Crew Wanted: St Augustine to Norfolk

[KelseyB]

Looking for one or two crew to help me move my 30-foot boat north from St Augustine to Norfolk, or for part of the trip. Currently on the hard in St Augustine finishing up a repair, hopefully relaunching next week (the week of April 5th). Planning on taking the ICW all or most of the way, but considering an offshore hop or two.

I'm a college student and solo woman, so women and college-aged (or close to it) preferred; I'm open to those who may still be learning or who want to learn more about cruising/keelboats, just having the extra able hand is super helpful.

I can afford to cover groceries and don't expect help with slip fees or fuel, but likely can't afford to help pay for any travel. PM me if interested!

[MicHughV]

Just be aware that a trip up the ICW from St. A to Norfolk is likely to take a month...or more..and that is traveling 10-12 hours a day. Some people do run the ICW at night, but I don't recommend this.
Forget about sailing the ICW, you will be motoring every inch of the way.
Be sure to have plenty of spare diesel containers.
The tides in Georgia can vary from 7' to 10'...some of those tides have extremely powerful current.

Learn to look behind you as well as in front to ensure you stay " centered" in a channel. Don't just depend on the magenta line on your chartplotter, be vigil.

Somewhere along the way, you will likely run aground, so have a plan in mind. Running aground in Georgia may mean you'll be stuck there all day. There is a lot of barge traffic on the ICW, they like to stay in the deep water, which means you'll need to move to the side.

Plan each day's run on where you plan to stop....whether it's a marina or anchorage.

Get the ICW guidebook, which lists marina's, anchorages, etc. ie, some days you might be able to cover a lot of distance, other day's not so much. I don't know your cruising speed, but knowing where you will stop every night is good planning. The ICW has some known shoal areas, so crossing these with a deep keel, could be problematic, keeping an eye on tide and tidal ranges is key.

There are some interesting spots to visit along the ICW, which may prompt you to stay longer.

Not sure you will find crew for the entire month, so may have to plan on " shifts".

Most definitely get a Towboat or Boat US towing membership before departure.

Well, I'm not a candidate for your " crew" requirements, but thought I would throw that out there..

Offshore hops also take planning. St. A to Brunswick, would be one, don't think you can do it in one day, but maybe, if you left early enough. There are some others, but typically require an overnighter.

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Just be aware that a trip up the ICW from St. A to Norfolk is likely to take a month...or more..and that is traveling 10-12 hours a day. Some people do run the ICW at night, but I don't recommend this.
Forget about sailing the ICW, you will be motoring every inch of the way.
Be sure to have plenty of spare diesel containers.
The tides in Georgia can vary from 7' to 10'...some of those tides have extremely powerful current.

Learn to look behind you as well as in front to ensure you stay " centered" in a channel. Don't just depend on the magenta line on your chartplotter, be vigil.

Somewhere along the way, you will likely run aground, so have a plan in mind. Running aground in Georgia may mean you'll be stuck there all day. There is a lot of barge traffic on the ICW, they like to stay in the deep water, which means you'll need to move to the side.

Plan each day's run on where you plan to stop....whether it's a marina or anchorage.

Get the ICW guidebook, which lists marina's, anchorages, etc. ie, some days you might be able to cover a lot of distance, other day's not so much. I don't know your cruising speed, but knowing where you will stop every night is good planning. The ICW has some known shoal areas, so crossing these with a deep keel, could be problematic, keeping an eye on tide and tidal ranges is key.

There are some interesting spots to visit along the ICW, which may prompt you to stay longer.

Not sure you will find crew for the entire month, so may have to plan on " shifts".

Most definitely get a Towboat or Boat US towing membership before departure.

Well, I'm not a candidate for your " crew" requirements, but thought I would throw that out there..

Offshore hops also take planning. St. A to Brunswick, would be one, don't think you can do it in one day, but maybe, if you left early enough. There are some others, but typically require an overnighter.

Yep, just did the ICW southbound from Annapolis to New Smyrna with part of it solo, starting in January with little daylight, and if I had not taken the breaks that I took it would have been a month. I've already got my running aground, my calling a towboat, my coming in after dark, etc experiences

[MicHughV]

well, good on ya.....

this time of the year, there are usually quite a few boats headed north...might be an opportunity to join some other northbound boats....

but doing this solo is a very tedious and demanding trip....

not sure where to point you in trying to find some lady crew......you could try posting on a message board at the St.A City Marina....or local West Marine stores, or even Comanche Cove....not sure where you are hauled out....

St. A has an Art School, Flagler College, in the heart of downtown, another place to post, many young students go there....that might be your best bet....

Can't think of any other places of the top of my head....

[leandroflaherty]

I would suggest waiting for the perfect weather window and sailing coastal to Charleston, its a super safe and easy entrance to the harbor and once in you can anchor and wait for the next weather window. From there I would sail straight to Beaufort. With two people you can sail round the clock. Then once inside Beaufort its easy and pleasant motoring up the ICW till you hit Norfolk. The only sketchy part is before Beaufort you round cape fear, which is fine in calm conditions, but it does push you close to the gulf stream so respect it. You could go inside right before Cape Fear and motor the rest to Beaufort in the icw. Fair winds!

[dougweibel]

A month. Wow. I've done the trip five times, including trips during short daylight months, with the longest being two weeks. No doubt you could have bad luck with weather and it could take a month but if you will anchor out and use all available daylight then you'd have to have pretty bad luck to come out near a month.

Make the most of every day. Anchor up before sunrise, as soon as you have enough light to navigate. When you get into the afternoon start planning where to anchor. Figure out how far you can go in the available daylight and then look at anchorage possibilities. Active Captain is pretty helpful for that on the ICW.

If you want to do the trip as fast as possible plan to burn plenty of fuel. Get jerry cans and a siphon setup to transfer fuel while underway. Getting at least one person for crew will be a huge help. I did the trip this past May with a guy who was working full time on the boat so I was at the helm nearly the whole trip, but having someone else who can take the wheel occasionally and who can make you a sandwich makes a huge difference.

[MicHughV]

everything depends on the speed you can motor at all day...a 30' sailboat....probably 5 knots or thereabouts..my guess would be 30 days at that speed, given all the other variables...

I did it once, and swore I would never do it again...mind you, had to contend with a lot of drawbridges in my day..

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by KelseyB

Looking for one or two crew to help me move my 30-foot boat north from St Augustine to Norfolk, or for part of the trip. Currently on the hard in St Augustine finishing up a repair, hopefully relaunching next week (the week of April 5th). Planning on taking the ICW all or most of the way, but considering an offshore hop or two.

I'm a college student and solo woman, so women and college-aged (or close to it) preferred; I'm open to those who may still be learning or who want to learn more about cruising/keelboats, just having the extra able hand is super helpful.

I can afford to cover groceries and don't expect help with slip fees or fuel, but likely can't afford to help pay for any travel. PM me if interested!

Just curious, with a 31' boat and three crew, why wouldn't you just hop on the Gulf Stream north? You wouldn't need near as much fuel and you'd have plenty of crew for a 24 hour watch schedule. Drinking water could be an issue but that's why they make jerry cans. Thumbs up for not expecting the crew to partially finance your venture. Even novices can be quite useful on an offshore passage (as long as they're sober and don't get sea sick) and you know your boat. For groceries, don't forget the Cup O' Noodles, My dog likes the shrimp ones the best (probably because they're kind of stinky) but they're super lightweight and you can use the cups for drinking out of later.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by KelseyB

Looking for one or two crew to help me move my 30-foot boat north from St Augustine to Norfolk, or for part of the trip. Currently on the hard in St Augustine finishing up a repair, hopefully relaunching next week (the week of April 5th). Planning on taking the ICW all or most of the way, but considering an offshore hop or two.

I'm a college student and solo woman, so women and college-aged (or close to it) preferred; I'm open to those who may still be learning or who want to learn more about cruising/keelboats, just having the extra able hand is super helpful.

I can afford to cover groceries and don't expect help with slip fees or fuel, but likely can't afford to help pay for any travel. PM me if interested!

Got a 30yr old woman that may be interested for you, Kelsey. Check DMs for her contact info.

[Hudson Force]

Although I don't have any crew suggestions, my wife and I poked about this route more than two dozen times from 1972 to 2017. If you have any questions about inlets, anchorages, route options, shoaling trouble-spots, etc. send me a PM. We're nearby in Green Cove Springs.

[malyea]

Lots of lady sailors here in the Ancient City, maybe this will help -

https://www.staugustinesailingsisters.com/

[malyea]

And maybe -

[Swimmingbird]

Wow! So much great feed back here!!! Especially from Mic!
What a great group~
I am also very curious as to why any one would motor in the “ditch” for a month when you could ride a SW to Beaufort or Ocracoke in few days? Although respectfully, I realize it’s none of my business!

[Enfant Du Vent]

Ahoy Swimmingbird:


Why the ditch?

If you read through some of KelseyB's other threads you'll learn she has only been outside / offshore once. And she seems smart enough to not try it without an experienced crew member along on the passage.

[HFWK]

Gee, it seems it was just a few months ago you were asking for help getting your boat south. I hope your trip coming back north is safe and uneventful.