Can you sail from Jacksonville, Fl. to Miami, Fl. on the ICW?

Question

Can you sail from Jacksonville, Fl. to Miami, Fl. on the ICW?

Answer 1

hi yes you can .... there are some areas where you might want to use a small motor just for your safte becasue of the nuts that use the area especially as you near WPB

Answer 2

No you will have to motor most of the time> And if they didn't open & dredge down south of Jupiter you will have issues> Best to go out side and sail down in 20' To 40' then come in at night>If over 4' than go outside>

Answer 3

Of course you can sail the distance of the waterway.  The channel is narrow - true.  Even just outside the marks you most likely will find the bottom, don't stay outside the channel.  The breeze is what really determines the answer, most of the time.  For a great distance South just after the ICW crosses the river in Jacksonville the narrow channel is buffeted with tall trees, motor probably required.  It opens up again after that and is sailable again from there to St Augustine.  After St Aug  there is plenty of wind fetch for mailes until near Daytona.  After Daytona it is sailable without much interruption from tall trees until Cocoa.  Remember direction and strength determine how sailable this scenario actually is!

I sail the waterway regularly with 5.5' draft, sometimes tacking the boat for 10's of miles in short tacks, but most often the prevailing winds are controlled by a Land and Sea Breeze.  Most often this means that heading North or South you will be encountering an esterly, which will most often put you on a broad reach.

If I were making a run of that distance, though I would certainly go off-shore.  Much less to concern yourself with in regards to dangers to navigation.  It will be a faster run and much better sailing.

Heading South means staying near shore to avoid the stream's Northrward flow.   You can go for the Gold or duck into inlets as necessary from Jacksonville, St Aug, Ponce Inlet, Canaveral, on and on to Glades.  But why not just add an extra crew or two and sail it straight through?

Size of vessel is unimportant unless you are sailing something with a 60' stick, because of bridge height limitations.

Good luck - Have Fun - Be Safe - Sail the Boat.

Answer 4

i don't see why not. there is water, but i would use a motar boat.

Answer 5

No, and that is an emphatic NO.  Most of the trip is in narrow canals, rivers and channels.  You would be able to sail small areas if the wind is right, but the depth and width of the waterway does not permit any sort of draft and the width in many areas does not allow for the ability to tack.