Ocean Cruising is probably what everyone pictures when they think about “traveling on a sailboat”. You have endless waves between you and your next destination as you are carried along by the ocean zephyrs. It sounds romantic, and it is absolutely worth it; but it is a lot of work!
While out at sea, you never get any sleep. Your body gets used to living with a lack of sleep after a few days, but you never really feel “rested” because the longest amount of sleep you can get is your short “off watch” time. When you go to sleep, your bed is in constant motion, and that makes deep sleep a little harder to get!
The rewards are incredible stars, unbelievable sunsets, and an experience of a lifetime! You can reach any point of land with a coast and explore the world the way it has been traveled for thousands of years. We have spent the last 5 years traveling around the Atlantic, visiting ports in Europe, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean.
Now we are back in the US cruising up the ICW where everything is different! The ICW is a protected waterway in the coast of the US that lets you gently move your boat along the entire coast. Between Florida and North Carolina, there are only two places where your boat is in danger of getting damaged. One is the Rock Pile in Myrtle Beach, SC, the other is the rocks in Snow’s Cut, NC.
Aside from these two small areas, the entire ICW consists of either a soft mud, sand, or shell bottom. If you run aground, it will be gentle and you will be able to float off on the next high tide (unless you bumped bottom at high tide, then you will need a tow). The only source of waves are the other boat wakes that move along near you!
The ICW lets you sleep at anchor every night, never worry about provisioning or water because there are grocery stores and fuel docks (where you can get water) everywhere. If the weather is good, you move onward. If the weather is nasty, you just wait at anchor another day and see what tomorrow brings!
We spent three days at anchor in 40 knot winds in Georgia where the waves got up to about 10 inches high. We were still able to dinghy our dog to a beach in our inflatable dinghy with a 2hp electric outboard. The winds were incredible, but the sea was still flat (all things considered). If we were in the ocean, we would have been hove to riding over 30 foot waves while rolling all over the place. Instead, we sat back and streamed our favorite shows while we waited for better weather to return.
While cruising in the ICW might not seem very glamorous, it is a great way to get your feet wet! You can try out your gear and get a feel for your boat. You will still get to experience traveling by boat, dinghying to shore, and living at anchor but in the comfort and safety of the coast. This might be your dream come true and you will never need to face the adversity of the ocean during a storm, or it is just what you need to teach you how to untie the lines and set off on adventure.
While the ICW and the Ocean are vastly different, both offer incredible sights, memories, and experiences to the cruiser who is willing to explore them.
