Going South

Experiences of going South as told by:

Traveling south on the ICW with Freda and Charles Gandy

A great adventure, interesting, challenging - definitely worth the effort.
Smartest thing we did - talked with others who have gone and traveled with experienced boats.
   
Trip
  • Begin mid-October to miss most hurricanes, return before June 1 for the same reason
  • Leave anchorage at first light, stop by 3 pm - dark comes at 5:30 pm
  • Evenings
    • Visit other boats in anchorage by VHF or dinghy
    • Study charts and weather, then make a tentative plan for destinations during next 3 days
    • Mark next day's GPS points, write in log
    • Prepare fast-pick-up lunches
  • Ditches - know how to let boats pass. rearview mirror (for bicycles) helpful
  • Rivers, sounds, cuts, savannahs, swamps - the terrain shapes the trip
  • Anchorages scarce, plenty of marinas
  • You usually can't raft up south of the Chesapeake - visit by dinghy
  • Don't be in a situation where you must travel - weather, visitors, groceries, whatever.
    • Tell visitors they may decide where or when they will meet you, but not both
  • Many bridges in Florida. Recommend outside south of Palm Beach (Lake Worth)
Equipment
  • Sturdy boat with reliable engine and ample battery power - Trojan-Smart charger, 100 amp Balmar
  • Top priority
    • Good charts
    • GPS
    • VHF
    • Autohelm
    • SSB
    • Good anchors
    • Lots of spare parts
  • As much canvas as you can afford (dodger, bimini, doghouse, sun shade)
  • Dinghy
    • Hardbottom rubber, if Bahamas
    • Extension for outboard tiller
    • Long bridle
  • Computer
    • Trip log
    • Letters home
    • Provision list
    • Email
    • Weatherfax
  • Cell phone, and Bahamian phone cards (some phones need 25¢ for 800#s)
Provisions
  • Carry as many groceries as storage space will allow
  • Stow items by where they will fit
  • Use plastic bags so items will fit odd spaces
  • Have a system for finding stowed provisions (ours organized port/center/starboard, zero to 38)
  • Be able to make bread from scratch
  • Take concentrated juices (not frozen), parmalat milk, egg magic
  • Take lots of munchies for afternoon get-togethers
  • Groceries in Bahamas scarce, expensive
  • Learn to fish
  • Order canned poultry & beef from Brinkman Turkey Farms, Findlay, OH - ph 419-365-5127
Radio
  • Waterway net for amateur radio operators
  • Weather net for Atlantic passages
Helpful
  • Self-adhesive postage and envelopes
  • Zip lock bags (George Town purse)
  • Whitewater bags for dinghy rides
  • Order free literature & maps from each state and country you will pass through
  • Highlight your charts
    • Pink - dangerous currents or bridges that must open
    • Green - anchorages
    • Blue - places of interest
    • Make notes in pencil of anchorages, stops
    • Use a sticky colored triangle to mark location on ICW as you go along
  • ICW anchorages: $12 Skipperbob, Suite 463, 1150 Carlisle St, Hanover PA 17331
  • Travel with someone who has been before
  • Form into groups of boats when at anchor
  • Know about currents: where to expect them, how to read the cuts
  • Have information about bridge schedules and procedures
  • Consider becoming a ham radio operator
  • Boat cards to exchange
  • Take something you can share with others: craft, music, special skill or knowledge
  • Leave relatives a plan for contacting each other, and you in an emergency
  • 3 days before a marina stop, phone & have mail sent by UPS or Fedex. (not US mail)
Special things
  • Many new boater friends, helping each other
  • Wildlife
    • ICW: eagles
    • Florida: manatees, roseate spoonbills, ibis, many, many others
    • Bahamas: banaquits, grassquits, bahama mocking birds, white-crested dove
  • Sights along ICW
    • Dismal Swamp cut of the ICW, or Virginia Cut
    • River Forest Inn in Belhaven (smorgasbord: banana fritters, lobster fritters, fried green tomatoes, pecan pie, green bean casserole)
    • Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach area (free tie-up 3 days, shopping, preceded by the rock pile)
    • Charleston (harbor and old town center)
    • Beaufort (bewfort), SC (loaner beatup brown car, horsedrawn carriage ride, fine crafts store, good hardware, armory museum)
    • Beaufort (bofort), NC (nautical museum, charming town, special to boaters)
    • Cape Fear River (6.5 knots paddlewheel, 10 knots across the ground GPS, Bald Head Island)
    • St. Augustine (red trolleys, great marina (currents difficult), coquino fortress, gorgeous town)
    • Kennedy Space Center (incredible! Phone NASA for launch schedule)
  • Bahamas: a fantastic experience
    • Allen's Cay iguanas
    • Norman's Cay druggers
    • Farmer's Cay festival
    • The George Town area
    • Warderick Wells (spectacular beauty)
Recommended books
  • Tide tables: we used Reed's Nautical Almanac
  • Cruising the Chesapeake, by William Shellenberger
  • The Intracoastal Waterway: a cockpit cruising handbook, by Jan & Bill Moeller
  • Florida Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway - single page to keep in cockpit
  • Cruising Guide to the Florida Keys
  • The Exuma Guide, by Steven Pavlides
  • Explorer Chart Book: Exumas, by Monty Lewis
  • Yachtsman's Guide to the Bahamas, from Tropic Isle Publishers
  • Winds from Carolinas, by Robert Wilder
  • Out Island Doctor, by Evans Cottman
  • Don't Stop the Carnival, by Herman Wouk
   
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Traveling south on the ICW with Gerry and Jeanne Helldorfer
   
10+ good things to add to your boat for the waterway
  1. Full cockpit enclosure
  2. Ham radio email
  3. Egg crate bunk pads
  4. Big batteries
  5. Really good lighting
  6. Cockpit VHF or speaker w/vol control
  7. His and her binoculars
  8. Shelves in lockers
  9. Fuel cans for Catalinas
  10. Dinghy davits
  11. TV antenna and cable tv connection
10+ more things to add to your boat for the Bahamas
  1. Two really big anchors and heavy chain
  2. Ham or marine SSB receiver
  3. Max freezer capability
  4. Small generator, big battery charger
  5. Backup VHF radio
  6. Extra water storage - 50 gal per person
  7. GPS - learn to use the rhumb line display
  8. Dinghy kit (anchor, VHF, water, etc.)
  9. Spare parts (filters, pumps, eyeglasses)
  10. Comfortable deck cushions
  11. Extra boat hook
Things we liked
  1. Endless summer
  2. Key Largo - Marina del Mar
  3. Incredible beaches
  4. New friends
  5. Almost every place we stopped
  6. Fresh bread
  7. Offshore adventure
  8. No schedules
  9. Exuma land & sea park
  10. Traveling with the Gandys and Wesleys
Things we hated
  1. Dirty marina showers
  2. Canned food
  3. Strong weather fronts
  4. Ocean inlets - strong cross currents
  5. Waterway fishermen
  6. Florida Marine Patrol
  7. Inconvenient storage
10 best reasons to make the trip soon
  1. Life is short - eat dessert first
  2. You already spent $800 on a video camera and $1000 on a digital camera
  3. You had to write a composition in high school on "What I did on my summer vacation" and you couldn't think of anything to write
  4. You find the look of women smoking real cuban cigars highly erotic
  5. It's better in the Bahamas
  6. There are still a few things in the West Marine catalog that you don't already own
  7. Y2K glitches are expected to cause Boeing 747s to no longer be able go to windward better than sailboats
  8. You've already spent a fortune on the boat and you need to explain this to your relatives
  9. You love the taste of canned peas and where else could you justify eating them
  10. Soon you won't even be able to remember your spouse's name
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