Clear Lake Texas - East bound on GICW

[mikalcalvino]

Leaving the clear lake Texas area soon to head East along the GICW. Only goal in mind is to get East of the Mississippi by June.

Hoping for some insight and coordinates for safe anchorages along the way.

Looking to spend our first night anchored near Bolivar peninsula, TX. Anyone know of a good nights rest before entering the waterway?

Thank you.

[Cap Erict3]

Highly recommend Active Captain Companion. Didn't have it on my first trip and ended up wasting time and effort trying to nose into places that didn't work out.

With ACC I just read the reviews on the green spots.

Enjoy ur trip




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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

[mikalcalvino]

I assume that is an app?

[sartorst]

Offatts bayou on Galveston is an option that has around protection not many others that have all round protection , once you enter the ditch at Bolivar about 1/2 mile east bound on the south side there is a series of canals to what was supposed to be developed but never finished thats a good place,other than that there are only a few wide spots until you get to Sabine Pass so start early and make sure you get there before dark!
The Active Captain app is wonderful be sure to check out the satellite view oops I see now you said anchorages

[Cap Erict3]

Bor du Lac marina on Lake Charles is a tad out of the way but great place to stop with good rates. Bow Tie marina has low fuel prices.


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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

[GordMay]

See also ➥ http://www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/GICW

[Garrettw]

I second the use of activecaptain.com or one of the many apps that use its database. Great resource for anchorages and marinas along the gulf coast.

[AnchorageGuy]

On our cruise from Clear Lake to the Atlantic ICW our favorite anchorages were behind Baffle Point off the Bolivar Peninsula, Offatt Bayou, Taylor Bayou, Adams Bayou, anchor to the side as tugs may use the canal, the Calcasieu River, either just off the GIWW or 3 miles up river in the oxbow, the Mermentau River, go about 1.8 miles up the river to a beautiful oxbow, Avery Canal, Charenton Navigational Canal, Bayou Black, and past New Orleans we prefer to anchor just off the GIWW in Blind Rigolets. The current is strong here so be sure your anchor is well set. There is another anchorage at Rabbit Island but take care where you anchor. There is debris on the bottom.Crossing the Mississippi Sound leaves you few options. Anchoring will depend on the wind strength and direction. In southerlies, you can anchor off the barrier islands. In northerlies, head for the mainland and find your spot. All of these anchorages will carry at least a 6 foot draft, all have excellent holding and are well protected from weather. In some cases you might need to set a stern anchor only to keep you from swinging out into the channel at night. Most all of these waters are used by commercial vessels of some type. Good luck and have a great trip. Chuck

[mikalcalvino]

thanks for all the info and tips. i will take a deeper look into all this and start marking waypoints on the chartplotter. the more safe havens i can jot down, the better.

[mikalcalvino]

none of you would happen to have waypoints for any of these anchorage locations you speak of?

[RainDog]

We just did this trip starting December of 2014. You can read about our route and anchorages here: https://raindogps34.wordpress.com/.

You will have a lot more mosquitoes than we did

I second the recommendations above about Active Captain. No way I would do this trip without it. You can get it many ways. We use Garmin Blue Charts on the iPad which has all the Active Captain data, but there are many other programs that include it.

Our draft is 5'3", so anywhere we fit, you should too.

[RTB]

We've done this trip too. All of our anchorages are mentioned in our blog - Bottom job finished! | sailing away with R & B. Unfortunately, it's a bit confusing trying to follow a blog from it's beginning. I recommend picking up a copy of Skipper Bob's http://www.waterwayguide.com/shipsto...products_id=62

Honestly, it's our favorite publication strictly for anchorages. It's available in E-Book format, but I haven't checked it out.

Have a great trip. There is so much to see.

Ralph

[NautiNurse63]

Get skipper bob - cruising the gulf coast. This guide is excellent and it's like a step by step guide to the GICW. lists all the best anchorages along the way.

[AlwaysFORSAIL]

The barges and their captains have another language that is very difficult to understand. They speak of corners and places where the acquired local knowledge seems to be the only way to where they are and when you will meet them. Some of the corners are very tight and they have, take, the right of way.


There is a bridge West of the Calcasieu River that requires a 24 hour notice. It is of considerable benefit to get a cruising guide for the Waterway. I use The Waterway Guide, Skipper Bob and any other I can find locally.


I take all way points from others with a grain of salt and verify them with my own charts. I appreciate them and check them carefully.


Have a good trip.

[thebootlegger]

Can't go wrong with Skipper Bob and Active Captain. We did this route 2 years ago and agree with AncorageGuy and RainDog. I have Garmin Blue Charts withActive Captain overlay on my iPhone. Great backup.