ICW Travel Planning

RobMcClain

RobMcClain

Member
My wife and I are considering towing the boat east for a spring cruise up the ICW. Once launched from the general area of southern Georgia (or northern Florida), we want to make a leisurely cruise north with a destination of the Potomac (somewhere nearby DC) to see our kids. Once there we would make a quick trip south to collect our vehicle/trailer and drive them north to meet up with the boat. The plan is to later continue our cruise northward into NY, but that is for later questions...

So here is our present question. We would need to leave our vehicle and trailer at the launch site for roughly 2 or 3 weeks, if not 4, and that would require a secure area for them to prevent any vandalism and/or theft. We don't know that geographic area at all, and the books don't really cover this aspect, so we are in need of recommendations of places where we could launch and then secure our car/trailer. What marinas in the areas mentioned might fill this bill? Any thoughts and recommendations would be most appreciated... Thanks!

Rob
 
Two years ago we left our truck and trailer in fenced and secured parking at the Ft. Pierce marina (Florida). The launch is within eyesight of the marina. We launched then Toni drove the truck and trailer to the parking area at the marina and I motored over in the boat to pick her up. The cost was reasonable and the people were friendly. There is a lot to see on the Florida coast, St. Augustine was very nice. If I were to do it again I would pick a port with an airport or train station nearby. We took the train back to as close as we could get and then rented a car.

The ICW is a wonderful way to see the east coast, have a great time.
 
Rob,

Last year we did the ICW going south and pulled our boat at Jacksonville Beach, Palm Cove Marina (904-223-4757). Great folks at Palm Cove, very helpful. We used the ramp across the ICW from Palm Cove to put the boat back on the trailer, excellent ramp. Also, we saw several locked storage yards in the area. You might want to call Palm Cove they may have information on these yards.

Dick
 
I would use Active Captain to search out a starting point. Jacksonville has lot of options. Savanna is also another place that our friends have spoken well about. We usually figure traveling 40 to 60 miles a day. Look at the time you have and back up from your destination to the starting spot. Using active captain and calling marinas about storage solutions is what we have done We use marina reviews to choose which marinas we want to call.Leave some extra time for places you like and ugly weather. Don't be afraid to use the Other sites like Tugnuts etc.
D.D.
 
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