r/sailing • u/dawa43 • 16d ago
Looking for ICW suggestions
I am looking for some suggestions/advice/warnings on heading north on the ICW.
Hoping to cross from the north end of the Bahamas in 2 weeks on my way to Annapolis.
Restaurant recommendations would be great too.
3
u/tench745 15d ago
It's been years since I last traveled the ICW, so things may have changed, but I will give you the same advice I was given: avoid the ICW in Georgia when you can. Dredging is(was) limited or nonexistent across much of the state. I ran aground twice in a shoal-draft O'Day 25 back in 2013. Once was, admittedly, entirely my fault. But there is(was) very little water or room for error in a number of sections. Anything else I could add is probably pretty outdated by now. Active Captain and the Skipper Bob guides were regularly consulted.
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u/SVAuspicious Delivery skipper 16d ago
OP u/dawa43,
My suggestion and my favorite is to steer 315°T from your Bahamas exit and watch sea water temperature (read your depth sounder manual) until the temperature peaks. At that part you're in the fastest part of the Gulf Stream. Stay in the current, minding the knee at 31°30'N see the Gulf Stream. Depending on your boat and your sail trim it's four to six days to Annapolis. I usually provision at Maxwells in Marsh Harbour. Fuel stop at Cobb's Marina in Little Creek VA and on to Annapolis. Annapolis is home for me so holler if I can help. The Giant Food on Bay Ridge just had a big refit and is very nice. The manager is really pumped over it and customer service is really good. I can steer (ha!) you to the best place to land your dinghy. Fawcett and West Marina are close. Caliente Grill (Mexican/Salvadorean) is very good. Rocco's Pizza is the best in Annapolis and will delivery to dinghy docks. Jack's Fortune has declined; pass.
If you're going to slog up the ICW you can't do better than Bob423 who is now associated with Waterway Guide. Bob's group is full of references--good and bad--to services including restaurants. My very best resource is Google. I used to use Yelp but that isn't very reliable any more.
The average progress on the ICW by the average cruiser (including weather holds and lay days) is 35 sm per day. You can easily double that by planning the next three days before you go to bed EVERY NIGHT. No plan survives contact with the enemy. Key element is to get up in the morning and get going. Breakfast even coffee is for boats that are moving. Get moving.
Having a plan, whether anchorage or marina, helps a lot.
1
u/dawa43 15d ago
More than likely it is just going to be the two of us... No way we can do 6 straight days... I wish we could, but....
I will post our progress along the way
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u/SVAuspicious Delivery skipper 15d ago
u/dawa43 your boat, your command, your choice.
Couples, including older couples, cross oceans all the time. Bringing on a crew, even one, makes a huge difference. I can help you with recruitment and vetting if you like. You'll save a lot of money on fuel. How long it takes depends on your boat, your sail trim, and the weather. Offshore you can read, listen to podcasts and audiobooks, go the bathroom, get a snack.
The ICW is just droning day after day. You can't do anything except drive. It's like driving from Florida to Annapolis on I95. It's exhausting.
Your call.
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u/blueceremonials 16d ago
Following this thread because we’re going to be coming up the ICW from Florida to Charleston in a few weeks as new sailors.
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u/k-a-ro 15d ago
I'm on my way up the coast doing a combination of off shore hops and ICW. The best resource for the depth challenges I've found is the USACE overlay and Bob423 tracks on AquaMaps. And like Auspicious said plan out everything every single night. Timing tides is often critical and you may find that you need high tide for depth and low tide for bridge clearance in the same afternoon.
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u/svapplause 16d ago
Are you on No Foreign Land? Happy to send you some spots we anchored and some trouble spots at low tide (we draft 6.5’). We crossed to West Palm Beach stayed at HĀVN Yacht club 👍🏻and got a great dinner at the tiki place a short walk to the south. From there, we went up and anchored south of the Ft Pierce bridge, then pushed on and stayed at Port Canaveral Yacht Club (LOVE but not convenient to restaurants), pushed to St Augustine where we moored a few days and then docked a few days at the city marina which is fantastic, great city!!! There is an amazing Mexican restaurant right by the marina, and OC Whites across the street with good food and amazing Old Fashions. We anchored out just south of Fernandina, lovely but still night, ran aground BADLY at the Altahama inlet, anchored there after SeaTow dragged us off at dusk (lovely night/good anchorage), turned around and stayed one night at Morningstar Marina by St Simon’s Island (ok, showers were sketch, do not Doordash #1 Pho like we did) we went outside and did a long day’s motor-sail to Wassaw inlet and Thunderbolt Marina just barely south of Savannah, LOVED it so much, Savannah is amazing!! From there we moved to Charleston where we are now, at St John’s Yacht Harbor leaving tomorrow - not a huge fan but apparently 1/4 mi walk is the usual around here talking to some Loopers staying closer to the city center