Advice on offshore hops instead of the ICW

[stubones99]

Originally Posted by hpeer

We stopped in St Marys for Thanksgiving week. That was a lot of fun and a great way to socialize. The locals out on a Thanksgiving diner for cruisers. I forget the details but we made a week of it.

Cruisers Thanksgiving | Riverview Hotel St Marys GA

Then we were at Vero for Christmas where the cruisers had a pot luck Christmas diner. Vero had a free bus to the shopping centers and was very cruiser friendly.

https://www.covb.org/231/Municipal-Marina

That's why they nicknamed it Velcro beach... It is hard to leave.

[sailr69]

Originally Posted by Enfant Du Vent

Many sensible comments have been made.
MY primary advice is to do ICW from Norfolk to Beaufort, NC. Only then go out if/when you feel like it. On my first trip went inside to see Dismal Swamp Canal--ho hum--and the next 3 times "inside Hattaras" were based on comment from an experienced sailor in Charleston. As an 18 yo he and a mature skipper were going north and chose to go outside Hatteras. A storm came up and they ended up on the beach......he survived / skipper didn't. He explained that weather predictions are excellent as systems move from west to east--on land where everyone lives; but undetected "cells" can quickly form just offshore where no one is watching any more.

And then there was the couple I met in Ft. Lauderdale who said the roughest weather they had on their 4 year circumnavigation was going outside of Hatteras.



I preferred outside hops because I was single-handing and no one would make the coffee while I steered. (NO autopilot, and wind vane useless when under power.)


Harbors: Jacksonville = another ho hum; St. Augustine = charming. (Just be sure to set 2 anchors, as current can be very strong. I spent an hour kedging off the Lion's Gate bridge, after only setting one anchor.)

I spent 4 years in the navy (Norfolk Va.) on an aircraft carrier (USS Intrepid) we went to sea a number of times. I can tell you one thing, Navy does not wait for a weather window. Cape Hatteris was nearly always rough. I would avoid that area if you can. power boat ( not too bad) sailboat (iffy) maybe go way off shore for sea room

[gwbuild]

Is there a definitive guidebook for the ICW... or the best of the bunch perhaps?

.
.

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by tomtriad

I like Fernandina, Fort Pierce, and West Palm in FL as they are all well bouyed, well lit channels and cater to big (cruise liner size) boats. I have no problem using them at night, but one must be careful of currents on all harbors from Georgia through Florida. Georgia low country in/outs particularly subject to shoals and bars at the entrances. Not so much St. Augustine. Ft. Lauderdale is an easy in/out and you can sometimes anchor in Lake Sylvan without paying big $$ for a marina. No Name Harbor at Cay Biscayne (Miami) is a good cruiser's hangout.

Vero Beach, just south of Fort Pierce on the ICW, has a municipal marina/mooring field (low $$) with marine facilities and restaurants around the harbor, and bus service to shopping.

Stuart FL is recently rebouyed, but narrow channels, strong currents, and a bar at the entrance dictate that you enter/depart within an hour of slack (preferably at slack) tides. Sunset Bay Marina, 6 miles up the St. Lucy river at mile 0 of the Okeechobee canal is a great place to moor, with great shoreside facilities(showers, laundry airconditioned lounge, free wifi), free bicycles, and a bus twice a week for big box store/supermarket shopping. One of the few places you can leave a boat untended on a mooring for months at a time. Last time I was there it was $350/month for a mooring, and $20/day for shorter term. Easy walk to old downtown with lots of restaurants, Sundays feature a farmer's market in the am and free concert on the river in the afternoon. 45 minute drive to West Palm airport if you need to fly. Enterprise rental will pickup/dropoff you to the dock for a car.

Some cruisers prefer Manatee Pocket in Stuart where you can anchor for free. Peck Lake, on the ICW just south of the St. Lucy is a favorite well protected free anchorage - watch your depth and go in slowly. Trails lead over the nature preserve lead to a public (this can be busy on weekends as their is a ferry from a condo association across the way).

Agree that you must pick your weather around Hatteras and Cape Fear. If no good window, ICW is a good bet from Norfolk to Beaufort, NC. 2 free docks in Oriental NC 10 miles north of Beaufort. Makes a lot of sense to take ICW from Masonboro NC to Southport to go inside shoals at Cape Fear if weather window is not good.

Follow the 10 fathom line along the Bay of Georgia to keep a safe distance offshore, but easy to duck in in case of bad weeather.

Check you forecasts for good weather windows, usually the wind will go NW for a few days after a front passes through this time of year.

I've done this trip ten times since 2013, snowbirding to the Bahamas from New England.

No argument on anything above other than a nitpick that Vero is north, by a dozen miles, of the entrance to the ICW (which is about an hour from the sea if you don't cut it really close on the way in). Be very careful of your charting; the easy mistake is to cut the corner as you turn north.

We're 7' deep and 63+ high, and have no issues with that run. Lift bridge north of the inlet is on the hour and half hour; VHF9 to raise North Causeway Bridge.

At this moment there are 30 empty moorings in Vero; no guarantee of that staying that way, but by this time last year, rafting up had started. With Covid, the official stance is no rafting other than if two boats ask to share a mooring (same cost for each, but they would be allowed). Call the marina or write Sean Collins, manager, at marina<SCollins@covb.org>, for up-to-date realities.

Enjoy the trip!

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by hpeer

We stopped in St Marys for Thanksgiving week. That was a lot of fun and a great way to socialize. The locals out on a Thanksgiving diner for cruisers. I forget the details but we made a week of it.

Cruisers Thanksgiving | Riverview Hotel St Marys GA

Then we were at Vero for Christmas where the cruisers had a pot luck Christmas diner. Vero had a free bus to the shopping centers and was very cruiser friendly.

https://www.covb.org/231/Municipal-Marina

Only thing is that at this covid era, you really don’t want these parties at these hotspots. As it looks, it is not going to change before the next summer.

[rwallace]

I've done this route many times and there are a number of quick in/outs that will let you pretty much day sail this voyage. Start by staying inside from Norfolk to Ocracoke. Once out the inlet at Ocracoke, your first stop would be Lookout Bight on Cape Lookout - a fine anchorage. Next is New River Inlet, where you can anchor just inside the inlet. Wrightsville Beach has easy ocean access through Masonboro Inlet and also quick place to anchor. The marina at Bald Head Island is a nice stop and wastes no time with in and out to ocean. Charleston takes more time to get into and out of, but there are places to anchor in fair weather near the harbor entrance. From there you could stop behind Tybee Island and anchor under the guns of Fort Pulaski - that's an easy in/out to the Atlantic. From there, St Mary's Entrance will get you to Cumberland Island anchorage. Once in Florida
you have the usual suspects - St Augustine, Ponce de Leon Inlet, Port Canaveral, Ft Pierce Inlet, and Lake Worth Inlet - all are good in reasonable weather and a fair tide. From Lake Worth I'd hop directly to Biscayne Bay and skip the south Florida hustle. Except for Bald Head Island, all these stops have decent places to anchor. Enjoy your voyage!

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by gwbuild

Is there a definitive guidebook for the ICW... or the best of the bunch perhaps?

We've used the Waterway Guide the most...

Plus the ICW & Atlantic Coats Mile-by-Mile and Planning Guide...

And MapTech has some OK guides, too. All that augmented by Salty Southeast Cruisers Net (cruisersnet.net) and ActiveCaptain.

-Chris

[rwallace]

Instead of a guidebook, I've increasingly relied on the Aqua Maps app. Especially if you overlay most recent USACE surveys on charts, which is a small subscription. The detail of these surveys will ease your mind in many situations. Your chart subscription has unlimited updates so you'll always have the latest information. Easy to use with detailed information, plus crowd sourced reviews when linked with Active Captain. All of this is stored on your phone or iPad, so you don't cell service to use.

[carstenb]

We done the ICW- with a 7 foot keel. Hatteras is the tough spot - make sure of your weather window before attempting it. But otherwise, I'm with Dockhead - wait for the weather window, go out far enough and enjoy a nice long passage.

[BBill]

I'll just comment from Ponce down. You are doing this in the beginning of winters so expect blows from the NE. The first cold front of the season is blowing through now. The current rips though Ponce and in strong winds, outgoing tide with high surf you may experience surfing. Without local knowledge don't do this inlet at night.

Canaveral is basically a zero current inlet because it isn't free flowing to the ICW. You have to go through locks on the west side to get into the Banana River and ICW.. This is an all weather basin, day or night and doesn't break across unless you want to include hurricanes surf. No anchoring here so you have to do a marina or lock through and anchor on the Banana River side.

Sebastian Inlet is south of Canaveral and a no go for bridge clearance, ripping currents and total closeout waves in foul weather.

Ft. Pierce has rip currents and will get steep waves all the way across the channel in heavy winds and surf. This is common in the winter and you don't want to assume it's an easy inlet like some have experienced. I've been there many times and watched 50' local commercial boats surf in while trying to swap ends. Yrs back I actually purchased a 32' ketch that broached and filled with water while grounded on the south jetty side. It isn't something you want to do in a 30'x 5' draft heavy cutter except in settled weather.

Any inlet between Ft. Pierce and West Palm is a no go in anything but calm settled weather. Currents rip and local knowledge is best for those inlets. West Palm is easy and no worries. Ft Laud is the next all weather inlet. From there its a day sail to Miami.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by rwallace

Instead of a guidebook, I've increasingly relied on the Aqua Maps app. Especially if you overlay most recent USACE surveys on charts, which is a small subscription. The detail of these surveys will ease your mind in many situations. Your chart subscription has unlimited updates so you'll always have the latest information. Easy to use with detailed information, plus crowd sourced reviews when linked with Active Captain. All of this is stored on your phone or iPad, so you don't cell service to use.

We found AQ very useful. But we also found the guidebooks have more useful and easily accessible info about marinas and bridges and so forth.

-Chris

[Chotu]

Is skipper bob still useful?

That’s what I usually use

[sveinung]

Port Canaveral is very easy at night, big port, deep and nothing to worry about. We tied up to the guest dock at one of the first marinas on the left in the middle of the night, paid in the morning and left.

West palm is another easy one, but lots of current if you try to go up or down the ICW parts, there's a marina right there as you get inside.

[timb7734]

Ponce Inlet should not be done in anything larger than a 25 footer with 300 hp. That said I did it once, exiting on an ebb tide, and had my 47’ trawler going 16 knots with one engine in reverse to make the last turn in front of a concrete breakwater.

Comatchee Cove outside St Augustine is a nice marina with a restaurant and a chandlery, also excellent diesel mechanic for primarily Yanmar, just that you miss the city without hiring a taxi. There is a downtown marina just past the Loins bridge that has a big current and is very expensive but you are right downtown. I never got a good nights sleep anchoring there.

Fort Pierce is also a favorite, Harbortown Marina, there is a Publix within walking distance as well as a restaurant I’m the marina. Or on the way in head south under the bridge and to port there is a nice Anchorage in front of some apartment buildings that provide protection from north winds. No
Charge to dinghy into the Harbortown restaurant if that suits.

My point would be that I would go in only for a break or to await a weather window, as it is ten miles either way into these ports if you are comfortably offshore, and ten miles out again.

When doing the ICW plan your tides so you are on the ebb /flow as much as possible as it adds as much as three knots or costs as much to go against. A six knot bonus justifies to me leaving at 10:00 am versus the crack of dawn.

Safe sails

[drewcathell]

No one has mentioned distances off shore or depths affecting the ease of travel for any of the hops. Has anyone found a depth or distance off shore that is worth using for any one leg or all legs.