Capt. Bell’s comments were prompted by a lengthy discussion of the pros and cons of mooring fields, Carolina Beach in particular. The recently renovated State Park Marina’s entrance channel cuts off from the AICW, at the western end of Snows Cut, between markers #163 and #165.
An alternative to the mooring balls is the state park marina, to the south, that you pass before Carolina Beach, heading north. Dockage with power is only $30.00 per day. That is a great deal and you are only a bike ride away from town. They will take up to a 45 foot vessel, I believe. Dave Bell
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. A dinghy dock is now available at the Carolina Beach Municipal Marina in the extreme southwest corner of the harbor.
We just left the Carolina Beach mooring field this morning after spending two nights there. The $20 fee does seem steep to me since it does not include access to showers, restrooms or laundry facilities. For access to showers and restrooms you will need to pay another $5 to Randy the dock master who can grant access to the facilities where his boat is docked. We don’t need access but I think a total of $25 a night for folks who do is a high, especially after Labor Day when not much is open except on weekends. I’d stay there again but only if I really, really wanted to go to the beach. Paula Spence M/Y Sea Eagle
Wilmington, NC, on the Cape Fear River off the AICW, is a longtime popular side trip for many Waterway cruisers. The City Docks are located along the easterly banks of the Cape Fear River, in downtown Wilmington, just west of the high-rise Hilton hotel.
Just spent a week here on the dock in front of the Hilton. Would have stayed a month but the city will only give a daily rate and it was just too expensive to stay longer. I am utterly enchanted with downtown Wilmington and the city dock access to the area is excellent. The wooden River Walk runs for a mile along the riverfront and is just alive with walkers, runners, etc. We even had a very large 5k race group come running by one afternoon. The battleship North Carolina is right across the river and open for touring. The Cape Fear Museum and the Wilmington Railroad Museum are both within walking distance and very worth the time. Farmers Market on Saturday morning, beautiful old homes, gorgeous old churches, lots of shopping and plenty of restaurant variety, Wilmington has it all. The only negatives are dock cost, being waked fairly frequently and many large logs floating up and down the river. Paula Spence, M/Y Sea Eagle
The newly established Carolina Beach Mooring Field, just south of Snows Cut, has been getting a lot of electronic ink here on the Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net of late. First, we published an article that was partly critical of this facility (see /?p=95509), followed by a laudatory look at the field (see /?p=97015). Now, we are fortunate to present an in-depth article by our strategic partners, Captains Diana and Mark Doyle, founders and owners of On The Water ChartGuides. With all this data in hand, cruisers can now make an informed decision as to whether the Carolina Beach Mooring Field is a good spot to spend the evening, or not.
Hi Claiborne, As many of your readers know, the Carolina Beach town moorings aren’t free anymore … but they’re still a great deal!
Until the town of Carolina Beach found a company to manage their moorings, boaters were welcome to tie up for a night or two at no cost. The moorings, ten of them placed in the well-protected bight of Carolina Beach at STM 295.1, now cost $20/night.
On the upside, you can now make a reservation in advance by calling 910-667-0004. The moorings are for boats 26 to 50 feet in length and the maximum stay is 10 days.
If the moorings are full, don’t overlook Carolina Beach’s two excellent nearby anchorages. The south anchorage has slightly better protection and is closer to the town dinghy dock than the north anchorage. Both spoil island anchorage areas are very deep, as charted, but moving to the edge affords more reasonable anchoring depths.
I’ve included a sample page from our new ICW AnchorGuide series to show the locations of the moorings and the two anchorages.
The town maintains a free dinghy dock at the southern end of the bight. It has excellent access to nearby restaurants, tourist shops, and of course the beach.
Sea Merchants Food Store, an excellent independent grocery store, is located only a few blocks away (910-458-7409). And Carolina Beach State Park, with a visitor center and jogging/hiking trails, can be reached with a pleasant walk ‘Žup pedestrian-friendly Harper Avenue.
Here are pictures of the mooring field and Sea Merchants grocery store.
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. A dinghy dock is now available at the Carolina Beach Municipal Marina in the extreme southwest corner of the harbor.
Cruising News: What a great addition to this area. Arrived on Monday night 9/17/12. There is a big sign upon entering, just grab a ball and call or register on line. Boats from 26′ – 55′. Randy the dockmaster is great. He will come to your boat and collect the $20 fee not to mention that he offered to take us ashore or bring us ice if needed. Really glad to be on a ball during the big blow on Tuesday. Capt. RL
Looks like this SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR just got even better! We highly recommend a stop here as you are cruising south this fall, or just spending a night away from home base, while exploring the waters of southeastern North Carolina. And, after you coil the lines, it’s an easy walk of several blocks to Mr. P’s Bistro (910-457-0801). YUMMMMMM!
Southport Marina ‘“ Southport NC – We are excited to let all boaters know we have completed our dredging project that began in early spring. All interior marina slips have been dredged to a low tide depth of 6′ and our transient dock and approach depths average 8’. Make sure you make Southport Marina a stop on your next cruise! Vanessa Jenkins, MIRM
Southport Marina is a great stop. Numerous other waterfront restaurants are all within walking distance. The grocery store is a little further. Atlantic Marine is a handy store as well. David Craft
Town Creek is east of the south end of Gallants Channel in Beaufort, NC, east of unlighted daybeacon #1.
We anchored here in the Summer of 2012. Good hold and swinging room, about 7 feet deep that I remember. Nothing spectacular because there’s town and other activity in the vicinity. Don’t go too far to the southern side of Town Creek, it’s awfully shallow. We wandered too far that way coming in at night and found bottom but were able to get off of it reasonably easily. Mostly black pudding mud on the bottom all around. Ben Matthews
Jonaquin Creek is just east of the anchorage symbol shown in our chartview of Cedar Creek below and has been successfully used by several of our readers.
We tried Jonaquin Creek early in the summer 2012, after reading Chuck and Susan’s post here. It is a very narrow opening at the back left of Cedar Creek. Very nice anchorage, peaceful, about 5-6 foot of water. We came in very slow 2-3 knots with eyes glued to the depth finder at the entrance, checking for mud swirls behind the boat. We draw 3-1/2 feet in our trawler, and had no issues. Not much swinging room, but very calm and rustic. Black pudding bottom, outstanding wind protection. Ben Matthews
Shackleford Banks Anchorage lies three miles southeast from statute mile 206 of the Waterway in Morehead City, NC and Capt. Matthews’ recommended anchorage is 4.8 miles southeast from the Waterway.
We have anchored here for years. HOWEVER. There is a better spot. On this spot the currents can be too strong to want to swim in, even though the water is pretty clear. I have had my anchor drag in the sand before. The BETTER SPOT is at 34’40.58N by 076’36.58W. about a mile East of this anchorage. It is marked by buoys to enter. The chart snippet in this listing is NOT accurate, it is dated. You must go back to a point around 34’41.53N by 76’38.90W. The main chart in Cruisers Net shows this correctly. Anyway, in this other anchorage there is less current, less day-partyers, and a good bit of rustic shoreline. The main attraction though is the reduced current in that area. Much better for holding and better swinging room. Ben Matthews
Whittaker Point Marina lies east of marker #5 on the Whittaker Creek marked entrance channel. I just visited Whittaker Pointe Marina in April of 2012, and found it to be a quiet facility, with superb showers and a welcoming swimming pool. This facility lies at the entrance to Whittaker Creek, a bit downstream of Oriental’s primary harbor.
We kept our boat at Whittaker Point Marina this summer. It is a pretty sparkling facility, meaning new. Nice fixed docks in great condition, beautifully clean and comfortable clubhouse, nice pool. Ashley the dock master really looks out for your boat and he called a time or two when the wind got rough and toyed with our ailing bimini. It is close to Oriental, but remote enough to be super peaceful. The frogs chirping a bit at night is the only sound you’ll hear. Take heed on the markers though, it goes from 6+ feet to knee deep in a hurry if you drift outside the markers. Saw about a 24 foot shoal keel sailboat get stranded once, and was only 1/2 an oar deep when I was fiddling in the dinghy on the other side of them. Ben Matthews
After reading the USCG article depicted below, we immediately began researching this incident. If there was a piling waiting just below the surface to ambush the keel of any cruising craft, we wanted to find out about it forthwith. Well, one cool week later after an even half dozen calls to the Elizabeth City, NC USCG Small Boat Base, we were getting seriously frustrated. None of our calls were being returned, even after more than one thorough explanation that we were just attempting to provide information to the cruising community which would avoid a repetition of the incident in question. Thus it was that we turned to our friends at the Elizabet City Convention and Visitor’s Center, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, for help. Less than 24 hours later, a promptly returned called solved the mystery. Many, many thanks to Captain Susan for clearing up this question. Turns out the semi-sinking took place well south of the downtown Elizabeth City Waterfront, along the eastern banks of the Pasquotank River, opposite the old blimp factory (northwest of marker #4). It seems that somehow the vessel in question had wandered into shoal water abutting the river’s eastern banks, near the charted position of “Elizabeth City Beach.” Even a quick gander at chart 12206 shows plentiful evidence of submerged pilings along this shoreline. Just stay anywhere within striking distance of the main AICW/Pasquotank River channel, and your vessel can easily avoid a similar fate. Case closed, mystery solved!
PORTSMOUTH, Va. ‘” The Coast Guard assisted three people aboard a sailboat that was taking on water in the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, N.C., Saturday. [9/1/2012]
A member aboard the 32-foot sailboat Grace contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at approximately 2:45 p.m. reporting their boat hit a submerged piling, were taking on water and had 14 inches of water in the boat.
Sector North Carolina watchstanders dispatched a crew aboard a 25-foot Response Boat ‘“ Small from Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City to assist. Once on scene, the RB-S crew removed the three people from the boat and took them to Lambs Marina in Camden, N.C. Tow Boat U.S. is scheduled to salvage the boat. The sailboat is not blocking the channel and there are no reports of pollution.
We have run several earlier articles here on the Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net concerning the relatively new Belhaven Town Dock (see /?p=77961 and /?p=86346). Now, we are treated to an in-depth report on this facility, courtesy of our “On The Water ChartGuides” strategic partners, Captains Mark and Diana Doyle. Note that Belhaven’s new city dock is located along the northern shores of Pantego Creek, just west of SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, Belhaven Waterway Marina! Follow the “Chart View” link below to see the exact location!
Hi Claiborne, As the summer draws to a close and folks saddle up to begin the migration south, we just wanted to remind everyone that Belhaven, NC now has another option for visiting boaters’”and it’s free! For now at least’¦ The town completed a guest dock on “Wynn’s Gut,” a small cut right along the town’s waterfront. The dock is located on the side of a small channel, alongside a sidewalk with benches and picnic tables. The town promotes the tie-up as “room for nine 30-foot boats.” There currently are no utilities, but pump-out is planned and will be less than $5, thanks to funds from the Clean Vessel Act. The town also hopes to add electricity and water in the future. We visited the dock a couple of months ago, and surveyed depths of 4.5 to 7 feet alongside. There is room for several boats, but the “cut” is narrow and shallows quickly along the opposite (western) side. In other words, it may be easy to pull in, but larger vessels might have trouble turning around to exit. Dredging is planned but currently this convenient and affordable option in Belhaven is probably best for somewhat smaller vessels with moderate draft. Larger trawlers, cats, or boats with limited maneuverability, are better served by the anchorages and Belhaven Waterway Marina or Dowry Creek Marina. Here is a picture abeam the guest dock, looking southwest back out to Pantego Creek. Belhaven has always been a popular cruiser’s stop. The village has a handful of fun little restaurants. It’s also one of the few places along the ICW where you can access a hospital by boat. The supermarket (and fast food and discount store) is along State Highway 99, best accessed from the dinghy landing at the fixed bridge upriver. I’ve included a sample page from our new ICW AnchorGuides showing the two Belhaven anchorages and the new town guest dock. Best and see you On the Water, Captains Mark & Diana Doyle www.OnTheWaterChartGuides.com
Cruisers who are willing to take a 6.4 nautical mile sojourn off the AICW, west on Pamlico River, can center broad South Creek, off the (what else) southern shores of Pamlico River. The marked entry channel lies east of Indian Island. Shortly after entering South Creek, Bond Creek will come abeam along the southern banks. Like Captains Phil and Aven (see below), for many years we have found a very secure place to drop the hook on these waters. However, even though you will spot a few private homes from these waters, there is not really a place to go ashore, and certainly no provisioning nearby!
If you don’t mind being on your own ground tackle, we are in Bond Creek, just up the Pamlico River on the port side. It is a great hurricane hole with lots of room protected from all sides. Regards, Phil “TrawlerPhil” & Aven Rosch
Frank Erwin, author of the message below, is a good friend and an MTOA Board of Directors member. The Blackbeard and Queen Anne’s Revenge exhibit which is the subject of his text below is now housed in the main North Carolina Mariner’s Museum building, located on Front Street in Beaufort. It’s an easy step from the Beaufort Municipal Docks or either of the Taylor Creek dinghy docks to the Museum’s doorstep.
Beaufort has the NC Maritime Museum which has an exhibit of Blackbeard’s Queen Ann Revenge (found in the local Beaufort, NC inlet) http://www.ncmaritime.org/main/events.htm. This exhibit highlights artifacts recovered from the shipwreck believed to be the former flagship of Blackbeard the pirate, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. A shipwreck salvage company, called Intersal, Inc., discovered the shipwreck in 1996 and gave the rights of excavation to the State of North Carolina. Artifacts are recovered from 25 feet of water by state underwater archaeologists with the aid of the museum, non-profit private companies, and educational institutions. After the artifacts are conserved by archaeologists, the NC Maritime Museum will house the conserved artifacts and prepare them for exhibit. A visit to Blackbeard and the QAR Project will provide more information.
Thanks so much for sharing this information with cruisers! We officially opened the `Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge 1718’³ exhibit in June 2011 in the Museum (located on Front Street along Taylors Creek.) Previously, some of the artifacts were kept at the Museum’s annex site in preparation for the exhibit. But, now, they are on public display in downtown Beaufort. Please visit our website, http://www.ncmaritimemuseums.com for details. North Carolina Maritime Museums
Frank Erwin, author of the brief blurb below, is a good friend and an MTOA Board of Directors member. Captain Frank gives good advice on where to safely drop the hook in this popular port of call!
The neat anchorage is in Taylors Creek just in front of the Beaufort Town Docks – (252)728-2503…lots of current…try to come in only at slack tide… you can also anchor out in the creek in front of the docks…usually crowded on weekends… but 3 dinghy docks and very cruiser friendly….very historic and 2 pre-revolutionary cemeteries…. or nearby and protected is Town Creek Marina – http://www.towncreekmarina.com with plenty of room out front for anchorage.
The recently dredged canal-like entrance channel leading to Lambs Marina cuts east from the AICW/Dismal Swamp Canal Route’s trek through Pasquotank River, south of Sawyers Creek and north of the charted railway bridge.
We stayed here during our Carolina Loop cruise. Not a fancy marina but everyone was very helpful and accommodating. Dave the dockmaster went out of his way to help. Very clean restrooms and air cond. Deep water in and out in well marked channel. Good value for the money and local boat owners very friendly. Reminded us of like the old days of cruising. Highly recommend if you are doing the Dismal Swamp. Doyle and LaVisa (Halifax)
Elizabeth City and the Rose Buddies have been charming cruising visitors to the City Docks since 1983. Over 15 years ago, my family and I were privileged to meet the original Rose Buddy, Fred Fearing, who passed away in 2007, and we got the same warm greeting and assistance as did Ken and Francie. Isn’t it wonderful that some things do not change! The city docks are officially called Mariner’s Wharf City Docks and dockage is free for 48 hours, although we were once allowed to stay for three days when high winds prevented the Alligator River Bridge from opening. We are proud to report that Elizabeth, NC is A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR!
Stopped off here doing the Carolina Loop. Met Gus who stated he is last of the original Rose Buddies. Unfortunately we stopped on Labor Day and everything was closed. Gus said they do not get the boats they used to due to the economy. We stayed here many years ago and I recall it was a full house. This trip we were the first boat in awhile. Can’t beat the rates but if you desire more services I suggest cruising a short distance north to Lambs Marina. BTW ‘“ the Carolina Loop is a nice cruise and everyone should do the Dismal Swamp at least once. May not be there forever. Doyle and LaVisa (Halifax)
Midway Marina and Motel is on the western banks of the Coinjock canal portion of the Waterway, south-southwest of flashing daybeacon #123.
Believe Midway Marina is falling into disrepair. We stayed here thinking the number 2 marina would try harder. Pool was a nice feature for a hot September day. No fuel and we understand from locals this is not rare these days. Dockmaster confirmed this. Restrooms clean and air conditioned. Certainly a less crowded marina and I would stop again but a little disappointed as I recall what it use to be 20 years ago. Doyle and LaVisa (Halifax)
Anchorage Marina, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, is accessed from the AICW by way of a well marked, southward running channel, just west of the Morehead City Turning Basin. If you are in the market for a boataminium wet slip in the Beaufort – Morehead City, NC area, run, don’t walk to get in contact with Captain Jim (see below). This sounds like one of the BEST deals I’ve heard about in many a year!
Jim and Katherine Bailey, the owners of the Anchorage Marina in Atlantic Beach, NC and the developer of several other marinas and waterfront projects in eastern North Carolina has exciting news. After many years of permitting and planning, they are converting the Anchorage into a condominium marina. There will be over 110 slips in the newly renovated marina, featuring both fixed and floating docks for boats up to 70ft LOA. This Fall they are offering a huge 40% discount on the first 10 slips sold. The regular price is $3500 per foot but with the special discount, they are being offered at just $2000 per foot. Dues are also very reasonable and vary from $12.50 per month to $42.00 per month, depending on the size of the slip. This is by far the best value for a great marina in years. The Anchorage is the premier power boat marina in the area, offering both diesel and non-ethanol gasoline, a fully stocked marine store, and the areas best boat ramp. The marina is in a veery well protected basin with parking behind almost every slip. Contact Jim at 252-241-1200 or by email at jimbailey1946@gmail.com.
Croatan Sound connects Albemarle Sound to the north and Pamlico Sound to the south via a broad channel crossed by two sets of fixed bridges. The older, northernmost span has a vertical clearance of 45ft, and has LONG been the bane of sailors who must use the far more difficult Roanoke Sound – Old House channel to cruise south from the AICW/Albemarle Sound to Pamlico Sound, or the other way around. The southernmost twin Highway 64 bridges feature 66ft of vertical clearance, and one might think with their installation a few years ago, the older span would have been removed. For whatever reason, this has not come to pass.
There are also no clearance boards on either of the bridges that cross the Croatan Sound. Keith s/v SAGA
Note that both the NCDOT and the USCG have been apprised of the missing tide boards in Roanoke Sound and Croatan Sound. See article linked below.
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