Intracoastal Waterway

mintregila

mintregila

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Looks like we are pushing up our departure for Wildwood to tomorrow from Sunday since the marine forecast looks alittle better.

Since we are heading up to Atlantic City on Thursday, I would like to know what the condition of the Intracoastal waterway is between Wildwood and Atlantic City. Just wondering if it is a viable alternative if the ocean is a little rough.

I draw 4'4"

Thanks!
 
I think you would be better off running outside, your boat can handle it.
 
No question about the boat. It's the Admiral who is of concern.

Just looking at options.
 
it is a slow process, but doable. I found that you cannot cut a corner. Keep one marker in front and one directly behind you. In other words, keep an eye on the markers and you will be fine.
 
quote:
Originally posted by mintregila

Click to expand...

We tried outside from Cape May to Margate on Friday. Turned around and came back.
I spoke with the Seatow guy about running inside and he suggested to not try it with our 4' draft.

How was your trip?
 
Thanks.

Looks like it will be doable outside but a little wet with a possibility of showers.
 
My Admiral also likes smooth sailing "BUT" she would go outside in anything less than 5' seas to eliminate the ICW. Too many issues on trips in the past with us & others.
 
We draw 4.5 in our Monk 36 but have a protective keep in we bump. We run inside to A/C.
 
Follow the chart along with the ICW markers. The Grassy Sound area is bad at low water. Pay attention, watch the last and next markers, don't be in a rush and all should be fine. TowBoat US and SeaTow are both close by and can give advice and/or lend assistance.
 
Mark

How did the trip go. Two weeks ago I made the trip to Seaside Heights because it was half the distance of Wildwood. Next year I will make the longer trip to Wildwood. Did you run outside? The intercoastal further north wasn't bad between the Point Pleasant Canal and Barneget Bay.

Was it easy to get a slip at that marina?
 
How did the trip go? Running inside with a 4'4" draft can certainly be done, but the trip should be carefully timed with the tide. The boatyard in Avalon practically stays in business with the boats they tow in from the 'football field', an area of very low water that sits almost in the channel between Stone Harbor and Avalon. Sea Isle to Ocean City also has some very shallow spots at low tide. If I was going to do it with that much draft, attempting to do so with one high tide, I'd probably leave Wildwood a few minutes after low tide, and travel at non planing speed for the first hour. That should get you to the channel between Stone Harbor and Avalon while the tide is rising fast, and about half way up. North of Stone Harbor, I'd speed up, keeping a very close eye on those markers, and a chart. Slow down for the now wake in Avalon Manor and Sea Isle, and hopefully tide is still rising, or at worst slack at high for the stretch between Sea Isle and OC. By the time you get past OC, tide will be on it's way out again, but you are pretty close to AC, and a lot of it is no wake in deep enough channels.
 
Trip was great.

We ran outside so we did not really deal with it.

All I can say is that the inside run from Cape May to Wildwood was easy but every time we slowed down, the green flies were ferocious.

Definitely a repeat destination for us.
 
those mother F&*$!&g flies; I forgot about them. If you cover your feet and legs with avon skin so soft, which all of the marinas sell, they won't land on you. Only problem is that you have to re-apply every 10-15 minutes, but it's worth it.
 
I know this is an old thread NJ really doesn't have a true ICW. Many of the southern inlets are in bad condition and some are even closed. Even feeling your way around SNJ's ICW can get you in trouble with even a center console.
Half the entertainment around Little Egg just North of AC is listening to the rescues where boaters run about 1.5 miles offshore and hit our shoal which extends well past 2 miles offshore. I have seen Jetski parties on the shoal at low tide.
Bill
 
This past weekend we listed to a serious salvage operation where a 56' Searay ran aground near NJ ICW 132. We have had extremely high tides the guy was running on plane and missed the turn he ended up in the grass. His props were 100 yards into about 1 foot of water. They ebded up taking off his props and cutting off the rudders, it took a 100' salavage boat and 2 41' boats to fianlly free him after 3 attempts. I know his hull was breached because we heard them talking about cutting plywood, spray foam and screwing it to the hull and watching the pumps as they took the boat to Viking's yard for inspections and repairs. I have no idea what the entire salvage operation costs let alone the repairs that will be needed. There was a representative from his insurance company on scene as well. He was the one that finally agreed with the salvage crew that the rudder posts had to be cut off.
Bill
 
Billy

That ios easy to do down there. I was down there in a 25' pontoon boat. Missed a turn and the bow was aground and the stern was in 10 feet of water. That was at 10 knots I can imagine at planning speeds.
 
Shoaling is very bad in barnegat bay this year.
Double Creek channel to barnegat Inlet is practialy closed off and the North channel lost two markers and has a high spot in what used to be the middle.
 
Little Egg, Barnegat, Great Bay and Great Egg all have major issues. The CG had a tender moving many of our markers last weekend with the help of SeaTow and US Boats. Your best off hailing the private towers for local information than USCG Delaware Bay. 1st their radio protocol is terrible after the requesting vessel gets told to move to channel 22 they tell the boater they can't give out any information to call your towing provider but by then the boater is already in trouble. They are great when it comes to search and rescue but a total waste of time in our area for answering any questions. I swear they read off a script. It's not a very good one either.
Bill
 
What's the latest on Barnegat and Little Egg inlets.

I have a rendezvous in AC in July and was thinking to stop in Beach Haven for a few nights but the inlets and ICW have me concerned.

Thanks.
 
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