Looking for approximate distance,time etc via the ICW for moving a sailboat from Annapolis to Myrtle beach area in March. We would be day cruising,stopping at night time.
Thanks
Thanks
ICW annapolis to myrtle beach
- Thread starter richard9525
- Start date
3 days down the bay to Norfolk. 3 days to Beaufort. 3 to 4 days to Myrtle Beach.
This assumes you can go 6 knots and weather cooperates, March will be tricky.
This assumes you can go 6 knots and weather cooperates, March will be tricky.
I concur on all the points, I just did the planning for this route to deliver a MY from Quantico to Jax. March will be warmer than two weeks ago, or right now. Plan ahead, get a guidebook. Might want to make a list of bridges and their restrictions.
Timing above sounds about right if things go well. If you are staying in marinas rather than anchoring you might add an extra day or two. Days aren't as long in March so you may find it necessary to stop a little earlier than sunset because its too far to the next marina to make it before nightfall. Just be aware that March can be kind of windy and some of the bridges will not open if wind speed is over 35kts. In the ICW 35kts is not like being on a bay or sound so you may still be able to move along but the bridges might not cooperate so take that into account too.
The picture on my avatar is from the Alligator River Marina along the ICW
The picture on my avatar is from the Alligator River Marina along the ICW
What are your air and keel drafts? A few bridges are reported to be only 64'. Some of the ICW south of Beaufort is a bit skinny.
If you're on your boat (Hunter 356) the air draft should be about 55 to 56 feet so you should be fine in clearing fixed bridges. Depending on whether you have the wing keel or fin keel will make some difference. The draft is either 5' (wing) or 6'5" (fin keel) so if its the fin keel you'll have some spots where you may have to time the tides to get through, mostly south of the NC/SC border. Good news is its "mud" so you shouldn't have a hard grounding if you touch bottom going slowly and can probably back off if you're lucky. That may affect your timing and shorten the amount you can make in a given day since you may be waiting on some tides. Just plan carefully and take advantage of local knowledge. I found Active Captain to be of some help but keep in mind its crowd sourced so some of the info has to be taken knowing that. However, I can say that the hazard info was pretty good and let me get through without too much trouble. If I recall correctly all the fixed bridges on the route (until you get to Beaufort SC) have height boards but with your mast height you should be fine on that count.
You may also want to sign up for the biweekly updates on the ICW from Tom and Mel Neale, available free, by email. They used to be published on the BoatUS website, but now are only available by email. Helps a lot, particularly with the known "problem areas" in NC and SC.
http://www.boatus.com/cruising/tomneale/signup.asp
http://www.boatus.com/cruising/tomneale/signup.asp