Advice Sought on 6ft Draft in Eastern Pamlico Sound, off the ICW
We like to think that Skipper Pozun is responding to recent postings extolling the virtues on Manteo, NC, especially a FOCUS ON – Manteo Waterfront Marina. If you sail with a 6ft draft and can offer advice on the areas mentioned, please let us hear from you! Thanks!
I am traveling south on the ICW to Fla this winter. After entering Albermarle sound N C, i plan to head east to Manteo, Roanoke is., and then south to Ocracoke harbor, Outer Banks NC. Afterwards i will head south to Oriental. I draw 6 feet (SAILBOAT) I want to know the difficulty of maneuvering the route and channels to, in and out, of the first two harbors.
tony pozun
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Comments from Cruisers (1)
The trip from the Albemarle Sound around the north end of Roanoke Island to Manteo is pretty open, deep and well marked. It is nowhere near as challenging as the trip down Currituck Sound and into Coinjock that you will have taken just the day before. The entrance channel for the harbor in Manteo is a bit long and narrow, but well worth the trip because Manteo is such a great destination.
The channel leading south from Manteo to the Pamlico Sound is more challenging. It is deep enough and has a lot of boat traffic – particularly on weekends. But the channel is narow and there are lots of shallows just out of the channel, so pay close attention to the channel markers. They get moved regularly so take what is on your chart plotter with a grain of salt.
Pamlico Sound itself varies from around 14 feet to around 24 feet. There are a few shoals to look out for but they are well marked.
There are two channel into Ocracoke . The Nine Foot Shoal Channel is not my first choice because it is a long stretch between the daymarks and very easy to wander out of the channel as you cross the sand bank. Big Foot Slough is the channel used by the ferries and is regularly dredged to maintain 16 to 20 feet. The channel is pretty wide in most spots, though there are a couple of narrow spots marked by unlit floating marks that had not been dredged when I was there in late June. The unlit floating marks are the reason I would not try to go into Ocracoke at night. And remember you are headed TOWARD the ocean, so red markers to port.
Silver Lake, the harbor at Ocracoke, is about 15 feet deep with good protection and fairly good holding in soft mud. The anchorage can get crowded at time on busier weekends.The great news is that the US Park Service has docks next to the ferry terminal where you can stay pretty inexpensively – $.50 per foot per night IIRC if you are over 62 and have a Senior Pass you can purchase from the Park Service office for about $10.