ICW
Sailing The Great Dismal Swamp Canal
They said it couldn’t be done, but damn it, we did it! We sailed the Great Dismal Swamp Canal, in light winds, no less. Everyone else just motors. Like many other cruisers, I have also transited the canal twice under power and can tell you from personal experience that none of ...read more
How Risky is the ICW with Covid-19?
Being a cruising sailor, one is already practicing a kind of social distancing. But coastal cruisers, and those transiting the Intracoastal Waterway, in particular, still have to return to land for re-provisioning and things like water, fuel, and pump-outs. When you dock in a ...read more
Cruising: a Long Haul North
There are many mantras experienced cruisers like to pass on to those less experienced. First and foremost among these is: “Never sail to a schedule.” After that comes: “Choose your weather window carefully.” Unfortunately, this past spring, my husband, Brian, and I violated both ...read more
Charter: Florida's Gulf Coast
Last summer, I was delighted to be invited to join two of my girlfriends on a sailing trip—my third, no less! This trip would surely herald my promotion from nautical novice to savvy seafaring expert. I was to join them on a charter in Southwest Florida and sail along the ...read more
ICW: The Magenta Line
The magenta line was first added to charts in 1913. It was created to aid commercial navigation up and down the East Coast and around the Gulf Coast. To aid pilots running through the convoluted mix of waterways, a magenta colored line was drawn on the charts to indicate which ...read more
What’s Better than “Half Tide Rising” on the ICW?
Travel on the ICW is made simpler if you follow the mantra “half tide rising”. If you are headed towards and planning to transit one of the infamous ICW “trouble spots,” the advice is: enter the area on a rising tide and exit the area before the tide starts to drop precipitously. ...read more
Inside or Outside When Sailing the ICW
Last April, my wife, Marjorie, and I decided to take our Tartan 4100, Meri, north to Maryland from her winter home in Hobe Sound, Florida. This, in turn, meant deciding whether to stay in the “Ditch” for the duration or go offshore part of the way. Although we had both been ...read more
ICW: New Route for Dawho Creek
Dawho Creek STM 495 has been a growing area of concern. It has shoaled to less than 6 feet at MLLW and you do not have to be far of course to see less than 5 feet. There are USACE surveys through Dawho Creek from the fall of 2017. They show a deep-water route to the north of the ...read more
ICW: Ramshorn through Watts Cut
13. Ramshorn Creek STM 570 As you pass G39 and R40 there are reports of shoaling near the red. It is recommended that you stay on the green side if your draft is over 6 feet. On our track on the green side, we saw 7.3 feet MLLW. A deep draft sailboat with us was too close to the ...read more
Updates the ICW: Hell Gate
12. Hell Gate STM 602 The very name of this short ¾ mile stretch of the ICW strikes fear into the hearts of many cruisers. It needn’t. While at 3’7” it is the shallowest section of the ICW we have seen, with 7 to 8 feet of tidal range, it is very easy to plan your transit with ...read more
Updates: The ICW North Bound
2018 ICW Southern GA, STM 684 to STM 640 Note: We use Navionics Sonar Charts in parallel with our chart plotter for navigating the ICW. They are another tool to have at your navigation station, they are pretty accurate, and much more detailed and accurate bathymetry than NOAA or ...read more
The ICW North Bound Migration Begins
As the northbound migration begins, we are getting some early reports on conditions along the ICW. The overall impression this spring is that after the damages caused by the hurricanes, the winter storms have apparently not made too many additional changes. There is even some ...read more
How to Access up-to-date Information on the ICW
The ICW trouble spots develop anywhere an inlet or river crosses the ICW. At every change of the current, sand moves into and out of the ICW channel. Most of the changes are gradual. Whether gradual, or cataclysmic due to passing storms, you do want to have up to date ...read more
Known Trouble Spots Along the ICW
Whether you are in the planning stages for a southbound ICW cruise in 2018 or you are looking at a northbound trip this spring, it is important to know where the shallow spots are along the ICW. It is wise to mark your charts and familiarize yourself with these so that you are ...read more
Navigating the Atlantic ICW Southbound 2017
After hurricane Irma bashed through Florida and the southeastern coast of Georgia and South Carolina, significant damage to infrastructure has been reported. Damage to marinas and other facilities is relatively easy to see and report. There are several resources to track the ...read more
Classic Boats Gather on the ICW
A decade ago, here in the pages of SAIL, I wrote of my experiences with the inaugural Classic Boat Rally fleet as it sailed along the Intracoastal Waterway from Savannah, Georgia, to Charleston, South Carolina. It was a six-day cruise that led the boats through some of the ...read more
Cruisers Head Down the ICW with the SAIL Snowbird Rally
As far as fleets go, the collection of boats that greeted me as I motored into Hampton, Virginia, in late October was as varied as they come: sloops, cutters, catamarans, a trawler and even a trailer-sailer, all geared up and ready for an adventure. I had brought our Norlin 34, ...read more
SouthBound with the Snowbirds: South Carolina
“In a cold world you need your friends to keep you warm.” Recognize that line? It was used to promote the 1983 film The Big Chill, which ultimately spawned the hit TV series Thirtysomething. That movie, made even more famous by its soundtrack, was filmed only a few blocks from ...read more
South Bound with the Snowbirds: North Carolina
South Bound with the Snowbirds: In my mind I’ve gone to (north) Carolina Cruising guide authors Mark and Diana Doyle, co-leaders of the upcoming SAIL Magazine Snowbird Rally, continue their eight-part tour of the Intracoastal Waterway. In this third installment they highlight ...read more
The ICW: A Sailor’s Paradise
Yes, you read that right! The Intracoastal Waterway is indeed a sailor’s paradise. Last October we left Hampton VA as part of SAIL’s ICW Snowbird Rally, and didn’t refuel until we hit New Smyrna, Florida. That’s a long, long way and we made 80 percent of the journey under sail. ...read more
ICW Snowbird Rally: Dismal Swamp Canal
Cruising guide authors Mark and Diana Doyle, co-leaders of the upcoming SAIL Magazine Snowbird Rally, continue their eight-part tour of the Intracoastal Waterway. In this second installment they describe one of their favorite runs, the Great Dismal Swamp. Since the ICW south ...read more
Planning, Preparation and Practice on a Long Coastal Cruise
Like many sailors, my wife, Cristina, and I cruise our local waters on the Chesapeake every chance we get. Like many sailors we have also long dreamed how wonderful it would be to one day just keep on going and not return to the marina on Sunday—that someday we would be able to ...read more
Meet ICW Seminar Speakers Paul & Sheryl Shard
Paul & Sheryl Shard, cruisers extraordinaire As producers of the award-winning “Distant Shores” TV series, Paul and Sheryl Shard have cruised more than 100,000 miles around the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean seas. Not only are they highly experienced cruisers with a ...read more
Southbound with the Snowbirds
Cruising guide authors Mark and Diana Doyle, co-leaders of the upcoming SAIL Magazine Snowbird Rally, take us on an eight-part tour of the Intracoastal Waterway. In their first installment, they begin in Hampton Roads and transit Virginia Cut (Route 1) to the sounds of North ...read more
ICW Hotspot: River Dunes, NC
Paradise lies just west of ICW mile marker 173 on the Neuse River in North Carolina, about a mile up Broad Creek. It’s not hard to find, but you do have to look for it. Once you get there, you’ll agree. River Dunes is paradise. Grace Harbor, River Dunes’s manmade 26-acre basin ...read more
Experience the ICW with SAIL
Let’s not kid ourselves—the ICW transit can be a long, lonely and sometimes daunting slog. Commercial traffic, strong currents, shifting shoal spots and lifting bridges—help! That’s why we came up with the idea for a Snowbird Rally down the ICW, to help make the ICW an experience ...read more
SAIL's 2015 Snowbird Rally Down the ICW
It’s on for 2015! Click on SAIL's ICW website here SAIL’s 2014 Snowbird Rally down the Intracoastal Waterway was such a success that we’ve decided to do it again The 2015 Snowbird Rally departs Hampton, Virginia on Saturday, October 24, and ends in St. Augustine, Florida, on ...read more
Q & A with the Authors of an ICW Cruising Guide
On board any cruising boat, charts and guides are pivotal for route-planning. But have you ever thought about how those guides are created? We checked in with Mark and Diana Doyle, the co-authors of On the Water ChartGuides, to get the skinny on guide-writing and ICW cruising. ...read more
SAIL’s Snowbird Rally Plans a Stop in Beaufort, S.C.
This November 1, SAIL’s Snowbird Rally down the ICW will launch from Hampton, VA and make its way south to Miami, Florida. Along the way, it will stop in Beaufort, South Carolina where the locals have put together an extraordinary visit. Beaufort, S.C., Its charm, history, ...read more