In addition to the hazard guide, I've also included chapters on getting ready to cruise that been expanded from what's posted on the blog. The guide tops out at 195 pages (there are a lot of hazards on the ICW!) I submitted my first draft to Amazon last night and hopefully will get approval within a week. I have to first publish in paper before publishing in ebook format. The guide is formatted to be read on an iPad or equivalent, one page per hazard with a full color chart. There are around 50 links which only work in ebook format, of course, that make finding the many references to apps and internet resources much easier.
The book will be in full color as will the ebook but I doubt the charts will come out well on a Kindle, you'll need a tablet to take advantage of the color charts and photos. I might mention that this is hardly a money making proposition. The ebook conversion comes with upfront charges and I hope to recover the cost modestly through Amazon sales. I picked Amazon mainly for the convenience cruisers would have in obtaining an ebook copy of the guide. The pricing is not settled yet but it will be in the range of $4.99 to $9.99. I don't have a potential price yet for the hardcopy. It has 195 full color pages so it will cost a little.
To give you an overview of what's included I've copied the table of contents below. In the ebook version each line of the table of contents will link to the referenced page in the guide. Look at the table and tap the hazard you're interested in and the ebook will jump to that location.
Table of contents
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Shoaling by Lockwoods Folly
Lockwoods Folly is a traditional shoaling area so you will
need to read the latest reports to see current conditions. There are four
hazard markers shown above, starting from the right and working to the left, as
if going south in the fall.
- Hazard marker 1:
Favor the red side by the first hazard marker, otherwise stay in the
middle of the channel per the Garmin charts, they are accurate through here.
- Hazard marker 2:
Continue in the middle of the channel per Garmin charts for 14 MLW. This
area has been dredged. Favor the green side by R36 for 9 MLW, the water is thin
100 ft before R36 and 500 ft after R36, then return to center of the channel.
After passing R40 (still in channel!), follow the channel around the bend,
don't aim visually for G41, follow the shape of the channel on your
chartplotter.
- Hazard marker 3:
Dredging was in progress in the spring of 2015, plenty of room to pass
by.
- Hazard marker 4:
Just follow the markers for at least 9.0 MLW in April 2015
14.3 MLW 100 ft off R46
9.0 MLW 50 ft off R46A
14.7 MLW 20 ft off G47
13.5 MLW splitting G47A and R48
Wilmington District ACOE hydrographic survey of 5/11 &
5/17/2015 is shown at right. You can see the curves the buoys will take you
through.
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Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated. It's been a gargantuan undertaking, more than I thought when I first started but I think it may be useful for cruisers on the ICW
Bob423