Charleston to Cheseapeake in July

[iansan5653]

I'm moving up to DC this summer from St Pete and planning to bring my Caliber 28 with me.

I've decided to split up the trip into halves, and I've got the first half pretty locked down - I've got some crew helping me take the boat through the Caloosahatchee Waterway and then we'll hitch a ride on the Gulf Stream as far as we can up to Charleston. I've secured a slip in Charleston at the maritime center for a month while I go back and move the house.

I'm still working out the details on the second half, from Charleston up to DC. I
can work remotely so I'm planning to take this a little slower and probably solo. It'll be after the move so I'll have more time to budget for it.

I think I may start with a solo passage from Charleston to Morehead City. I've done plenty of solo sailing but this would be my first offshore overnight passage. Is this realistic - how's the shipping traffic / thunderstorms in that area this time of year? Obviously I'll give Frying Pan Shoals a wide berth. Any general advice for this passage? I do have an AIS transceiver.

After Morehead City I'll go inshore, try and limit sailing to long weekends and work from the boat. My biggest concern here is the heat. I know it will inevitably be hot and humid, but how bad is it in the water - is it tolerable inshore at anchor in North Carolina and Virginia in the shade this time of year? Or would I be wiser to pick up a portable air conditioner and stick to marinas?

[Reeve21]

Yes to thunderstorms that time of year.


AC use is very prevalent in VA and NC. I once chartered a 27 foot boat in Baltimore that had it.


Being from Florida you may tolerate it, but I would have melted on the Chesapeake in late August. I don't think it is all that much different than FL, so maybe you will be ok!

[Capt. Greg]

I made nearly that exact trip, in reverse, in September of 2023. I delivered a sailboat from Annapois to Folly Beach. We sailed the length of the Chesapeake to Virgina Beach, then ICW to Moorehead, popped out to the ocean at Cape Fear to the Charleston Harbor. We did it in five or six days, though. It was the only time I've sailed north of Charleston, and I loved it. I will be back.

From Charleston, that time of year the prevailing winds are SW, so you should have a great sail up. Yes thunderstorms are potentially an issue that time of year.

I thought NC and the Chesapeake looked like fantastic cruising grounds and I want to go back. I'd spend some quality time sailing Pamlico Sound and Albermarle Sound. You'll be living in DC so you'll have plenty of time to enjoy the Chesapeake. If you have room, definitely get an AC window unit and build a frame for it to fit into your companionway. You won't always need it, but it will be a nice amenity when you do go to a marina for groceries, Laundry, etc.

You have a great opportunity. Life is short, be careful, but take advantage of this time.

[Tin Tin]

Quite vicious thunderstorms along that coast in July, we have done the FL to MD trip many times, sometimes it is a straight run other times there seems to be severe weather every other day so hard to generalise. The safe route is up the ICW.



At sea, for marine traffic, day sailing is a breeze. At night it is a different world with fishing trawlers all over the place doing unpredictable turns, lights everywhere and particularly confusing during a stormy night. They do not always switch on their AIS. If you do not have a radar then it will be a more worrying trip.


The day time temp often gets over 100F with no breeze and high humidity and along with that come the bugs. Swinging at anchor or a mooring with a hatch open to collect breeze may be fine some of the time until it rains or the noseeums, green headed flies and mosquitos attack. Fly screens kill the breeze. If it were me and needed to work I would get a dock and install a large portable airconditioner from Home Depot. You might only use it once or twice a week, but you will certainly regret the off days without one.

[dkenny64]

what about hurricanes? it is that time of year..
summers in NC can be hot or not..I've 3 weeks in the upper 90's and other year low 90's for the highs..


I've heard..not done...but Charleston to Beaufort is about 30hrs offshore.


-dkenny64

[MicHughV]

I've done this trip both ways, inshore and offshore, and there is really no telling what the weather will be like.
You might as well throw the dice.

Going solo is tough, especially at night.
"hitching a ride on the GS", yes, possible, but the GS veers of quite a bit once you start heading north, between Florida and Charleston, the west wall of the GS is probably 70 miles offshore, hardly worth the effort to go that far out and back in again.

If you have the time available you can be more flexible in your planning, but going off shore invariably means you'll need to go a long way out and then a long way back in and this will eat up a lot of time and there is no telling what the weather will be like.

Hurricanes are always a threat and there is no telling when or where, but you should be able to get a good 7 days warning should one crop up.

And yes, it will be hot, muggy and hot, doable depending on the level of discomfort you can tolerate.

Seriously though, I'd consider doing the ICW from Charleston on up. You can do this in manageable hops and enjoy some of the local flavor on the way.

Going offshore requires that you and your boat are adequately prepared for anything.
A good autopilot would be high on my list for a solo sailor, not to mention all the other safety gear, and as pointed out in other posts, there will likely be a lot of marine traffic out there.

Finally, do yourself a favor and get acquainted with "Mike's Weather Page "
Here's the link.
https://spaghettimodels.com/

This page will provide you with all sorts of weather data including the GS location.

Good luck with your trip.

[jeanathon]

If you're going to ride the GS why not ride it to Moorehead where it comes back closer to shore? With the boost from the stream it shouldnn't take much longer than hanging a left into Charleston.

[TheOffice]

You won't benefit from the GS unless you go from Daytona to Morehead nonstop. Last time I did Charleston to Norfolk I headed east for 13 hours to pick up the Stream!