Yet Another ICW Question . . .

[ActiveCaptain]

There's a 1:80,000 NOAA chart with more detail of the area. We use it to quilt together our charts.

We've gone through that multiple times at night. It is well marked and quite wide.

There's also a Four Mile Slue labeled closer to land, but I think that's a little too shallow for comfort given the storms and shifting sands that could potentially happen around there.

[daysailj]

We left our Freedom 40' in Oriental earlier this month, and will be resuming the trek southward to the Palm Beach, FL in early January. Has anyone made that trip this late in the season? I expect we will see some cold weather (low 40's?) until we get into the Gulf Stream influence in South FL, unless we get very lucky.

What is the liklihood of getting some good 2-3 day weather windows for doing coastal runs in January? I'm hoping to do some one or two-day runs down the coast, maybe Beaufort to Charleston, Charleston to Fernandina, Fernandina to Canaveral, and Canaveral to Palm Beach. If I include a few port days waiting for clear weather, does two weeks seem reasonable for this trip?

John

[osirissail]

You are looking at some serious cold weather in January. Supposedly the long range weather guru's have predicted a frigid winter bases on La Nina effect. I have seen ice storms and snow in Florida during these type years. And certainly, the Carolinas are going to be seriously cold (I am a Floridian not a Mainiac).
- - Coastal weather windows are usually independent of season so you can get some freak good days in between some bone-chilling other days. But you always have the ICW nearby to make progress when the weather windows are not there.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by daysailj

What is the liklihood of getting some good 2-3 day weather windows for doing coastal runs in January? I'm hoping to do some one or two-day runs down the coast, maybe Beaufort to Charleston, Charleston to Fernandina, Fernandina to Canaveral, and Canaveral to Palm Beach. If I include a few port days waiting for clear weather, does two weeks seem reasonable for this trip?

John

John,

January's weather is not that great. I have waited in the past for good weather to go outside but if the wait is more than a day or two I will motor down the ICW instead of sitting at anchor. I never have a schedule so two weeks seems a bit tight to me. If you are stuck for time you might have to leave the boat in Fernandina or someplace else. It all depends on the weather and I have seen two weeks go by without a good window for heading south outside. You've got about 800 statute miles to go on the ICW so if you get a good stretch outside such as Charleston to Fernandina (about 35 hours) and the rest in the ditch you might still be ok. I would wait a day or two in Charleston if there's a possibility of avoiding the Georgia section of the ICW. Hopefully it will be a bit warmer this year. Last year was was so damn cold it was unbelievable.