From: Ralph Yost
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:10 PM
Subject: ICW in NJ

Well I had the dubious honor of running the ICW the rest of the way from
Atlantic City to Manasquan Inlet NJ in the fog again. It was identical
conditions to the trip from Cape May to Atlantic City I wrote about a few
weeks ago.

On Wed we left Atlantic City NJ in less than 1/8 mile visibility. Rather
than sit and wait for the fog to lift.whenever, we departed at 6:45am. Ran
inside without event.

The caution areas are north side of Great Bay and where the ICW runs out the
Little Egg Inlet a bit but then turns 90 deg northbound (that would be a
left if you are from Rio Linda). Its deep there but in the fog the buoys are
spread apart pretty far. The channel has shoals and slight turns and it
could be easy to drift aside of the channel into shallower water. If you
were not depending on radar and had visual acquired the buoys, less concern.
After you made the northbound turn and get up near Liberty
Thoroughfare/Mordecai Island, there is a red lighted channel marker "LB"
that needs to be taken differently. It is definitely shoal, less than 4ft,
in the channel as you approach that marker. So well before it move over to
the right and favor close to Mordecai Island where you will find 6-8ft of
water and can pass easily. But remember: with incoming current, it will
bring you to this shoaling area very quickly while you may be trying to
identify it and find yourself in the skinny water.

Other than that I cannot mention any notable areas. In the old days back
closer to Atlantic City, Black Point (Stat Mile 60) used to be a shoaling
concern. Northbound from there, around Green 159, there is now two
additional buoys in the channel (in addition to the steel pole markers)
because of shoaling to keep you in deep water. These are not on the charts.

Even Tow Island in Great Bay was well marked and plenty of water. That used
to be a shoal shift spot that moved each year.

Oh the fog did lift when we went under the Manahawkin Bridge around 10:45am.
We found some of Skipper Bob's mentions of bridges in his ICW book are not
correct now. He mentions some bridge heights that are now a few feet higher
probably because of being rebuilt since his publication.

R.

Ralph your notes of the dubious trip are May 2012 two years old
anyway. We ran from Cape May to Atlantic City
on the outside spring 2013. Did the same from Atlantic City to Sandy hook. Now our friend on Tide Hiker did the N.J. portion with your current instructions in hand at the time.. He advised me later it was a "nail biter" and "White Knuckle trip" and would never do it again with his Defever. We draw 4 ft 8 " with our MT50. 

We picked a good weather window and rain outside. Who needs the frustration and aggravation associated with all those details of the N.J. Gauntlet? Not to mention
the risk of damaging your boat in N.J. Just to take on a Challenge?

Safe Cruising, Still Friends

Bob Kovach, Chief Engr
KJ4UGE/MM
M/Y ALLEZ`! On the loop Lying Brewerton, N.Y
MTOA, AGLCA, USPS, USCG-ARC

On Thursday, May 29, 2014 8:56 AM, Ralph Yost ralph@alphacompservices.com wrote:

From: Ralph Yost
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:10 PM
Subject: ICW in NJ

Well I had the dubious honor of running the ICW the rest of the way
from
Atlantic City to Manasquan Inlet NJ in the fog again. It was identical
conditions to the trip from Cape May to Atlantic City I wrote about a few
weeks ago.

On Wed we left Atlantic City NJ in less than 1/8 mile visibility. Rather
than sit and wait for the fog to lift.whenever, we departed at 6:45am. Ran
inside without event.

The caution areas are north side of Great Bay and where the ICW runs out the
Little Egg Inlet a bit but then turns 90 deg northbound (that would be a
left if you are from Rio Linda). Its deep there but in the fog the buoys are
spread apart pretty far. The channel has shoals and slight turns and it
could be easy to drift aside of the channel into shallower water. If you
were not depending on radar and had
visual acquired the buoys, less concern.
After you made the northbound turn and get up near Liberty
Thoroughfare/Mordecai Island, there is a red lighted channel marker
"LB"
that needs to be taken differently. It is definitely shoal, less than 4ft,
in the channel as you approach that marker. So well before it move over to
the right and favor close to Mordecai Island where you will find 6-8ft of
water and can pass easily. But remember: with incoming current, it will
bring you to this shoaling area very quickly while you may be trying to
identify it and find yourself in the skinny water.

Other than that I cannot mention any notable areas. In the old days back
closer to Atlantic City, Black Point (Stat Mile 60) used to be a shoaling
concern. Northbound from there, around Green 159, there is now two
additional buoys in the channel (in addition to the steel pole markers)
because of shoaling to keep you in deep water. These are not on
the charts.

Even Tow Island in Great Bay was well marked and plenty of water. That used
to be a shoal shift spot that moved each year.

Oh
the fog did lift when we went under the Manahawkin Bridge around 10:45am.
We found some of Skipper Bob's mentions of bridges in his ICW book are not
correct now. He mentions some bridge heights that are now a few feet higher
probably because of being rebuilt since his publication.

R.

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