How a trip to Florida leads to a Cruise on the Intercoastal

F

ffheap

New member
Hi Folks,

Now that we have one C-Dory Site, topics will be easier to follow. I will miss the C-Dogs Site, and Ken did a great job with it.

This story will take a little time, but I am a guy who believes in a Higher Power who leads me to places that give me what I need.

After going on a Big Ship Cruise (almost as much fun as the Erie Canal in my C-Dory), my wife Sheila and I landed in Fort Lauderdale. While having lunch at a great New York Deli, I ran across a small ad on a sheet of paper about the Blue Water Book Store, that had moved around the corner. Being a "Yachtsman", I followed the directions, and found the store. As I walked in, I found a display of books by Nigel Calder. It announced that he was speaking at the book store from 6:00PM to 8:PM that evening.

I came back at 6:00, and attended a talk on information of Calder's latest book, "How to read a Nautical Chart." Though, the book is a bit of reharsh of Chart 1, the beginning of the book and the talk were on how charts were made, and why they are not accurate. It was a great talk, and the reading will take a few passes to totally understand the information.

I also found a free disk on Nordhavn Atlantic Rally which was held in 2004. I great story.

I don't think that I will ever have enough bucks to own a Nordhavn, but WHY CAN'T THE C-DORY GROUP PUT TOGETHER A CRUISE DOWN THE INTERCOSTAL WATERWAY? (Remember the Erie Canal Cruise started with an idea.)

The Nordhavn story was put together so as to get people to buy Nordhavn's, it showed a bit of the planning process that went into the rally which started in Fort Lauderdale, went to Bermuda, on to the Azores, and then to Gibralter. (I think that the C-dory Plant ought to think about a disk showing the manufacturing and cruises of the C-dory. They could use the pictures, with permission, with a voice over to tell the story.)

On Tuesday, while Sheila and I were driving up the Tiamiami Highway, we spied a C-dory in a dealer's yard. Fred took a quick U-turn, cut off a bunch of old farts, and went into the yard. I met Dave Douglas of BULLDOG BOATWORKS. address is 17771 N Tamiami Trail, N. Fort Myers, FL 33903. Although Dave was preparing to go to the Miami Inwater Boat Show, he spent some time showing Sheila and I the 25' C-Dory. What room. I think I got Sheila hooked on boating. A private Head, and lots of storage space. (With the book I purchased at Bluewater Books on "Cruising with Animals", I might get her on the boat for more than an hour. She even said that she might sell the Inn.)

That is why I am hot on putting together a Cruise like Nordhavn, for C-dory's and friends, down the Intercoastal Waterway, maybe during the fall and winter of 2007.

LET'S HEAR FROM YOU

Fred Heap
 
I am sure that some of the Southern Floridians will weigh in on this.
The Hurricane season ends in November--and many insurances use that as a cut off point to be out of Florida--or North of Lattitude 30. I don't know where you would want to cruise from. Unfortunately hurricanes do hit the Northern areas up to November. By November the Chesapeake is getting a bit cold--but still do-able in a C Dory. By December you can have cold weather down to Northern Florida. I would suggest that you consider your "cruise" in the Winter (more crowded and marina slip prices are up)--but the weather will be the best. There are other good cruises than the East Coast ICW--one is the St. John's river--can be cool in the Winter,but great for spring or late fall. Also the waterway across florida--Okechobee Waterway, or the West Coast ICW from Ft. Myers up to Tarpon Springs would be a nice cruise. If you are in S. Florida during warm weather, air conditioning would be nice---but if you anchor out and get a breeze--not essential.
 
Fred:

Great to hear from you, and of your Florida adventures. Your idea about doing something on the ICW sounds great to me. I've done it from Mobile, Alabama to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and would love to see what we can put together.

My initial reaction is that basic logistics will require that the venture be undertaken in discrete segments, rather than trying to run the whole thing all at once. When I went to the Florida Keys last Spring, I logged 42 hours of drive time (not counting pit stops) on the round trip between Richmond, VA and south Miami, FL, at 55 mph. No matter how you slice it, that's a lot to bite off at once. On that trip, I launched south of Miami, and boated down the ICW, to Key West, out to the Dry Tortugas, and back to south Miami, where I'd left the tow rig and trailer. Had I been doing a one-way ICW run between south Miami and Richmond, I'd have had to drive to Miami, drop the boat, drive back to Richmond, drop the tow rig (that's 42 hours drive time, give or take), and then get back down to Miami by one-way car rental, airplane, or train. You can add on to this from your home, and no matter how you do the math, it's a heck of a lot of driving and trailering. The only way to avoid this would be to do a round trip on the ICW, which basically eliminates the driving, but doubles the boating. Come to think of it, that just might be a plus.

Unless you're looking at doing a round trip, it might make sense to look at breaking the ICW down into something more manageable, say, between Savannah, GA and Norfolk, VA. There are fantastic spots along this leg, and the opportunity for some very safe off shore runs, water and weather permitting.

How about I do a little work in the next week or so, and lay out a rough itinerary for something like this, and see if there's any interest. In the meantime, if you've got some particulars on other approaches, including going whole hog, why don't you post them?

Let's see what happens.

Take care,

david
 
Fred,

I have run the southeast and gulf coast ICW's several times. I think the key is time. I spent 23 days on a round trip from Charleston, SC to Tampa Bay and for me the time was much too short. There are just too many great spots to stay and enjoy. And if you fish, you may never leave Boca Grand. If you buy that CD25, you may want them to install a hook for your hat. :smiled
 
Fred: On one of our last trips that had two seatings for the dinner meal.. :mrgreen: one of our table guest was a naval navigator, who had brought his charts that he used when "in the area" on the naval ship. He offed his time to go over the entire chart making process, the inaccuracies and a bunch of other things. It was great. The cruise line should have paid him.... At dinner, we would look at the next days itinerary, pick a time, pick a lounge to met in, and have "class" for an hour or two. Some folks saw us and each day...the crowd grew a bit... on about the 4th day, some got mad because we "did not post anything in the dailey splatter" about the map reading classes taking place in the lounge. I bought the crusty old fart a beer, :beer took him aside and "informed" him of how this had simply evolved... as to allow the class to continue uninterrupted. We then joined back with the class. Afterwards, he bought me two beers :beer :beer and told me it would be disrespectful not to call "an old crusty Yankee Fart" (his words ...not mine..but they do look like something I'd say.... :D :shock: ) and let him know when/where things were going down the next day. We had a blast, learned a bunch....

As far as the cruise, well, take some time and look at Bill and El's site on Halcyon. They have done most all of the travels, with segments on their site about each leg. I do not like the fall plan (SEC football and hurricanes), but, I do not like the summer heat either... but, I think a March or April may work for many... Just like the Cumberland River cruise that happened last spring. We gathered in Mt. Juliet, TN just outside of Nashville, cruised up river till we ran out of river, cruised back, and then several of the boats simply just kept cruising down river for several days....or a week or two as I recall. Time drove who made what portions of the trip. Plan a gathering around a Friday, Saturday & Sunday, and let things happen on either end. Our factory is up to their ears in building boats in an attempt to just get caught up from boat show sales... Cool.
 
Hi Folks,

Just what I hoped, some great ideas.

The way the Nordhavn Group did it was to take ten days at each port-of-call. I could see us stopping for a few days at places like Charlstown SC, Savanah GA, Norfolk(Portsmouth) VA, may be New Bern NC, Hilton Head, etc. etc. The ports of call should take in to consideration the local transportation to the rest of America, and the local sites. Time should be built in to enjoy the sites. so anybody could start the Cruise where ever they wanted, and stop where they wanted, and get back to their towing rig. Also some of us might want to have crew changes. All part of the planning. Weather and safe places to go is a factor.

Another factor would build in time to enjoy the areas we stop. Has anybody ever heard of ED'S SANATARY RESTURANT in Morehead City? It is writtern up in numerious books of boaters doing the Inter Coastal Waterway. I always wanted to stop there.

Dave Sexton of ALMA's is going to do some research. Dave was with us on the Erie Canal Cruise. Good man to have with you. Also Bill and El HAVE to be part of the Cruise. Great people to have around. In fact, all the people I have met are Great people. As Bill says. "Something about the people who like C-Dory's."

Keep the ideas flowing and we will make it happen.

Fred Heap
 
Fred,

I've eaten there a number of times, first when on a diving trip out of Morehead City. The most memorable, however, was when I took my sailboat south from Lake Erie.

They offer free dockage for diners and overnight is okay if you come in the late afternoon/evening. It's really great sitting at a window table, right next to your boat, enjoying good seafood while people comment on the great looking boat named Spirit.

Well, Spirit's gone now, replaced by ouir CD 22 Valkyrie. Next summer, Marcia and I plan on cruising Valkyrie from Lake Erie to her folks' place in Beaufort, SC via the Erie Canal, Hudson, Cape May Canal, C&D Canal and ICW. We'll be sure to spend a night at the Sanitary Fish Market.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Nick,

I hope you will join us on this trip.

How are the ideas going? Staying in Florida area until spring, and repeating the trip back up the InterCostal Waterway would be a great addition, and more people could be involved.

Fred Heap
 
Fred,

We are planning our trip for May and June of 2007.

At any rate, as your time approaches, let me know and I could give you some local information on what to expect and good places to stop.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Fred --
Great discussion! Since we're only in the talking stage, and not to throw any cold water on a trip southbound in the Fall -- the ICW is vulnerable to hurricanes during that season and the early predictions I'm reading indicate the possibility of another bad year in the offing.

So -- why not go southbound through the interior route of the Great Loop rather than down the Atlantic Coast? Head westerly through the Great Lakes, down the Illinois River, then the Mississippi as far as the Ohio. Up the Ohio to the Tennessee and then down the TennTom to the Gulf Coast. Along the Gulf to Florida.

Then, in springtime, come north up the Atlantic ICW when there are no hurricanes, when summer is at your back (rather than winter at the stern in the fall).

The interior route is incredibly beautiful in the fall with the colors of the trees. Heading southerly by that route, there could be time to do some extensive cruising on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers in full fall color -- wow!!

The interior route is also downriver (most of the way), and you don't have the traffic of those "delivery skippers" roaring other people's big boats south.

What do you think?? We've gone that way -- south through the rivers in fall and north along the Atlantic in spring and it is marvelous. Might even get talked into doing it again...
 
Bill and El,

What a great idea. How long would it take? How many miles? How soon would we have to start? Lots of questions. Also, could we hook up with sponsors like the Nordhavn Rally did? Lets hear from you all on this.

Fred
 
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