Mid Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay - shake down cruise

Hi all, Does anyone have a close estimate on the distance from Norfolk Va to Carolina Beach NC via water (ICW)? My friend wants me to help him get his new acquisition (34' hatt. DC) from its old home to its new home. Don't need to get in the big water unless there is significant fuel savings. Thanks, Joe

I would plan on three days with a new boat and you will likely have a fair amount of boat traffic this time of the year... Assuming you are leaving from Norfolk, the first leg of the trip will be slow with the locks and bridges... but you can make it to roughly Belhaven if you take the inland route (I ran going north two years ago in January with plenty of daylight). Belhaven is a popular stop on the ICW so call ahead for reservations. Oriental is another good stop. Morehead City gets confusing since the ICW and normal red-right-return will conflict and add to that the constantly changing shoals... I would plan on Morehead City/Beaufort while you are fresh and have plenty of time to avoid a mistake navigating... It's been 15 years since I've been south of Morehead City on the ICW... I remember heading out to the ocean from MoreHead City since we had great weather... we stayed over a couple of days in Wilmington (fun town!!!) before continuing south to Myrtle Beach.
Don't rely 100% on your GPS... there are some known spots where you will be on land according to the chartplotter! There are plenty of guidebooks for navigating the ICW... bridge schedules and phone numbers for them are very useful... if you are playing tourist, the book is a must... if you are just going from A to B, then you would be okay without it... you can go on NOAA's site and download and print paper copies of the charts between here and there just in case...
Good luck and enjoy the trip!

Hey, Thanks for the info. I was going to pick up the guide book at mile marker zero shop before getting aboard. Just had it surveyed and no issues but will be taking tools anyway. Never know what will go wrong with anything after minimal use in the past few years. Give me a book over a gps anyday. Guess I am old school enough to not trust them when my life is in the mix. I think I will try to go see my sister who lives in Rodanthe on the way down. Not too much out of the way. Thanks on the noaa tip. I will check them out now and see if the 39.95 is not needed. Tight lines, Joe

Might want to find the guide book now... Murphy might have bought the last one... :)
The Outer Banks route is a little faster, just watch the weather... the sounds can get pretty snotty... Ocacroake has a very nice area to anchor over night... spent a night there...
My Grady was barely used for two years before I bought it... it was surveyed as well... made it two days north out of Morehead City... just after leaving the Norfolk area for the bay, the alarm buzzers went off... the external oil pump was corroded and had locked up... it was really hidden under the tanks and easily over looked by the surveyor... Got the boat to a marina and they were able to repair it that week... tools, shop manuals, and a good mechanic's phone number should be on your list!