ICW guide for newbies

[Tomi]

Hi all, a friend is travelling down to Ft. Lauderdale from Lake Ontario in a couple of weeks and has asked me to research the Oswego canal system down to NY and the ICW to Florida - is there a good online guide? (they have a large power boat). Any help would be much appreciated!

[bill352]

I just happen to have this link available, so here's a start:

Boating on the Canals - New York State Canals

[Waterway Guide]

Our website has a waterway planner chart that covers the journey with marinas, anchorages, and navigation updates, plus a cruising news section with a lot of other information. www.waterwayguide.com.There are several other web sources too. We wish your friend good luck and happy cruising!

[Tomi]

Thanks folks! reading,printing,ordering!

[RTB]

We use the Waterway Guide as well as Skipper Bob's.
Skipper Bob's is easier to work through anchorages and bridge information. It doesn't however give info about fuel stops, area details, or marina info. Another very useful tool is ActiveCaptain because it provides recent reviews of anchorages and marinas, plus satellite views that I find very helpful. It is free. Just go to https://activecaptain.com/ and sign up. I recommend you use every source available.

Ralph

[AfterHoursNLCT]

Cruising America's Great Loop and Inland Waterways
Just use the appropriate sections.....LL

[FSMike]

I'm getting old. I remember when the Waterway Guide was all there was and I was really glad to have it.

[cofc]

I don't know why anyone would need anything more than a chartplotter and Active Captain.


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[Helbent]

I agree that ActiveCaptain and a set of charts will see you through the ICW. I posted our navigational notes from the ICW - things to avoid, bridges to be concerned with, etc. - on our website. In addition to the above, we used Dozier's and Skipper Bob's Anchorages.

[AnchorageGuy]

Tomi, There is lots of information on the northern area and canals on the AGLCA website, https://greatlooptwo.bondwaresite.com/index.php , under members blogs. You can access that without being a member under Resources, Free Resources. Our anchorage books cover the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads/Norfolk to Key West if they plan on doing some anchoring along the way. It only covers anchorages so it's a good companion to your favorite cruising guide. Chuck

[Amapola]

Another one we like is Jan & Bill Moeller's The Intracostal Waterway. It'is small and has mile by mile references with NO ads.

[chuckr]

You are getting a little late in the season for leaving LO so i would say get going now as the winter weather moves in and can make the trip miserable to say the least.
But that is just my opinion as i have only done it from the Mass, Maine area twice.

[capttman]

Skipper bobs for the ICW


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[rwidman]

Originally Posted by capttman

Skipper bobs for the ICW


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I was just glancing at the Skipper Bob's marina guide and anchorage guide. I was looking at the area we just covered and found a lot of omissions. I think the Waterway Guides are a lot better.

Active Captain is good if you have Internet access underway but I like the Waterway Guides for advance planning and reading about places you will be going.

[Helbent]

I think the Waterway Guide and Skipper Bob's Anchorages serve different purposes. The Waterway Guide is good, as you say, on describing towns along the way. However, Skipper Bob's Anchorages has way more information on anchorages, just way more. When we just went down in August and September, we only stayed at a marina one night, so Skipper Bob's was invaluable.

And, you are right, ActiveCaptain is awesome, but it is not always the easiest thing to use when underway or even in a secluded anchorage. Plus, there are some limitations to crowdsourcing navigation information.