Greta harbor to Hoffmans route question

[blackc2004]

Hello. I am currently in great harbor and planning to go to hoffmans next. I was wondering if this route is feasible. I have an FP 40 with a 4.1 draft. The soundings all look good but looking for feedback…



The other route would be to go out and around the outside



Looking for some local knowledge and suggestions please

[Sparx]

I have done both those routes several times.

From Great Harbor south your 4.1 draft requires high tide. The most shallow place is in the area of your 2nd to 4th waypoint. Go slow and look very carefully. In this area a small move port or starboard can make 0.5 foot difference, so noodle around if it gets tight. After that the channel is east to pick out. There is another thin place about your waypoints 9 and 10, but if you made it this far away this place is just a matter of reading the water to stay in the narrow deeper part, easy. Pick high tide on a relatively calm day and give it a try. There are miles of shallow water along here, great for getting in the water and swimming around.

On the second route, I’ll call it the backside of Hoffman’s is no problem at 4.1 but there are two places to be very careful. The first is when approaching Hoffman’s from the north looking for the turn to follow parallel to the shore. This area is a broad basin where again moving port or starboard might yield another 0.5 feet. Last time I went through here the deepest water was right over a large dark area ( might be grass) which was not intuitive from reading the water. The second place is when the channel approaches the shore after following parallel past about a third of Hoffman’s. There is plenty of water, but the deepest part runs quite close to the shoreline. Like less than a boat length close. Go slow with the sun over head and it will be easy.

With your draft you may find a number of great shallow anchorages somewhat removed from the crowd.

[blackc2004]

Originally Posted by Sparx

I have done both those routes several times.

From Great Harbor south your 4.1 draft requires high tide. The most shallow place is in the area of your 2nd to 4th waypoint. Go slow and look very carefully. In this area a small move port or starboard can make 0.5 foot difference, so noodle around if it gets tight. After that the channel is east to pick out. There is another thin place about your waypoints 9 and 10, but if you made it this far away this place is just a matter of reading the water to stay in the narrow deeper part, easy. Pick high tide on a relatively calm day and give it a try. There are miles of shallow water along here, great for getting in the water and swimming around.

On the second route, I’ll call it the backside of Hoffman’s is no problem at 4.1 but there are two places to be very careful. The first is when approaching Hoffman’s from the north looking for the turn to follow parallel to the shore. This area is a broad basin where again moving port or starboard might yield another 0.5 feet. Last time I went through here the deepest water was right over a large dark area ( might be grass) which was not intuitive from reading the water. The second place is when the channel approaches the shore after following parallel past about a third of Hoffman’s. There is plenty of water, but the deepest part runs quite close to the shoreline. Like less than a boat length close. Go slow with the sun over head and it will be easy.

With your draft you may find a number of great shallow anchorages somewhat removed from the crowd.

Thank you! This is very helpful. Being solo, I'm very nervous about trying to attempt some of these routes.

[OldManMirage]

It's great the things you can learn here on CF.

I have copied those images onto my phone for future reference, as I hope to be doing just about the same thing a couple of months from now !