ICW Single handing - M/V Advice and thoughts for first timer.

[Boat Guy]

Waterway guy, nice writeup on the ICW

[Boat Guy]

No Mark, Coasties dream of being Sea Ray Drivers.

[casual]

Originally Posted by Boat Guy

Thanks for the info and inspiration, Casual. I'm meeting a friend in SAV so I'll look at the charts and figure it out around there....

BTW - I got a quote to pull her here and set her in around SC.

600 miles x $6 / mile ($4 for truck and $2 for add'l vehicle) + $400 for permits.

$4k to more her 600 miles or about $1200 if I cruise....

Went thru the same truck or sail home. For the most part it was a fun and interesting trip. It certainly honed my ICW skills as I had none. I would equate it to taking a road trip on I 95.Obey the rules of the road and enjoy the ride. As a Sail and power boater I like the wake thrown off by large power boats breaks up the boredom .

[Boat Guy]

Yep, I think trucking is out....

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Boat Guy

$4k to more her 600 miles or about $1200 if I cruise....

$1200 is your displacement-speed prediction? Nice to not have a schedule!

I suspect your hull (like mine) won't always be comfortable at 6-8 kts, simply because of the hull form versus various sea states you'll encounter. Chesapeake, Albemarle Sound and other big water en route, etc. (You'd also get rocked a LOT by everyone blowing by, like on that pic )

1100 NM at 24 kts is about 46 hours underway. At 24 GPH (~4 knots better speed than we make at ~26 GPH) that's about 1100 gallons. At $4/gal that's about $4400.

So maybe overall fuel cost is really somewhere in between, some percentage of how much you do at hull speed plus how much you do on plane?

And it's likely a round trip?

-Chris

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Boat Guy

Yep, I think trucking is out....

Yeah, making the trip will be worth it. Have fun. They dont really want $4k to move it south do they? last time I got a quote it was $11k Florida to Seattle....?

[Boat Guy]

Cheechako, $4k was just to take it from MD to SC. Then I would cruise the last 500 or so miles. Figure $4/ mile if you don't need a chase car. Add $2 / mile for a chase car if you are over 8.5 beam (If over 14' beam you need two cars)... Then add permits.

Ranger, your numbers are correct. If I go down on plane (impracticable) then prob. about $4k for fuel. If I go down displacement, then around $2k....... So, somewhere in-between is likely.

I'll probably keep tabs on the fuel cost. But I doubt I'll be able to calculate consumption because I'll probably be varying speed considerably on the way down.

I will certainly be on plane inside the Chesapeake.....

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Boat Guy

Cheechako, $4k was just to take it from MD to SC. Then I would cruise the last 500 or so miles. Figure $4/ mile if you don't need a chase car. Add $2 / mile for a chase car if you are over 8.5 beam (If over 14' beam you need two cars)... Then add permits.

Ranger, your numbers are correct. If I go down on plane (impracticable) then prob. about $4k for fuel. If I go down displacement, then around $2k....... So, somewhere in-between is likely.

I'll probably keep tabs on the fuel cost. But I doubt I'll be able to calculate consumption because I'll probably be varying speed considerably on the way down.

I will certainly be on plane inside the Chesapeake.....

I didn't mean to put you off.... I think if you can do the time and the $$$, you oughta go for it! Just didn't want to suggest it's a cheap piece o' cake

More better with a crew or two, though... and I'll say again, short hops are better/easier, won't beat you up so much.

If I had the time coming up, I'd volunteer to go with you, but I'm a bit jammed up these next two months...

-Chris

[Badsanta]

I would not use your autopilot through your chartplotter. I dont want it turning on its own. I make my turns as I see fit. When you get to a way point it may not be as clear as you thought. Other boats, crab pots wont show up in a planning stage.

[Boat Guy]

Chris thanks for the thoughts.....

Santa, my autopilot went south before I did, so I won't be using it unless I get another controller. Rain got into the handheld unit and it shorted. So I'll replace it when I can find an ST600r.

Still provisioning and still likely.....

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Boat Guy

I keep hearing, "Get the guides", yet I have yet to purchase one. Don't know why I'm so reluctant. I like to wing things and figure Active Captain on the Garmin App should suffice.

Man, I do not want to run aground....it just looks bad...

Why not?


Keep the pirate flag down below.

[Boat Guy]

When I'm running displacement speed, I usually have two large pirate flags on each side of the transom....

[laika]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

BG, if you have the time and no particularly demanding schedule... you might also consider a modified plan, consisting of hops along the way.

Here to Norfolk over three days, do some sightseeing, leave the boat there for a bit. Down the canal to NC somewhere (Little Washington, Oriental, New Bern, whatever), enjoy the sights along the way, stop over a bit and relax, leave the boat there for a bit. And so forth.

The trip can be pleasant, and indeed there are places to lay over -- marinas, decent anchorages, etc. -- but if you simply zoom down there all the way through, that won't let you snort many roses along the way.

Short days can be easier on you; longer days take a serious toll, especially if you'll really be single-handing. Boatloads of work to do along the way, what with all that pesky navigating and piloting and arranging berths and anchoring and cooking and keeping watch and so forth

-Chris

+1

It really is a beautiful trip. Plus, going 24kts you'll be there before your wake even hits where I'm at right now

Single-handing it ICW is not fun if you're looking at long consecutive days.

The later the start you get, the less traffic you'll encounter.

+1 on activecaptain.com - phenomenal ICW resource

[Krogensailor]

I've run from Philly to the keys 5 times. Twice single handed. (not counting the dog). 33 Cheoy lee sail. Two people makes it fun. Alone can get intense, around marinas and and anchoring, and if anything goes wrong, not to mention peeing in the jug while your doing all those overtaking maneuvers, it can get downright messy. Serously though, you say "I've been on the water a long time. Started in Sunfishes then to Hobies...Became a windsurfing instructor, lifeguard, rescue diver cert., sailing vessels 50'+, and numerous M/Vs.... " Sailing a 50'er and buying a 44 sv sail and all...why not do what your boat is designed to do? Get one or better two crew, head down the bay, pick your weather, head east a bit and make a right, and roll on down @ 24+ knots, you could easily get there in two 24 hr hops. Why bother crawling along with other boats that are designed to crawl along? The ditch is for boats that are happy to make 10kts. max! The problem with more power is you want to use it. And you will, and people with oat meal in their laps and coffee on their shirts will be waving that special single finger wave. So I say, if you wanna run the ditch get a trawler, if you wanna "get on plane" , go for it. Do what that boat wants you to do. Beat the weather. Put that experience to work. Run outside. Run free. Sounds like a Sea Ray commercial. It's a great trip if one doesn't muck it up with attitudinal BS. I made it 5.5 times to be exact, last time I stayed in Florida, that was 17 years ago, I think the inlaws are all gone by now so I may be heading north again. You ask for advise, you get both kinds. The kind you don't want is almost always the best kind. Go get the guides, load up supply's, loosen up them bunched up underwear and point her south. The endless summer is acallin.

[Boat Guy]

Under advisement.... appreciate it...