Sailing North on the East Coast of USA in July/August

[Mlp48]

Bring a flyswatter ! And a great attitude .

[MicHughV]

Please reread his post, he has 2 Yanmar 15hp diesels not Yamaha outboards.

my bad

[jeanathon]

Georgia waterways are for masochists.

[Flatswing]

Contrary to an earlier post, There are hundreds of anchorages along the AICW even for my 49’ w 5’ draft. With a cat triple that. Offshore is always best -if you stay offshore! If you need to come in to anchor nightly, with the exception of S FL with its bridges, you will burn 2-3 hrs dail going in & out of the inlets -often against the tide.
Groundings are actually rare on the AICW unless you stop thinking & follow the magenta line religiously. Most of use Aquamaps Master edition on a gps equipped tablet (it has the USACE sonar depths embedded along with all the Active Captain & Waterway guide info on anchorages, bridges, etc). Download Bob’s 423 track to follow and, if weather or circumstances dictate inside, you’ll have an easy trip.

[Cabo Jim]

Hi Rich, for 10 years I would travel from Georgia to the Bahamas and back via the ICW and along the coast as far south as Lake Worth. Weather permitting, I would travel outside. If there were no gradient winds I would motor outside and wait for an onshore breeze due to thermals created by the sun heating the land. In April and May this would start at about 11:00 and blow 12 to 15 knots all day until 16:00 or 17:00. Ideally 2 to 3 miles offshore was perfect. Once I noticed a sailboat about 6 miles offshore, I hailed him and asked him how the wind was, he said winds were non-existent to light while we were enjoying 12- 14 knots on the beam with a 1 foot chop. Enjoy your sail up the coast.
Jim

[Cabo Jim]

This is how I sail up the East Coast with consistent onshore winds

[gonesail]

if you do the ditch in GA you are almost guaranteed to run aground at least once .. hopefully on a rising tide. as the OP said: the tides will be against you 50% of the time .. so prepare for motoring at 3 or 4 knots for hours at a time

[Kd9truck]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Please reread his post, he has 2 Yanmar 15hp diesels not Yamaha outboards.

my bad

Hey! Don’t be so hard on your self,….that’s our job😭

[Kd9truck]

I second All that has been s said so far, I would like to add, if you don’t have AIS this trip would be a good time to get it. I draw 7.5 ft so ICW is no good for me, there is a lot of big boat and little boat traffic in side of the Gulf Stream and you will fight tides around inlets if you are close to the coast.
The Gulf Stream is a 50-100 mile wide locomotive it generates it own weather It is a thunderstorm factory and chugs along at 2 knots with eddies and counter currents. The big vessels travel either side of it, in the right conditions you can jump in and get a substantial bump but I personally liken it to holding a tiger by its tail. Others will have way more knowledge on this but I felt it deserved to be mentioned.
Know where the stream is, have AIS, and be on the lookout for small vessels just off shore fishing and save the ICW for fowl weather legs.
That would be my advice, cheers

[MicHughV]

Hey! Don’t be so hard on your self,….that’s our job😭

Years at sea caused me to have cataracts in my eyes.

So I had cataract surgery on my eyes not so long ago.....y'know....where they put new artificial lenses in your eyes. Amazing technology, no other words for it.

These days I can count the hairs on a fly's butt at a 100 yards...but at the expense of close up vision. I do use reading glasses, but not all the time, leading to some embarrassing moments on occasion.

Ah well, I can get most of it right, most of the time, which is good enuff for me

[MicHughV]

But to get back on topic. I have sailed the US east coast from north to south on several occasions on my own boat and others, and by and large, it's always been a pleasant, mostly fast trip, whether or not the wind was in my favor or not.
There have been, off course, a few times, when the weather was particularly cantankerous, but I'd still prefer to go offshore than using the AICW.
Even managed to catch some fish at times.

[Kd9truck]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Hey! Don’t be so hard on your self,….that’s our job😭

Years at sea caused me to have cataracts in my eyes.

So I had cataract surgery on my eyes not so long ago.....y'know....where they put new artificial lenses in your eyes. Amazing technology, no other words for it.

These days I can count the hairs on a fly's butt at a 100 yards...but at the expense of close up vision. I do use reading glasses, but not all the time, leading to some embarrassing moments on occasion.

Ah well, I can get most of it right, most of the time, which is good enuff for me

I had the same surgery.10 yrs ago.
The dr asked if I wanted to see distance or read without glasses, at the time I needed to read addresses at night from the front seat of a fire truck. Now Off shore my eyes are bionic but to read the Raymarine not so much. And why when you pinch (or press) to make larger do those $&@$!!! Numbers and letters not get larger??
Cheers

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Clearwater1

Hey I am wondering about prevailing weather and currents travelling up the coast from Fort Pierce to Cape Hatteras in a hurry end of July and August.

How much sailing can you do on the ICW? I have twin 15hp Yanmars but don't want to motor the whole way!

I have a Gemini Legacy 35ft cat 14 ft beam so just small really. Goes good 6-7knots in 15knts of wind happy to sail with the wind behind me at 20-25knts but I can't push it into wind and sharp waves its like beating your head against a wall.

The reason is that I have to wait to get my B1 US visa around the end of July but my insurance company want the boat above Cape Hatteras by mid July.

I understand I will be self insuring for a few weeks but having never sailed that route was hoping for some advise.

Thanks as ever

Rich

Reference:

https://captainjohn.org/GL-Route2.html

Per that loop map the travels days from Ft. Pierce to Cape Hatteras appears to be 22 days.

Your 47 feet air draft should not be limiting to the raised bridges.

Your 56 gallon fuel tank will require refilling every day.

Lots of motoring, very seldom will you be sailing as the ICW is a ditch.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Reference:



https://captainjohn.org/GL-Route2.html



Per that loop map the travels days from Ft. Pierce to Cape Hatteras appears to be 22 days.



Your 47 feet air draft should not be limiting to the raised bridges.



Your 56 gallon fuel tank will require refilling every day.



Lots of motoring, very seldom will you be sailing as the ICW is a ditch.

We made it from New Bern NC to Marathon in 15 days, about 200 miles more. We stopped every night.
We have twin outboards that burn about 1 gallon an hour total and hold 50 gallons of gas, so refueling every 3rd to 4th day. His consumption should be less.

[walkabout08]

Consider enlisting a professional weather router for offshore passages. Hurricanes and tropical/subtropical storms do come through during those months. A weather router will help make good decisions in the event of strong weather comes into play. Until you reach Cape May ducking into and out of harbor takes considerable time as the approaches are very long from the rhumb line route.