That is the Question.
It gets asked everyday by everybody.
Do you do the ICW or go out into the ocean?

We feel that for us; with a 64' air draft and a 7' water draft it is a bit of a no brainer. I want less stress. People always seem to be horrified that we do offshores and overnighters. I'm not sure that the grass is or isn't always greener on the other side of the canal...

For outside ocean you really have to pick your weather window, but then there is little traffic to contend with. You really get to sail, and navigation is relatively straight forward. One tends to do longer (read 160-200 nautical miles) distances, which means we actually linger in most stops much longer.
I've also found that we have come to rely on each other more as a couple while offshore because we have to.


On the minus side, there is the full day or two of recovery after a boisterous passage, and it seems that my body won't settle into a routine at sea untill after day/night 3. So the overnighters where we do 2 or 3 hours on/off are hard to settle into. The other aspect is what appears to me as a constant underestimation by NOAA of the wind speed forecasts. Most commercial watermen I talk to, say add 10 knots to everything. And of course once you're out there, unlike the ICW, you'rer out there to stay.

Inside you can travel most days, but you have to travel most every day to put the miles under your keel and to stay ahead of the deteriorating fall and winter weather. If listening to the VHF is any indication (we hear all the ICW chatter on the VHF even outside) it seems fairly stressful for a lot of boats. There is the constant fear of going aground and the constant fast boats having to pass slower boats in confined channels. There is the worry of 65' bridges, i.e. some are 64' or less depending on lunar tides or wind driven tides. And then some bridges have to be properly timed for their schedule...not just when you arrive and want the opening.

However, when doing the inside route, one does not have to worry so much about the state (tide/wind current) of the inlets, and anchorages are more plentiful along the way so no overnighters!

Like everything, there is no black and white answer that fits everyone. There is just what feels right for you and the boat. I always have some trepidation of things that I have not experienced before - a fear of the unknown. Offshores almost always generate that feeling. It doesn't matter how many we do. One of the great things about this trip is I get to face the unknown almost everyday. As a result, I get to meet all sorts of great people, and we are forced to learn new things everyday.

Inside or outside - I think they both have their benefits and they both generate the unexpected.