ICW with a 6 ft draft?
Garry W. Elmer
draft. Does this rule out the ICW for us in the future. We have stayed
in the LI Sound and New England waters historically but one can never
tell what the future holds.
Thanks!
Garry
http://www.99main.com/~elmergw/
Jeff Morris
more. Many boats with 6 feet or more do the trip each year. However, there
is shoaling in some places that means following the "Magenta Line" on the
chart would put you in less than 6 feet. Deeper draft boats, say 7 or 8
feet will usually have more than one tale to tell.
Six feet may rule out a few alternate routes, like the Dismal Swamp. Also,
the inside route in the middle Keys would be tough.
-jeff
"The sport that requires the least effort" Albert Einstein on Sailing
"Garry W. Elmer" <elm...@99main.com> wrote in message
news:3C3079C0...@99main.com...
Douglas King
> Just curious. We are getting ready to buy a sailboat with a 6 foot
> draft. Does this rule out the ICW for us in the future.
Nope. It will be more of an adventure and more frustrating, but it's possible.
> We have stayed
> in the LI Sound and New England waters historically but one can never
> tell what the future holds.
> Thanks!
Jeff Morris wrote:
> Not at all, the controlling depth for virtually all of the ICW is 10 feet or
> more.
That's a nice theory, but the reality is that most of the ICW south of Norfolk
is 7~8 feet. In a few spots it shoals up right across; of course there are also
places (like the Waccamaw River) where it is naturally deep.
A boat with 6' draft should be capable of doing a lot of it outside, like for
example the Beaufort to Wilmington stretch which is shallow and troublesome.
> Many boats with 6 feet or more do the trip each year. However, there
> is shoaling in some places that means following the "Magenta Line" on the
> chart would put you in less than 6 feet. Deeper draft boats, say 7 or 8
> feet will usually have more than one tale to tell.
>
> Six feet may rule out a few alternate routes, like the Dismal Swamp. Also,
> the inside route in the middle Keys would be tough.
Rules out 99% of the best anchorages along the US East Coast too IMHO.
Fresh Breezes- Doug King
Jim
Wilmington, NC this time last year. Agreeing with DSK, the only grounding was
just south of Camp LeJeune, the skipper's early morning sleepiness to blame.
From Norfolk to Beaufort, you should have no problem, unless your masthead is
over 64 feet above water level.
Stop by in Norfolk on the way down, say hello!
Jim
From the Southern Bay Sailing Club, website:
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/southernbaysailingclub
and the Chesapeake Bay, the best sailing area in the world!
To reply, remove "motion" from this e-mail address.
Jeff Morris
Actually the "official" controlling depth is, I believe, 12 feet for most of
the ICW, but in practice its more like 8 to 10. I must confess that my last
trip was in catamaran drawing under 3 feet, so my major depth concern was to
warn those behind when not to follow in my wake.
> > Six feet may rule out a few alternate routes, like the Dismal Swamp.
Also,
> > the inside route in the middle Keys would be tough.
>
> Rules out 99% of the best anchorages along the US East Coast too IMHO.
>
Having sampled a number of the nice shallow anchorages on our way to Key
West and back, I'd have to say that our favorites places are still Down
East, where depth is often 10 to 20 feet. However, having experienced
shallow draft cruising, I'm not sure I can go back to a deep keel.
Armond Perretta
"Jeff Morris" <je...@noSPAMsv-loki.com> wrote ...
>
> Not at all, the controlling depth for virtually all of the ICW is 10 feet
> or more. Many boats with 6 feet or more do the trip each year.
> However, there is shoaling in some places that means following the
> "Magenta Line" on the chart would put you in less than 6 feet.
> Deeper draft boats, say 7 or 8 feet will usually have more than
> one tale to tell.
>
> Six feet may rule out a few alternate routes, like the Dismal Swamp.
> Also, the inside route in the middle Keys would be tough.
I have done this route over a dozen times with drafts ranging from 4'7" to
over 6 feet. Although things change somewhat with time, I can easily
recount locations and instances where 6 feet would be trouble. This doesn't
mean having to go outside necessarily, but it often means waiting for the
tide, following a larger local vessel, etc. However I would not look upon 6
feet as prohibitive, just occasionally onerous.
BTW the majority of problems that come to mind occur on Florida's east
coast.
--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com
Bolton
"grounding" usually means sucking into mud or sand. No scrapes or dings on
the keel.
Armond Perretta
"Bolton" <bol...@nycap.rr.com> wrote ...
>
> And if you're not familiar with the ICW, you may not realize that
> "grounding" usually means sucking into mud or sand. No scrapes or dings
> on the keel.
Largely true, but the infamous "Rock Pile" stretch near Myrtle Beach is a
serious exception. There are others.
w4...@hosed.com
may places around Charleston, and probably other places in SC, at
lower tides. For instance, in the ICW under the bridge connecting Mt
Pleasant to Sullivan's Island, outboard motors on small boats will
kick up on the seaward side of the bridge's central pier long before
the tide is dead low. There is a large bar on that side of the bridge
that's been there for years and years. The government has largely
ignored the ICW in SC for decades, except where the ICW follows the
shipping channels to sea from our major ports. I'm always amazed to
watch what few barges are left on the ICW make it past the poorer
parts in such shallow water at low tides.
larry
w4...@hosed.com
<je...@noSPAMsv-loki.com> wrote:
>Perhaps I should have put a smiley after my controlling depth comment.
>Actually the "official" controlling depth is, I believe, 12 feet for most of
>the ICW, but in practice its more like 8 to 10. I must confess that my last
>trip was in catamaran drawing under 3 feet, so my major depth concern was to
>warn those behind when not to follow in my wake.
>
Say, there's a GREAT idea!.....(c;
We could mount a big LED digital depth display on the stern of my
jetboat to warn others NOT to follow me into 2' of water at 50 mph!
Cool!
larry
Jeff Morris
> We could mount a big LED digital depth display on the stern of my
> jetboat to warn others NOT to follow me into 2' of water at 50 mph!
So you're the bozo that passed me at 50 MPH!!!
;-) jeff
Rosalie B.
>Just curious. We are getting ready to buy a sailboat with a 6 foot
>draft. Does this rule out the ICW for us in the future. We have stayed
>in the LI Sound and New England waters historically but one can never
>tell what the future holds.
I know a guy who's done it with an 8 ft draft, and lots of boats with 6.5
ft drafts do it too - even sometimes an occasional one with 7 feet. (not
many like my friend with 8 ft). There is commercial traffic, and some
quite big boats - even small cruise ships in the ICW.
grandma Rosalie
w4...@hosed.com
No, I'm the guy who led the bozo in the Donzi with twin 500 hp V-8
stern drives into the shallows.....(c;
larry....
Rick Morel
<elm...@99main.com> wrote:
>Just curious. We are getting ready to buy a sailboat with a 6 foot
>draft. Does this rule out the ICW for us in the future. We have stayed
>in the LI Sound and New England waters historically but one can never
>tell what the future holds.
>Thanks!
>Garry
Lots of good replies so far. We have personal experience LA to FL Keys
with 5' 8" draft and friends' reports of TX. No idea on the East
coast. Below is what we found to be the case; your milage may vary.
TX: No problems. 12-ft controlling depth. Some places where you DO NOT
get out of the channel; some places no problem getting out and
exploring. Again, reports from friends, not personal experience.
LA: Same, only more places you can leave the channel and explore.
One has to remember TX and LA has gobs of commercial traffic, mostly
tugboats and tows, that draw 9 to 12 ft. These guys are natural
dredges.
MS: Follow the markers on the West side, including the little bit of
LA in Lake Bourne. Otherwise, when the markers get faaar apart, you
can pretty much go where you want, but watch it near the mainland and
barrier islands. There are marked channels into Biloxi, Gulfport, etc.
A chart is a must for exploring. Or not. Running aground here and LA
means muck. We have vast experience running aground and "wiggling" out
:-)
AL: No problem. East end of Mobile Bay (Bon Secor Bay) one had best
stay between the markers. As above, when in open water and you see a
"road of markers", it's best to stay between them.
East AL and Northwest FL: The bays and sounds are really nice. Follow
the markers for the most part, but there are a few nice places you can
get out and play, and a few nice anchorages.
Pensacola, FL to Apalachacola, FL. If your mast is higher than 47-ft,
go outside. There are some "50-ft" bridges, but are usually at 47 to
49-ft. Otherwise, no problem.
Southwest FL: SHALLOW!!! EVERYWHERE!!! We tried inside for a bit and
bumped bottom quite a lot. Outside you'll find 12-ft of water anywhere
from almost onshore to 5 or 6 miles offshore. We just anchored in the
Gulf, but there are places you can get in if you want. Thing is,
there's not all that many and most are kind of convoluted.
A side note. The ICW ends near Apalachacola and starts again near
Tarpon Springs. Another note, we "think" West to East :-) Generally
the route is Apalachacola to Anclote Key near Tarpon Springs. About
145-KM. Some go from Dog Island to Clearwater, if I remember right.
Anyway, trying to curve around the Big Bend means one will spend a lot
of time and still be up to 20 NM offshore anyway, so it's best to make
the run across.
Cross Florida Bay to Marathon - Cape Sable light to John Sawyer Bank
light to Marathon. There's 8 to 15-ft of water. 6-ft won't make it
very far East of Cape Sable, so the Everglades are pretty much out. No
way can you go very far either way in the ICW in the keys, which is on
the inside. Bahia Honda Key to Upper Matecumbe Key. Even so, we found
it best to move near high tide. Now here running aground sometimes
means hitting limestone or fossilized coral. BIG KA-BOOMS! Found out
or boat was ideal for this with her big cast iron keel.
At any rate, you'd probably be best going outside in Hawk Channel down
to the 5-mile or 7-mile bridge, then crossing to the Gulf/FL Bay side.
Folks with our drafts told us they did make the ICW route, but had to
keep moving until Upper Matecumbe Key.
Hope this helps!
Rick Morel
S/V Final Step
http://www.morelr.com/coronado/
Garry W. Elmer
Garry
w4...@hosed.com
<elm...@99main.com> wrote:
>I smell a business opportunity there!!! GRIN
>Garry
>
We could have it so it flashed the depth under X feet but would have
the name of the boat displayed in lights or smartassed messages about
the availability of alcoholic drinks, programmable of course from the
helm....(c;
Every bubbleboat pseudocaptain will HAVE to have one. We're gonna be
RICH!
larry....Patent Pending....(c;\