This good advice was forwarded to us by Hank Pomeranz at Carolina Yacht Care of Southport Marina, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR! Skipper Wehmer has been communicating with Hank about Problem Stretches he had encountered. Funding for dredging the Problem Stretch north of Ben Sawyer Bridge has been approved but has not yet begun. See /?p=149544. SSECN continues to recommend mid to high tide passage for this stretch.

Hank,
From connector bridge to Ben Sawyer:
Favoring the red side found more water as suggested. At G117A and B a sailboat in front of us drawing 6.5′ went aground staying to the far red side. They had approx. 1.5′ of tide. They radioed us and suggested to stay 40′ off of those buoys, which we did and had about 8′ MLW.
For the balance of the passage, the notes you provided were good. If you draw 6 feet or over, we recommend waiting until there is at least 3′ of tide before making the trip, however, other than grounding next to 117A, the boat in front of us made it through with 1.5-2′ of tide.
We are going to try to go outside from here to Fernandina, but if we do not, I’ll send you what we find.
Bill Wehmer
S/V Island Bound

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s “AICW Problem Stretches” Listing For the AICW North of Ben Sawyer Bridge to Isle of Palms Bridge

Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch