Wayne.B wrote:
Not a hypothetical question for me since I'm going to face that choice
in late May when we take our trawler north for the summer.

There are lots of options but going ICW all the way is slow.

... Hopefully
we'll have better weather then, but the Gulf Stream is always a big
question mark for weather and seas. I'm figuring it will take 2 1/2
days offshore from Ft Pierce to Beaufort but am planning some
alternative ports like St Mary's, Charlotte or Savannah in case
weather deteriorates unexpectedly.

If you go out to the middle of the Gulf Stream looking for favorable
current, or follow a rhumb line all the way, you end up about 120 miles
out which is too far IMHO for weather contingincies.

... We might be looking for crew if
you're interested.


Thank you, I'm definitely interested but not sure I'll be able to take
the time off. Please keep me in mind!

Rosalie B. wrote:
We are not constrained by time, and last year we did a much larger
number of offshore hops because Bob is bored of the ICW. I always
make him convince me it is safe to go, although I make up my own mind
based on weather forecasts etc.

That sounds like a good decision method.

... The one time I let him convince me
against my better judgment we had a horrible time.


But I bet it was a learning experience

Anyway, we always (after the first time) go offshore from Miami (we
always stop in Miami because we have grandchildren there) to Ft.
Pierce. Hate all the bridges that we get into otherwise.

That's one of the places, like New Jersey, where it's just an exercise
in masochism to try and run the ICW.


We usually go inside from Ft Pierce and up the Indian River anchoring
around Melbourne, Titusville, Daytona, St. Augustine, and Fernandina
or St. Mary's. That's 5 days.


And still a relatively pretty stretch o' country IMHO

We've also gotten into the habit of doing offshore from the St. Mary's
River to Charleston. That way we avoid all the tides in Georgia. We
have more grandchildren in the Charleston area.


Oh c'mon! Sure the tides are big but this is the least developed and
prettiest part of the whole coast? There are zillions of beautiful
anchorages, rivers & creeks to explore... heck we could spend months
cruising Georgia and SC!

And on the way back this time we also went from Charleston to the Cape
Fear River and that worked out pretty well, although we missed
Georgetown and the Waccamaw which are very pretty. But OTOH we also
missed the rockpile and the pontoon bridge and a lot of shoaling.


True. Ever made the side trip up the Waccamaw to Conway?

The problem as I see it, making inlet to inlet hops, is that sooner or
later you're bound to hit an inlet on the wrong tide with something ugly
brewing... poor visibility, offshore breeze against ebbing tide, sudden
T-storm, etc etc. I'd rather do a slightly longer hop & overnight, then
rest up at anchor if need be. You still save a few days.


When we came up the Cape Fear River, we went in to Southport, but
moved the next day to Masonboro to rest up.

I can't make up my mind if going out around Cape Fear is better than the
river & Snow's Cut. If the tide is against you there, it's long uphill
battle.

... I suggested that we go
out Masonboro and come in at Beaufort as a day trip, but he vetoed the
idea and then we promptly ran aground which REALLY irritated him (we
were right in the middle of the channel). It would probably have been
a better idea to do that.


That's a shallow boring stretch anyway, and the bridges are a big PITA.
A bonus is that you can overnight at Lookout Bight, one of my favorite
places (when it's not too crowded). I've plotted doing Beaufort to
Little River as an overnight, saving 1 day or so.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King