Forked River State Marina

Alec · Feb 16, 2011

State Marina

Loose Ends said:
What is Forked River State Marina like?
Is it quiet or does it have a loud party atmosphere?
I rarely stay on the boat, but I like my quiet relaxing time while on board.
Currently at Mariners in Barnegat.
Thanks

I have been in the State Marina for two years and have found it to be very quiet and peaceful. The exception is late at night when the traffic on Route 9 can be quite noticable, especially if your slip is close to the road, as mine is. During the day you never notice it. The slips are wide and the docks are sturdy. That plus it's protected location make it an excellent "Hurricane Hole". One negative is that there is no place on land to store a dingy.

There is a waiting list to get in. The difficult thing is that most of the local marinas require a non-refundable deposit for a slip in September for the following year. The State Marina, however, won't give out slips until the following January so you can be left in limbo without a slip in either place. It sometimes takes a leap of faith to make the move. Once I did it though, I was glad I did.

jimmcgee · Feb 17, 2011

Hey Loose Ends,
We just left Mariners in October for Forked River. We have the Catalina 30 Island Time that was two slips in from the Travel Lift at Mariners.

We looked at the state marina and were told by the manager that she would have slips available, but we would likely be in a slip without a finger pier the first year. That would have made it tough for my wife getting on and off the boat. We decided to go into the Marina at Southwinds. It's the first marina on the right as you come in Forked River. We're on the west docks (http://marinaatsouthwinds.com/marinamap_2010.pdf) by the condos.

It's an easy walk to Lattitudes or a little farther walk to the Captain's inn. Everyone we've met so far has been friendly and it's nowhere near as buggy as Mariners. You can also have a dock box behind your boat, a grill along the edge of the parking lot, restrooms are kept clean and recently re-done. There's fuel, a ship's store and a pumpout at the other end of the marina.

The State Police are always on the river so we don't get rocked by wakes the way we did at Mariners.

Summer slip + winter storage is about the same as Mariners and a little more than the State Marina but it works for us.

In the fall there weren't as many people down as during the summer, but the folks we've met so far aren't loud party types. More hanging out having beers and BBQ on the dock.

BTW, are you the guy with the dachshund?

Hope this helps,
Jim

John T1594 · Feb 17, 2011

Forked River marinas

I agree with the prior posts about the Forked River State Marina. It is quiet and peaceful except for the road noise from Rt 9 which is right in front. It takes about 20+ minutes to get out onto the bay and there are lots of fuel docks on the way in and out. The State marina has the most popular free pump-out station on the river but it is not usually crowded.
There is a small but OK chandlery - Lacey Marine - right across the street and you can walk to several restaurants, drug stores, ice cream, etc. including an old 50's style diner right next to the marina. I have not stayed at the marina for several years, but they used to close the public showers and heads after 10PM.
We keep our H340 up at Southwinds marina near the mouth of the river.

njsail · Feb 17, 2011

I have a lot of friends over at the forked river marina. The comments on the Forked River State marina are spot on. It's a nice facility with a little added noise with route 9 so close. It's more noticeable at night. People at the marina get first choice of changing slips before new slip renters. You basically put your name on a list and wait. You need to renew your request each and every year. You get 2 calls and if you decline to accept the slip you are offered you are taken off the list and must reapply. A number of slips do not have a finger piers making it very awkward to board. They don't tell you if you have a slip until the beginning of the year which leaves you a chance to be without a slip. There is also one other hard limit - boats must out of the slip by Oct 1st. If it's really nice in October you're out of luck.

Check out the marina's right across the way (Tall Oaks, silver cloud) - they are all excellent marina's with great facilities and terrific staff. They provide top notch marine services too. Did I mention they have a pool and free launch service in the evenings anywhere on the river? It's an old Navy launch they run as a free service. There's a plenty of Catalina's of every size too. It's a great river and a great place to live. There's a lot of stores and restaurants in walking distance which is a huge plus. Good luck in your quest.

Alec · Feb 17, 2011

njsail said:
I have a lot of friends over at the forked river marina. The comments on the Forked River State marina are spot on. It's a nice facility with a little added noise with route 9 so close. It's more noticeable at night. People at the marina get first choice of changing slips before new slip renters. You basically put your name on a list and wait. You need to renew your request each and every year. You get 2 calls and if you decline to accept the slip you are offered you are taken off the list and must reapply. A number of slips do not have a finger piers making it very awkward to board. They don't tell you if you have a slip until the beginning of the year which leaves you a chance to be without a slip. There is also one other hard limit - boats must out of the slip by Oct 1st. If it's really nice in October you're out of luck.

Check out the marina's right across the way (Tall Oaks, silver cloud) - they are all excellent marina's with great facilities and terrific staff. They provide top notch marine services too. Did I mention they have a pool and free launch service in the evenings anywhere on the river? It's an old Navy launch they run as a free service. There's a plenty of Catalina's of every size too. It's a great river and a great place to live. There's a lot of stores and restaurants in walking distance which is a huge plus. Good luck in your quest.

Actually, the date you have to be out of the State Marina is October 31st, unless you choose to winter there in the water, which is an option.

njsail · Feb 18, 2011

Alec said:
Actually, the date you have to be out of the State Marina is October 31st, unless you choose to winter there in the water, which is an option.

My bad - I missed the 3. Hope to see you on the river soon...counting the days till splash. And today I hear is supposed to be 60+ degrees.

redhead78 · Feb 18, 2011

How deep is this place ......Red

Alec · Feb 18, 2011

redhead78 said:
How deep is this place ......Red

I believe most of the slips have 6+ feet. That being said, a boat with 6' draft might have trouble getting up the river at low tide.

njsail · Feb 18, 2011

I draw about 5.5-6' loaded down and there is only one bump in the river I need to be aware of traversing forked river. It's right in front of southwinds right before the fork in the river. My depth alarms sing their song and reminds me at low tide to head to the north side of the river (left side going out the river). Other than that no problems from the mouth of the river all the way up to the state marina. My slip is in about 7' of water just in front of my keel. If I go another couple feet forward (e.g. too far) I drive into mud. I couldn't drive into the dock even if I wanted to. My Motorboat friend are nice enough to back in and blow the silt away when needed. I have a few friends in the marina that draw 6-6.5' and they manage to get up and down the river no problems. Most of the river is over 9+ feet deep.

jimmcgee · Feb 20, 2011

If you haven't found it yet, there's a hardware store across from Caffrey's on Rt 9 that has great prices on marine supplies. Much better than Lacey Marine.

njsail · Feb 22, 2011

The name of that hardware store is Square Deal Hardware. They have just about everything you would need to keep a boat well maintained. Excellent help and reasonable prices. It's a classic old hardware store. A little of everything.

njsail · Feb 24, 2011

Loose Ends said:
Does the boat parade come through the sate marina?

The yacht parade may start or end at the state marina since it's as far up the river as you can go. There is a commercial fishing fleet just down the river from us and you get used to boats coming and going. It's slow and relaxing with minimal boat wakes. The state police are right next to us (and you at the state marina). A hidden benefit to the boat parade is your diesel engine has time to get nice and warm which is better for it than running it for a couple minutes and shutting it off. the river trip goes quick as you'll see. See you on the river and welcome to the neighborhood.