Atlantic Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW)

[Pastorm1]

Has anyone navigated the entire ICW ? How long did it take you ? Any issues out of the ordinary ? I was planning 5 weeks to do it. Any first hand experiences would be appreciated.


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[ArkTinkerer]

Love to hear about this! One of my post retirement bucket lists is to do the great loop!

[AnIntentionalRoad]

Not the entire length, but we went from Fort Stewart, FL to Moorehead City, NC in 2012. We took about 3 weeks but we weren't in a hurry, doing about 50 miles a day, anchoring mostly, and parking in a marina and exploring when we got to an interesting town.

My favorite spot was probably the very remote swamps of Georgia because of the solitude we experienced and stunning beauty.

Check Active Captain each morning before setting out and mark any potential shoaling or other hazards. Keep a flip chart on your lap for reference, don't rely on just the GPS screen, and honor the channel markers over the GPS magenta line.

Also beware that the ICW traffic can get halted for many hours in spots around military bases when exercises are taking place. This happened to us and we almost missed the high tide we needed to get over a shoal!

PM me if you gave any specific questions.

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[Bamaman]

We see many Loopers coming by our house on the way to the Great Loop meeting at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina on the Tennessee River.

It look as if the 5000 mile loop around the Eastern U.S. would be an absolute ball--if one had the right vessel to do it in.

There are many Looper bloggers that cover the Eastern ICW.

[juan_grand_eh]

Go to u-tube and search for " Drake Paragon sailing "! Drake & his friends take the ICW from Oriental SC(?) to Norfolk & then on to Boston in a series of short films! The last I saw of them they had carried on to Canada, Greenland, Iceland & the Faroe Islands headed for Ireland! ;-) Or if you get tired of that there's always " Delos" sailing the Pacifc From New Zealand into the Philipines just cruising ,diving & making they're own liqour when they ran out! I found it to be entertaining.
I don't know if it's still done but, when I traveled the ICW the mayor of Summerstown would throw a wine & cheese party when three or more boats tied up for the night! Good fun 😎


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