Frying Pan Shoals

[davil]

How much room did yo give on a coastal passage?
thanks

[davil]

sorry
misspelled tittle

Sorted, Pete7

[Pete7]

What do you mean by fry pan shoals?

Pete

[transmitterdan]

Frying Pan Shoals I presume.

[davil]

sorry tried to edit the tittle

[billknny]

The correct answer is: it depends!

If you are on a coastal passage, you have both real time and forecast weather. Use it to help you decide what’s safe.

We usually are jumping from Norfolk to Florida (or the other way round). Efficient weather routing almost always has us WAY offshore

[Bean Counter]

We have passed frying pan shoals 7 times now both north and south and pick the weather window that suits the direction (SW - SE winds headed north, W - NE headed south (preferably less than 15 knots and staying out of the gulf stream when heading south). We usually stay just outside the more southerly red flashing beacon "4FP" Flashing 2.5s. about 14nm south of Cape Fear. On a really calm night once we were motoring and followed a fishing boat through the slue, but the markers are unlit and we felt nervous doing it, almost running into the green unlit buoy.

[davil]

Originally Posted by billknny

The correct answer is: it depends!

If you are on a coastal passage, you have both real time and forecast weather. Use it to help you decide what’s safe.

We usually are jumping from Norfolk to Florida (or the other way round). Efficient weather routing almost always has us WAY offshore

==========================================
Hi Billknny what is the average distance you keep "WAY offshore?"
thanks

[davil]

Originally Posted by billknny

The correct answer is: it depends!

If you are on a coastal passage, you have both real time and forecast weather. Use it to help you decide what’s safe.

We usually are jumping from Norfolk to Florida (or the other way round). Efficient weather routing almost always has us WAY offshore

=====================================
Hi billknny
what is the average you keep away from the coast as on "WAY offshore"?
thanks

[Captain Bill]

It depends on where you are starting from. If you are leaving from Beaufort there is no reason to give them any room. If the weather is good enough to be out there you can use the marked channel about mid way out. There is a lit marker at each end and it's basically a straight shot through in about 25 feet of water at the shallowest spot. Most of the channel is over 45 feet deep. Watch out for the unlit marker mid way through the channel. You didn't say whether you were going north or south. Going south this keeps you completely out of the gulf stream and you may even pick up a little boost from the coastal counter current. Going north, I usually stay in the gulf stream by staying off the tip 10 miles or so to get a boost.

[wildernessdave]

We are heading north from Charleston around Frying Pan Shoals to Beaufort next week. We are expecting 3-5 ft seas from the south, perhaps a little bigger or a little smaller.

In the past we have always gone outside the shoals more than 35 miles offshore, but from Charleston we are considering crossing the shoals either through the slough, or perhaps saying in 30+ ft of charted water about 5 nm east of the slough.

Anyone one used the slough or crossed the shoals further out in 3-5 ft seas or larger?

Thanks for any info you can share. We draw 5 ft and are a 40ft monohull.

[Captain Bill]

I have crossed the slough in seas of 6 feet with no issue.