Beaufort NC - keeping boat there for winter/spring?

[Azul]

Originally Posted by scarduner

I am planning to sail as long as I can. I am from the northeast! I am coming to Beaufort to be near my son and grandson but am taking the opportunity to sail when in the northeast i would be on the hard... So I am wanting to be there unless there is a huge savings in keeping it near New Bern...

Regarding anchoring in Taylor Creek or Town Creek - is this something one can do long-term? Or would one need to get a mooring made and drop a mooring? I like the idea of a slip in a marina for living aboard in the winter months but have to see if one can find something affordable.

I met a couple at the dinghy dock that said they had kept a sailboat on Taylor's Creek for 30 years, they were from Cary and very concerned about talk of the moorings becoming regulated. You will have to put out your own mooring, the method I described was the consensus of three long timers at the coffee shop ie two large Chinese steel ($1/#) Danforth style anchors hooked to a bridle and mooring ball. One of these fellows named Joey has ridden out two Cat 2 hurricanes in Taylor's Creek and another in the area by Town Creek Marina in a Grampian 24. He prefers the east end of Town Creek and recommends putting out your best gear to the east as that is where the highest winds come from. You will be avoiding most of hurricane season anyway. Will your family check on your boat? What if you get a slow leak, do you have solar and a couple of automatic bilge pumps for security? Overall how can you beat $245/month including water to clean up at Discovery Diving for both security and ease of access? When you are in the area you can anchor for the night in Taylor's Creek, Shackleford or out at the hook for a change.

[scarduner]

Thanks for the info on the Taylor's Creek

If I am not onboard I am not leaving it in the creek - as you say, leaks, etc..
I could anchor for a month until the snowbirders have passed and the rates drop. But...

I am checking with Discovery Diving to see if they will rent me a slip for 7 months (and how much it is) I saw it when i was there and really liked it.

[scarduner]

I think I have found a place to live on the water in Gloucester NC. I think I could even anchor/moor off of where I would be living - the south shore of the peninsula facing Harkers Island, to the east of the bridge to Harkers Island. On the chart this is called The Straits and the other side of Harkers Island is called the Back Sound.

I have never seen this! It looks to me like you can't sail in this sound - too shallow - and if I moored/anchored there I'd have to motor through the channel. through Taylor Creek to get out through Beuafort to go sailing.

Could someone who knows this area fill me in on the realities of this? Is the Back Sound unsailable? Is Harkers Island a place only power boats go.Would anchoring in Gloucester mean motoring through the narrow channel for an hour to get out through Beaufort to the ocean?

Thanks
Stuart

[Azul]

Originally Posted by scarduner

I think I have found a place to live on the water in Gloucester NC. I think I could even anchor/moor off of where I would be living - the south shore of the peninsula facing Harkers Island, to the east of the bridge to Harkers Island. On the chart this is called The Straits and the other side of Harkers Island is called the Back Sound.

I have never seen this! It looks to me like you can't sail in this sound - too shallow - and if I moored/anchored there I'd have to motor through the channel. through Taylor Creek to get out through Beuafort to go sailing.

Could someone who knows this area fill me in on the realities of this? Is the Back Sound unsailable? Is Harkers Island a place only power boats go.Would anchoring in Gloucester mean motoring through the narrow channel for an hour to get out through Beaufort to the ocean?

Thanks
Stuart

Very shallow there, guys that run shallow draw skiffs in that locale use "jack plates" on their outboards to raise their props up even further, I wouldn't take a boat back there that I couldn't easily push off a shoal, which are usually soft sand. The very first time I tried with a 28 foot Carolina Skiff that draws about as much water as a seagull, with a guy that was born "down east" helping to navigate we got stuck on a shoal for hours, they constantly change. It is a beautiful area with lots of shorebirds and marshes and it's very quiet. Harker's Island is 25 minutes away from Beaufort by car even though it is a rock's throw by line of sight and doesn't have much in the way of shopping or restaurants, zero social life. The locales of H I have their own brogue and are a little clannish. On the positive side, when you run aground you can go oystering until Sea Tow pulls you off. In Beaufort, in a few minutes you can be cruising along Taylor's Creek with a beverage or play in the waves of the inlet. Personally, I don't even like the extra motoring required through the turning basin to stay in Morehead City. Plus, if you like to fish the inlet is a great place to flyfish for albacore in the winter or troll for spanish mackerel or bluefish in the shoulder months with a Clark's spoon.

[scarduner]

After I posted I remembered people mentioning Calico Jack's on Harkers Island as a place to get a slip. But isn't Harker's Island not sailable?

Thanks Michael. What you report is what I assumed. Found an apartment overlooking the sound not much more than a slip's rent, and as I work "at home" living aboard a Bristol 24 for seven months would be a challenge. Thought about renting a cheap room as a backup to living on my B24 but can't find such a thing, a cheap room. So this apartment is very reasonably prices - but not if I have to also pay for a slip at Discovery - I can't afford both. So I was wishfully thinking about seeing my boat anchored in front of my apartment.

If I take the apartment maybe I will end up anchoring in Taylor Creek...
How's Town Creek for anchoring?

[cheoah]

I rode out a tropical storm in Town Creek a few years ago. One or to boats dragged there, but several more dragged in Taylor Creek.

My anchor(s) were well set and I had no problems, not a lot of depth in there as I recall, but should do it for you. There will be a drawbridge between you and the inlet, but no biggie.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by scarduner

OK I am intrigued and will open the question - how is the sailing in Beaufort and on the Neuse different? Beaufort you go out into the ocean and the Neuse is a river a few miles wide? Sorry I am moving someplace I have barely seen... When you say the sailing better you mean sailing in Pamlico Sound?
Thanks

It really depends on what kind of sailing you like to do. The water around Beaufort available for sailing on the inside of Shackleford banks is extremely limited due to depth. To the west in the MHC area you are essentially limited to the ICW channel. This means that you basically have to go out in the ocean. After you get to the ocean the only place to go in less than a full day is Cape Lookout or just tooling around the ocean. This is not neccesarily a bad thing if that's what you like to do. It also somewhat depends on your personal weather limitations. When the wind is opposing the current in the inlet you get some pretty big steep waves. I don't think they're particularly dangerous, but you can get a bit of a wild ride, especially when the big sports fishermen are throwing 4 foot wakes at you at the same time. If this doesn't bother you then it's not an issue, but if you prefer a more comfortable ride you will be more limited in what days you go sailing at Beaufort.

In the Neuse one can take short day trips to a number of different places. To go to the ocean does require a rather lengthy trip through the Core Creek Canal, but there is a huge sailing area available without going to the ocean. You can also visit a number of small towns and undeveloped areas. The winds are much more dependable in the Neuse. The local heating of the land tends to produce nice sailing winds much more often. For the most part the water is plenty deep, with the exception of a few well charted shoals which don't move around. The town of Oriental is known as the sailing capital of NC is located on the Neuse for a reason. There are more sailboats in Oriental than permanent residents. While there are some sailboats in the Beaufort-MHC area you will find it is dominated by power boats. I'm not suggesting that you put the boat in Oriental as that would be a pretty long drive from where you are staying. I would second the opinion that you look at the Matthews Point Marina. It is in the southwest corner of the Neuse about half way to New Bern. It would give you fairly easy access to your boat and to great sailing grounds. You should also note that there is a significant difference between the upper Neuse and the lower Neuse when it comes to sailing. The upper Neuse is that portion of the Neuse which runs from the NW to the SE. I kept my boat in New Bern for a couple of years and found that I was often becalmed in the upper Neuse while there was great sailing wind in the lower Neuse. About half the time I would have to motor a couple of hours to the lower Neuse before I could actually sail. We eventually moved our boat to Whortonville on the lower Neuse. If you like sailing do not put your boat in New Bern. In the Neuse itself you have the option sailing to a number of destinations including the whole Pamlico Sound system without having to transit the Core Creek Canal. Going through the Core creek canal in a sailboat is a very slow process if you don't hit the tides right and because they are mostly wind driven on the Neuse side the actual direction of the current is not always something you can time well. The downside of the Neuse is that because it's shallower than the ocean the waves tend to be shorter and steeper than in the ocean though obviously not as high.

Again it depends on what kind of sailing that you like to do and your personal limitations. If is a matter of how often you'll be able to sail, you get a lot more sailing in on the Neuse than you would in Beaufort.