MacGregorSailors.com

This is years off but am thinking about an east coast trip down the ICW
does anyone have raster or vector maps of this area?
Actually any maps at all.
Am hoping to just have a look at the course of the ICW.

As always any help much apreciated

NOAA's rastor chart section has extremely detailed maps of this area.

Here

You'd be better off with a guide book by people who have done it before. There a few very good ones on Amazon........the guide book will help you with the route with info the charts alone won't provide. One is called Chart Tracker

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/007138 ... e&n=283155

IMHO the Skipper Bob guides are good.
No maps (few pictures) but rather descriptions and ratings of anchorages and marinas along the ICW. Good for figuring out where to get cheap fuel, anchor, shop, get materials, get a shower, etc.

Publications

Found several at my local WestMarine, also available at marinas and some places online. The website tracks more recent changes along the ICW.

Travelling areas of the ICW are in my plans...too...but mostly areas within the Southern coastal bend...

My wife and I cruised down the ICW in our MacGregor 26X in late fall, 2003. It was a terrific experience. We launched on the Dismal Swamp Canal, just south of Norfolk, VA, near the town of Chesapeake. We found an RV park 8 miles from the ramp, and we were able to rent long term storage for our truck and trailer there, for only $30/month. It worked out great. We spent a month on the ICW and covered about 800 miles. We found ourselves in the midst of a great nautical migration, with boats from all over the Eastern US and Canada heading south for the winter. We saw many of the same boats time and time again, and became good friends with one couple who were making the trip. We ended our cruise in St. Augustine, FL, where we parked the boat in a marina (Oyster Creek Marina), rented a car, and drove back to Virginia. We retrieved truck and trailer and reunited with our boat to continue adventures in Florida and the Bahamas. The Mac was a great boat for this trip. Shallow draft was very helpful, especially on the Dismal Swamp Canal and in several stretches where dredging hasn't kept pace with silting. Our short mast enabled us to clear some bridges the taller boats couldn't, and our 50 hp enabled us to speed up at times to make a bridge opening. We stowed a pair of partially disassembled bikes in the stern king berth, which gave us mobility in some of the coastal towns we visited. Some marinas featured bikes, golf carts, and even cars for use by their boating guests.

Regarding charts, I'd strongly recommend getting a chartbook for the ICW. It's a big long strip of a trip, and is especially suited for chartbooks. They make a lot of sense for the MacGregor, where stowage is so limited. We used The Intracoastal Waterway Chartbook, Norfolk, Virginia to Miami, Florida by John Kettlewell and Leslie Kettlewell. Ours is dated 2001, and I'm sure an updated version is available.

Good luck, I hope you make the trip. You won't regret it.

Mike and Sandy Cecka

Do you have a website where we can read about your trip and see pictures?

Idle Time wrote:Do you have a website where we can read about your trip and see pictures?

Hi there,

Sorry, I haven't written that cruise up in a web/picture description yet, but your inquiry may motivate me yet. I did keep a detailed journal of last summer's cruise up the Inside Passage through Southeast Alaska and the BC coast. Lots of pictures and video clips. The website is found at:

http://chinook.home.dyndns.org

Check it out and let me know what you think. You can e'mail me directly at: ceckanewhorizon@yahoo.com

Happy sailing, Mike Cecka

West Marine sells a good flip chart for -- cant remember-- more than 50 less than 100-- Last updated 2003 but it is pretty good. I wouldn't take a big keel boat down on that chart -- but you should be fine in a Mac