Jack: You’ll make much, much better time staying outside once you reach Florida. Especially from the Treasure Coast on south, there are endless drawbridges.
As a longtime East Coast of Florida sailor, I’ve never understood the attraction of motoring down the ICW. As long as you stay inside during major fronts, you won’t have any problems on the outside. With a crew of five, you should eat up 150 miles a day easy sailing/motoring in the ocean as opposed to maybe 50 on the inside. As the Gulfstream gets closer to shore, say West Palm, stay in about 40 or 50 feet of water to avoid the northbound current. Avoid the smaller inlets; they’re treacherous. You want to use the same ports as the big ships. Prevailing winds are east/southeast with occasional souths. On a normal day, beating or motorsailing into the wind is not a problem along the coast. Also, I don’t know what your air draft is, but I suspect it is substantial. Sixty-five feet is the max for fixed bridges on the ICW, and there are a couple of 55-footers, including one close to downtown Miami. Your five-foot draft should make it through most of the Intracoastal in Florida, although that might not be the case in Georgia and some points north, according to accounts I’ve read. With a 5-foot draft, you should at least think about cutting the corner by picking up the Yacht Channel at Marathon and going 45 miles across Florida Bay as opposed to a couple of hundred miles to Key West and back. Hawk’s Channel on the Atlantic side is the safe way to go in the Keys with a big boat, but it’s difficult to sail at night due to all of the coral reefs. Your draft will work on the Intracoastal (Gulf side) in the Keys at least as far as Marathon, as long as you accept the possibility of a soft grounding in random spots where shoaling has happened. (Buy a Towboat US card.) Gulf side has many more anchorages and tiki bars, big pluses in my book. Sounds like a fun trip. Good luck. Jack Brennan Former C&C 25 Shanachie, 1974 Bristol 30 Tierra Verde, Fl. From: Jack McCall via CnC-List Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2014 9:18 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Stus-List NEW OWNER OF POP'AYE, 41 FT C & C,SHOAL DRAFT WTIH CENTERBOARD Hello, My name is Jack McCall and I just purchased POP'AYE a C & C 41 with shoal draft keel and centerboard. The boat is currently on its cradle at Gregory's Marina, Detroit, Michigan. Next week I will fly up to Detroit and with my five man crew we plan to sail the boat down to Venice, Florida where I currently live. We plan to cross Lake Erie and take the Erie Canal to the Hudson river. Sail down the Hudson River out New York Harbor and then down the East Coast to Norfolk, VA where we will enter the ICW (Inter-Coastal-Waterway) which we will follow all the way to South Florida. Next will be outside down to Key West and then around and up the West Coast of Florida to her new dock in Venice, Florida. Has anyone out there made this trip in a C & C ??? I can use all the advice and tips anyone might offer. Experience with laying the mast down and securing it on deck for the transit of the Erie Canal is our first challenge. There are several marinas at both ends of the canal which have jib cranes to assist in the take down and stand up but I could use some advice as to the type of stands we should make to carry the mast on deck. Any advice as to retuning the rig when we stand it back up would be appreciated. I cannot find any tuning specifications and/or tips for the C & C 41. I have acquired several cruising guides for the ICW but first had knowledge is always the best. Plan to be in the water by May 15 and then off to Florida by May 19. I will try to post some reports as our trip progresses. Aye for now, Jack McCall -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com
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