Hi Jess,

The Georgia ICW is one of those areas where I think the value of electronic charting is highly overrated, and I'd venture that more people are likely to get into trouble through there by staring at a chartplotter screen, than paying attention to your surroundings...

It's basically all eyeball navigation/piloting throughout, from one marker/nav aid to the next, and with extensive reliance on ranges in some of the trickier spots... You best keep to a range by actually looking at the range, not by looking at a cursor on a chartplotter... (grin)

The best way to avoid trouble is to be as aware as possible to your surroundings, constantly looking for indications of the set of the current, checking your wake for an indication that your quarter wave is piling up more to one side than the other, monitoring the depth finder, scanning the water ahead for dolphin (they tend to prefer deeper water), or wading birds walking on water (pretty good indication it's shallow there), and all that other stuff an electronic chart won't tell you... Also, the most likely might be the placement of a temporary buoy not indicated on any chart, they tend to be quite small and easily missed by those too busy following the cursor on their screen...

Also, check Claiborne Young's ICW Salty Southeast Cruiser's website for the latest info on trouble spots along the ICW, it can be very useful...

There's a lot of beautiful stops through there, Cumberland Island is a beautiful place, if you have the time to do a bit of exploring ashore...

Good luck, and best regards,

Jon