ICW

[captainEd]

Hello, feedback/advice traveling, 43' sailboat with 6' draft, from Charleston to Cape Fear ICW?

[Kettlewell]

No major issues if your stick isn't too high. Overhead clearance is 65 feet max., but it is nicer if you are under 62 feet. They're working on the bridge over Snow's Cut right now, and there may be some restrictions on passing through there, if you are continuing on to Carolina Beach and north. Shallotte Inlet is always a problem area, and you may find less than 6 feet there. I suggest reading the latest on Cruiser's Net about that. They are the best source of up-to-date information on problem stretches.

[captainEd]

Thanks!

[Kettlewell]

I think that bridge over Snows Cut is temporarily restricted to 61 feet.

By the way, there are some nice areas on that stretch of ICW. McClellanville and Georgetown are interesting stops. The Waccamaw River is beautiful. The marina at Bucksport has its famous sausage. The Rockpile at Myrtle Beach isn't my favorite stretch of ICW, but if you need to do shopping you can tie up at Barefoot Landing.

Are you moving your boat to Southport or Wilmington for some reason? I'm sure you've thought of it, but an offshore run from Charleston to the Cape Fear River is a nice way to go too.

[captainEd]

Final destination is Chesapeake Bay...

[Brook]

can we make friends?

[CarlF]

Some less than 6ft spots just north of the Ben Sawyer bridge that could get your trip off to a slow start. In Active Captain - we sure noticed them.

The good news is that there's plenty of tide so just plan your trip to be two hours off low tide for shallow spots and 2 hours off high tide if you've got a high mast (mine is 64')

Be sure to check if the water is unusually high or low due to lunar phase or unusual weather. This can easily add (or subtract) 12" - and it's never the way you want....

I now always use ActiveCaptain on the ICW. We have it on an Ipad running Garmin's Blue Chart so we don't need a live internet connection. Every hour or so we look ahead for any "yellow" flags markers and decide how we'll handle them. I figure that even my luck's not so rotten that I'll be the first guy to hit some shallow spot on the ICW.