get my head around a month or six weeks of motoring versus 4 or 5 days of sailing offshore.

I can tell you what it is, when you get there, you think "Damn we're here, now what are we going to do, I guess we could rest up and head back?"

Plus my Wife doesn't like sailing for days on end, she has commented on that, she would rather travel by day and anchor up in the evening, and honestly I don't mind kicking back, drinking a beer and watching TV while she fixes dinner

Last year we struck out straight from Panama City to Key West, this year I think we will meander down the coast.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

This may come with the mindset of having a final destination as a goal. When we spend months cruising from Maine to Florida, our actual destinations include about twenty ports. We will always spend several days at places like Gloucester, Boston, Newport, ..... (I'm not listing all)....... Charleston, Savannah, Fernandina.

We don't have endpoint destinations to the north or south. At some point in Maine or the Bahamas we may turn around the next day. We might have many days offshore, but not in a row.

We are not so much "going" some place as we "are" some place.

P.S. - I should add that we usually include a longer stay on the St. Johns River where we spend time with extended family.

That sounds like our cruising as well only a shorter distance and a shorter duration. We "are" some place when we are on our boat.

We have cruised the St Johns River twice as far as Sanford, FL. Once I was telling a friend about our upcoming cruise and told her we were cruising the St Johns River as far as Sanford, FL (that's as far as you can go for practical purposes). She asked "What are you going to do in Sanford, FL?"

I answered back "Turn around and come home." For us, the destination is the journey.

Our plans this year are to head north on the ICW and then cruise the Chesapeake Bay (again). There are dozens of interesting stops along the AICW and the Chesapeake Bay.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by thomm225

As with any race, sometimes it's only about winning.

On these races, there were anywhere from 40-80 boats strung out on the inside and the outside of Okaloosa Island around the middle of September during the 1990's through about 2005.

The starting gun went off at 0700 sharp off Leeside Park Ft Walton Beach, FL for the 100 mile race. I've seen boats finish by 4 pm that day and have also seen them finish at 1000 the next day during the awards ceremony having sailed all day, all night, and part of the next morning

By 2000, we were carrying green and red light sticks! And some folks were carrying GPS and would sail way offshore trying to catch the wind change just right then tack toward Pensacola

Yea, the fact that it was a race doesn't really change the fact that it was not very safe. It's good that nothing bad happened to you.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Yea, the fact that it was a race doesn't really change the fact that it was not very safe. It's good that nothing bad happened to you.

You are right about that. (My son was with me twice at ages 15 and 20 on a Nacra 6.0 non spin) It's something you think about in your later years but not at the time. We ran the beach on the outside though and didn't extend offshore as some did.

One year (1996) there was a terrible storm with lightning and several boats were hit.

Another time almost no wind from 9 pm until 1 am but lots of barges between Navarre and Ft Walton Beach. It was hard getting a bearing on them at a distance.

There are also two passes to deal with and 4 bridges along the course

The race committee counts the boats (I'm told) as they come back in Pensacola Pass. Other than that, you are on your own for the 100 miles. About 50 miles out in the Gulf, about 50 miles ICW

[Mystic38]

The trip from Mystic, CT to the Bahamas for me is about 13 days underway.. and that is taking the ICW route.. far less that "month or 6 weeks of motoring"

Now sure I may take anything up to 2 months to do that trip.. NC is pretty country and you can goof off around that area for as long as the weather holds, and enjoy every single day of it.

My point is that taking the coastal route does not immediately state that you must motor all the ICW..

Offshore Mystic > Little Creek
Day/Night Oriental>Beaufort> offshore hop to Wrightsville Beach
Offshore SouthPort>Anywhere in FL from Fernandina beach South

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I can't quite get my head around a month or six weeks of motoring versus 4 or 5 days of sailing offshore.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I can't quite get my head around a month or six weeks of motoring versus 4 or 5 days of sailing offshore.

And I can't get my head around 4 or 5 days underway without a break.

That sounds too much like a job for me.