Taylor Creek/Beaufort Waterfront Anchorage
Statute Mile: 201
Lat/Lon: near 34 42.955 North/076 40.014 West
Location: on the westerly waters of Taylor Creek, abeam of the Beaufort downtown waterfront
Minimum Depth: 7 feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 48 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: Good
Rating: 
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Comments from Cruisers (7)
Depths were fine, 6-9 ft, as we have a 3 1/2 draft, but finding a space to anchor was almost impossible with all the local mooring balls, local liveaboards and sunken vessels. All were spaced to limit only small vessels. We have a 32 ft. sailboat and barely fit. A fellow cruiser with a 37 ft. sailboat traveling with us was unable to find a safe area to anchor and spent several hours motoring around looking for a spot. Would not recommend this anchorage to anyone. Rather would send them to Morehead City Yacht Basin as Beaufort City docks are too expensive.
Susan & Elden Leaf
s/v Soteria
I moor up Taylor creek east of the city docks. I have to dinghy in anyway so going a quarter mile up the creek always finds a good clear spot where I can anchor mid creek. This is better than trying to squeeze into the space out of the channel in front of the city dock. Holding is good in firm sand.
Gregory Han
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
Frank Erwin
We remember Taylor Creek readily, mostly because of the currents. Anchored at the eastish end, in a fairly narrow section, we seemed to either be too close for comfort to the island or too the channel. Nothing we did could change this. Our neighbor though, never seemed to move more than a couple feet. So one day, I rowed over to see how they were anchored, anxious to learn a better way.
Turned out the woman was by herself, her husband having been taken to the hospital several days before because of a heart attack. She was besides herself because of a storm that was forecast for that evening and her rodes had wrapped around themselves so much that her scope had significantly been reduced, and she was pretty certain that one, if not both anchors had tripped (originally anchored Bahamian style). In addition, their engine was overheating and she wasn’t comfortable operating it to begin with.
I offered to help do what I could and she enthusiastically agreed. I went back and got Jill, so the three of us could sort out her predicament. Pulled her anchors up and discovered that she was right in her assessment, although only one anchor had tripped, the wrapping having pulled it halfway up the other anchor’s rode. Got her reanchored (her engine was overheating) and Jill and I went back to our boat, happy that we did a good deed. We still chuckle when we rethink of this event, thinking that boat was so well anchored and that we could learn something from her, when it turned out it was borderline, at best.
As it turned out her boat started swinging just as far and wide as ours did, so we learned nothing there; but, it didn’t drag throughout the storm. Her husband returned two days latter and the impression we got was that he wasn’t very pleased that we helped his wife… never said hello, even thought he motored right by us repeatedly, never said thanks. We still can’t understand that part, but none-the-less, we’d do it again if the opportunity presented itself!
Rudy
Briney Bug
We were there in May, 2010. Lots of moorings with little space to anchor. Lots of current. Lots of Fishing boats on the docks. Not suggested.
Kinda tight anchorage, but good location.
Capt. Sterling
This anchorage is filling with moorings which, as far as I can tell, are not legal but remain nonetheless. While there is good depth in the part of the cut east of G”7″, the narrower channel causes the current to run much faster than to the west of G”7″. It’s easy to find enough water for boats drawing 7-8′.
At the moment, there are two boats riding to Bahamian moorings, many boats riding on moorings, and the rest riding on one hook (our boat included), some with excessive amounts of scope out. The different swing circles makes finding suitable swing room a challenge (we saw one boat spend over an hour to find a usable spot and it took us three passes to get the hook set in the right place). A quick check shows very few boats are showing anchor lights or even a cockpit light as a low-level anchor light – not good news for an after sunset dinghy ride.
There is some fetch from the west and somewhat less from the east, and virtually nothing to the north or south. But there’s very little wind shelter from any direction save to the north, and that from the buildings and trees on shore. While Beaufort has much to commend it, Taylor Creek is probably best rated as “advanced skills or better needed”.