First time cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Long Island NY via ICW

[Aquadome]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Its better, but you might plan on being holed up various places for weather for a few days. You might make it in 2 weeks.

Don you have truly been invaluable with the info you provided me and I really appreciate it. I will plan to model my route with that in mind. With my 5 foot draft are there any sections in this route I should be especially concerned about - what was your boats draft and height?

[boatpoker]

A little out of date in places but you still might get something out of
Primer For First Timers On The ICW Toronto-Bahamas

We are currently at anchor in Atlantic City on our way to Bahamas. Over the winter I will update that article.

[SecondWindFTL]

Originally Posted by Aquadome

I own a Four Winns twin turbo-diesel 44 foot express cruiser with close to a five foot draft. My boat has dual screen Raymarine radar, chartplotter, depth sounder, autopilot ... I have experience cruising offshore to/from/in the Bahamas/Florida and plan to do my first cruise with a friend in the ICW from FtL to NY around the end of February. I would only be underway during daytime and can cover more than 200 miles between fuel stops at 20-22kts.

All bits of advice from those who have made this trip on the best places to stop at, best guides to get, prep work, marinas, fuel stops and so on are much appreciated - I have heard that there are some potentially dangerous shallow areas? How many days should this trip take? What speed can I cruise the waterway at - 20ish kts possible? Is end of Feb early March a good time?

If anyone out there has done the trip lately and has a list of stops etc that would be fabulous too much to ask

We're new to the fourm, we live in Ft Lauderdale and were wondering how your trip went? We have a 51' Leopard 51 PC 25' beam and draft 3'3". I want to make the trip in August. We cruse at 18 knots with a range of 350 NM and could do 7 Knots for a 1000 NM range (not sure we could handle going that slow). Anyway, it will be our first time with friends, we are experienced boaters and would love to hear about your experience, whether or not you would do it again, and any rutes or recommendations? Thanks