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Please Note That Postings Below From Fellow Cruisers Are Listed in Chronological Order, Based on Publication Date
The long awaited remodeling and reopening of this fine facility has happened! The State Park entrance channel cuts off from the AICW, at the western end of Snows Cut, between markers #163 and #165.
Having stayed at Wrightsville beach on the way south and finding the noise from the bridge too much we decided to give Carolina Beach state park a try. On 18th May 2012 in our Beneteau 50′, 6′ draft we stayed on the A dock ‘T’ head. We were initially assigned the B dock ‘T’ head but found the draft to be less than 6′ MLW so moved to A dock for deeper water (~7′ MLW). The park offers great walks, a quiet night, power and water, just what we needed and all for $30. If you are skilled at handling your boat in tight places this is a good stop.
Andrew
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Carolina Beach State Park
We are very pleased to report that Swan Point Marina, located just south of the AICW/New River/New River Inlet intersection has reopened under new ownership/management. According to a telephone conversation I had this morning (5/17/12) with co-owner, Jason, transient dockage is available, complete with 30-50 amp power hookups and fresh water connections. Overnight transient dockage rates are a very reasonable $1.50 per foot, per night. Mean Low Water depths on the entrance cut run to 4 1/2 feet, but the interior dockage basin has just been dredged to 6 1/2 foot MLW soundings. One nearby restaurant will dispatch cars to retrieve cruisers from the marina, and then return them to the docks after dining. Note that neither gasoline nor diesel fuel is sold here now.
So, all in all, it’s a really good thing that another transient friendly marina is now to be found between Swansboro and Wrightsville Beach. Stop by and give Jason some business, and tell him that you read about his newly reopened facility here on the Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net!
If anyone has had occasion to spend a night or two at this new iteration of Swan Point Marina, PLEASE share your experience by clicking the “Comment on This Posting/Marina/Anchorage/Bridge” link below!
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s North Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Swan Point Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Swan Point Marina
Just completed in February, 2012, the new Carolina Beach mooring field is located south of Snows Cut, between markers #4 and #5 on the approach channel into Carolina Beach town waterfront.
Cruising News:
Spent a nice relaxing night in Carolina Beach, NC in the new mooring field. This spot had a terrible bottom akin to pudding. The new concrete anchors sunk up to 8′ in the mud and now one feels quite secure.
Dave Thomas
The anchorage described below by Captain Miller actually lies directly on the Topsail Inlet approach channel, which leaves the Waterway at ICW marker #86. We specifically do NOT recommend dropping the hook here, as this would put your vessel on a marked channel, which does support some local water traffic. That could lead to a very rude awakening in the middle of the night, or early the next morning.
If Captain Miller had just continued following the Topsail channel a bit farther, a reasonably good anchorage would have been encountered southwest of marker #14, northwest of the charted marsh island. This haven is linked below
Cruising News:
We anchored across from Sloop Point (4 mi south of Surf City Bridge) between markers 19 and 21 in a small tributary to the ICW. We motored a swing circle and found the shallower depths slightly greater than charted. Our circle inpinged within the 6 foot line and we dropped on a line from 19 to 21. The Bruce anchor grabbed quickly and held through the night despite a blow. There are no trees or houses here to block the wind. I didn’t sleep well.
The southerly wind pushed our stern into the channel but the markers are not lighted so I didn’t expect any large boats to pass after dark. I did hang lanterns at bow and stern so the late-night fishermen would see us (they never look up for a masthead light).
I wouldn’t anchor here again except in settled weather. I could have (should have) gone further in where the passage gets wider.
Max Miller
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of the Topsail Channel Anchorage
Capt. Miller shares good advice regarding northbound currents in the Waterway.
Subject: Favorable Current Northbound from Dock Holiday Marina
Cruising News:
We departed Dock Holiday Marina two hours after North Myrtle Beach low tide and enjoyed a following or slack current all of the way to Southport.
Subject: Northbound Boost from Current when Departing Southport
Cruising News:
We tried Skipper Bob’s suggestion of departing Southport one hour before high tide and found that we enjoyed a following current all the way up Cape Fear River and as far as Carolina Beach Inlet.
Max Miller
Swan Point Marina was closed to business on September 30, 2011 BUT we are glad to announce its re-opening. Swan Point Marina in Sneads Ferry, NC, overlooks the Waterway’s western banks just north of unlighted daybeacon #4 south of New River Inlet.
Swan Point is open under new management. The store is not open yet but the marina will accept transients and the full service boatyard is open mon-sat. 910 327 1081.
Steve
Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s North Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Swan Point Marina
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Swan Point Marina
Click Here To Read An Earlier Article Related To The Closing of Swan Point Marina
After catching site of the short posting below which originally appeared in the AGLCA Forum, we check our own listing for Carolina Beach State Park Marina in the Net’s North Carolina Marina Directory, and discovered that we have had a note all along that “45″ feet with the maximum size vessel that could be berthed here. A telephone call on 4/19/12 verified the accuracy of this info!
We were told vessel length was limited to forty[-five] feet.
Jim & Pam
We stayed there earlier this week. We are 42ft and had no problem getting in or docking.
Great Value
John Sagel
“Seas 2 Day”
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Carolina Beach State Park Marina
The long awaited remodeling and reopening of this fine facility has happened! The State Park entrance channel cuts off from the AICW, at the western end of Snows Cut, between markers #163 and #165.
Carolina Beach State Park (MM 297.1) at the west end of Snow Cut on the Cape Fear River, NC – the marina at this state park completed a $4 million renovation in 2011 with all new floating docks, dredged channel and basin, 30 amp power, water, and bath house. Cost was $30 per night including electric for our 41 foot trawler. Our 5 foot draft was no problem at low tide on 16 Apr 2012. There are walking trails and trash containers. Friendly staff. Marina phone – 910-458-7770.
Captain Dick M/V Emerald Lady
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Carolina Beach State Park
Wow, my hat’s off to Captain Colam. I’m just glad it’s his hands doing the rowing and not mine.
So, if are cruising on the NC – SC portion of the AICW, PLEASE slow down, and give Lewis a friendly wave as you pass. He needs all the support he can get from the cruising community!
Claiborne,
Lewis Colam just left Georgetown this a.m. He left the boat here at Harborwalk Marina and was hosted by a local couple here in town. He was headed up the Waccamaw today. If you remember, he is the guy rowing from Miami to New York. If you send out any alerts, you might include one for vessels to watch out for him. He planned on making it to Wilmington by the weekend.
Chris Carroll,
Operations Manager
Harborwalk Marina
Lewis is in Southport, NC with plans to spend the night [4/16/12] near the Carolina Beach Area this evening.
Theo McCormick
Atlantic Beach Bridge (SR 58) crosses the ICW at Statute Mile 206.5, west of unlighted daybeacon #3A.
SAFETY BROADCAST NOTICE TO MARINERS
NC – ATLANTIC INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY (AIWW) – BRIDGE REPAIRS
1. FENDER REPAIRS ARE IN PROGRESS THROUGH JULY 11, 2012 AT SR 58 BRIDGE, ACROSS AIWW MILE 206.7, IN ATLANTIC BEACH NC.
2. TO FACILITATE REPAIRS, A CRANE BARGE REDUCES THE AVAILABLE HORIZONTAL CLEARANCE IN THE NAVIGABLE CHANNEL FROM 90 FEET TO 60 FEET. FOR VESSELS REQUIRING THE FULL CLEARANCE, A 30-MINUTE ADVANCE NOTICE IS REQUESTED TO REMOVE THE BARGE FROM THE CHANNEL TO SAFELY NAVIGATE THROUGH THE BRIDGE. THE CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISOR CAN BE CONTACTED ON VHF-FM CHANNELS 13 OR 16.
3. MARINERS ARE URGED TO TRANSIT THE AREA WITH CAUTION AT SLOW NO WAKE SPEEDS.
This welcome dredging is occurring in a perennial “AICW Problem Stretch” between Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina and Snows Cut.
Cruising News:
We passed by the dredge and equipment on Saturday. We hailed them on Channels 13 and 16 several times with no response. Dredge was in the middle of the channel. We are a shallow draft cat so no big deal but it could have been awkward if we had a real keel
Michael Levy
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
This welcome dredging is occurring in a perennial “AICW Problem Stretch” between Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina and Snows Cut.
NC – AIWW – NEW RIVER TO CAPE FEAR RIVER – CAROLINA BEACH INLET – DREDGING
The Dredge WILKO will be dredging in the AIWW at Carolina Beach Inlet from 23 February until 15 March, 2012. A floating rubber and submerged pipeline will traverse Carolina Beach Inlet to the south of the inlet and will be marked with buoys. The dredge and assisting vessels PROUD MARY and MISS CINDY will monitor VHF-fm Channels 13 and 16. Mariners are cautioned to stay clear of dredge, booster, floating (pontoon) and submerged pipelines, barges, derricks and operating wires associated with dredging and marine construction operations. Operators of vessels of all types should be aware that dredges and floating pipelines are held in place by cables, attached to anchors some distance away from the
equipment. Buoys are attached to the anchors so that the anchors may be moved as the dredge advances and the location of the submerged pipelines are marked by buoys on each side of the channel. Mariners are cautioned to strictly comply with the Inland Rules of the Road when approaching, passing and leaving the area of operations, and remain a safe distance away from the dredge, booster, buoys, cables, pipeline, barges, derricks, wires and related equipment. Owners and lessees of fishnets, crabpots and other structures that may be in the vicinity and that may hinder the free navigation of attending vessels and equipment must be remove these from the area where tugs, tenderboats and other
attendant equipment will be navigating. Dredging projects are usually conducted twenty-four (24) hours a day seven (7) days a week, all fishnets, crabpots and structures in the general area must be removed prior to commencement of any work. A NO WAKE transit is requested of all vessels passing the dredge and if necessary to clarify a SAFE PASSAGE contact the dredge on the appropriate VHF-FM channels. Chart: 11541.
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To This AICW Problem Stretch
This article concerning completion of the new mooring field in Carolina Beach, NC appeared in the Island Gazette last Wednesday. We reported the plans for this new mooring field, located between markers #4 and #5, last November.
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
By WILLARD KILLOUGH III
Managing Editor
CAROLINA BEACH – The Town of Carolina Beach is inching closer to opening a new mooring field for boaters in the Town’s Yacht Basin.
On Monday crews installed the remaining four of ten mooring buoys in the waterway just off Canal Drive.
The goal, so larger transient vessels visiting the area can anchor and come ashore to shop, get supplies, and visit restaurants and other businesses.
The project was made possible by a grant from the State of North Carolina. The grant is for $50,000. The state will pay $37,500 and the Town pays $12,500. The remainder of the project cost falls upon the Town. The Town awarded a $77,600 contract for the project in September 2011 to Snow Marine Construction & Dredging.
The project places ten mooring balls in the Myrtle Grove Sound from the areas of Sandpiper Lane to Salt Marsh Lane along Canal Drive.
The project hasn’t gone off without a little hitch. The buoys are anchored by chains to 12,000 pound concrete blocks.
When a couple of those blocks were dropped into the water, the blocks didn’t rest on the bottom, they sank as much as eight feet deep into the muddy bottom.
During high tide some of the buoys were under water.
Town Planning Director Ed Parvin said he was on a boat observing when the first moorings were installed.
He said they fell to the bottom quick with one sinking about 8 feet into the muddy bottom. Another one sank about four to six feet down.
He said it’s an easy fix, just add more length to the chains. However, that will not be done until the rest of the moorings were installed on Monday. That way – if needed – they can order and install additional length to other chains all at the same time.
Parvin said some areas of the yacht basin bottom are denser while others are a soft muddy consistency.
He said when one of the concrete blocks was dropped to the bottom, the buoy marker went down and disappeared surprising everyone.
He said one thing is for sure; those moorings aren’t going to shift during strong storms.
The Town Council is set to hold a public hearing at their February 14, meeting adopting a new ordinance governing the Myrtle Grove Sound and the mooring field. The Town obtained a local bill from the state legislature last year giving them authority to enforce regulations and law within the waterway.
The Town will provide docking facilities at the their public marina at Carl Winner Avenue.
Additional facilities are planned in the future closer to the mooring field for boaters to come ashore in their dinghy boats. The Council will discuss the mooring field and new ordinance at their February 14, meeting at 6:30PM at Town Hall.
I hope that the new “regulations” don’t preclude me from anchoring just south of the entrance to Snows Cut as i usually do as I pass along the ICW. In the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave freedom seems to be going out the window.
Brian Walter
The Boatyard at Hampstead, NC, lies on the west side of the Waterway at Marker #90, 1 mile north of Harbour Village Marina and 1 mile south of the Top Sail Beach swing bridge, adjacent to Anchors Away Boatyard. Their phone is 910-270-2194
We used The Boatyard at Hampstead during a recent boat sale while working as the yacht broker, and found this yard to offer excellent service, very pleasant to work with, and very conscientious.
The owners, Pamela and Gerald Foy, took over the yard a year ago, April 2011. This full service yard is just off the ICW north of Wrightsville Beach, very convenient to those cruising the ICW. They are listed on Active Captain as a “1st choice”.
Calvin Cornish and Wendy Young, MTOA #2641
“Blue Crab” 32′ Island Gypsy, Punta Gorda FL
The Boatyard at Hampstead’s web address: www.theboatyardathampstead.com
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of The Boatyard at Hampstead
Carolina Beach joins the increasing number of Waterway municipalities to install mooring fields and one cannot help but wonder if the popular and protected anchorage between markers #4 and 5 in the channel leading into the Carolina Beach waterfront will still be allowed.
Carolina Beach, NC is planning to install a field of 10 moorings in Myrtle Grove Sound directly off of town. This morning I spoke with Ed Parvin, senior planner for the town, and he stated that they hope to have the field completed by year end. A new dinghy landing is also planned. The project was originally expected to be completed in late summer, however, permitting issues delayed the project.
Ted Stehle
Today, 11/07/2011, survey boat was observed laying marker bouys for the future Carolina Beach mooring field. The bouys are south of the island just past daymark 5. There is still room for a few boats to anchor south of the island and room for a few on the north side of the island.
David Hough
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of markers #4 and #5.
Masonboro Inlet at Wrightsville Beach intersects the AICW at Green Marker # 129, where Shinn Creek makes into the Waterway. Over the years, there has often been a bit of shoaling here.
Just north of green can 129 we found 8.5 feet at 1:14 PM, approx 3 feet above MLW.
Captain Jane Tigar
I can confirm 4′ MLW depths in the stretch between 128 and 129. 10/21/2011
Capt. Larry Shick
I came thru a week ago with 3′ tides and a 6+ draft. Didn’t notice anything worth noting and i always keep a sharp eye on the sounder passing creeks near inlets! Looking at the lines on my computer (last 4 runs) I see that i usually pass slightly on the red side, probably 150′ off the green can and closer to the dock. Having not made any notes, had to be 9+ MLW.
Further south, there is a short hump to 7′ or less on the green side, G135. I also favor the red side there
Pascal
MY Charmer 70′ 6+ draft
Just to let all know about a shallow spot right by the Masonboro Inlet junction with the ICW by marker #129. Yesterday afternoon (10-28-11) at low tide a tug and barge ran aground and spun around to get off. We passed just afterwards and found less than 5 feet right in the middle of the channel just north of the marker. A boat passed us not 15 feet away and had 9 feet, so it was a small hump perhaps created by the barge. I noted on my chartplotter that I was right on the pink line indicating the ICW. The tidal current pushed us off within a minute or two, but we wanted to pass this along to others.
Bob & Sandra aboard Carpe Diem
We have received comments and Local Notices to Mariners about the increased shoaling in both these inlets, so this closure of the inlets is no surprise. Please note that removed markers are in the inlets, NOT the intersections with the Waterway, and will not impact AICW navigation.
LOCAL NOTICE TO MARINERS: Week 40/11
The Coast Guard is planning on temporarily discontinuing the aids to navigation within New Topsail Inlet and Lockwood
Folly Inlet. Severe shoaling to less than 3.0 feet MLW and well below charted depths have been recorded. As a result, no safe navigable channel in either inlet exists. The aids to navigation will be restored once dredging operations have been completed or depths have improved to support a safe transit. Charts: 11541, 11534.
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of New Topsail Inlet
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To The Location of Lockwood Folly Inlet
As Capt. Young expected, the Wrightsville Beach bascule bridge is charted at 20ft vertical clearance at high tide. When I spoke with the bridge tender tonight, he had 20ft and was unaware of a lessening of the high tide clearance. If you also experience a less than 20ft clearance, please let us know.
We were very surprised to see 15′ on the signboard at Wrightsville Beach Bridge today (10/1/11) at high tide. I asked the bridge tender and she verified 15′. We clear 18′ and did not expect to wait for the hourly opening.
Capt. Wendy Young aboard “Blue Crab” Island Gyspy 32 headed home to FL
There should be two feet available extra at the center, the board should read low steel, so you should have had 17 feet available. I checked tide table for today and heights looked normal, was the wind blowing water in? Skipper Bobs lists bridge at 17+2 = 19 feet which may be closer to what it really is. I have cleared the bridge at lower tides and I need 21 feet, tidal range is about 4.5 feet.
Joe Urban
Joe -
The reason we wrote the note was to warn MTOAers cruising south that water level in Wrightsville Beach is higher than usual and even with the 5′ tide variation and the wind blowing at that time, this bridge clearance was much less than one would expect=- 20′ minimum.
Calvin and Wendy
It has been my experience that this bridge only has between 17′ & 18′ clearance in the center at normal high tide
George Grafer aboard Time Out
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Wrightsville Beach Bridge
"Ladys Island Swing Bridge Opening for Sailboat (Beaufort, SC)"
by: Bob Schwerzel
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To A “Navigation Alert” Position at Atlantic Beach Bridge