Icw

What is a reasonable timeframe to move a boat via the ICW from Norfolk VA to Jacksonville FL. Cruising around 8-10 knots with 10 hr days. I would love to hear anyone's real world experience on this.

Thanks!!!

Will you be inside all the way down?

menzies said:

Will you be inside all the way down?

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Mostly. Might run outside from Hilton Head / Savanna to Jacksonville if the weather is nice.

There are no real slowdowns except the bridges between Morehead City and Wrightsville Beach.

Sure the current in the Waccamaw and Cape Fear will slow you down a bit, but not too bad if careful.

Other than that, it is just time speed distance.

The time underway is up to you.

without plotting it out, figure 7-10days. Depends a lot on whether you want to make a marina each day or you're going to do a solid 10hr and stop where ever that puts you.

Have done the trip several times. 10 days is doable if you cruise every day without issues. 14 days would be a more reasonable pace and allow for weather and tide issues. There are some spots were timing the tide or tidal current is important.

Ted

You can easily find how many miles it is. Convert that to nautical miles and then use your expected cruising speed and hours per day to figure it out.


Then figure in bridge delays, possible weather delays, fuel stops etc.

nobartoofar said:

Mostly. Might run outside from Hilton Head / Savanna to Jacksonville if the weather is nice.

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Exactly what I was going to suggest, cut that corner, plus avoid some skinny water around Jeykll Island. You will probably run Hilton head to St Simon's. Then St Simon's to Jax. Look at the Morningstar Marina in St Simon's for your stop.

We stayed at Shelter Cove in Hilton Head but there are a couple of places closer to the inlet than that.

See that part of my itinerary here.

Nine Days On The South East Coast | AtAnchor.com

Are you buying or delivering. Where in Jax are you headed for?

menzies said:

E
Are you buying or delivering. Where in Jax are you headed for?

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I am in the market to buy. I have been looking primarily in FL. I expanded my search and found some boats I am interested in further north. With my work schedule I have limited time so I wanted to know the time commitment to get the boat back to Jax. I am looking at keeping the boat at the Florida Yacht Club on the St. Johns River. However, I have not officially made up my mind. I wanted something more than just a marina. I have two kids and wanted a place that was active and family friendly.

BTW- You have a beautiful boat!

nobartoofar said:

What is a reasonable timeframe to move a boat via the ICW from Norfolk VA to Jacksonville FL. Cruising around 8-10 knots with 10 hr days. I would love to hear anyone's real world experience on this.

Thanks!!!

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It's what, around 670 miles if all travel is on the inside?

So 670 miles divided by a 5.75 mph/5 knots average speed gives you 116.5 hours.

Divide 116.5 hours by 10 hours gives you 11.6 days worse case, not including weather days or mechanical issues.

Nobody has suggested taking it in smaller bites. Travel 3-4 days, park the boat for a month or two. Wash - Rinse - Repeat

10 hour days get old pretty quick on the ICW IMO. I did that solo from FL to Texas-- wore me out.

planning the same trip later this month. 8 hour days max.weather and winds.

CPseudonym said:

Nobody has suggested taking it in smaller bites. Travel 3-4 days, park the boat for a month or two. Wash - Rinse - Repeat

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And I liked 5-hour days better. Less stress, a bit of time to see some sights along the way, etc. Easier on crew, more enjoyable all round. Lots of places en route to leave a boat temporarily.

-Chris

nobartoofar said:

. I am looking at keeping the boat at the Florida Yacht Club on the St. Johns River. However, I have not officially made up my mind. I wanted something more than just a marina. I have two kids and wanted a place that was active and family friendly.

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Check this marina out:

The Marina at Ortega Landing - Jacksonville Area Information

We stop there when we cruise up the St Johns River. It's one of the nicest marinas we've ever stayed at.

Day 1. Norfolk - Coinjock
Day 2. Coinjock - Dowry Creek
Day 3. Dowry Creek - Adams Creek
Day 4-5. Offshore overnight: Adams Creek - Charleston
Day 5-6. Offshore overnight: Charleston - St Johns River / Jacksonville

Adams Creek - Charleston is about 5-6 ICW day hops.
Charleston - St Johns River is about 3 offshore day hops or 4 ICW day hops.

You can obviously go much slower and probably enjoy it more.

I would be pretty hesitant to take a "new to me" used boat offshore overnight without some serious assurances that everything worked as it is supposed to and I knew everything that needed to be known about the boat.


Inside, on the ICW, you're never too far from help. Not so in the open ocean at night.


Personally, like others have suggested, I find ten hours to be a really long cruising day. It's not so bad if you have someone to take over for a few hours. When starting out on trips, we often cruise nine to ten hours on the first day because that takes us to good anchorages. After that, i's usually far less, five to seven hours, depending on where we want to stop.

If you do run inside, be aware that there are several very shallow places which may only be accessible for a portion of the tidal cycle. Have done itseveral times and twice this fall/winter. Most recently in a 56 foot x 6 foot trawler. We were held up by tide height in a couple of places. Also, the channels have shifted in some places and the USCG has moved the marks to reflect the new channels. You must have up to date charts.
In particular the following areas should be researched and understood before entering them. Active Captain is one good resource for up to date information. Where possible download the USACE surveys and plot their waypoints.
• Browns Inlet. Statute mile 237 see USACE tangents and waypoints
• Black Mud Channel sm 270 – In the process of being dredged right now
• Mason Inlet SM 280 see USACE tangents and waypoints
• Carolina Beach inlet sm 294 see USACE tangents and waypoints
• Lockwoods Folly sm 320 see USACE tangents and waypoints
• Shallotte inlet sm 330
• McClellanville reach sm 430 to 435
• Dawho River sm 497
• Ashepoo Coosaw cut off
• Hell Gate sm 602
• Little Mud River sm 654 to 656
• Jekyll Creek 682 to 684
• Cumberland Dividings sm 730
• South of Fernandina Beach sm 718
• Matanzas inlet 792 to 793

Thanks everyone for their info!

My first question would be what crew? Is it just you? One more? Two more? That plays a major role in my mind to how many hours a day. I see 10-14 days this time of year. You're dealing with short days and some cold. It was below 70 this morning even in Fort Lauderdale. lol. You're talking nights in the 40's in SC and even over the weekend some days in the 40's. This can impact how early you start and how late you run as well as the destinations you target. With those temperatures, I'd definitely be targeting a decent marina and many of the marinas will close early. Now, when you do it, the conditions may be opposite. Summer lends itself to 8 to 10 hour days.

I just completed the run 7 days ago delivering a 56 foot x16 x6 foot trawler that could average 8.2kt. (My second ICW trip in 2 months) It was 20 days. 3 days in boatyards. One full and two half days waiting for the tide cycle to align with our transits. This time of year the days are very short and the nights are cold. You will really appreciate being in a marina plugged in if the temps get into the 50s or lower. There are some stretches in GA and SC where the marinas are few and far between. This can sometimes mean you have to do a short 40 mile day to set you up for an 80 mile day between marinas which are 120 miles apart. .

Another winter delay can be frozen dock lines. That's fun to deal with. Get some rain and then cold front and the dang things are frozen to the cleats. Buckets of hot water from a tiny water heater that you left off all night.