My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that a) the ICW has shoaled so that
you can't use it anymore, particularly in GA and thus not from the
hurricane and b) that no one is allowed to anchor in the Dry Tortugas
anymore. I'm pretty sure my SIL went down there fairly recently.

What does anyone else know about this. Particularly

ICW in Norfolk
Dismal Swamp (which I've been told the Corps of Engineers is working
on)
Elizabeth City Docks
Alligator River
Belhaven
Oriental
Beaufort NC and Bogue Sound area

As a result, he is determined that we should go outside from
Charleston to Florida. I'm not very happy about doing that. I can
manage up to 18-22 hours, but not longer because we don't handle
sleeping in shifts well (him more than me) and I feel that our
judgements (both of us) will be impaired if we are short of sleep.
And I think it will take us longer than that to go from Charleston to
the St. Mary's River (just the ocean part is 145 nm, not counting
going out and coming in).

I've suggested instead Port Royal to St. Simons, which from marina to
marina is about 110 nm. and I think we could do that starting during
one day and arriving the next day.


grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. wrote:

... [my husband] ...
... is determined that we should go outside from
Charleston to Florida. I'm not very happy about doing that. I can
manage up to 18-22 hours, but not longer because we don't handle
sleeping in shifts well ... and I feel that our
judgements (both of us) will be impaired if we are short of sleep.
And I think it will take us longer than that to go from Charleston
to the St. Mary's River (just the ocean part is 145 nm, not counting
going out and coming in).

It definitely _will_ take more than 22 hours (depending of course on
conditions and how you like to run), but by and large this is not such a
tough run in average conditions. The prevailing wind is unfavorable, but
quite often it doesn't "prevail" on this stretch. I've run it both ways and
the only times (actually twice) I've had a little too much "fun" was
north-bound with a big following sea on the approach to Charleston harbor,
with commercial traffic thrown into the mix..

Going south you can take a short cut through the Charleston south jetty and
save 3 or 4 miles. Look on your chart and be advised that it's quite deep
through the cut, but still probably worth running during daylight.
Otherwise Saint Mary's inlet is easy. I like to make the approach from well
offshore, but that's just my own preference. I am not an expert on the
passes along the GA coast, but many of them are tricky and very
weather-dependent, so one cannot always count on an easy (or even safe) exit
or entry.

If you are at all concerned about the GA stretch inside, then you will find
big help from the tides through GA (as I am sure you already know). As an
aside, it's often easy to find shoaling just below Fernandina on the inside
route, so it really may not make much of a difference in either case.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com

We noticed no serious shoaling in GA when we came north
last April. We did run aground crossing the Savannah River,
but that was due to an exceptionally low tide due to a spring
tide. Channel was plenty deep just a few yards from where we
bumped. No real problems anywhere else.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...

My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that a) the ICW has shoaled so that
you can't use it anymore, particularly in GA and thus not from the
hurricane and b) that no one is allowed to anchor in the Dry Tortugas
anymore. I'm pretty sure my SIL went down there fairly recently.

What does anyone else know about this. Particularly

ICW in Norfolk
Dismal Swamp (which I've been told the Corps of Engineers is working
on)
Elizabeth City Docks
Alligator River
Belhaven
Oriental
Beaufort NC and Bogue Sound area

As a result, he is determined that we should go outside from
Charleston to Florida. I'm not very happy about doing that. I can
manage up to 18-22 hours, but not longer because we don't handle
sleeping in shifts well (him more than me) and I feel that our
judgements (both of us) will be impaired if we are short of sleep.
And I think it will take us longer than that to go from Charleston to
the St. Mary's River (just the ocean part is 145 nm, not counting
going out and coming in).

I've suggested instead Port Royal to St. Simons, which from marina to
marina is about 110 nm. and I think we could do that starting during
one day and arriving the next day.


grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. wrote in message news:...


My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that
b) that no one is allowed to anchor in the Dry Tortugas
anymore.


somebody says something that somebody heard that somebody repeated and
the next thing you know nobody is allowed to anchor in the Dry
Tortugas anymore !

I think the true context has been lost, but in a nutshell there are a
few teensy-tiny grains of truth,

there is no anchoring in the reserves as described he

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/cruising...tugas2001.html

in addition vessels Staying overnight are required to anchor within 1
mile of Garden Key...(no anchoring off Loggerhead for the night.)

Port Royal Sea Buoy to St Augustine is about 30 hrs sea buoy to sea buoy.
I can't think of the mileage at the moment, but have had several friends do it
in that time. I know my next trip south, I will go at least to Fernandina
(St Mary's River) outside.

Leanne
S/V Fundy
Port Royal, SC

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...

My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that a) the ICW has shoaled so that
you can't use it anymore, particularly in GA and thus not from the
hurricane and b) that no one is allowed to anchor in the Dry Tortugas
anymore. I'm pretty sure my SIL went down there fairly recently.

What does anyone else know about this. Particularly

ICW in Norfolk
Dismal Swamp (which I've been told the Corps of Engineers is working
on)
Elizabeth City Docks
Alligator River
Belhaven
Oriental
Beaufort NC and Bogue Sound area

As a result, he is determined that we should go outside from
Charleston to Florida. I'm not very happy about doing that. I can
manage up to 18-22 hours, but not longer because we don't handle
sleeping in shifts well (him more than me) and I feel that our
judgements (both of us) will be impaired if we are short of sleep.
And I think it will take us longer than that to go from Charleston to
the St. Mary's River (just the ocean part is 145 nm, not counting
going out and coming in).

I've suggested instead Port Royal to St. Simons, which from marina to
marina is about 110 nm. and I think we could do that starting during
one day and arriving the next day.


grandma Rosalie

Subject: ICW and Dry Tortugas
From: Rosalie B.

My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that a) the ICW has shoaled so that
you can't use it anymore, particularly in GA and thus not from the
hurricane and b) that no one is allowed to anchor in the Dry Tortugas
anymore. I'm pretty sure my SIL went down there fairly recently.


I have read that they are clearing out the ICW around the Dismal Swamp area.
Don't recall the time frame. I would call the Army Corps if I was you. And you
can still anchor in the Try Tortugas. But only in designated areas.


I've suggested instead Port Royal to St.
Simons, which from marina to
marina is about 110 nm. and I think we could do that starting during
one day and arriving the next day.


I like your plan. :-)

Capt. Bill

x-no-archive:yes
(Roy G. Biv) wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote in message news:...


My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that
b) that no one is allowed to anchor in the Dry Tortugas
anymore.


somebody says something that somebody heard that somebody repeated and
the next thing you know nobody is allowed to anchor in the Dry
Tortugas anymore !

Yes I know - and I'm pretty sure this guy hasn't been out of the
Chesapeake. I know my SIL anchored there last spring and they also
did some fishing. They came back because one of the guys got a
fish-hook in his leg and they didn't want to deal with that.

I finally went to the National Park website and looked to see what it
said. It said no CAMPING until further notice, and there is now an
admission fee of $5.00/person and basically that there was no
overnight anchoring except in some designated place, which I hadn't
looked up on the chart. I guess that's the normal anchorage south of
the fort.

I think the true context has been lost, but in a nutshell there are a
few teensy-tiny grains of truth,

there is no anchoring in the reserves as described he

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/cruising...tugas2001.html

in addition vessels Staying overnight are required to anchor within 1
mile of Garden Key...(no anchoring off Loggerhead for the night.)

grandma Rosalie

Last November we went outside from Port Royal (Beaufort SC) to St Marys
inlet and skipped past Georgia. It was a decent 24+ hour overnight. In the
spring we came up the ICW thru Georgia. Didn't want to miss Cumberland,
Savannah, Jekyll, etc. Also found St Marys, and Kilkenny Creek Marina to be
nice spots (..is that where they killed Kenny?). The week we spent there we
had the tide with us. Without the tide, we would have bumped more than once.
We draw 6'. In the spring with the longer days it's easier to catch the tide
than in the fall.

We bumped something hard in the Dismal swamp canal one time going each way.
Probably a log. The Dismal Swamp depth is a function of rain and dredging
operations. Mostly rain We also bumped in New Smyrna FL, and at a couple of
NC inlets. And finding creek entrances a couple of times. And a couple of
times we strayed from the ICW channel. And a couple of times in the
Chesapeake creeks. For all the gory details check out our trip web site at
http://www.djerickson.com

It was a wonderful trip and we loved it, bumps and all.

Dave Erickson
Apache 37 "Second Sojourn"



We went outside
"Leanne" wrote in message
...
Port Royal Sea Buoy to St Augustine is about 30 hrs sea buoy to sea buoy.
I can't think of the mileage at the moment, but have had several friends
do it
in that time. I know my next trip south, I will go at least to Fernandina
(St Mary's River) outside.

Leanne
S/V Fundy
Port Royal, SC

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...

My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that a) the ICW has shoaled so that
you can't use it anymore, particularly in GA and thus not from the
hurricane and b) that no one is allowed to anchor in the Dry Tortugas
anymore. I'm pretty sure my SIL went down there fairly recently.

What does anyone else know about this. Particularly

ICW in Norfolk
Dismal Swamp (which I've been told the Corps of Engineers is working
on)
Elizabeth City Docks
Alligator River
Belhaven
Oriental
Beaufort NC and Bogue Sound area

As a result, he is determined that we should go outside from
Charleston to Florida. I'm not very happy about doing that. I can
manage up to 18-22 hours, but not longer because we don't handle
sleeping in shifts well (him more than me) and I feel that our
judgements (both of us) will be impaired if we are short of sleep.
And I think it will take us longer than that to go from Charleston to
the St. Mary's River (just the ocean part is 145 nm, not counting
going out and coming in).

I've suggested instead Port Royal to St. Simons, which from marina to
marina is about 110 nm. and I think we could do that starting during
one day and arriving the next day.


grandma Rosalie

"Rosalie B." wrote:

My husband came back from the marina and said the guy who used to be
across the dock from us told him that a) the ICW has shoaled so that
you can't use it anymore, particularly in GA and thus not from the
hurricane

The Dismal Swamp Canal is closed 'until further notice' but the Corp is
working on it pretty hard right now. They should have it open any day
now.

There is severe shoaling in the Alligator / Pungo canal. The worst spot
is at the south end, just east of the Hwy 264 bridge. A private
contractor is working on dredging it, and the dredge blocks most of the
canal. We saw depths of 4 feet going through it last week, and at least
two large motorboats got stuck & bent props going through that same
morning.

Elizabeth City, Belhaven, and Oriental were all pretty badly damaged. I
don't know how long it will take to get back to normal. The Bogue Sound
part of the ICW was shallow before the hurricane, how much worse could it
get?

Between Maryland and the Neuse River, we saw a lot of missing markers &
markers that had their lights and/or placards torn off. We also saw a LOT
of dangerous debris in the water, stuff like big pieces of trees, docks,
or houses, that *would* cause a problem if you hit it. But by now it's
probably thinned out.

Further south, I can't imagine too much shoaling. Most of lower SC and
Georgia are tidal channels anyway. They might shift but with the volume
of water that has to move, there has to be a channel somewhere.....

Fresh Breezes- Doug King