Dan, I got your PM and since you asked for more....
Again, these are our stops (most recently done in April and May of this year) that we found useable. We used to rely heavily on the comments on Active
Captain, but that system, in my opinion, has started to fall by the wayside as far as
current reviews.
Continuing north from St. Augustine, (another 50nm up the coast) is the St. Mary's Entrance, which provides access to the north to a great anchorage on the west side of Cumberland Island (National Seashore)....wild horse herds roam the island and you can spot a few from the anchorage; also some good hiking, if you are in to that sort of thing - great protection from the east, but the anchorage is about 6-7nm from the inlet entrance. The other option on this inlet is to go south to Fernandina Beach but the anchorage across from the old marina (which wasn't open in April/May 2019 yet) is among non-maintained
mooring balls and wrecks...closer to the inlet, but among industrial surroundings.
About 60nm north of there is the St. Catherine's Sound - that has about a 6-7nm entrance to a well protected anchorage on Walburg Creek (tree lined shore to the east, tall marshes to the west....nothing here but the quiet anchorage.
Another 35-40nm up the coast is the north entrance to Hilton
Head...another long entrance of about 11nm but decent anchorages just on the NW side of Hilton Head.
From there, another day trip up the coast, we usually stay at either City
Dock in Charleston, or the anchorage just to the west of it....conflicting winds and currents can make for an interesting night on
anchor. City Dock is expensive, but in a hard blow, comforting
About 45nm from Charleston is the entrance to Winyah Bay, which has a very long and wide entrance...depending on
wind direction, the first spot we've found without ocean swell or winds (if from the east), is about 5nm from the inlet entrance. Any other wind direction requires a much longer transit and still not great protection. This is another "not much here" anchorage. We've never ventured up the bay to
Georgetown.
About 50nm up the coast is the entrance to Little River, the border river between S and N Carolina. Very short entry through the inlet, to a very small anchorage just to the right after you come in. Check the
depth here, it might be a little shallow for you (we only drew 4'). Strong southerly winds make this a precarious inlet, especially if ebbing, but still accessible.
From there, you can go around Cape Fear and on up to the Masonboro Inlet, leading up to the backside of Wrightsville Beach - good anchorage about 2.5nm north of the inlet entrance. Although we weren't able to take advantage of it, I understand you can avoid rounding the Cape by going up the Cape Fear River about 12nm and take the ICW cut eastward and then on up to Wrightsville Beach.
Next stop north for us has always been Morehead City/Beaufort through the
Beaufort Inlet (about a 65nm trip from the anchorage in Wrightsville). We've never anchored there but have used the
Morehead City Docks just to the west of downtown. I've seen boats
anchor just across from those docks and it appears to be a good place for north or south winds...lots of traffic though. There is a long skinny anchorage in front of
Beaufort Docks, to the north of the inlet entrance....never anchored there, but it seems like a popular (crowded) place.
Best of luck on your voyage!
Pat