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Old 10-12-2018, 06:58   #31
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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Originally Posted by lifeofreilly57 View Post
OK Guys, I have a tough one to solve
I have 64 foot mast with wind instruments and a VHF antenna atop it, which probably puts me at 65.5?
I need to be able to clear a number of 65 foot bridges and a couple of 64 foot clearances.
My thought is to use my RIB to hang out on the boom end to heal the boat enough to reduce the vertical height. It's a ten foot RIB which I could fill with water if needed to get the weight.
Do you think this is feaseable? In my earlier life as a millwright/rigger I moved, rigged and fit large heavy pieces in unlikely places, which is what you do with a hoisting license.
This is not a theoretical question, it's problem I need to find an answer to for obvious reasons.
Any suggestions are appreciated, especially from those who have had similar experience.
The boat is a 47 Cheoy Lee Pedrick, 6 foot draught, encapsulated modified fin keel, 64 foot mast height+. The boat weighed 40,000lb on the scale with tons of provisions on board and still floats above its waterline.
Doable or just a pipe dream on my part? We got off to a late start due to multiple issues outside the boating part of it and are now transiting south, I do not want to go outside at this time of year due to the short weather windows we've been experiencing this year.
All suggestions appreciated.
I also put this on the boat handling forum, since i need feedback sooner rather than later.
Thanks in Advance for the support, I've found that I've gotten good advice and a wide range of opinions on this forum, I've contributed on subjects I was versed in and kept my trap shut when I wasn't. I've found that the honest opinions expressed here tend to be experience based and accurate.
Also, I'm not a thin skinned, wilting flower, if you think I've got a screw loose, feel free to let me know that, it wouldn't be the first time to be told that.
Here's one for you I don't think has been suggested... Stick a Go-Pro or similar at the top of the mast. Monitor it (cell phone or similar) as you approach a bridge. If the image of the bridge is going up in the viewer, all is good, if it is going down... STOP!!!!

I did the ICW from Norfolk down to St Augustine in a cat with 64ft + mast height. Lost the vhf and wind instruments in the Dismal Swamp Canal but I think they caught in something hanging down under a road bridge. We'd gone under the first carriageway but got caught on the second so I think bridge height was ok. We relied on tide down to, I think, Morehead City and then went outside for a while and came back inside around Charleston.
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Old 10-12-2018, 07:41   #32
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

As someone suggested, your draft (I draw 6’8”) and your height are going to be a constant anxiety producer and greatly hinder getting down the ICW—it may be possible, but it is not easy at all. Personally, I think the ICW is fine for the trawlwr set who like drinking with their buddies in marinas of wildly varying quality and chugging through shoal swamps and strip mall back yards for months at a time. Maybe it is OK for some, but I did it once and that was enough. If you have a sailboat that can handle the ocean, I suggest you use it.
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Old 10-12-2018, 07:46   #33
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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Originally Posted by sasirles View Post
How well did you do in high school trigonometry?
heel deg mast height (air draft). Not corrected for hull laying on its beam ends towards the bottom rows.

0 66.0
5 65.7
10 65.0
15 63.8
20 * 62.0 * 20 deg heel decreased mast height 4 feet.
25 59.8
30 57.2
35 54.1
40 50.6
45 46.7
50 42.4
55 37.9
60 33.0
65 27.9
70 22.6
75 17.1
80 11.5
85 5.8
90 0.0
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Old 10-12-2018, 08:44   #34
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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Originally Posted by Scrimshaw4 View Post
Cheechako ... When did you last transit the ICW with your boat? I haven't been down the ditch in a few years but I always read the air draft boards at the fixed bridges, I'm 64' ft and never had a problem. I'm head for the ditch now. Any real issues anyone is aware of???
It's been 15 years. Florida is easy because most are opening bridges.(not south of Ft Lauderdale though there's a low bridge down there that doesn't open) I paid most attention to the tidal charts to know what time of day is low tide or high tide. Then checked the water level boards actually on the bridge pilings just to be sure, but not much tide really anyway.... but for us at 64 ft or so 2 ft could make a difference!
Watch for current when you get close to a bridge, it seems to "venturi" under the bridge becoming fast, so if circling by to read a water level or etc, give plenty of turn space!
Pay attention to the vhf channels in your guide as some bridges monitor different channels. Once going south to Ft L, I think I opened like 14 bridges in one day, timing them so I motored at the right speed to get there at about the right time.
Also, keep the air horn handy, one bridge tender almost closed on me missing the mast by 4-6 ft! I'm guessing because , although I was the 4th boat through, I hadn't called him, feeling it unnecessary...?
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Old 10-12-2018, 13:53   #35
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

I had a Hunter 40.5 with a 63.3' mast and a VHF going to 65'. I cleared off everything on a bridge in GA. The Alligator River bridge is of often less than 65'. Some bridges in FL, i.e. Datona, that are 65' say 63' which is minimum clearance on the side. Skipper Bob's book may be of help. On later trips I go to the top of the mast and remove everything but the VHF. Then I put everything back before crossing to the Bahamas. I finally mounted a new wind transducer on a strut on the front of the mast down from the top and mounted the anchor light on a spring.
One time at a dock I swung the boom to the side and hung my weight, ~180 lbs, from the end. The amount of tilt was very small.

I recommend going; but, you may have to wait for tides a few times.
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Old 10-12-2018, 14:16   #36
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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Originally Posted by Paul Howard View Post
Take the mast down and carry in stands on deck, like we do when transitting the New York Canal system to the Great Lakes, then re-step mast when you get to a place where mast height is no longer an issue. You will be motoring down the ICW anyway, hardly any opportunity to do anything more than motorsailing.

A good friend with a boat with similar height mast did careful tidal and height calculations and managed OK on the ICW until a powerboat wake lifted the boat just as he was going under a marginal height bridge. He had thousands of dollars worth of damage to his masthead lights, antennaes, instruments, masthead crane, etc.

This is the way to do it.

You'll also have a more enjoyable trip. It's maddening waiting for all the bridges.
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Old 10-12-2018, 19:15   #37
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

I delivered a Catalina 425 in 2017 and recorded the actual clearances at each bridge and the stated clearance for those bridges from Canaveral to the Georgia line. The Catalina had a mast height, with aerials of 64+ feet. We touched at a number of bridges, some fairly severely. The bridge at Port Orange was the worst and it was where we waited for "low" tide. Made little difference. Do not be lulled into thinking that low tide will help. The tide in the ICW is only 12 inches at most and does not help.

I have attached my somewhat incomplete record of those measurements. Good luck my friend. I will be looking forward to hearing how the trip progresses and progressed. bmwhyte47@gmail.com.

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Old 10-12-2018, 21:06   #38
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

AS a professional delivery skipper I have been up and down various sections of the ICW many times, most notably the part from Norfolk to Beaufort, NC.
My recommendation is to do that section to avoid Capes Hatteras and Lookout and pick a Wx window to hop south outside from there.
From Norfolk to Beaufort there is one bridge that is not 65’, the Wilkerson Bridge at the S end of the Alligator-Pungo Canal. It is 64’ + a few inches! I used to skipper and deliver a J44 north and south every year with an 8’ draft and a rig that was 64’+a few inches.
Before the start of my ICW journey I would go up the rig and loosen the antennas so I could bend them down and duct tape to the mast and remove the windex...in preparation for the Wilkerson Bridge.
Upon arrival at that bridge I would check the water level gauge, put someone up the mast to site the clearance, make sure it was calm and no boats were anywhere near to kick up a wake and go slow. In addition I cranked on a lot of back stay. Only once did I put out and secure the boom with 3 crew on the end to heel the boat over as well as a guy at the masthead. Generally I didn’t need anyone on the boom...
If you are truly 64’ and remove the stuff from the masthead you shouldn’t have an issue with the 65’ bridges and the Wilkerson can be conquered. If on a cat, well you are screwed since you can’t really heel one over!
Not much tidal range in that part of the ditch the water is mainly wind driven.
The J44 is not the only boat with a 64’+ rig I have taken through the above mentioned area of the ICW and I always put someone up the rig.
Good luck.
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Old 11-12-2018, 10:42   #39
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

Sometimes bridge work is undertaken, and that work can reduce the height available as traffic is re-directed to one side or the other of the bridge.
Active Captain will probably have reports on bridge work.

Signage usually indicates the retriction but the first time it happened to me, my anxiety was approaching "stroke" levels.

I'd pick the weather and go outside.
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Old 11-12-2018, 13:25   #40
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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Originally Posted by JimJohnston View Post
Sometimes bridge work is undertaken, and that work can reduce the height available as traffic is re-directed to one side or the other of the bridge.

Active Captain will probably have reports on bridge work.



Signage usually indicates the retriction but the first time it happened to me, my anxiety was approaching "stroke" levels.



I'd pick the weather and go outside.


The clearance is not always adjusted for work being done.

Brought a Bavaria from Isle of Palms SC to Marathon. At the Owner’s request we did the ditch. I believe it was in GA they were working on a bridge. To catch debris there was corrugated panels below the main steel. Unfortunately, the contractor did not adjust the clearance boards on the bridge.

Also the temporary center span lift bridge in West Palm did not have clearance boards- as of early November.

To the OP—-Been watching this thread. EVERY delivery Capt has said the same thing- go outside. It would be more prudent to get help than any of the options offered.
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Old 24-06-2019, 18:50   #41
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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There was a video (think here) a few weeks ago of exactly what you want to do. Quite a large sailboat going under a very big bridge with water barrels slung off to the side. Showed him going through just fine.
Seems like the penalty for not thinking of something or outside influence could be pretty severe (above mentioned wake).
Nice water outside.
TT
I saw that or a similar video a few years ago. I thought it was scary as hell. I wouldn't do it. I'd unstep and carry the mast on deck till you're past all the bridges.
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Old 24-06-2019, 19:04   #42
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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I saw that or a similar video a few years ago. I thought it was scary as hell. I wouldn't do it. I'd unstep and carry the mast on deck till you're past all the bridges.
Yeah I saw that video too. We tried it but the boats too stiff, it has a fair ballast to weight ratio. Couldn't get it to heal enough.
I ended up removing the wind instruments and using the tides.
We also did a number of extended offshore runs to skip entire sections.
We tinged the vhf antenna a number of times and almost made it to West Palm unscathed, then a power boat waked us on one of our last Bridges before West Palmand the tri color got broken off.
Didn't tweak anything else though. From there we just headed straight to key West offshore.
We're down island now heading for Grenada, with the wind instruments back on and a new tri color.
We actually enjoyed the more remote parts of Georgia a lot. Too bad they're passing restrictive anchoring guidelines. Oiy. Following Florida's lead I guess.
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Old 25-06-2019, 04:58   #43
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

The 65' air draft minimum for fixed bridges on the ICW is now a myth! Some of the new bridges are posted at 64'. That coupled with rising sea levels makes 63' more the norm than the exception. It gets worse at high tides and heavy rains inland. In January the Socastee fixed bridge in SC was down to 61'. Friends travelling with us were scraping their Windex at 63 1/2'.
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Old 25-06-2019, 15:47   #44
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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While I will not say this is crazy- I will ask why?

To tip a boat for one bridge is understandable. To plan an ICW passage around tipping seems odd and courts disaster. Assuming the boat is seaworthy take her outside.

If this is a new-to-you boat and you are unsure, it would be more prudent to hire competent help to teach you along the way.
At the time I had just put the boat in the water after an extensive refit, we splashed it, put the mast in and left five days later, most of the new systems were unproven. I rebuilt the motor and transmission, rewired the boat, installed a complete new instrumentation system, stripped the teak and re-glassed the deck, removed and replaced all the deck hardware, went through the mast, filled old thru hull holes in the hulls, etc, etc, etc.
Heading directly offshore with so much unproven gear would be a fools errand.
The intercoastal was more of a pin in the ass than I wanted to deal with but afforded us time to debug all the systems and get all the new gear working well. As we went along we were able to longer and longer offshore jaunts, which suits us just fine. But I will say we saw some beautiful scenery along the intercoastal. Georgia was actually beautiful because it was so remote and deserted in many places.
Would I do it again in this boat? No way, its an offshore boat and revels in offshore cruising in all conditions, just the way we like it.

Currently we're heading to Grenada for the hurricane season, the boat is working well and puts on serious miles when we're in the moving mode.
But we did try to heal it, yeah, not happening in a boat of this weight and stiff nature. But it was fun swinging the dinghy out with my wife and water bottles in it, we all had a hoot, but only got about 15 degrees out of it.
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Old 27-06-2019, 04:41   #45
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Re: Getting A Boat Through the ICW with a 64+ Foot Mast

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Heading directly offshore with so much unproven gear would be a fools errand.


I think the concept of “going offshore” is a little misunderstood. You can hug the coast pretty close along the entire journey and make short hops in and out of inlets. They can be long at times but the hops are usually less then 24 hours so just one overnight and the weather can be selected and is usually pretty easy to have a calm passage. The same passage in the ICW can be several days so even waiting for weather can often be faster.

Hatteras is the outlier in that you do need a good 24 hour window from Cape Lookout but I have been lucky and almost always find a calm one to motor around.

All of this area is close to Sea-Tow or Boat US and help can be available. Weather and time of year matter though but it is not like you are going to Bermuda. You do not need to get out in the Stream and in reality if you do have problems there is less to hit then in the ICW. :-)
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