ICW actual state "of affairs" conditions

[The_Sailing_Pelican]

Hi
I'm considering moving myself a 1985 Pearson 303 from South Portland ME down to the Fl east coast in May this year.
The draft is 4.33

The other option (USHIP, ect) is too costly.
Your thoughts, recommendations, ideas, suggestions are welcome. Pls try to keep it simple when possible

The Sailing Pelican

 

[capta]

Most of the ACICW is not sailable, so you might want to get a bladder tank or deck load fuel, especially if it's cheap.

 

[The_Sailing_Pelican]

Most of the ACICW is not sailable, so you might want to get a bladder tank or deck load fuel, especially if it's cheap.

A bladder tank/deck load fuel?
Would you pls elaborate

 

[Sailor Sue]

5 gallon fuel cans.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Enjoy the trip! I think the suggestion is store fuel for all the motoring. Ward & I left Cape Cod with reefed mainsail and fine sailing on Day 1. Day 2 through Day 6 to Barnegat was glassy calm and motoring the entire way. Stop & say hello in Barnegat as you pass along the Jersey Coast off-shore. We're about half way between Sandy Hook & Cape May.

 

[dlochner]

The Pearson 303 has a shallow draft and air draft of well under 65 feet, there should be few if any obstructions. This fall we sailed down the ICW with 5' draft and 55' air draft with out any difficulties. Although we did have to pay close attention to tides in a few spots that tend to shoal.

The trip is primarily a motoring trip if you choose to stay inside. In some areas going out side is not a real option for small boats, think Cape Hatteras. In other areas going outside is possible. We stayed inside because of weather, when it made sense to go outside the winds and/or tides were against us. It was also November and the days were getting short, I didn't want to try and enter unknown inlets in the dark.

Know your fuel consumption. Diesel is generally available on the trip, however there are a few sections where it is hard to find. If your diesel tank is small, carry extra on deck in jerry cans. Likewise with water.

Subscribe to Waterway Guide, the online edition is only $4 a month well worth the expense. Get the Skipper Bob Anchoring guide. For navigation we used our B&G Chartplotter and the Aquamaps app on our iPad. (also in Android) The data on Aquamaps is updated daily. This is particularly important in the areas prone to shoaling. The data comes from the Army Corps of Engineers' survey data. The ACE is constantly surveying the ICW. The app also good information on the ICW, bridge heights, mileage, bridge opening schedule etc. At $10 for the app and a few more dollars for the charts, it was the most valued item on the trip. Best used on a tablet with cell data so the charts can be updated and downloaded as needed.

Bob Scherer has a website and a Facebook Group, Bob423. He works with both Aquamaps and Waterway Guide. He makes regular posts on hid PB page about conditions on the ICW as do other members.

The trip from NYC to St Augustine took about 3 months, with a couple of long layovers, 10 days in Annapolis, a week in Oriental. We were able to cover about 50 SM a day.

 

[Parsons]

Under 5 foot Draft on Atlantic ICW should not be an issue, but that said you will go aground in mud/sand on such a long trip down the ditch. Take a deep breath and come to terms with that (also buy BoatUS or SeaTow towing insurance, if you do not already have it).

As noted, you will motor much more than sail if in the ditch, so make sure your engine and supplies are sufficient for days of motoring in a row - hundreds of hours. Do you have several spares of impellers, belts, all your filters, oil, etc.? Think of what you do for annual maintenance where you probably have motored under a hundred hours for the season, calculate your mileage (> 1,200 miles) and divide by 5 knots = 3 seasons.

Personally, I would buy a couple of ICW cruising guides like Skipper Bob or Waterway Guide. It's nice to know where to put in, anchor, buy groceries or fuel, etc.

 

[The_Sailing_Pelican]

The Pearson 303 has a shallow draft and air draft of well under 65 feet, there should be few if any obstructions. This fall we sailed down the ICW with 5' draft and 55' air draft with out any difficulties. Although we did have to pay close attention to tides in a few spots that tend to shoal.

The trip is primarily a motoring trip if you choose to stay inside. In some areas going out side is not a real option for small boats, think Cape Hatteras. In other areas going outside is possible. We stayed inside because of weather, when it made sense to go outside the winds and/or tides were against us. It was also November and the days were getting short, I didn't want to try and enter unknown inlets in the dark.

Know your fuel consumption. Diesel is generally available on the trip, however there are a few sections where it is hard to find. If your diesel tank is small, carry extra on deck in jerry cans. Likewise with water.

Subscribe to Waterway Guide, the online edition is only $4 a month well worth the expense. Get the Skipper Bob Anchoring guide. For navigation we used our B&G Chartplotter and the Aquamaps app on our iPad. (also in Android) The data on Aquamaps is updated daily. This is particularly important in the areas prone to shoaling. The data comes from the Army Corps of Engineers' survey data. The ACE is constantly surveying the ICW. The app also good information on the ICW, bridge heights, mileage, bridge opening schedule etc. At $10 for the app and a few more dollars for the charts, it was the most valued item on the trip. Best used on a tablet with cell data so the charts can be updated and downloaded as needed.

Bob Scherer has a website and a Facebook Group, Bob423. He works with both Aquamaps and Waterway Guide. He makes regular posts on hid PB page about conditions on the ICW as do other members.

The trip from NYC to St Augustine took about 3 months, with a couple of long layovers, 10 days in Annapolis, a week in Oriental. We were able to cover about 50 SM a day.

Very informative, much obligued

 

[capta]

It is wise to keep in mind the fact that the ACICW was designed for tugs pushing barges, not pleasure craft. If you want to make the trip w/o running aground consider where the tug would be pushing an 150' barge. It certainly wouldn't be center channel in many cases. Also, the marks are protected by dredged material put there expressly to protect them from those barges, so do not get close to them. They are not necessarily at the edge of deeper water.
The marks are going to flip around as you near an inlet because you are going from a returning channel to an outgoing one, or vice versa. I always hit each mark with a highlighter as I pass it because some sections look the same, mile after mile, and it is easy to get confused.

 

[dLj]

Why run the ditch the whole way? Why not pop into the ICW at specific locations and then pop back out and sail for a day or so then come back in to rest and enjoy some of the beautiful coastal sights?

dj

 

[dlochner]

Why run the ditch the whole way? Why not pop into the ICW at specific locations and then pop back out and sail for a day or so then come back in to rest and enjoy some of the beautiful coastal sights?

dj

Sometimes the anchorage’s and marinas are a long way from the inlets making the outside route longer and slower. If the weather is right overnight or longer passages can speed things up.

 

[The_Sailing_Pelican]

The Pearson 303 has a shallow draft and air draft of well under 65 feet, there should be few if any obstructions. This fall we sailed down the ICW with 5' draft and 55' air draft with out any difficulties. Although we did have to pay close attention to tides in a few spots that tend to shoal.

The trip is primarily a motoring trip if you choose to stay inside. In some areas going out side is not a real option for small boats, think Cape Hatteras. In other areas going outside is possible. We stayed inside because of weather, when it made sense to go outside the winds and/or tides were against us. It was also November and the days were getting short, I didn't want to try and enter unknown inlets in the dark.

Know your fuel consumption. Diesel is generally available on the trip, however there are a few sections where it is hard to find. If your diesel tank is small, carry extra on deck in jerry cans. Likewise with water.

Subscribe to Waterway Guide, the online edition is only $4 a month well worth the expense. Get the Skipper Bob Anchoring guide. For navigation we used our B&G Chartplotter and the Aquamaps app on our iPad. (also in Android) The data on Aquamaps is updated daily. This is particularly important in the areas prone to shoaling. The data comes from the Army Corps of Engineers' survey data. The ACE is constantly surveying the ICW. The app also good information on the ICW, bridge heights, mileage, bridge opening schedule etc. At $10 for the app and a few more dollars for the charts, it was the most valued item on the trip. Best used on a tablet with cell data so the charts can be updated and downloaded as needed.

Bob Scherer has a website and a Facebook Group, Bob423. He works with both Aquamaps and Waterway Guide. He makes regular posts on hid PB page about conditions on the ICW as do other members.

The trip from NYC to St Augustine took about 3 months, with a couple of long layovers, 10 days in Annapolis, a week in Oriental. We were able to cover about 50 SM a day.

Need your advise on this... ASAP
This is part of the ad:
Mechanical
"Yanmar marine diesel engine needs fuel pump, injectors, governor. Transmission cable connector needs replacement. Throttle cable bad."
Your input my save me TONS of headaches n $$$... I own a 1976 Bristol Corsair 24 in great condition, I was just aiming at a bigger boat.
Waiting on your input
C

 

[dlochner]

There are lots of boats in Florida. Look closer to home.

 

[Parsons]

Sounds to me like they did not do periodic maintenance and repairs = an unloved boat. Although Pearson's are tough, they are not indestructible, and neglect eats away at seaworthiness more than sudden damage. If they had bad control cables, that means they did not move the vessel. Personally, this is a huge red flag, and I would be looking for a different hole-in-the-water into which you can pour money -- this one is too deep.

 

[Parsons]

Lots of Florida boats, without the hassle of moving it. Here are two mid-1980's Pearson's asking in the mid-$30K on Boat Trader only. I bet that you could offer them two-thirds of their asking price and the owners would jump at it. If you expand your search to other good brands (Catalina, Hunter, S2, etc.) I bet you could find a worthy candidate in your neighborhood. Don't buy trouble.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Need your advise on this... ASAP
This is part of the ad:
Mechanical
"Yanmar marine diesel engine needs fuel pump, injectors, governor. Transmission cable connector needs replacement. Throttle cable bad."
Your input my save me TONS of headaches n $$$... I own a 1976 Bristol Corsair 24 in great condition, I was just aiming at a bigger boat.
Waiting on your input
C

Funny, people are willing to throw out off-the-cuff advise without knowing anything about the boat. If you need to run from a 1985 boat at the first blush of problems that need fixing, you'll never get your boat. I bought a 20-year old boat with trepidation over the engine because of the way it looked - oil leak, rust, belt dust staining the engine compartment, hoses that looked sketchy and a few other things that made me uncomfortable. During sea trial she ran just fine during an hour cruise where we put her through some paces. That said, the first winter, I spent about $1,000 on new Yanmar parts and did a minor overhaul on my own.

If you can't replace those 5 items on your own, then you shouldn't buy a 40-year old boat. None of those sound like a deal breaker and if that is all that need fixing, I'd say that is remarkable. I'm not saying that the parts won't be pricey, but that's one of the reasons why a 40-year old boat is so cheap! DUH! If I was looking at a 40-year old boat, I would expect to replace the engine sometime soon, if not immediately. If I didn't have to, I'd consider it a bonus. Find out as much as you can about these supposed engine problems for sure. If the boat has been in use over the past several years, it can't be bad enough to run away from over the first sign of trouble.

Of course, if you don't have the time or inclination to deal with these things when you travel to Maine, it really doesn't make sense to look for a 40-year old boat in Maine when you live in Florida. I would agree with those that say a Maine boat is going to be in much better shape than a Florida boat so I get that part of the equation. Do you really think those 1980's boats in Florida would be free from blemishes? I don't. Anything that is close to 40 years and asking price in the low to mid 30's will have problems at least as daunting as the problems you find in that Maine boat. I suspect that part of the charm of that Maine boat is the opportunity (you might call it "necessity") to take a nice long trip on her.

I'd bet that you could get the Seller to address those engine issues and possibly even get a mechanic's report on the engine before you get to Maine. You may as well ask and consider it a condition of sale.

 

[SFS]

.... it really doesn't make sense to look for a 40-year old boat in Maine when you live in Florida...

And if you motor the whole way, you are going to spend very roughly $1000 in diesel alone. Add in oil, filters, coolant, spare parts, ice, food for about 90 days, dockage (you won't anchor out every night, trust me) and you have a significant outlay that could be put into a FL boat. Sure, you don't get a three month trip, but you can take a three month vacation in FL and shake out the boat while still close to home.

We found a perfectly serviceable Hunter 31 with a brand new Yanmar in it for less than the cost of the engine alone. There are deals in FL, if you look around. There are also some traps, but if you have a good knowledge base, and/or a good surveyor, and are patient, the deals are out there.

 

[dLj]

I'm wondering when anyone ever required sailing to make economic sense.... If that were the case, I think we'd all be sitting on land and walking. Certainly we wouldn't be on sailboats spending inordinate amounts of money on "goodies" and maintenance and....

It's a good point to look close to home. But, my, what a story! I bought a boat in Maine and i sailed (perhaps mostly motored) all the way to Florida!

Why be rational now????

dj

 

[dlochner]

One place to look for deals is on the Cruisers FaceBook groups. Most cruiser friendly spots have FB groups where people share local knowledge and from time to time boats come up for sale. You can find groups in St. Augustine, Vero Beach, Marathon, Key West and other locales, do a search on FB.

On the Gulf Coast be wary of Hurricane damaged boats that have been hastily "repaired."

 

[The_Sailing_Pelican]

Funny, people are willing to throw out off-the-cuff advise without knowing anything about the boat. If you need to run from a 1985 boat at the first blush of problems that need fixing, you'll never get your boat. I bought a 20-year old boat with trepidation over the engine because of the way it looked - oil leak, rust, belt dust staining the engine compartment, hoses that looked sketchy and a few other things that made me uncomfortable. During sea trial she ran just fine during an hour cruise where we put her through some paces. That said, the first winter, I spent about $1,000 on new Yanmar parts and did a minor overhaul on my own.

If you can't replace those 5 items on your own, then you shouldn't buy a 40-year old boat. None of those sound like a deal breaker and if that is all that need fixing, I'd say that is remarkable. I'm not saying that the parts won't be pricey, but that's one of the reasons why a 40-year old boat is so cheap! DUH! If I was looking at a 40-year old boat, I would expect to replace the engine sometime soon, if not immediately. If I didn't have to, I'd consider it a bonus. Find out as much as you can about these supposed engine problems for sure. If the boat has been in use over the past several years, it can't be bad enough to run away from over the first sign of trouble.

Of course, if you don't have the time or inclination to deal with these things when you travel to Maine, it really doesn't make sense to look for a 40-year old boat in Maine when you live in Florida. I would agree with those that say a Maine boat is going to be in much better shape than a Florida boat so I get that part of the equation. Do you really think those 1980's boats in Florida would be free from blemishes? I don't. Anything that is close to 40 years and asking price in the low to mid 30's will have problems at least as daunting as the problems you find in that Maine boat. I suspect that part of the charm of that Maine boat is the opportunity (you might call it "necessity") to take a nice long trip on her.

I'd bet that you could get the Seller to address those engine issues and possibly even get a mechanic's report on the engine before you get to Maine. You may as well ask and consider it a condition of sale.

I'll be flying next week to take possession of her title. I'll keep you posted and post pictures... Thx
CR