Advise on North Carolina Marinas and Coast

[spadaforaj]

Hi All


Just got transfered to the RTP/Raleigh area and am looking for the best place to put my Hunter 33 for cruising. It's a 5 foot shoal keel. Looking for the closest place to drive to from RTP, decent marina/mooring and good sailing. Anyone have any suggestions ?

Jim

 

[NC-C320]

NC Marinas

You have lots of choices. New Bern is probably the closest to you. Two large marinas are located downtown. New Bern is a nice little city with a nice downtown suitable for boaters. Also, there is a nice marina by the name of Northwest Marina out from/ down stream from New Bern.

At Washington, there is are municipal docks that will rent slips. These also are downtown and convenient to the restaurants. A West Marine is close by to take your money for boat items. Go to the Washington, NC website.

Also at Washington, a little further down the river on Broad Creek, there are two public marinas (off River Road): McCotter's Marina, a good size boat yard for haul out with slips available. Then there is Broad Creek Marina adjacent and beside Captain Sams Boatyard, another good boat yard for haul out. I think both will allow you to work on your own boat in the yard (for a fee). The Washington Country and Yacht Club (with golf course) has a nice marina on the creek, but you have to be a member there. And across the creek is Pamlico Plantation, a private residential development with a nice marina, but you have to be a lot or home owner there and they do not rent out slips .... buy a lot, townhouse, or home here, and you get a slip suitable for your boat included. A number of people from the Raleigh area have bought lots, townhouses, or homes there as weekend get aways, although, the development is promoted primarily as a permanent residence area.

At Oriental, which is a bit further, there are more boats than residents...it is frequently called the sailboat capital of NC, with several dealers and yards and lots of marinas. Pecan Grove Marina has close access to the Neuse River, which is probably 5 miles wide there, and has lots of slips available as they have just completed a major expansion. It is well sheltered and would probably be my choice. Then, there is Whittker Creek Marina and several others. There is also a new marina inside the harbor which is convenient to the little downtown area, but it would not be my choice, since it can get a bit rough if the wind blows a certain way, but many sailors like it because of it's proximity to the center of the town. I don't know all of the other marinas by name, but if you call Inter Banks Sails (or Banks Sails) in Oriental (one of the local sail lofts..Doyle dealer), I'm sure they could direct you to the other marinas. Oriental and New Bern are on the Neuse River. Washington is on the Pamlico River. Both are big rivers and dump into the Pamlico Sound....lots of water there for sailing as well as in the rivers. Sailing across the sound to Ocracoke on the outer banks is a favorite thing on most sailer's agenda.

 

[lingarner]

Re: NC Marinas

My boat is at whittaker creek @ Oriental. I enjoy it there. Its like time slows down. Plus slip rent is chaep.

 

[jibes138]

What kind of sailing do you want/are used to?

I live near Washington, and have kept my boat for a few years in Oriental. I now have a slip in Beaufort,NC and I highly recommend it. Oriental is a great place for quiet and day sailing, but if you want access to open ocean it is a 20 mile hike down the ICW to get to Beaufort/Morehead City.
Beaufort has a great waterfront, great ocean beaches easily accessible by dinghy, and is the home of an inlet for major shipping traffic. Restaurants, music, museaums, beaches, and best of all is Cape lookout about a 12 mile sail. From Raleigh straight down route 70 gets you there, it is a hike but oriental is almost as far by car. There are slips available for sale or rent at Beaufort Marina Village and is owned and operated by the local TowboatUS franchise, Rod Hoell is the proprietor. Give him a call and he can set you up.

 

[cole]

Check out Oriental

I love the oriental area for sailing. My 38 is from there. The sound can kick up and make for some really great sailing on all points of sailing the washington area requires a 1 hour motor to good sailing .

I live near Washington, and have kept my boat for a few years in Oriental. I now have a slip in Beaufort,NC and I highly recommend it. Oriental is a great place for quiet and day sailing, but if you want access to open ocean it is a 20 mile hike down the ICW to get to Beaufort/Morehead City.
Beaufort has a great waterfront, great ocean beaches easily accessible by dinghy, and is the home of an inlet for major shipping traffic. Restaurants, music, museaums, beaches, and best of all is Cape lookout about a 12 mile sail. From Raleigh straight down route 70 gets you there, it is a hike but oriental is almost as far by car. There are slips available for sale or rent at Beaufort Marina Village and is owned and operated by the local TowboatUS franchise, Rod Hoell is the proprietor. Give him a call and he can set you up.

 

[NC-C320]

NC Sailing

Re: Washington....if you are downtown, you do have to motor a bit to get where there is good sailing. If you are out of McCotters or Broad Creek Marina on Broad Creek, good sailing is immediately available (in my opinion), but if you are cruising, you will generally go down the river always. At Oriental, you have a choice, up river, across river to coast, down river to sound and water is wider/larger there than at Washington. Beaufort and Cape Lookout are nice, but most of your sailing here will require you to go outside into ocean...preferable at times, not so when the weather kicks up. The adjacent sounds look good/large on the chart, but most in the Beaufort area iare very shallow, requiring you to stick to the narrow channels. Generally the winds are less strong in the sounds and rivers, and decrease the further up the rivers that you go. This means light winds much of the time, but it also means that there will be fewer times that you will have to cancel due to high winds....if it's too high outside in ocean, it may be great in the sounds or river. And there are lots of other good places besides the ones mentioned. A few day trips by auto would be in order for you to decide for yourself where you want to keep your boat.

 

[NC-C320]

NC Sounds Depth

In my last post regarding depth of inshore water around Beaufort area, I did not mean to imply that water in the largest sound, Pamlico Sound, is too shallow. It's plenty deep in most all areas except near shore. Get charts for the NC coastal waters (inshore and offshore) and study them a bit as to access and depth. Alternatively, most marine supply or boat dealer stores have a chartbook for sale (aimed at fishermen, but I don't recall exact name) having charts of all NC waters and NC offshore/nearshore..book costs about $35. Study this, particularily as to depth, then buy detailed charts for where you decide to sail. You are going to need these anyway if you plan to do much cruising.

 

[Paul Brinkley]

There are marinas at Edenton on the north shore of the Albemarle Sound, and one at Mackeys on the south shore. I have sailed this area and enjoyed it, but like Washington, its a long way to the ocean if that's what you want. -Paul

 

[jibes138]

Oriental revisited

I didn't mean to imply that Oriental wasn't good sailing, I had many great days of sailing there and the winds are often strong with minimal current to worry about. I just prefer to be near beaches so after a nice day of sailing you can anchor up and enjoy the surf and swim and snorkel/scuba dive. Most of the anchorage areas around oriental are good anchorages and great wilderness locations but the lack of beaches is really what pushed me down to Beaufort. My sailing up in New England was mostly open ocean going to Block or Newport, or out to the Elizabeth Islands, Marthas Vineyard, Or Nantucket so I just prefer ocean sailing to sound sailing.
From Beaufort you can easily cruise overnight down to Charleston or Cape Fear and its' a great spot to head down to the Bahamas or out to Bermuda. One of my dockmates took his Passport to Bermuda last year and had a great time.
Happy sailing all,
dave

 

[sailaway78]

Water depth

If you are not familiar with that area, watch the tides closely. They have 8 or 9 foot tides in that area, and it takes a little getting used to at first. If your from an area where they have this kind of tides, not a problem, but if not used to it????????Certainly was for me coming through there the first time. Only managed to sorta screw up once, and woke up about 3 AM with more than a little list on the boat, sitting on the bottom.

 

[jibes138]

8 or 9 foot tides??

Can't recall ever seeing a tide of that magnitude. Perhaps up in Maine? What area are you speaking of? The sounds in NC typically don't have tides, rather the water rises of falls based on wind direction and recent storm activity. Coastal NC has tides of about three or four feet about the same as I experienced in new england, maybe a little larger. A three foot tide will still sit you on the bottom if the water was only 6 feet at high tide. Many boaters check tide tables or have a copy of eldridge on board.

 

[Ed Schenck]

A friend and his wife want to retire to the NC coast. . .maybe. They have taken some driving tours of the areas mentioned above. That includes one of my favorite marinas, Matthews Point on the south side of the Neuse. Before I copy this link to send to a friend a couple of comments.

My boat spent a month in Oriental, I was there a couple of weeks. The boat spent eighteen months at Matthews Point, I was there a few different weeks. I have also spent time in Elizabeth City and New Bern.

For affordable living and sailing I guess I would choose Oriental. But because I love Beaufort and the beaches I might choose Matthews Point. I would often drive down to Beaufort for breakfast or dinner. Either way I would stay near the Pamlico with the option of going down the ICW for some ocean trips or a night out to Cape Lookout. Having spent many summer vacations in and around Morehead City and Beaufort there are just too many days when the ocean does not cooperate. And as someone pointed out there appears to be a lot of water around there. But don't dare get outside the markers. Heck, I grounded a Hobie near the Atlantic Beach bridge. Now that's shallow! Just some random thoughts.

 

[Steve Kamp]

Nice n Easy,

With respect, are you linking Beaufort,NC with Beaufort SC? As Jibes 138 says, 2-3 ft common around Moorehead City/Beaufort NC, with fluctuations in the Pamlico Sound and tributary rivers dependent on wind direction. The 8-9 ft tides you are probably thinking of are indeed found from Georgetown on south to Fernandina.
Pamlico Sound is a large flat bowl with outlets at Oregon inlet, Hatteras Inlet and Ocracoke Inlet and the volume of water coming from the Chowan/Roanoke/Albemarle, Tar/Pamlico, and Neuse/Trent tributaries is generally greater than that being pulled in by tidal forces.

 

[Ecity Hunter 34]

I live in Elizabeth City and sail my Hunter 34 in the Pasquotank River and Albemarle Sound. I have a shoal draft of 4.5 ft so it is a little safer for me. The bigger problems in the upper Albermarle is not necessarily from running aground but rather running into hidden snags and obstacles right below the water. If you are planning on cruising weekend trips from Raleigh, IMHO your best bet would be Washington, Belhaven, or Oriental. These jump off points give you choices such as Ocracoke/Hatteras as well as Morehead City/Beaufort and are a manageable drive from Raleigh. I think you have better cruising opportunities in those locations then in the Albemarle Sound. We have a large racing contingent in E-City even though it touts a larger cruising population stop over for the intercoastal crowds passing through on the way N or S. It is a day trip to Norfolk from E-City if you make the first Lock at South Mills. I thought I would jump in a give my 2 cents seeing how we are in a recession. Good luck and good sailing to you!

 

[Gary_H]

All the above places are really great sailing areas. You can't go wrong with any of them. I live in the Raleigh area too and keep my boat at Carolina Beach which is about a two hour drive. Access to the sea is great through Masonboro Inlet at Wrightsville beach. Proceed through snows cut to the Cape Fear river and go up to Wilmington or go the other way to Southport, Bald head Island and out to sea from there. Lots of Marinas to choose from. Full service boatyard up the Cape Fear Near Wilmington.