Icw

[pinball]

Hello looking to run the icw from st Augustine fl to Titusville fl can it still be done or do you have to go outside

[BandB]

Originally Posted by pinball

Hello looking to run the icw from st Augustine fl to Titusville fl can it still be done or do you have to go outside

What kind of boat? What is your draft?

With a reasonable draft it can be run. Does require a lot of care in doing so and keeping up to date on all alerts issued from multiple places. Also some monitoring of tides may be appropriate.

[Waterway Guide]

Also, is your mast height less than 65'? If more, you'll need to go outside. If less, you can take the inside – you'll need up to 6 bridge openings depending on your "air draft" (mostly on signal, no worries). It's about 102 statute miles. If you have a faster boat (over 9 knots), plan for many minimum wake and no wake sections (and expect the marine police to be watching and ticketing). Nice, easy trip, though.

[pinball]

Thank you

[Lodesman]

The height gauges on a couple bridges show less than 65' - we saw one at 63'. For the most part it's deep, but there are some areas where it gets down to about 10' - we saw one spot where it was about 8'. Some of the marks have been changed - review waterway guide and/or activecaptain for the things to look out for. If in doubt, just follow the markers (red right, green left).

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Waterway Guide

Nice, easy trip, though.

That was my remembrance as well, a lot to see, but essentially all of it on engine of course

[Adodero]

I would get towing insurance, with either SeaTow or Towboat US. It pays for six times in one ungrounding. The bill for our last ungrounding going that route was close to $1100 and we would have to pay it if we weren't members...

We traveled that route recently and it's navigable, but some parts are really narrow and the channel markers are spread out. If you don't have a GPS, even a handheld, I would get one for the trip to make sure you stay in the channel.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Adodero

I would get towing insurance, with either SeaTow or Towboat US. It pays for six times in one ungrounding. The bill for our last ungrounding going that route was close to $1100 and we would have to pay it if we weren't members...

We traveled that route recently and it's navigable, but some parts are really narrow and the channel markers are spread out. If you don't have a GPS, even a handheld, I would get one for the trip to make sure you stay in the channel.

Anyone for this or any other coastal trips absolutely should have one of the tow services. Now we should be saying not to get it which will help keep our prices down when they pay $1100. But seriously we all know one day we're going to ground and best to get help from the pros who know how to time, how to pull, to cause least damage possible.

[AnchorageGuy]

We just came through there a couple of weeks ago with no issues. But since the OP hasn't provided any information on their boat, it's a pretty difficult question to answer. Chuck

[pinball]

Sorry got busy I just bought a 300 pearson motor sailer 3.5 to 5 ft draft main sail needs to be fixed so I was just goin to motor down well under 65ft ht

[pbiJim]

I ran the ditch recently from St Augustine up to Jax. The inlet at St. Augustine must be one of those ones that changes periodically. The shape of the channel was not the same as on some charts we had. I would only do that inlet in daylight unless you have local knowledge.

I saw some red & green painted Clorox bottles in that area that looked like maybe locals had marked the actual edge of the channel in a few extra places.

We scraped bottom near the middle of the ICW channel in a 5.5-foot draft boat with a wing keel, about a half hour north of the St. Augustine inlet. It felt like a sandy ridge. We didn't get stuck. We managed to ride over it, but it was there & it was not marked.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by pinball

Sorry got busy I just bought a 300 pearson motor sailer 3.5 to 5 ft draft main sail needs to be fixed so I was just goin to motor down well under 65ft ht

At what speed will you be motoring?

[pinball]

No hurrys takin it home and start a refit

[pinball]

All ahead slow

[dunniganj]

You should be able to make the run inside with no problem. South of St. Augustine, the ICW winds around a bit. Be sure to follow the markers -- they can be tricky. Watch for the slow speed zones through Daytona -- and once again, follow the markers religiously between the bridges. Daytona is about half way and a good stopping point. Don't cut the right turn close when you are approaching theICW/ Ponce Inlet junction -- look for the red/green marker before turning right to head to New Smyrna Beach. Also a long slow zone just north of Mosquito Lagoon. We did this northbound about 6 weeks ago in a bigger boat with no problems. Your draft should be fine.