# sailing the icw



## hd1975 (Jun 27, 2008)

sailing aboard a 27' cape dory/13hp westerbeke. has anybody sailed the icw in a ship this size, and if so how was the trip? please don't reply in too technical jargon as I'm just getting my feet wet. As I aquire more information about the boat, I'm sure to have many,many,many more questions. Thanks for any input


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

icw varies, do you mean to "sail" it all. most time in icw will be motoring due to narrow channel, bridges. there are detailed guides to different sections of waterway that are very helpful. my experience is between mobile,al and keys several times.


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## hd1975 (Jun 27, 2008)

thanks for information--will be entering from n.j.(someday)---a motor in good shape will be very important I take it. this is just the start of many more questions to come.


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## speciald (Mar 27, 2007)

Where on the ICW? Between Beaufort, NC and Norfolk has a copple of sounds that can be very rough. At 5 knots you will make less tah 60 miles/day. Night travel will be impossible. I've done the ICW from Fort Lauderdale to Norfolk and won't do it again! You will feal like your eyes are going to fall out of your head after a few days. Beaufort to Norfolk will take 3-4 days by itself.


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## Vasco (Sep 24, 2006)

Don't let speciald discourage you, hd1975. I've been doing it since 1990 and still like it. Some sections aren't the best but overall it can be a delightful trip with pleasant anchorages every night. Your boat will be fine especially with your relatively shallow draft.


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## sgkuhner (May 5, 2002)

In 2005 we went down the ICW along with another boat. The other boat was 27 foot Pierson Triton. They sailed a lot of the way and some days would leave an anchorage 1/2 hour ahead of us. We would pass them while we were motoring and they would be sailing. In the late afternoon, we would find a nice anchorage and pull in. Always within a half hour later in would sail Rondo and drop his hook. They spent the winter in the Bahamas and had a ball. In the spring they sailed her back to Maine. The bottom line is that yes you can do it with no problems. You might just buy some Tow Boat US or Sea Tow insurance just to make sure you will never need a tow anywhere. It is cheap.


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## PBzeer (Nov 11, 2002)

You should have no issues with the ICW. How much actual sailing you do will largely be determined by how far you want to go each day. As to motoring, I have a 13hp yanmar in my 32' boat, and while it can be slow going at times due to tide, wind and/or current, it isn't a big problem.


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

HD1975...welcome...you will be fine in a CD27 once you get past New Jersey. Just wait for good weather there!! Lots of GOOD ICW info on this thread....
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruising/28266-advice-heading-south-icw.html#post106626


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## inshallamiami (Jan 2, 2004)

We traveled down the ICW from New Jersey in a 27' Tanzer. There were 3 of us (me, my husband and our 23 year old daughter) and we had a BLAST. We made about 40 miles a day (left NJ around thanksgiving, brr!) and it was one hell of an adventure. We did seem to use our engine a lot and stayed at marinas more than we would now, but it was a great learning experience.
Now we have a bigger boat (34') and have gone further (Guatemala) but that first big trip was tremendous fun. Enjoy!


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## hd1975 (Jun 27, 2008)

*icw advice*

will we have to add any new electronics, other than what is onboard? how about solar power etc.? am I making this trip out to be more than I have to? what kind of supplies--food,drink etc.--tools, ship supplies--anything else?


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## hd1975 (Jun 27, 2008)

by the way thank you one and all--hd1975


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## sgkuhner (May 5, 2002)

You will need a VHF, a depth sounder and possibly a GPS for electronics. After that, all else is pure convenience or pleasure. You will also need new chart books, Norfolk to Florida and The East Coast of Florida. When we go south, I always wrap a penny in Scotch tape (with the sticky stuff out) and every time we pass a marker, I move the penny to the new marker so that when I need to find where we are quickly, I can just glance at the chart and see the penny marking our place. It also forces me to keep a good track of our progress.

For convenience and pleasure, I have an external Hyperlink high gain omi-directional wifi antenna mounted on my stern rail with a cable to the nav station so I can hook up my computer. If I anchor anywhere near a McMansion, I will almost always get free wifi. In fact I seemed to be able to get free wifi most of the time going down the ICW with this set up. If you do this, you will also be able to download and use SKYPE on your computer and make free calls to others back home who have SKYPE on their computers; or, for a small fee (3 cents/minute) you can call directly to almost any land line in the world. But this is all icing on the cake. this is stuff you don't NEED!


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## sgkuhner (May 5, 2002)

Sorry I forgot to mention that as for spare parts and tools etc.... to make sure you have something for every contingency you should tow a brand new spare CD 27 behind you with a new engine and a deluxe Chraftsman tool kit from Home Depot, spare sails, anchor and 300 feet of chain, then fill that boat with cases of caned food and a metal safe filled with money.


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

HD...may I suggest that you post questions that are NOT directly ICW related in the appropriate forums...so that things don't get too mixed up. Sounds like you have many questions about your boat and gear as well as the ICW trip. No problem...but check out some of the archives with the search function too as your questions are not new. They will give you a better idea of different approaches to things and then you can ask more pointed questions.


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## Boasun (Feb 10, 2007)

From Louisiana through Texas there is a great deal of tug/barge traffic... Chat with them as you near them and let them know your intentions. Good water as far as Port O'Connor to my knowledge. Those barges can draw up to 9 ft and that is the indicator that there could be 12 ft of water available. This could be good to as far as Port Aransas.


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## hd1975 (Jun 27, 2008)

concerning the icw should we have a small boat in tow?


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

In a CD27 you may tow a small rubber dinghy when on the inside route in protected waters. You need to be able to roll it up and stow it when offshore (NJ coast) or in rough weather due to the danger of swamping. 
Unless you plan to stay in expensive marinas each night, you will need a dinghy to get to shore and most would suggest a small outboard with it...which can also serve as an outboard backup for the CD engine to get you somewhere safe! 
You don't have room on deck to store a hard dinghy so an inflatable is the best choice for your plans. 

Since we are talking about anchoring...is your anchoring system adequate for this trip? It is crucial that you are totally confident that your anchor will set and hold in all kinds of bottoms and bad weather and reversing strong currents. See the "anchor" threads for lots of discussion on this issue.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

You are going to want to have a dink of some kind even if it is just for rowing ashore while anchored. The el-cheapo Levelor dinks would work ok and could be stowed, not towed (< $200). A better dink might be a Walker Bay inflatable with a low HP outboard but would require towing (this option could cost up to $3K). If you tow your dink DO use a decent bridle for it - ask me how I know this.


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## bkafer (Feb 22, 2009)

Though this is an old thread heres some info for NJ. If your on the coast, barnaget bay to great bay to the canal into Delaware bay. Up delaware bay, thru the canal and into the chesapeake. Down the fill length of the chesapeak and into the canal. These sections will put you thru storms, giant tide changes, shoals, lots of ship traffic, and out of sight of land. If you can do this, and still be excited, then the trip is for you. If these first weeks, turn you off, then its time to rethink your trip.


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## CapnBilll (Sep 9, 2006)

Get AIS if you can afford it, makes ICW travel a whole lot less stressful. I've seen people sail in stretches, but narrow channels makes it kinda iffy depending on the wind.


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## boomvangdc (Oct 28, 2010)

CapnBilll said:


> Get AIS if you can afford it, makes ICW travel a whole lot less stressful. I've seen people sail in stretches, but narrow channels makes it kinda iffy depending on the wind.


Why AIS? The channel is narrow enough that you'll have visible contact of anything coming your way. Plus you can't do the ICW at night. AIS seems like overkill.

I do recommend both the Intracoastal Waterway Chartbook plus Footloose on the Atlantic Waterway. The ICW chartbook is a handy chart reference but Footloose has better info on anchorages along the way.

Biggest piece of advice is don't be in a hurry. I did Beaufort to Norfolk in a hurry trying to meet some family in Norfolk and it was exhausting. 50+ miles a day and missed most of NC which has some of the nicest stretches of the ICW (especially for sailing).


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## CapnBilll (Sep 9, 2006)

I've found my ICW commutes a whole lot less stressful since I bought mine. Standard Horizon makes a VHF radio with AIS receive built in. You can see barges on the AIS,(and call them by name, and plan crossings), long before they come around the corner. You don't "NEED" one, but if your going to spend a lot of time on the ICW I would recommend one. I've had several incidents where due to overgrowth on the banks and topography I was surprised by a doublewide barge poking around a narrow bend, and taking up the entire channel. I was unable to reach the operator on the radio and had to do a "soft" grounding to avoid them. "he was unable to do much manouvering due to cross wind and narrow channel anyway and was probably TOO busy to answer. Since I bought an AIS, I am able to see them miles away, and arrainge to cross at a wide spot. Thats my .02c. A VHF is all you "need" , and a good chartbook. Other than dodging the occiasional barge, the ICW is a piece of cake, almost impossible to get "lost", well marked, and much more scenic than the open ocean. And doable in almost any weather.


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## NCountry (May 25, 2006)

We crossed the Gulf in November and the boat had an AIS on it. Didn't think much of it until I had some experience with it. Ships that wouldn't answer before will answer a DSC call and the information you get from the AIS makes this possible. 
Once into Galveston Bay we turned down the ICW for a bit. The AIS was awesome onbord then also. The barge pilots, for the most part, were great to talk with and they seemed appreciative of our efforts to make their job easier.
AIS is definately the poor mans radar when it comes to monitoring ships traffic. I didn't think it was something necessary either until this experience but now it's on the must have list for a very large number of reasons. I definately wouldn't go anywhere there's commercial traffic without one now. The most compelling reason being that ships and barges that would have ignored our hails in the past were friendly and happy to supply information when we hailed them using DSC and the information we had from the AIS. Just the CPA information alone made the AIS worth it!


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## john1066 (Feb 4, 2006)

Some people talking at cross purposes here. The requirements of the Gulf ICW are somewhat different to those of the Atlantic ICW. The Gulf ICW in Texas and Louisiana is very commercial - you're constantly dealing with huge tows and other commercial shipping. For this an AIS may be of some use. On the Atlantic ICW you just don't get this level of commercial traffic. A VHF and depth sounder are all you really need. GPS is nice. AIS is completely unnecessary.


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## john1066 (Feb 4, 2006)

Some pictures of the type of traffic you can get on the Gulf ICW here:
Salty John : The Blog: Tugs, tows and the Gulf ICW


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