ICW Conditions in the Carolinas, October 2015

[Travis McGee]

I'm surprised there are no updates on ICW water levels.

[rbyham]

I was planning to go up the ICW from Charleston to Georgetown. Next weekend is the annual wooden boat show in Goergetown. Not sure if it is still on. That town is gettign hit hard by flooding. Will be watching levels into next week. Here in CHS swe are about 1' above.

[Travis McGee]

Originally Posted by JonathonClague

Thanks to all the contributors to this thread, I plan on going south again this coming weekend from Beaufort/Moorehead area and will report bridge clearance issues as/if they occur (I draw 62ft air).

Thanks. I wonder how local the prolonged high water levels will be? 30 miles down (upstream) on the St. Johns in North Florida, the river is still a couple feet high weeks after we had huge rain amounts down state.

[Sid at SailAway]

Originally Posted by JonathonClague

Thanks to all the contributors to this thread, I plan on going south again this coming weekend from Beaufort/Moorehead area and will report bridge clearance issues as/if they occur (I draw 62ft air).

With 62ft air draft you're not going to make it through South Carolina on the ICW right now. The water is still rising here in Myrtle Beach. The fixed bridge next to the Socastee Swing bridge was at 60.5ft when I looked. The bridge at Georgetown has even lower clearance then that. The Towboat captain reported that a sailboat with a 56ft air draft hit the bridge. From what I can tell most of the marinas are full up with folks waiting to proceed further north or south. Another problem you'll have if you can clear the bridges is your wake. There are homes on the ICW with water up in their yards. Even a small 6 inch wake can do considerable damage to these homes. So unless you're willing to crawl along at a wakeless speed for miles and miles, then please, just stay put.

Since the local rivers are still dumping water into the ICW, no one can predict with any accuracy how long it's going to take the ICW to get back to normal. With the normal snowbird season starting you may want to consider going outside. Even if you go outside there's still going to be debris flowing into the ocean in large amounts. Looks like the fiberglass and prop shops are going to have a booming season!

Be careful out there....

[Paul54]

I will be heading down the ICW, Neuse River, Adams Creek, then out to Cape Lookout, tomorrow. I will try to post some bridge clearance info.

[Hudson Force]

We cruised from Southport, NC to The Waccamaw River, SC today. The Lockwoods Folly and Shallote Inlets were no less than 10' at their low points at mid-tide and the cans and nuns were all on station. South of Myrtle Beach, SC the brides were at about 62' clearance and 61' at Socastee, SC. Currents were stronger than normal and we averaged 5 knots instead of our typical 6.5 kts. under power. We slowed to less than 3 kts. in the area of flooded homes in the Socastee area.

[redsky49]

Heard this afternoon of a vessel disabled due to striking deadhead in Cape Fear River, near Southport. Report was made by Zimmerman Marine, located in that area. Lots of debris in water. Be cautious.

[Hank Kivett]

FYI..the news and weather is calling for more rain in NC and SC tonight and tomorrow with a major river rise in the low lands of SC...It had George Town under water and yet the crest of most rivers have not yet happened...so if u are headed south be aware of this...they were indicating that this will not peak for at least another week

[Hudson Force]

The US 17 Bridge crossing the Waccamaw River at Georgetown normally has a 65' MHW clearance. Levels have been up 8 feet above normal for the last few days. Normally there's a 4 foot tidal range at this bridge, but the tide gauge has been showing about a 3 foot change with the tides.

We have plans to take our 54.5' under this bridge today, but we'll be monitoring the latest information.

I've been using the "National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service" site.

[Sid at SailAway]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

The US 17 Bridge crossing the Waccamaw River at Georgetown normally has a 65' MHW clearance. Levels have been up 8 feet above normal for the last few days. Normally there's a 4 foot tidal range at this bridge, but the tide gauge has been showing about a 3 foot change with the tides.

We have plans to take our 54.5' under this bridge today, but we'll be monitoring the latest information.

I've been using the "National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service" site.

Hey, was that you guys on the fuel dock at Osprey? I was in the Lagoon catamaran right off your bow. To bad I missed you to shake a hand..

[capt-couillon]

Well south in Eau Gallie but expected to be swamped by the long waterline boats headed south, at least by now. Guess everyone is hung up in the Carolinas. Another advantage for a small boat, by the time my 35' air draft won't clear a 65' fixed bridge I can just sail around it.


Good luck to all headed thru the Carolinas... Windy wet fall even down here. See ya'll in Boot Key

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Sid at SailAway

Hey, was that you guys on the fuel dock at Osprey? I was in the Lagoon catamaran right off your bow. To bad I missed you to shake a hand..

Yes, That was me. 'sorry I missed you! I've been able to meet many from the forum over the past few years.

I was anxious about the US 17 bridge near Georgetown because the gauge report listed it as up 8.7 feet yesterday and there's no clearance card at this bridge. It looked good to us, but just in case stopped and drifted through slowly sideways so that I would heel with an accidental strike. As predicted by the National Weather Hydrologic web site I cleared with what appeared to be plenty of space. Of course, it's difficult to judge looking up from the helm! Predictions were for a clearance of 57' and I just need 54.5'.

We held a good outbound current down the Waccamaw even though the timing was for flood current. All the high water in South Carolina seems to trump the tidal flow for now with place well upstream. .... a few logs, some cut lumber and a couple of trees, but all easily avoided with a watchful eye.

Georgetown currently has no problem with water levels at the waterfront. All the marinas and town docks are functioning at close to normal water levels.

We'll be southbound tomorrow and anchoring in Graham Creek. We'll likely be in Charleston, SC Monday and I'll share a new report.

[Travis McGee]

Thanks for all the reports. Sure glad I made it across the NC ICW end of last month, then outside to Jax FL on a nice easy mild NEster. Damn, I was lucky, because originally I was going to wait until October to leave the Chesapeake Bay.

[Paul54]

Just cleared Core Creek bridge on Adams Creek north of Beaufort. Clearance was 65 feet at 4:30 Pm Saturday. Water levels are a little high but looks like they were at least two foot higher earlier this week. Have not seen any floating debris.

[Travis McGee]

Originally Posted by Paul54

Just cleared Core Creek bridge on Adams Creek north of Beaufort. Clearance was 65 feet at 4:30 Pm Saturday. Water levels are a little high but looks like they were at least two foot higher earlier this week. Have not seen any floating debris.

Sounds like you recently passed Jonathan's 53' Gulfstar "Chesapeake." It's in a marina there. What is your air-draft?