New England 'Wet' Storage, or ICW in November?

[tanksalot]

As a result of the current weather conditions, I'm reconsidering my planned solo trip down the ICW from Connecticut. I've already paid $600+ for a short haul and re-launch, and now have a 27 ft. Ericson with a new cutless bearing and Micron 66 bottom paint. Very, very few more to-do's left. But......the sailing conditions are "challenging" and don't look the best for the near future.

My options are...1)Sail to North/South Carolina regardless. 2) Have the boat hauled, mast lowered (?) and cover it for 4 mos. ($1400) or 3)Store it wet at a local marina (much less $$$ but how about freeze/thaw and the bottom paint?).

As an "aside", my wife is ONLY interested in sailing when it seems "safe" (to her), and the ICW, and the Chesapeake area impress her as safe. Thus, if the boat is down south we can fly down in early May and have 2 weeks cruising the ICW. Naturally, I could sail down in early April, but that seems like a lot of sailing.

Opinions??

Thanks in advance
tanksalot

[S&S]

Wet storage shouldn't be a problem (as long as the water around the boat doesn't freeze). Lay-up for the engine etc is similar to on the hard storage.
close all seacocks and blow them out through the drain plags
fill raw water loop with (potable) antifreeze
winterize water system and heads etc.
If you don't tarp the boat, you'll need to leave the cockpit drains open (make sure of your hoses)

I'd put in a 120V submersable sump pump in the bilge as insurance.

If you're not comfortable/confident with taking the boat south now, don't do it.

[Curmudgeon]

You could hire a delivery skipper to sail her down to Maryland and you could take over from there. I bet you could get a favorable rate at this time of year.