Cruising North Carolina

[Blue Heat]

I am interested in cruising in our small 24' Quickstep this fall out of Oriental, NC. Across to Ocracoke is the first place we want to go to. However, where to go from there is the question. Does anyone have thoughts they would share? It is basically cruising around Pamlico Sound. Where else should one go to make the cruise especially interesting? Thanks

[hasuehounds]

Depends on your direction and time you have. Ocrecoke is a full day sail, whether outside or inside.. you do have to time it due to the ferrys and the narrow inlet to enter the lake. check with someone local who does the trip often. from oriental it is 50nm.
Go up the ICW that is a fun trip and days to go places, our fav spots are Belhaven, Bath, Little Washington, and Edenton, all these places are acessible by dingy or have nice marinas. All historical towns too!
those are all off the palmico sound area
the other direction south down the ICW (adams creek) is Beaufort, and Morehead.
Beaufort is historical village and fun to visit, we love the net house resturant for seafood and there are many shops, visit the wine shop across from the net house they have a wine bar btw.
Also is Cape Look out a national sea shore park. its only 35nm from oriental and takes a day to motor down the icw and then sail across the last 20miles to the inlet, its easy to get in, and fun to go. Shell collecting is the main thing, there is a lighthouse and museum.. its a fun place to ancor and explore by dingy.

you need a chart and figure out where you want to go and what to see.. how to get there also, some places are easier and faster than other places..
i suggest skipper bobs book on the icw for your reading too, he talks alot about the towns on the icw from oriental north.. its our bible going south each year btw
it has great places to ancor, tells local knowlege of towns and places to stop..

Kathleen
s/v Legacy
40ft Caliber LRC
Oriental (summer home)
Exuma, Bahamas (winter home)

[Sunspot Baby]

Buy Clayborne Young's (spelling) cruising guide to NC. He has great information and recommendations. Lots to do in your area.

See the link at Salty Southeast Cruisers' Net ~ Your home for all the cruising news along the ICW and click on the Cruising Guide button.

George

[Hudson Force]

I'd consider the trip up to Manteo from Ocracoke and then the Alligator River & back to Oriental via the Pungo. 'makes a nice circle cruise. 'take care and joy, Aythya crew

[Blue Heat]

What is the Pungo? A river?

[Blue Heat]

I have seen on Google Earth and charts that there are canals between the Neuse River and Core Sound. Are these navigable by boat? How deep are they? Would they work as a short cut to the Core Sound from the Neuse River? Shoal draft sailboat or motorboat only?

[Blue Heat]

I found Pungo River. I had studied Young's NC Cruising Guide recently where he pointed out he would no longer report on Core Sound because it was becoming to shoal. Anyone have any tips for cruising there? How shoal is it there? Is a Meadowlark the only type of sailboat to get through the Core Sound?

[teejayevans]

Originally Posted by Blue Heat

I have seen on Google Earth and charts that there are canals between the Neuse River and Core Sound. Are these navigable by boat? How deep are they? Would they work as a short cut to the Core Sound from the Neuse River? Shoal draft sailboat or motorboat only?

I think you need a 3' draft to do Core Sound and through the canals.
I second the Cape Lookout, Pungo River, up Pamilco River recommendations.
Also add South River and Bay River.
Tom

[witzgall]

Visits to Washington, Bath, (both have free town dockage) bellhaven, are great. If you motor down the ICW from the Neuse, you can visit Cape Lookout, a super great anchorage at the beach.

Chris

[hasuehounds]

Originally Posted by Blue Heat

I have seen on Google Earth and charts that there are canals between the Neuse River and Core Sound. Are these navigable by boat? How deep are they? Would they work as a short cut to the Core Sound from the Neuse River? Shoal draft sailboat or motorboat only?

You can download charts from NOAA at http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/enc/index.htm

also a good chart book on ICW from Norfolk to Flordia is available at
provision company in oriental. (name escapes me!)

Dont rely on land maps to find things, if youve electronics and can down load charts the ones from NOAA are great, or you can get tiki navigator who has wonderful charts too (you join tiki the charts are free down loads in US)

I do agree you should add south river and bay river as places on your cruise list

Kathleen
s/v Legacy
oriental,nc

[teejayevans]

Originally Posted by hasuehounds

also a good chart book on ICW from Norfolk to Flordia is available at
provision company in oriental. (name escapes me!)

Also available from discount places like Amazon for $45, The Intracoastal
Waterway Chartbook, by John and Leslie Kettlewell. Make sure you
get latest edition (5th).
Tom

[Captain Bill]

Blue Heat, given that you've chosen to do this in the fall you'll need to be a little bit carefull with the weather. Typically starting in late september we'll get a cold front passage every 3-5 days and the wind will start out quite blustery from the NW, slowing and clocking around to sw just before the next front. The sound can get quite choppy and the later in the fall the worse it is likely to be. The sound isn't very deep so what waves we do get can sometimes get quite steep and close together.

On entering Ocracoke I suggest that you look at using Nine foot shoal channel. It has plenty of water for you if you stay in the wll marked channel. In daylight the 1 foot shoals on either side are clearly visible. These shoals also break up most wave action and give you a relatively smooth ride in. It also keeps you out of the ferry channel most of the way in. It's pretty easy to avoid the ferrys if you don't spend too much time in Big Foot Slough channel which is what the ferrys use. With your draft you can probably do Core Sound, though you should be careful about the channel near drum inlet and cross it at high tide. Coming from Ocracoke there is no reason to use the canals from Oriental, just go directly from Ocracoke to Core Sound. From there you can stop at a number of small towns along the way and make it down to Harker's Island, Cape Lookout, Beaufort, and Morehead City. You may even want to go down the ICW to Swansboro. From Morehead City/Beaufort you can go back up the ICW to the Neuse river. While your at it you might want to take a little side trip up to New Bern. The old downtown area is quite historic and has some great places to eat. I'm not saying that these areas are better than the northern towns suggested by others, just an alternative, and if your time permits you could always do both. Have Fun!

[Blue Heat]

When we cruise to Ocacoke, what good marinas are there to tie up to?

[Captain Bill]

Joyce's and the National Park Service both accept transients. I usually anchor out. If you anchor out be careful to anchor far enough south that you don't interfere with the ferrys. Also the bottom is pretty loose anywhere near the ferrys and at the extreme south end of silver lake and holding can be a bit poor when the wind kicks up. Holding in the center portion of the anchorage is pretty good, but a lot of people know that and it's often full.

I checked the route I told you about in my earlier post and there is another place to watch out for on the east end of Harkers Island, going south to Cape Lookout, you defintely want to use that route only at high tide. You can however take the west bound channel north of Harkers island and go around the west end of Harkers Island quite safely.

[ggray]

I just received this link which may be of interest.



Silver Lake Harbor Live WebCam :: Ocracoke Harbor Inn & Suites, Ocracoke Island, NC