I just brought my boat from where I purchased it on the Chesapeake to Beaufort and researched this, talked to a lot of people (many who have lived aboard 30+ years) and you have lots of options. Many people from the Triad area leave their boat on a mooring in Taylor's Creek, so much so that the town is thinking about regulating these moorings and
charging people for stays over 72 hours (I doubt this will happen.) There is a strong reversing
current and you will have to set up your own mooring, the suggested way is to go to Ace
Marine in MHC and buy a couple of heavy Chinese
steel Danforth type anchors at $1/pound, set them at 180 degrees etc. They will rust but set so deep in the sand you won't be able to pull them out without a come-along a chain link at a time. Numerous people LOVE Russ at Russel's Yachts in MHC and this is where I will put my boat
on the hard if a
hurricane comes:
Russell Yachts Marina in MOREHEAD CITY | North Carolina Marinas Town Creek Marina used to be beautiful with great showers, but has been hit pretty hard by both storms and the economy and is somewhat expensive for the area, I was quoted $450 per month (I'm not sure if they let you
liveaboard either, they ran all the sailboaters out about eight years ago for a time.) Discovery
Diving across from Town Creek has a nice
dock and will be $245/month for smaller boats but they will try to get you to sign a year's
lease, you might be able to negotiate since it is off season and they do have a few slips open. It is well protected, extremely safe and the people there are great- free
wifi and
water,
shore power available. Don't try to get to the
dock without someone showing you where the channel is or you will go aground. Bock
Marine is a good place to put your boat
on the hard, it is a few miles up the
ICW, but one downside is there is dust that will blow up onto your boat from the large lot and stick to the
condensation making for a messy boat. OTOH it is only $180 per month for
storage for boats under 30 feet and a great place to do a
refit, you can
liveaboard on the hard and they have nice showers and even
laundry, gameroom with tv. I used to keep a boat at Calico Jacks, it is beautiful out there but fairly unprotected and a long drive from town (25 minutes.) Don't know the present owners, but his son now has a nice club with great parties on the weekends in MHC ("Jack's.)
Feel free to PM me with any other questions, Beaufort is a great place to wake up to!