Heading south

M

mjmason1

New Member
Oct 19, 2013
533
Fall River, MA
Boat Info
1996 400 Sedan Bridge
Engines
3116ta Cats
In the next week or so I am helping a friend move his boat from Mass to Hilton Head. We can only go about 100 miles between fill ups. We will be going about 18 mph There will be 3 of us going. This will be more of a boat transfer than a sight seeing trip. The first leg of the trip will be Fall River, MA to Point Pleasant, NJ. That should take us about 10 hours. We will go from Pt. Pleasant to Cape May on the second day. The third day will be Cape May to Soloman's, MD. Then to Portsmouth,VA. From there I am looking for advice and distances as well as stops. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks. :smt100
 
Sounds like a lot of fun. Are you staying at marinas or on the hook overnight? All ICW or any offshore? What size boat? Where in Hilton Head is your destination?

Charleston to Hilton Head is about your 100 miles via the ICW. So that should be able to be your last leg. Myrtle Beach to Charleston is another 100 mile stretch via the ICW. So that could be your second to last day. That's all I have for you. Also, I am in the Hilton Head area (Beaufort, SC) so Welcome, in advance.
 
Your boat should hold 400 gals of fuel, you should be able to do 300 miles before needing fuel. There is plenty of fuel available. 100 plus miles per day is easily doable. Its a great trip, you should have a blast.
 
ZZ13 said:
Sounds like a lot of fun. Are you staying at marinas or on the hook overnight? All ICW or any offshore? What size boat? Where in Hilton Head is your destination?

Charleston to Hilton Head is about your 100 miles via the ICW. So that should be able to be your last leg. Myrtle Beach to Charleston is another 100 mile stretch via the ICW. So that could be your second to last day. That's all I have for you. Also, I am in the Hilton Head area (Beaufort, SC) so Welcome, in advance.
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The boat is a 34' Silverton motor yacht. The owner is a nice guy, but a conservative worrier. So even though the boat does 28-30 he will only do 18ish. He has a slip in Shelter Cove Marina. Weather permitting we will do a combination of in and out. As for nights, also a combo of slips and mooring. I think he will be a wreck if we anchor. I plan on moving south in the fall, so this gives me an idea on his boat and money. My hope is to travel 8-10 hours a day.
 
Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle is a good stop spot. Charleston Harbor Marina is a good stop in Charleston, but I hear Isle of Palms Marina is great place just north of Charleston. I can let you know on June 8 as I'll be staying there on that day.

I bought my boat from Shelter Cove Marina. Have a great ride and let me know when you get near your destination. Although I will be gone the week of June 8 cruising to N. Myrtle Beach and back.
 
Are you sure about the fuel capacity? 100 nm at 18 knots means a fuel stop in the middle of each day which complicates planning. Your first day is about 165nm. Are you planning on a fuel stop in Montauk?
 
Sea Gull said:
Are you sure about the fuel capacity? 100 nm at 18 knots means a fuel stop in the middle of each day which complicates planning. Your first day is about 165nm. Are you planning on a fuel stop in Montauk?
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The boat only has 125 gal tank per engine. We will be planning a middle of the day stop for fuel, then moving on. The first stop will be at Shinnecock. The 100nm should leave us with a little fudge factor in the tanks. Once we get into the ICW there are plenty of fuel stops.
 
I'm curious as to performance at 18mph. Wouldn't that put you below planing speed?
 
estoltz said:
I'm curious as to performance at 18mph. Wouldn't that put you below planing speed?[/

I am curious also. My old boat had to get to 3400rpm to plane then I could back down to 3200. It's not my boat so I will find out.
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Mike,

There are tons of options, as long as you have proper "cruise planning tools" at hand. Between cruising guides and active captain, you'll be covered.

Here's one of the options for the stops (this is from one of my logs):

leg 1. NJ to OC, MD
leg 2. OC, MD to Norfolk, VA 130nm. Atlantic yacht basin and Top Rack have cheapest fuel.
leg 3. Norfolk to Blehaven, NC (Dowry Creek marina) 108nm.
leg 4. Belheaven to Morehead City 70nm. Get Fuel (Jarrett Bay)
leg 5. Morehead City to Southport 85nm.
leg 6. Southport to Charleston (126nm via open ocean or 142NM via ICW)
leg 7. Charleston to HH 85NM via ICW.

Tricky parts of the trip are:

leg 1 & 2, b/c you're running in the open ocean and need to keep very close eye on the weather and seas.
leg 3 has several bridges and the lock, which will slow you down.
Leg 6 would preferred in interest of time and distance, so make sure to keep an eye on the seas as you’ll be good 25-30NM OFFSHORE without land in site for hours. However, if it’s your first time in the area or the weather is not playing nice with you, I’d say take the ICW and enjoy the scenery. It’s very cool experience, especially in Waccamaw river!

Too many things to cover at once, so fire away with specific questions.

Have fun and good luck. It’s going to be a blast.




P.S. By running direct from NJ to VA (bypassing C&D canal), you're saving at least 100nm and one day.
 
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Alex F said:
Mike,

There are tons of options, as long as you have proper "cruise planning tools" at hand. Between cruising guides and active captain, you'll be covered.

Here's one of the options for the stops (this is from one of my logs):

leg 1. NJ to OC, MD
leg 2. OC, MD to Norfolk, VA 130nm. Atlantic yacht basin and Top Rack have cheapest fuel.
leg 3. Norfolk to Blehaven, NC (Dowry Creek marina) 108nm.
leg 4. Belheaven to Morehead City 70nm. Get Fuel (Jarrett Bay)
leg 5. Morehead City to Southport 85nm.
leg 6. Southport to Charleston (126nm via open ocean or 142NM via ICW)
leg 7. Charleston to HH 85NM via ICW.

Tricky parts of the trip are:

leg 1 & 2, b/c you're running in the open ocean and need to keep very close eye on the weather and seas.
leg 3 has several bridges and the lock, which will slow you down.
Leg 6 would preferred in interest of time and distance, so make sure to keep an eye on the seas as you’ll be good 25-30NM OFFSHORE without land in site for hours. However, if it’s your first time in the area or the weather is not playing nice with you, I’d say take the ICW and enjoy the scenery. It’s very cool experience, especially in Waccamaw river!

Too many things to cover at once, so fire away with specific questions.

Have fun and good luck. It’s going to be a blast.




P.S. By running direct from NJ to VA (bypassing C&D canal), you're saving at least 100nm and one day.
Click to expand...

Thank Alex. Because of the limited fuel we will have to stay inside and use the C+D. It adds a day but it will save the owner from having a stroke... Our planning got us near Bellhaven. Your itinerary filled in the blanks.
 
This is just something to consider, IF the weather forecast is looking good. The longest stretch in direct route is from OC, MD to VA. However, it’s just about 100NM between OC and Cape Henry (Southern tip of the Chesapeake Bay mouth), where you can jump in and fuel up. As a plan B, in case if you’re concerned that you won’t have enough fuel to make it to the fuel dock, get off plane and trawl at the rate of 6-7GPH doing 8-9MPH. Do that for 20 or so NM and you should be just fine. If you think you might try the direct route, and if you think you’ll need to trawl for couple of hours, I suggest do the trawling part early in AM, as you depart from OC. This way it’s early and seas will most likely be calm. After 20-30NM, jump on plane and head to Cape Henry for fuel.

As you can see, there are tons of options. So, it all depends on many factors.


 
Personally I would prefer the outside, and I can only go by the numbers he gave me. It will be interesting.
 
This thread makes me glad to own a Sea Ray.
 
Alex,
Where can I get specific info about no wake zones and slow travel on the ICW? I belong to active captain, but I don't seem to do to well on it.
 
Mike,

I don't know of any source where specific location of no wake zones is listed. I don't think you should overthink it. The question should be, how many NM per day are you looking to cever and how many days to you have available for the trip?
 
I am thinking 8-10 hrs a day. The other 2 are retired. They have all the time in the world. I only have about 10 days. In my opinion, if we can't hit Hilton Head in 10 days, we will have wasted our time.
 
mjmason1 said:
I am thinking 8-10 hrs a day. The other 2 are retired. They have all the time in the world. I only have about 10 days. In my opinion, if we can't hit Hilton Head in 10 days, we will have wasted our time.
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Well, let's see....at 18mph 8-10 hrs per day, you're looking at what good part of snowbirds are covering, which is 100-130NM per day. I'd say that between fueling, no wake zones and bridges, you should consider at least 10hrs day. Now, you're looking at pretty much around 1100NM in total distance from Fall River to HH. IMO, 10 days is just making it, considering the route you're choosing, and of course that doesn't include any "bad weather" days.

My advice, review few options on the routes and ports to stap at. Be flexible and don't lock yourself in. On a run like this things are very dynamic. With todays technology it's easy to plan you fuel and overnight stops on the fly, knowing how your day is going. When weather is nice and everything goes well, take the opportunity to cover more distance, b/c there will be always something to slow you down. Consider that any men-made waterways will put you at slower speed. For example, C&D canal, VA Cut, Allegator-Pungo Canal. Those are not (except some sections of VA cut) no wake zones, but with boating traffic, you'll have to slow down A LOT to give a slow pass to slower moving vessels and that will bring your AVG speed way down.

So, looking at the rough draft, I'd say you need everything to be "perfect" to make it there in 10 days, at max speed of 18MPH with 8-10hrs p/day. Make sure to add some buffer days there. Your biggest concern would be between NY and Point Pleasant NJ, and then to Cape May, as it's the open ocean runs, where you need all cooperation from the seas you can get.

BTW, not having local knowladge, I would advise NOT to consider using NJ ICW, unless it's really bad in the ocean.

Once you're passed Cape May, you're pretty much in protected waters all they to HH. So, the weather shouldn't be too much of a problem. But, make sure to studdy Active Captain hazards. The biggest trouble area I can think of is the stretch between Isles of Palms and Charleston. You need nothing less than mid tide to pass there. Go VERY slow, as the mid channel will have just 1'-2' under the kill at mid tide.
 
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