Intercoastal Waterway Speed limits

Been down on my sailboat where the boat really can't faster than the slow speeds posted for no wake. So I never noticed if there are sections where you go significantly faster than 6kts, and if so, how fast, and roughly what % of the trip from say MD to FL can you do that?

Starting in NE it is about 1500 mi to MIA. On LI sound you can go fast, down the coast to Jersey you can go fast, but once you get inside, I know things change. So that leaves 1000 mi. In the fall bringing the boat down, we have maybe 10-11 hrs of moving time, so I made 60mi a day. If I could do 15kts, that would be 150 mi a day and make the trip significantly shorter.

Most of the actural posted speed limits only apply to OUTSIDE of the channel.

When traveling down the ICW in a sailboat you can really tell the the difference in the powerboats owner by ex-sailors that have experienced the power boat wakes back in their sailboat days from the others.

Probably 90% of the ICW from Md to Florida has no speed restrictions.

David

DavidM said:

Probably 90% of the ICW from Md to Florida has no speed restrictions.

David

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Thank you. That is exactly what I needed.

I concur that 90% of the ICW has a speed limit of around 25mph in the channel and no wake zones outside the channel due to Manatees. You need to be vigilant though. Last spring I found out quickly that the Manatees cannot read and are often in the channel.

I travel up and down between Norfolk and Stuart, FL every year. While you can do that trip at 6 knots in 2 weeks, it's brutal and long days. At 15 knots you won't half the time between bridges, lock(s), speed restricted zones, weather, and unexpected delays.

My guess would be about 10 days averaging about 8 hours each day.

Ted

PierreR said:

I concur that 90% of the ICW has a speed limit of around 25mph in the channel and no wake zones outside the channel due to Manatees. You need to be vigilant though. Last spring I found out quickly that the Manatees cannot read and are often in the channel.

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That's only in Fl that I know of for Manatee zones.

There are slow speed/no wKe in every state but usually only small areas.

That’s right. Outside FL manatees can read.
Seriously in Fl, every county has different manatee speed zones. You have to read every sign with binoculars. There’s lots of “Excepts” , “Including Channel” and “Excluding Channel” language that’s easy to mess up at cruise speed.

O C Diver said:

I travel up and down between Norfolk and Stuart, FL every year. While you can do that trip at 6 knots in 2 weeks, it's brutal and long days. At 15 knots you won't half the time between bridges, lock(s), speed restricted zones, weather, and unexpected delays.

My guess would be about 10 days averaging about 8 hours each day.

Ted

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Great info. So you think possibly 8 days if going 10 hours per day? That knocks a week off the trip from there, and from NE to Ches, could probably do it in 2-3 days rather than 5-6, so can probably knock off 10-12 days. Of course, the fuel burn at 15 rather than 7 is disproportionate but time equals money I guess.

jbinbi said:

Great info. So you think possibly 8 days if going 10 hours per day? .

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Possible - yes, probable - no. If you loose a day to weather, you don't have the days to make it up. If the waterway past Camp Lejeune is closed for live fire, you won't make that up. If any of the bridges are closed do to high winds, you're stuck. There are bays, sounds and inlets that you're not going to cross in high seas. Depending on the boat, there are sections you don't want to go through at extreme low tides. I certainly wouldn't plan a fast transit down the NJ coast, up the Delaware Bay, and down the Chesapeake Bay. I waited 9 days to get down the NJ coast in September because of weather.

Ted

10 hours a day, inside, can be boring and exhausting. 6-8 housrs is our max unless we are outside.

We took our boat down from Manasquan River NJ to West Palm Beach in October 2022 - we did it in 12 days with 2 days in Charleston SC and 2 days in Brunswick GA to visit family. We brought the boat home in May 2023 and it took 9 days but we were on a mission to get home and hit 3 days of weather that perhaps we should have sat instead of pushed on to finish.
Everything is weather and mechanically dependent - every time we got in trouble it was because we were on a schedule. If you have good weather and good luck you will be fine - but that should not be the plan. Leave yourself time for diversions either self imposed or otherwise.

Have done your trip several times starting/ending up in Naragansett bay. Several concerns beyond posted speed limits.
First debris in the water. Several sections at various times can be quite troublesome. So far mostly an issue in southern VA, NC and SC. Also can be an issue in the C&D canal.

Second is traffic. Particularly dredge and barge traffic. Also very small skiffs fishing, and various human powered craft. Lots of small fishing craft in the ICW from NC on down.

Third is the multiplicity of small inlets. No chart, waterway guide, or cruising Bob is accurate for depths. You slow down and pick your way.

Lastly is daylight. Cruising in the dark in the ICW is much more stressful as is finding a good place to anchor. You may pick a spot get there and find it full. So you generally want to have enough daylight to get to several other spots as well. Otherwise make reservations and stay in marinas which gets very costly quickly.

So we leave just before daybreak in the dark and follow our breadcrumbs out. Around 3–4pm start thinking about which of our preselected anchorages we will use. Have the anchor down, snubbers attached and dinner started just before dusk. Wake around 1 1/2 before daybreak and do it again. So think 8-10h of traveling time is very optimistic except in the late spring or summer. It’s spring and fall that traffic, full anchorages and debris is at its highest. It’s then daylight is limited and with the sun low on the horizon spotting troubles is more difficult.

It a very enjoyable trip if you take your time. It’s stressful if you push. Think it would be a shorter time if you went marina to marina but less enjoyable running above hull speed so needing more attention, not enjoying the sights as much, and burning fuel like crazy. We do take a slip periodically. Enjoy the local town, reprovision, do what laundry (bedding) the splendide can’t handle, have shore power and enjoy ourselves at a restaurant or sightseeing . Also nice to take a long hot shower and not worry about making water. Like mixing in getting off the ICW a bit into a beautiful anchorage and sitting for a day as well. But mostly put in a day then anchor and repeat as weather allows.

Even if there are areas of no speed limits on the ICW, you still need to or should, slow down when overtaking another boat, ie; slow pass. It’s a courtesy that some times gets ignored and when it does, the vhf radio comes alive about the offending boater.

As previously mentioned, daylight is short in the fall. I picked New Bern, NC as an example. In mid November, sunrise is at 6:41 and sunset is 5:04.

Agree w most people's thoughts. Just curious as I am considering moving from sail to power. Have done this trip on my cat, we average say 6kts, can push 7. (We are passing no one). It is a 1400 mi trip for us. At 50mi a day it is 28 days. At 75 mi a day, it shaves off a week. At 100mi a day, it is 2 weeks. A 100mi a day is 10-12kt average. We normally leave at first light and get the anchor down at sunset (not last light). Normally 3 of us, so taking turns trying to stay in the channel and leaving enough room for people to pass (it doesn't get boring and monotonous so need to pay attention). Only draw 3' so not that worried but you still need to pay attention...

Have gone from Bahamas to SC in straight shot but as we are all retirees, trying to do a 4 hour watch for just 3 days is too hard. Just as you get into it, you stop and those first 3 days are killer.

Larry M said:

Even if there are areas of no speed limits on the ICW, you still need to or should, slow down when overtaking another boat, ie; slow pass. It’s a courtesy that some times gets ignored and when it does, the vhf radio comes alive about the offending boater.

As previously mentioned, daylight is short in the fall. I picked New Bern, NC as an example. In mid November, sunrise is at 6:41 and sunset is 5:04.

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Yes. Don’t be THAT guy! “If your boat can’t handle my wake, that’s your problem!”. Quote from a 65’ Azmuit blowing through ICW near Wrightsville Beach.

If time is really important, run as fast as you want/can when you can and slow down in the no wake zones when you must. If necessary and weather permits, there are stretches that let you go outside without much time/distance penalty... weekends or snowbird traffic will mostly dictate.

When slower boats are in the way in big water give them wide berth and press on. When in tight waters and real issues with wake may be a problem, call the vessel if able...I for one hated slow passes at both ends and when trawlering I could coach many through a pass that didn't require slowing down and any wake that I wouldn't mind. You might get lucky and find someone who knows the drill or coaches you through whatever pass they would like.

As far as day length... I too tried to keep them to about 6 hours so 30-40 miles but some days I was looking at a stretch of open waters that I needed to get across before several days of wind picked up. So if I felt like it, I sometimes did longer days that stretched into Twighlight if necessary. More stressful? Guess that is determined by one's perception of risks.

When snowbird season, there are many comments/reports that describe the current status of waterway stretches that are notoriously bad. Not that believing everything you read on the net is smart...but read the reports and see how close they fir to your situation. If a person says they bumped once or twice at mid-tide in Georgia...and you are passing they at high tide and tides are 8 feet or so...your decision but me I wouldn't worry.

So making time is possible, delivery captains that carefully plan, do it all the time... but that's because they are paid to. However if you really feel to press, shaving time is easily done... making dumb decisions aren't the way to go though....have as much fun as you can and enjoy....when thing go wrong neither happens.

Here's a link to map/text explanations of the speed restrictions on the AICW in Florida.
Scroll down to the county by county listing. I understand this looks like a 'manatee' only kinda thing, but it does have all the info you'll need.
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/manatee/data-and-maps/

What surprised me as an ex-sailor were the many no-wake zones due to docks, bridges, launch ramps, marinas etc. Never paid attention when rag-bagging it. Even if no signs to slow down, I do near docks or anything that looks like it might be affected. ...we are, after all, responsible for our wake damage. In fact my idle speed (600 RPM) was apparently too much for some folks.

And then there are fast shoaling parts of the ICW that the charts do not reflect that you do not want to hit at speed. Especially in GA. We bopped along at 8.5 knots max which gave us plenty of time to hunt and peck the real channel in the every changing shifting ICW shoals.

Not to be a spelling maniac, but it’s INTRACOASTAL (within a coast) not INTERCOASTAL (between coasts).

The ICW is getting more and more houses putting up docks and these new homeowners will put out speed limit signs so it will help you to learn what the official signs look like.

I have 3 foot draft and there were some sections of the ICW where we bumped. It was a very dry year so I didn't have to worry about anything floating in the water but had to wait on high tide a couple of times. I went outside for all of NJ because of the problems others in front of me complaining about boats sitting in the channel and not moving when cruisers come by. Making for a white knuckle pass to keep moving.

Wakes are hard on banks. Much of the AICW is fortunately still not developed. It’s here we pay particular attention to our wake. Each boat is different. Seems to me I make more wake at 5kts than 7-8kts. Watching other SD hulls think this behavior isn’t uncommon when operating at displacement speeds. So we try to pick the speed that makes the least wake.
So far in the several ICW trips we’ve taken we’ve tried to match our speed to the surroundings. A bunch of floating docks will be more disturbed than fixed. If there are people on the docks or boats in the water our wake can cause more troubles. So try to be respectful of others.
Two things continue to truly piss me off. People occupying the channel unnecessarily. See this often with people fishing in small craft, people kayaking or on paddle boards. They refuse to move over a few feet to clear the channel as you approach not understanding you are draft restricted. I stay out of shipping channels whenever draft allows (95%+ of the time) and it’s no big deal. They can easily cast into a channel if fishing and there’s no reason a paddle board needs to be in a channel other than to quickly cross it if necessary.
The other thing is small skiffs and PWC on full throttle zipping around with total disregard. I’ve had them pass while we are crossing under a tight bridge with swirling current and entering or leaving a lock. Some have been inches away even when we’ve responded to give them room. It’s an accident waiting to happen. They don’t respect speed zones at all.
Same troubles with them when entering or leaving marinas or fuel docks.

DavidM said:

Probably 90% of the ICW from Md to Florida has no speed restrictions.

David

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This is the correct answer. Actually, it's probably closer to 95% until you actually enter Florida.

Osprey69 said:

What surprised me as an ex-sailor were the many no-wake zones due to docks, bridges, launch ramps, marinas etc.

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I think you will find that many of those "no-wake" zones are bogus signs put up by waterfront homeowners and can (and should) be ignored. Look for the official state logo on any no-wake sign or buoy.

Osprey69 said:

10 hours a day, inside, can be boring and exhausting. 6-8 housrs is our max unless we are outside.

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I agree that a 10-hour day is too much unless you're on a tight schedule and have a crew so you can do watch on-watch off. We did this trip 2 years ago, and we found that an 8-hour voyage per day is max. And that can be brutal depending on conditions, so we schedule for a 6-hour voyage per day, And that might turn into an 8 or even 9-hour day, depending on traffic, bridge openings, etc. Coming down the Dismal Swamp Canal, for instance, we found that the canal was unexpectedly CLOSED due to repair of a movable footbridge at the Dismal Swamp Nature Center. That cut our day short, but it was a pleasant stay at the Center.

In the narrower rivers on the ICW, there is often a 6 mph limit due to damage to the riverbanks. This is true on the section of the ICW in NC which is a narrow canal behind the barrier islands, and in most sections in SC such as the Waccamaw River.

Other issue in choosing duration is finding a good spot to spend the night. In places there’s a long segment between suitable places to anchor. Also not infrequently to get to a possible anchorage only to find it full.
We quit at least a couple of hours before sunset. That allows a decent interval to look for another place or a marina. Usually do the ICW with one to three stops in a marina because of needing a secure place to sleep. Have actually stopped sooner than usual so we can get pass sections of no anchorages or poor anchorages the next day in sunlight. Will run in the dark across bays but not in the ICW proper. So try to plan out the next two days not just the next one. Do have the advantage of being in a SD hull. Makes timing bridges/locks much easier. Don’t have a fixed daily running time. Rather what’s possible and safe.

Hippocampus said:

Other issue in choosing duration is finding a good spot to spend the night. In places there’s a long segment between suitable places to anchor. Also not infrequently to get to a possible anchorage only to find it full.
We quit at least a couple of hours before sunset. That allows a decent interval to look for another place or a marina.

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Good advice. We kept a notebook at the helm which had a list of destinations for the next few days with pertinent info including name of marina with navigation data (such as nearby buoy, land or seamarks, phone number, hours, etc), or the name of anchorage with navigation data, etc. That way if we were running late (common) or ahead if schedule (rare!) we had a list of places to choose from. Also, on our voyage on the ICW down from upstate NY we encountered several situations where a marina was unexpectedly closed or an anchorage unavailable (we encountered cadets from Annapolis training on YP vessels), but with the handy list we always had a fall-back plan. I also kept a list of snug harbors along the way to shelter from a storm if need be. We snuck into one of these in the Chesapeake when the weather turned very nasty. So my advice, as others have said, is to expect the unexpected and prepare for it. I’m definitely a belt-and-suspenders sailor!

In Ft Ladeda area I couldn't run both engines without getting yelled at for excess in the Manatee areas. I actually had to run single engine and drop in and outta gear. That was a little much but that's what they wanted. Was a 70fter but musta looked like we were really moving.