How to Sail the ICW - We Did It; You Can Too

Can you sail the ICW? Most people assume the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a long, motoring slog of over 1000 miles. But Pamela Douglas, from The Boat Galley team shares a different perspective. And her best tips for getting in some good sailing when you’re traveling the ICW.

You know the best thing about being a newbie? You don’t know what you can’t do. Luckily, I discovered how much I loved sailing the ICW before anyone told me I couldn’t do it.

After years of traveling the ICW, I won’t tell you that you can sail every day. But when you can sail, it’s magnificent. And the effort to sail the big rivers, bays, and sounds is well worth it. Especially since it gives you a much-needed break from long days motoring on narrow waterways.

Sailing Offers Comfort

At the dock, we met trawler captains and motoring sailors who told us how much they suffered from the rough chop on the Albemarle Sound. We had barely noticed. Under sail with a moderate wind about 60 degrees off the bow, we sliced through the water. The rough waters were modified by our sea-kindly boat and the stabilizing sails.

One of the greatest benefits of sailing in the ICW is that you’ll be more comfortable in rough seas. Obviously, it’s quieter than motoring. I’d argue it’s more fun. It can even give you another tool for dealing with the timing challenges every boater experiences on the ICW.

So why do so many sailors say you can’t sail the ICW? Maybe they just haven’t done it the right way. We’ve made deliberate choices to help us sail more often. Follow a few guidelines and sail more than the average snowbird. First of all,

Don’t Listen to the Naysayers

The most important advice I’d share is to ignore the people who insist you’ll never sail unless you “go outside.” Yes, the internet is a wonderful place for boaters to share helpful information about routes, great anchorages, and repairs. But it’s also a happy hunting ground for folks who are just plain cranky.

Isn’t it funny how sailors who zig and zag to sail into the wind become suddenly concerned with speed and efficiency when an online sailing group starts discussing the ICW?

Okay, I’m a little snarky. I understand that everyone is looking for different things in their travels. Some folks look forward to a long stay in the Caribbean and are less interested in exploring the beauty of the US coast—especially if it means managing tides and bridge openings.

But if you’re intrigued by seeing charming towns, eating delicious seafood, enjoying beautiful anchorages, and also love to sail, you can have them both. As long as you don’t allow yourself to get discouraged by people who choose to travel differently.

Remember You’re a Sailor

I’ve been there. It’s easy to get stuck in a motoring rut. After a few days of traveling confined waterways, it’s easy to forget you’re a sailor.

On board our boat, Meander, it was most likely to happen when we were hurrying to stop somewhere. You see, we worked while cruising. If we didn’t keep earning money, we couldn’t keep cruising. It’s easy to forget to enjoy the journey and only think about the destination. Especially when bills come due.

But we weren’t the only cruisers who have forgotten we’re sailors.

I remember approaching the Albemarle Sound one lovely morning. The sun was shining. The wind was blowing about 10 to 15 knots. As we headed into the wind to raise our sails, we saw a beautiful ketch, under motor with no sails flying.

Two days later, we met the captain of the ketch when we shared a dock in Belhaven, North Carolina. As we told him of our beautiful sailing day, he confirmed that he had simply gotten into the motoring rut.

He had forgotten he was a sailor.

On our vessel, remembering we’re sailors happens before we leave our anchorage in the morning. Which brings me to my next point.

Always Be Ready To Sail

It takes time and effort to sail. And it’s best to make that effort before you leave the dock or anchorage.

On our boat (a 1990 Pacific Seacraft 34), we needed to unzip the sail pack on our boom and untie the halyards we silenced the night before to get ready to sail. To raise the mainsail, we worked at the mast. If we wanted to use our staysail, we needed to unzip the sail cover and run the sheets through the blocks and back to the cockpit.

I’ve found myself on the Chesapeake Bay with a gorgeous wind right on the beam disappointed that I didn’t bother to prepare the boat for sailing before we left. For us, always being ready to sail sometimes meant disbelieving the weather reports telling you to expect light wind coming from the wrong direction. Or spontaneously changing plans to sail across the Chesapeake Bay to Onancock instead of motoring north toward Deltaville.

If you have in-mast furling and all lines led to the cockpit, your preparations may mean being mentally prepared to sail even if your boat doesn’t require the work ours did to get under sail.

When you’re prepared to sail (physically and mentally), sailing becomes a useful tool for managing the challenges of the ICW while having fun at the same time.

Sailing to Time the Tides

We were buying diesel in Brunswick, Georgia getting ready to head south. My navigator suggested we leave the dock in the late morning to get the best benefit of the tidal currents for making way.

What he forgot to consider was a certain spot in Jekyll Creek that was impassable for Meander’s 5-foot-draft at dead low tide. And we were expecting to cross that spot at, you guessed it, dead low tide.

My husband redeemed his error, however, when he suggested we leave at the suggested time and enjoy a nice sail in the Jekyll Sound. It could not have been a nicer morning. We had the entire sound to ourselves. And when we arrived at the trouble spot in the creek a little early, we dropped the hook and enjoyed a relaxing lunch.

I wonder if sailors would complain less about the challenges of the ICW if they saw the fun times those trouble spots can bring if you have the right attitude?

Travel Slowly

Our first year traveling the ICW found us leaving Virginia in January. It was cold. And I remember long days as we tried to reach warmer weather quickly.

It was a drudge.

After that, I insisted on traveling shorter days—30 miles or less. By planning short days, we easily managed the tides and bridge openings. We arrived at our anchorages in plenty of time to prep the dinghy and take our golden retriever, Honey, for a long, sniffy exploration on the shore.

Oh, and we made it more likely that we have time to sail.

If you insist on traveling as quickly as possible on the ICW, you’ll feel pressed to motor all the time. Or at least motor sail. But if you’re committed to enjoying the journey on your own terms, travel slowly. By sail.

Plan Ahead

Everyone traveling the ICW knows they need to plan around tides, bridge openings, and weather. Those of us with dogs onboard need to make sure our stops include places to take our pups for walks. And, if you wish to sail, you need to factor that into your daily planning as well.

If you have good sources of information, the planning doesn’t have to be onerous. The Boat Galleys’ ICW Cruising Guide cuts down on the planning time. As do the guides for the Chesapeake Bay and Chesapeake West.

Spending less time planning the basics with help from a good guide, it’s easier to plan your sails.

If Locals Sail There, You Can Too

We’ve enjoyed fine views of regattas on the Chesapeake Bay, Choptank River, Beaufort River, and Calibogue Sound, all while cruising through the area aboard Meander.

When you’re a cruiser with a cruiser’s mindset, it’s easy to forget that sailors in the places you’re passing through sail those waters all season long. So if they sail the Charleston Harbor, Neuse River, Pamlico River, St Catherine’s Sound, etc. why aren’t you?

Although most sailors become power boaters in the ICW, it doesn’t have to be that way. Heck, I’ve even met someone who sailed in the Dismal Swamp canal. The captain was a seasoned world traveler on a vessel without an engine. He sailed because he had no choice. He also had a much lighter boat than many of us cruising the ICW in the spring and fall.

I’m not ready to sail the notorious rock pile segment of the ICW through Myrtle Beach in my boat that displaces 13,000 pounds no matter how good the wind is. I don’t have the sailing chops. And I don’t have the nerve.

But Meander sailed the large rivers and sounds of the ICW. And if you love to sail, you can too.

Can You Sail the ICW

The only topic that stirs up more controversy online among East Coast sailors than which anchor to choose is whether one should take the ICW or “go outside.” If you believe the naysayers, the “ditch” is a hellacious journey best avoided by retreating to the safety of the Atlantic Ocean. Those who love traveling the ICW answer with stories of beautiful anchorages, amazing wildlife, friendly people, and historic towns. However, few argue that the ICW offers good sailing.

In my years living and cruising aboard Meander, I enjoyed delightful sails along the ICW. No, they didn’t happen every day. But if you pay attention to some simple principles, you too can enjoy wonderful sailing.

Woman with white hair hugging a golden retriever. — Photo credit: Alice G Patterson Photography

Pamela Douglas cruised in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Chesapeake and Delaware Bays aboard a Pacific Seacraft 34. She is a member of The Boat Galley team and developed The Perfect Boat Dog course. You can also find her favorite Atlantic coast destinations and other information about dogs at Something Wagging This Way Comes.

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