ICW North Carolina

[DougR]

Welcome to southern VA from another Cal 39 sailor! We have done the ICW up and down with no problems. Although we have the std. 55’ mast and shoal draft of 5’8” , I think if you follow the advice of those posting earlier you should have minimal problems in NC. (GA could be another issue, and if it was me I would
go outside from Charleston to Fernandina).

[MicHughV]

The St. Johns River can be a fun sail. Once past town, the river gets to be quite wide.
You should have no problems till you reach Green Cove Springs.

[MicHughV]

I'll add this. Just south of Fernandina, you will encounter a notorious shoal area where I'd be reluctant to take a 6'8" draft.
It's an easy offshore sail from Fernandina to the mouth of the St. Johns, you can do in 5-6 hours

[Pippins]

Thank you Doug Cal 39'. Again very helpful. Are you anywhere else I can follow? My fb page is inthedinghy

[Pippins]

Wait. We were going to keep our boat at green cove marina because the depths there could accommodate our Cal. If you know of somewhere else that's better for our keep before green cove please let me know. Thank you

[Cheechako]

Be sure to have towing insurance and NOT the basic plan. They will "unstick" you, but if it takes too much or unusual effort they will then warn you it's a 'salvage operation'. With basic insurance they wanted to charge me $600 (20 years ago) for a less than one mile tow.

I was not willing to do much of N C with 6-5 draft. We did duck into the ICW at Wrightsville Beach NC though.

[jcapo]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I'll add this. Just south of Fernandina, you will encounter a notorious shoal area where I'd be reluctant to take a 6'8" draft.
It's an easy offshore sail from Fernandina to the mouth of the St. Johns, you can do in 5-6 hours

I've taken 6'6" through there several times. Go through on half tide and rising and you'll be fine.

Active Captain, now owned by Garmin, has crowd sourced shoaling and other ICW info.

[sailorboy1]

The boats that have issues in the ICW are mostly the ones that cut the corners on the curves. The next part is of a creek is feeding into the channel it tends to slit up on that side so more over to the over side.

[MicHughV]

You'll make it fine to GCS marina, it's the bridge just south of there which will stop yer progress.
Several places in GCS to park your boat.
Last time I was there, their (GCS marina) slips along the side were all occupied and several boats were anchored just offshore.
But just to the north of GCS marina are other marina's. I don't know them all, but it seems like you could find a slot there.
Downtown J'ville has some marina's, but I don't know the depts there.
There are also two marina's at the mouth of the St. Johns River, either of which could take your draft.
Just south of the St. Johns River, on the ICW are two marina's...Beach Marine and Palm Cover Marina, which...I think....can take a 6'8" draft. You'd have to call and check.
There is another marina on Trout River, just north of J'ville,but I don't know too much about the place.

[carstenb]

We went both up and down the ICW in 2017/2018 in or 40 foot jeanneau. We have a 7 foot draft which is probably closer to 7.5 feet since the ICW is freshwater (brackish) and we are fully loaded for off-shore sailing.

Sail with the tide and you will have few problems

[Cheyne]

We normally leave out of Beaufort and cut over on the Onslow Bay to Wrightsville. Then ICW down to Southport where we exit again to Charleston. Then do jumps on the outside. The last 3 times we went from Charleston to St. Augustine. St. Augustine to Fort Pierce. Fort Pierce to Key Biscayne. When we came north this year between Wrightsville and Southport there was dredging and we were pushed out of the channel and touched bottom with a 3.7’ draft. It was soft and we just powered through, but it is something to watch for. Also in North Carolina on the canal that connects the Alligator to the Pungo is the place I worry about meeting barge traffic. It is 3 hours and narrow. When we have met a barge there I just stop and pull over to the side so they can go by.

Cheyne

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Pippins

Again great info. I loaded AquaMap into my phone. I have a Note 3 so it acts like a tablet but I'm wondering if I need to use the computer instead? I could not find Bob423 so I'm thinking it's my phone. Thoughts? I really would rather not have to bring the lap top into the cockpit.

Here is the page with the download links. Note also that he has links at the top of the page that explain how to download and load them into AquMaps

Bob423 ICW Tracks and Routes: Bob423 Long Tracks

[CaptJimFrei]

The water at Lockwood Folly Inlet can be quite skinny at low tide.

[icemate]

Originally Posted by Pippins

We have a 39' Cal sailboat. 6.8 keel and 60' mast.
We are in Norfolk Virginia at mm 0. We started our trip in Boston, MA all on the outside until here.
We would like to continue from here in the ICW at least through N.C.

I have studied the charts etc. It looks like we would be fine to continue through N.C. this way but spoke to someone today who said he has a motor boat that he's taken on the ICW many times with a 4 foot draft and would not suggest we do this. Please help. I have constrictions from so many people. Yes, No, Yes, No.

Can someone please help. I really don't want to be on the outside of N.C. but I also don't want to cause any problems. Thank you, Pippins

I took the ICW once with my sailboat and would never do it again. Mine had a 6'+ keel and I hit so many sand bars and there were so many places I could not stay for the night. If you like motoring and spending a lot of time traveling and have a winged keel It may be OK. The next 7 or 8 time traveling to Florida and further I always stayed outside at least 30 miles offshore. Faster and more enjoyable.

[Peeew]

I guess I’m at outlier here. Ive done bits of the ICW in NC on other people’s boats. And on my boat I find it a lot easier and usually a lot faster to just go offshore. Lots less stress. Deep water etc. It means overnight sailing so at least two people for my trips. Even with less sleep I’m a lot more rested than I found the ICW. If you want to duck in often there are lots of options once S of cape Hatteras. And since Hatteras is close to the Chesapeake it’s usually a pretty accurate forecast for that part. I’m fairly flexible for weather so I don’t usually wait a long time for perfect weather. Once it’s safe I go.