Hurricane Problems

Florence is just not looking good. The first graph shows all the various predictions all at once where each plot is the best guess for that particular model (listed at the top). The orange triangle is the ECMF model, a European output that has a good track record. The red plot is the NHC predicted track but doesn't go out as far as the others. The purple tracks are from the GFS model, the US model. The reason for all the spread is a low-pressure trough north of Florence that may (or may not) attract Florence northward, away from the US. If that doesn't happen over the next few days, then right behind the low-pressure trough is a high-pressure ridge that will push Florence westward into the coastal US. The track of Florence is on a knife-edge, it could go either way. The US models predict that the low-pressure trough will win out, the European models predict it will fail to attract Florence north and the high-pressure ridge due to come off the coast after the low-pressure trough will win out. There are two graphs shown. The first one is the central prediction of each model. The second one (with all the faint lines) shows the ensembles (the same models but will slight plus and minus on various starting conditions). You'll see a lot of faint lines, anyone of each could be the real track. Each faint line is a potential track from the ensemble from all the models.

Shoaling in the ICW - Browns Inlet, Masonboro, Snows Cut

Browns Inlet is an active shoaling area. 

Although there has been lots of dredging this summer in the ICW, there are still areas that haven't been touched yet. One famous area is Browns Inlet. The path through for the deepest water is starting to look strange as of 8/20/2018. It's a giant "W" and it's getting more extreme. I've updated the GPX route for the area (see GPX Routes at left) and it's handy since you can't take a direct route through the buoys unless you're close to high tide. Full details are at Waterway Guide Browns Inlet complete with a download link for the GPX Route.

Here you see the Mason Inlet new route as of 8/3/2018. It's more of a swing than before. More detail is at the Waterway Guide page for the hazard. The GPX route for the passage has been revised too.

How's this for a zigzag course. You really need to load the GPX route for the best path, hard to eyeball although I try that in the WG page. This hazard is south of Mason Inlet by Masonboro G137. The entire stretch is shallow. 

Snows Cut is doable but you have to know to take the extreme green side route. Details on the WG page. 

All of these alerts will be available for both browser access and also on the Waterway Guide icons in Aqua Map which I will keep up to date as the season progresses. We know that Lockwoods Folly is due to be dredged in September, let's hope they get done by the time the crowd arrives. 

PYC - Fleetwing Getting Ready

Matthew then

When it comes to getting a boat ready for a season of cruising, there's nothing like a college-age grandkid to help out! Matthew is a senior at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island with a major in architecture. Now he's learning the ins and outs of taking care of a boat but I'm learning a few things too. I usually take a day to wash and wax one side of Fleeting and finish waxing the next day and another day to sand the rust spots on the keel. Matthew did the waxing and sanding all in one day with a double waxing on the box (which prevents the ICW mustache). Nice to be young.

Matthew now

This year I used POR 15 on the keel based on recommendations from club members, a change from my usual Bar Rust 235. We'll see how it performs. I've had a long battle with my cast iron keel, there are always rust spots to tend to. On the other hand, there's a lot of it and there's little danger of it rusting away. It just looks unsightly out of the water but then no one looks at it when I'm sailing except the divers.

All I have left to do is one more coat of POR 15 and then it's on to the bottom paint. I used Pettit Ultima SR-60. which survives well in the Florida warm waters. I used to use Interlux Micron CSC but after a disastrous year in Florida with giant barnacles, I gave up and used the Pettit paint as recommended by my diver. It's has stood up much better than the Interlux paint which I had used for years while cruising in the northeast. It just didn't work down south.

I've used Semco Honeytone since day one on the teak

I plan on launching Fleetwing on 8/28, next Tuesday and we hope to leave even before our usual 9/15. We would really like a leisurely trip south, unlike last year when we had to dodge all the hurricanes. Speaking of which, it's been extremely quiet in the Caribbean. We had heard that the Caribbean water temperatures reached an all-time low this winter and vertical wind shear remains high, both of which suppress hurricanes. We can only hope it continues.

I use Fleetwax, a paste wax applied by hand

                                   I do like that shine!

Active Links Available

For all those who have bought the printed copy, the links are in blue and underlined. As I said before, you can download the eBook for free if you bought the printed copy. All those blue, underlined links are fully active in the eBook. Only 25% of those buying the printed copy have downloaded their free eBook so far.

However, there is another way to access the links. You can go to Links for 2018 Guide and look up the links you are interested in. They are arranged by Guide page number. 

For example, page 53 of the Guide has 10 links for various good provisioning stops. The second link on the page is for RE Mayo Docks. Go down the list of links at "Links for 2018 Guide" until you come to page 53 and you'll see RE Mayo Docks underlined. Click on that link and it will bring up the RE Mayo website which in this case is a Facebook page. 

This technique works for all Guide links which are in blue and underlined. You don't have to look anything up on Google. It's a time-saving way to enjoy the over 200 links in the 2018 ICW Cruising Guide.

Meanwhile, Fleetwing is on the hard getting ready for another season down the ICW. I sanded and stained the teak toe rail on Fleetwing today. Now I have to start on the hull/ I plan to launch Fleetwing on 8/28/2018 so I have my work cut out for me - and it's hot up here now. 

Typical Sherer Family Vacation

We’re almost through our Ocean City, NJ vacation and the tribe is getting restless. With Four grandkids, four parents and us, a fight broke out! Caroline seemed unconcerned but Mike is holding off the attackers!

2018 ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423 Facebook Group

I just started a Facebook group for easier give and take on the 2018 ICW Cruising Guide. It has the creative name of 2018 ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423. Sorry about that, I'll think of something better later, maybe. It will also address questions on the use of Aqua Map as well as any and all questions about the use of the Guide. This is experimental, we'll see how it goes and if there's a demand or not.

I've been down this path a couple of times. I started and own the Beneteau 423 Yahoo Group that now has 1000 members worldwide and found that I had to make it private - meaning that new members had to be approved by me. Whenever I left it open for anyone to join, we would invariably get someone coming in, joining and then posting a dozen ads for various forms of "enhancements." With that background, that's why I have to approve new members. Furthermore, they have to answer a question on why they want to join, again to judge whether they are bots or just want to post ads.

After that preamble, it could be a fun group and a place to ask questions and exchange ideas. We'll see if it works. It's now open for business at 2018 ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423.

By the way, thanks for buying the book, it's doing well.

On an unrelated topic, I completed compiling the links that are in the book and they can be accessed in the ICW Tips section of this blog. They are arranged by book page number for easy reference. Of course, if you bought the book, you can always download the eBook for free. The list of links is a backup to that.

2018 ICW Cruising Guide now available on Amazon.com

Click on picture for link

Four years ago I saw a need for a guidebook that addressed how to best navigate the ever-changing shallows of the ICW. There was plenty of coverage of marinas, anchorages and such by books like the Waterway Guide series but very little to address the details of how to navigate the always changing shallows of the ICW. Over the years I accumulated routes for deeper water and wrote my first book in 2015.

Every year the book has grown and the 2018 edition is a major rewrite. The major topics that are new include:

• Safe passage routes change every year through the shallows of the ICW. The guide provides a full-page chart for each hazard in color with my route in the spring of 2018 shown as a red dotted line. You will know my exact path in finding the depths I report in my guide.
• All charts have been redone using Aqua Map’s excellent charting database available through either their iPad or Android app. Their charts are updated four times a year, a must on the ICW.
• Bridge clearances have been tabulated and shown in graphical format. On my 2018 spring trip northward, I took a photo of the height boards on every fixed bridge. I noted the day and time I passed under each bridge which I used to compute the clearance at high tide and also at 0.0 tide. The results surprised me on how many bridges had less than 65 ft of clearance, even at low tide!
• The list of best navigation apps has changed dramatically from 2017. The new player on the block, Aqua Map, has leaped over competitors in many features (but I still use Navionics too). A complete comparison of can be found at 14 iPad Navigation Apps Evaluated. 
• More GPX routes have been added for downloading. With Aqua Map, the download of a GPX route could not be simpler from a link provided on the Waterway Guide Alert icon for a shallow area or from the list of GPX Routes on this blog site. GPX downloading instructions can be found at GPX File Use.
• I Joined Waterway Guide as an On-The-Water Editor, I’ve updated many Waterway Guide Alert icons for current information as referenced in the guide and will be maintaining them through the year to reflect current conditions at an Alert location.  
• All sections have been updated. Products evolve and what was best last year may not be best this year. However, not everything changes and much of the “getting ready” steps for setting out remain familiar from last year.
• The eBook is free when you purchase the paper version of the guide. Amazon will recognize if you bought the paper version and will allow the eBook to be downloaded at no charge. All the links you see underlined in blue are active links in the eBook. It’s a great time saver in looking up my recommendations on apps, marinas, restaurants, and electronics.  

The compilation of bridge clearances was a major new effort consuming many hours. Here's an excerpt from the book:

Bridge Heights

 All fixed bridges on the ICW are supposed to give 65 ft of clearance at high tide except for the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami at 56 ft. Unfortunately, “supposed to” does not conform to reality on the ICW. In the spring of 2018, I took photos of every fixed height bridge from Ft Lauderdale to Hampton, VA. I noted the date and time of the photo and arranged them in a spreadsheet. I then looked up the tide at the time and computed the bridge clearance at the highest tide of the day per the nearest tide station and for a 0.0 tide. Unfortunately, there were 15 bridges that did not have height boards. Obviously, they were not included.

As an example of one with height boards, let’s look at the International Speedway Blvd in Daytona at MM 830.1. I came through the bridge on 4/25/2018 at 7:29:21 EDT and took this photo of the height board. I figured the clearance to be 62.8 ft. I then found the nearest tide station, Ormond Beach in the Halifax River which is 4.6 Nm north. The nearest tide station to the south is Ponce Inlet on the Halifax River at 9.2 Nm away. I chose to use the closest tide station, 4.6 Nm north.

Using Aqua Map’s excellent tide charts, I changed the date to 4/25/2018 and moved the slider to 7:30 am and found the predicted tide to be 0.6 ft. I also noted the high tide of the day to be 0.7 ft from the text below the graph. Now I had enough data to compute the clearance at low tide and the clearance at high tide:

Clearance at Low Tide = 62.8 ft + 0.6 ft = 63.4 ft

Clearance at High Tide = 63.4 ft - 0.7 ft = 62.7 ft

There are many examples in the book with a tabulation of all such bridges and a graph showing heights for each bridge at low and high tides. 

Compiling this data was rather exciting while going under bridges at all hours and always being ready to snap a photo. Aqua Map has the handy feature of giving a popup of date and time at a point on a track just by tapping that location. I can tap the track by a bridge and compare that date and time to the time stamp from my camera to double check that I have the right photo matched to the right bridge. I thought all this data might be useful to some cruisers along the ICW.

So there you have it, a labor of love over the past two months. I hope you enjoy the book and if you find it useful, please leave a review at Amazon.com. Links:

2018 ICW Cruising Guide hardcopy

2018 ICW Cruising Guide eBook