SC/NC Intercoastal Water Way Trip Plan

[xintersecty]

A couple of weeks ago, my girl-friend (GF) and I went from Wilmington to Topsail beech and loved it. We both looking over the sound and we love to do a power trip up/down the ICWW next year. This thread is the master planning for this trip.

I have a challenger 180 and once I get my new motor, I think the boat will be up to the task.

here is a possible route from SC just up to Topsail:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com?r=6686521

I am looking for the collective hive mind to help me plan this trip.

This is the things I have
Bimini (I hate it, may replace it) normally I run the boat without one. I have two folding bicycles to get around on land. I could store them in the ski-locker, they are that cool.
Weather radio (I have several waterproof hand radios)

Things I don't have
Chart Plotter/depth gauge. I will get one.
Charging Pod for various electronics.
Auto-inflate water vest (GF has one already)

I would like to do a up/down and back kind of trip. That way I can store my car/trailer and just go.

Has anybody done this before with a challenger?

How does one travel and sleep at hotels? I have no idea about temporary berths or how to find them. That's why I am asking the hive mind.

This means about several days continuous salt water use. Is there anything special you can do the boat to keep in good shape until you pull it out and flush it?

 

[rcguy]

Looks like a fun trip. How many days are you planning to be away? Most motels on the inter-coastal have over night docking. Some are free (if you arrive by auto, motels don't charge you to park your car) and some charge $10.00 to $20.00 over room rental. Marinas usually have overnight docking space and a motel within walking distance. The map showed the trip was only 76 miles which can be accomplished in one day. Just Google motels or resorts on the inter- coastal in the towns you wish to stay and get on the phone. I'll bet there are hundreds of motels with docks to stay overnight in your 76 mile trek. I'm sure you know the right questions to ask.

I installed a Lowrance Elite-5HDI. It is a hybrid dual imaging (HDI) Fish-finder + Chart-plotter and water temperature and depth gauge if you install the transducer to the outside of the hull (like I did). My Challenger also has it's own built in water temp gauge and they never agree with each other. They are always one degree apart. HA HA....funny but true. Your smart phone has local radar maps and I use the app 'WeatherBug' that has continuous radar updates. Invaluable when out on the Gulf of Mexico. Remember Tampa is the lighting capitol of the US and we are about 40 miles north of Tampa. Leaving your Challenger in the saltwater for a few days will not hurt your engine. Just make sure you bilge pump works in automatic and you have a good carbon seal. It is a closed loop system and only salt water enters the exhaust manifold, riser and ride plate for cooling the antifreeze/coolant. Just use your God given common sense and have a great time.

Keep us informed on you new engine replacement and progress on outfitting your Challenger for this planned trip.

Last year, right after the scallop season ended in the second week of September, my girlfriend and I took a trip up to the Homosassa River and Homosassa River Natural Springs and stayed at a resort for three days. During the summer scallop season on weekends, there are just too many people and the river is jammed with boats. We rented a room with a small kitchen and paid $20.00 over the room rental for a in water berth. There were nightclubs and dinning all within walking distance of the resort but we had my truck. They had a locked fenced lot to leave the boat trailer (no extra charge). and their own boat ramp (no charge for quests of the resort). Plus the resort had their own bar and dinning room right on the river. If we went east about 5 miles up the Homosassa River we were at the head waters of a natural spring, crystal clear fresh water that stays a cool 73 degrees year round. Head west on the river about 7 miles and you enter the Gulf of Mexico. Great Red fishing, scalloping and island hopping. The night life was jammed pack with good food, adult drinks, live rock bands and dancing. The Homosassa River is a party hardy river and we had a great time. We also make day trips to this river which is about 20 miles north of where we live.

About 5 years years back we trailer-ed my Aqua-sport down to the Bradenton Beach Marina and rented a small cottage they owned directly on the inter-coastal with a boat dock in the backyard on Anna Maria Island. We rented the two bedroom cottage for a week and my son, daughter-in -law and grand kids came for a few days. Also, my son rents a beach house on Captiva Island across from, Cape Coral, FL almost every year. You guested it, we bring the Challenger with us for the week. My brother lives in Cape Coral on a 200 foot wide canal with a private dock in his backyard. Need I say more.

This year we plan on Fort Desoto Park to the south and the Swanee River to the north for a few days each if it ever stops raining. I have lived in Florida for 26 years and never have I seen rain like we've had this summer. Probably lost half the summer season to heavy rains and losing this weekend too because of rain. But this is Florida and our season never ends. We trailer the Challenger to the place we stay and go from there. We usually go after school opens because our children are grown and on their own. Also, this time of the year, these resorts are less packed and the prices are lower.

Locally we go to the Hernando Beach flats and anchor off channel marker #21. My son has his own boat and we usually raft together. He doesn't own a SeaDoo but a 190 SeaRay bow rider with a Mercury V 6 in/out drive. He will not race me because he knows my supercharged 3 cylinder 4-Tec will win hands down. His boat will max out at 39 mph (it's a lot heavier) and my Challenger at 45 mph with full tank of fuel and two people on board.. Also use Bayport boat ramp for fishing and scalloping.

Next year, God willing, we are planning our longest trip and that would be the Florida Keys. I guess for an old man I get around. :thumbsup:

 

[xintersecty]

Thank you RCGUY. That's the kind of advice I was hoping. So my plan is to do about 75 miles a day and maybe 4 nights. That should get us up the coast and back.

I have been searching for hotels and marinas and that has not been easy. So maybe search for marinas first and then hotels?

 

[go_panthers]

Activecaptain.com. Wealth of information on marinas, hazards, etc... On the icw.

I've gone from Wrightsville Beach to North Myrtle beach and back in one day. Very fun trip. I've got a "guys weekend" scheduled in about 4 weeks at Ocean Isle, NC with a house on the canal. My boat and two XPs. We'll head toward Wilmington one day and myrtle the next.

If you have a Garmin GPS, there is an application called Homeport that allows you to plot your routes, plan fuel burn, stops, etc... It also integrates with activecaptain.com to show their database on the map. I'll post some screen shots of the application. I use it with a GPS 78sc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[go_panthers]

Here is a screen capture from Homeport. I have the Garmin GPS and the coastal maps.

 

[go_panthers]

For fun, here is a "movie trailer" of the trip a few years back. This was back when I had the Sportster 1800.

You will love the Carolina coast.

[video=youtube;RhVlt8f5PfE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhVlt8f5PfE[/video]

 

[rcguy]

The winter before we rented the inter-coastal cottage on Anna Maria Island we drove down one Sunday to looked at rentals on the island. I was a 100 mile trip one way but we looked at many rentals and decided on one very special cottage with a dock in the back yard. So it was not a blind rental. We paid for the rental about six months in advance and received a discounted price. We did the same thing when we checked out resorts in Homosassa Springs. We found one with all the amenities we wanted and needed. We also got a discount because we asked for one and paid in advance.

What I'm trying to say is why don't you and you girl friend take a drive along the inter-coastal and check out places to stay and dock and make reservations. Next summer most of these rooms will already be rented. Since it is only under eighty miles you could check out many motels and places to refuel and dock. This way you will be familiar with your stops and turn around point. Since your boat is not ready for the water because of the blown engine you have time to make this auto trip into mini vacation. It's only a suggestion that will also save you time and money when you make the same trip via the Challenger.

Since it is going to rain tomorrow, Sunday 16th, I am going to follow my own advice to you and check out places to stay early next month for our vacation. We are going to Treasure Island, Cabbage Key, Tierra Verde and Pine Key. These places are just south of St. Pete Beach, FL.

Oh I almost forgot, where is my prize for being right about guessing that your engine threw a rod? Best Regards, Rcguy (Russ)

Your right....the Hive mind rules. We put all our minds together and collectively come up with a solution.

 

[xintersecty]

The winter before we rented the inter-coastal cottage on Anna Maria Island we drove down one Sunday to looked at rentals on the island. .

rc_guy, You have a winner with this suggestion. Fantastic. GF looked at this said yeah! I caught up with her ( she lives in Atlanta) and this is a dance weekend for us. So this winter we will go looking. Also we hit on this idea, her coz, has a beech house in topsail, we hit as a rental for a end destination on one day, then use the next day to do north up/down south back for a two day rental.

go_pathers, love your video we are already pumped and ready to go. Thank you for the video. Maybe I should do a similar weekend I do have a bunch of jet ski friends. I appreciate the activecaptian suggestion.

I knew my seadoo friends will NOT let me down. The Hive mind rules.

 

[go_panthers]

Weekends like that are super cheap. Going after labor day, the house rental prices drop. We will have a house at Ocean isle, on the canal, with a dock. 4 nights. $130 per person for 5 guys. I use VRBO (vacation rental by owner). Beats a hotel price-wise, and I don't have to get the boat out of the water every day.

Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach have canal houses on the ICW. A lot of the other beaches (Oak Island, Holden Beach, etc...) along the southern NC coast do, as well, but a lot of them are full-week rentals. None of them are "party" beaches along the lines of Myrtle Beach, but we go to ride, not party.

If you love to ride, I would recommend you get home friends together and give it a try.

 

[rcguy]

Went down to St Pete Beach and Tierra Verde and looked at some hotels, Sunday 8/16/15. The prices were high to say the least because it was beach front and nowhere to park the boat. Since beach front property is very expensive and we plan on using the Challenger, we went to the bay side. So we went inland to a nice hotel on the bay side with no beach but with free boat ramps and a place to park your boat and trailer at night on the hotel property, plus a night security guard. Is about $100/night so we reserved a room for three nights the weekend after Labor Day and my girlfriends birthday falls in the middle of our mini vacation. If rain is in the forecast that long weekend, we may cancel up to the night before by 6:00 PM with no penalty(charge). They didn't even charge my credit card, just used it to reserve the room.

See making a car trip prior to the actual boating vacation pays big dividends. I'm not too sure of our trip to the Swanee River because the river is loaded with alligators and if I have to go into the river to clean out the jet intake...I don't think so!!! Down here on the west coast of Florida all you have to worry about is sharks because alligators are only in fresh water.

 

[xintersecty]

Sharks and Alligators. I lived on Jekyll for a year as a kid. I remember throwing rocks at alligators and never knew they could outrun a human.

GF and I came up with several strategies. We will be planning to drive down the beech sometime this fall or winter and get an idea of locations. Might have to drive to a few marinas. I am still finding hard to avoid the parking websites (without real information) and find real marinas on the ICWW.

Strategy One, home base.
Get a central location and explore from there

Strategy Two, up/down.
Get a two day rental 100 miles north of start and a two day rental 100 on return to start (this is the one I want). That way, the boat goes in we travel north spend the night, then go north about 50 miles and spend second night. Go south back to start, spend the night and then do an other 50 mile round trip to the south.

 

[go_panthers]

I can't emphasize activecaptain.com enough. It is a crowdsourcing marine database that will give you marina locations, services, hazards, reviews, etc... A ton of info there for all of the ICW, as well as lakes and rivers. Mainly used by people cruising the loop, but useful for us, as well.

 

[xintersecty]

Love it. I registered for Active Captain last this morning. Same user name there too, btw. I have Lake Keowee as my home port and bamm! It has all the stuff on Lake Keowee and Hartwell as well. So go_panthers, I really appreciate your advice.

This will be fun putting together this trip and doing to boat prep for the next year before I go off. For example, I am adding in extra sump pumps and reworking that system to make the boat better and ready for next year. Since I am investing in a new motor for this boat, I want to last and do plenty of cool adventures.

 

[speedster32940]

Active captain is the bomb. I was going to recommend it, but was beaten to the punch

 

[xintersecty]

The latest purchase. I bought an auto-inflate life jacket. West Marine had a one day sale. So I grabbed it for cheap. Normally I don't like wearing a life jacket while cruising on the boat, jet ski yes. This will get me in the habit for good safety. Girl friend (GF) already has one for sailing.



Part of developing my plan is good safety. So this one of many purchases and outfitting to the boat.