2017 Edition Coming Along

I've completed the first draft of the 2017 of the ICW Cruising Guide. It has many new features and better charts. I hope to get it uploaded to Amazon.com by the end of July, possibly earlier. In the meantime, I've rewritten the instructions on downloading of GPX files and I need volunteers to try out the instructions to be sure they work on all devices. You can see the new procedure at GPX Routes under ICW Tips on the main blog page. Let me know if you have any problems with the download, especially for the iPad only version. Please leave a comment on your experiences at the bottom in the post.

The two articles I wrote earlier on what to do if your computer crashes while cruising have been added to the "ICW Tips" section of the blog. It was a traumatic experience to lose my laptop and what I discovered while trying to bring it back to life may be of interest to other cruisers in remote places. For example, Win10 does not automatically create restore points! That feature was turned off for Win10 as well as the F8 key that lets you get into advanced recovery options in Win10. It was news to me at the time since creating a restore point was a key feature of all previous Windows versions. The two articles are:
Recovering from a disk crash
Recovering programs after a disk crash

Below is an example of the new charts with better depth shading which clearly shows a path through the Dawho shallows. All the new charts will have the better depth shading in the 2017 edition.
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 Dawho River East Entrance MM496

This stretch can be nerve racking at low tide. There are lots of turns and it's not obvious where the deep water is. It's wise to go with some tide under you. Split all red/greens but stand off all other marks for 5.5 MLW. The above chart showing the channel is from NOAA ENC charts as shown in Navimatics Charts and Tides but any program using ENC charts should show the same thing. I noticed that the Navionics chart does not show the channel but their display of the ENC chart does.

R108  19 MLW, 100 ft off

G109  13.7 MLW, 100 ft off

At first shoal mark 6.3 MLW

Split R112 and G113  7.4 MLW

G115  6.6 MLW but stand off 400 ft! Closer to G115 and it shallows quickly

On way to R116  5.6 MLW

R116  6.7 MLW

G117  7.1 MLW

Greater than 10 MLW the rest of the way south but standoff marks by 100 to 200 ft.

The Charleston ACOE survey chart of 11/4/2016 that I’ve used elsewhere in this guide is not helpful here. Their practice is to follow the old channel and not survey outside of that channel. In the case of Dawho near G115, they show the channel within 125 ft of G115 – that’s too close. They show 3 to 4 MLW, which is why you must pass north of G115 by 400 ft. 

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The earlier sections covering how to get ready and ICW tips have also been greatly expanded. Now it's just double checking over everything and proofreading.  Ann and I will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary in August and part of the celebration will be taking four of our grandkids out for a two-week cruise on Long Island Sound. Two grandparents and four kids, ought to be fun. I will activate the blog for the adventure starting July 5.