Attn delivery captains on the east coast...

Karl,
You can help yourself a little now by going out and getting the chart book for the east coast. Study it a little bit, know the ICW, see that in some spots there may be a choice of routes; there is at least one lock (just south of Norfolk) and more if you run north up the Hudson, north of Troy; understand that even though the ICW runs up the coast of NJ, many bridges do not open (so if you have a tall vessel you have to run outside); know how to read range markers, you will come across a lot of commercial traffic, etc, etc.
Good luck.

PS BTW, the little yellow triangles and squares on the buoys mean something. Not sure if you had something like that on the inside passages of the west coast. Have fun.

My little bit of advice is to also buy the Waterway Guides, it is a 3 book set that is invaluable on the ICW. Read it every night for the next days route and it will show you all the hang ups and areas to be careful..
It is a good idea to do it once with someone who knows it to give you the ins and outs of the ICW.
Personally I cannot stand the ditch!!!

Nobeltec

I've loaded Nobeltec software into my laptop. Now I have charts from Attu Island to the BVIs. A Garmin bluetooth GPS sensor assures me of having a chartplotter with me at all times. Expensive, yes. But then I get paid a handsome amount for my services.