Lake Norman, North Carolina

[Sea Hunt Video]

Fellow CDers:

I continue in my search to relocate out of Florida and away from hurricanes.

Recently I have been looking at the area around Lake Norman, North Carolina. I searched the CDSOA website and was not able to find any current information.

I would appreciate receiving information from those who live (or lived) near Lake Norman and/or have sailed on Lake Norman. It seems like a reasonably good sized lake for sailboats. I assume my Cape Dory 25D would be OK there. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a lot of sailboat information related to Lake Norman. There seems to be a lot of powerboat activity.

If anyone has any thoughts about Lake Norman I would welcome your comments, etc.

Thanks.

[Astronomertoo]

Hello Roberto, and all,
I spent 6 weeks during one early spring up in Charlotte as part of my nuclear plant travels, and found the cloudy drizzle and near freezing temps pretty depressing. I have been back since in better weather and like the area much better. A friend of mine from here in Crystal River is working up there now and finds it very progressive, a seriously religious area, and you will find the traffic much like Miami at times. Since I had a 27 ft sailboat in a marina in Louisiana (Bayou Bonfucca, north of the big lake) at the time, I looked around for marinas and found sailboats up to 40 ft (!) on the north end of the reservoir. People do sail there, just not very far. The lake was about 30% iced over when I flew in. The good thing about there is you have some enteresting places to visit within a 2-4 hr drive from Charlotte. Just like here, but much different. A good truck and sailboat trailer would be handy for sailing the east coast on occasion, and visiting other CDers.
You should spend some time there to see if you would like it, and all the taxes, first.
BTW, I made a trip up there by car right after a hurricane in the early ninetys, and found broken billboards and snapped off trees all the way up there, so they are not immune to 'canes. On the other hand, the most wind we have had here in the Crystal River area has been from thunderstorms, and I know from the records we have not had a direct hit here since like 1889. The close calls have come in shore down at Tampa (90 min drive south), and gone out east from Daytona, like the one about 14 years ago. I never say never, but this is a boring and safe area, so far. The local waters are shallow, the seafood is great, not much to do but sail, fish, hike, scuba dive, and watch for manatees in the winter.
Bob C

[mgphl52]

Hi Roberto!

Of course there are other locations in Florida that you might want to consider also... such as "LA" aka: Lower-Alabama, aka: Northwest Panhandle. Great sailing, a bit more seasonal but very rarely iced over!

Also, boats over 30 years old can get 'antique vessel' registration a save lots of $$$ each year!

[Sea Hunt Video]

Bob:

Lake Norman was 30% iced over That would not be something I would enjoy.

Mike:

I am trying to get out of Florida to get away from hurricanes. The panhandle of Florida is notorious for late Summer early Fall hurricanes developing in the Gulf of Mexico. Once they develop they have no choice but to hit landfall somewhere. From my recollection, the panhandle is something of a "magnet" for these hurricanes.

As you may recall several years ago I was in Niceville looking at a Cape Dory 25D owned by a friend of yours. I loved the area, marina, the people. It's those damn hurricanes that I am trying to run away from.

[trapper]

Hi Robert,
I dont think that Lake Norman usually freezes but it is a little colder up there than here on Lake Murray, near Columbia, S.C. We have beautiful weather except July and August, when it can be oppressively hot! My CD25D has air conditioning at the dock, so when it gets that hot I turn on the air conditioner until the boat gets cold. Then I leave the companionway boards out when I leave the dock. When the cold air runs out, I go back to the dock-- usually a couple hours.

Lake Murray is larger than Lake Norman. You cannot sail the length of the lake in a day. It also does not have roads going across it. There are a fair number of 40' sailboats, several CD30' + , and I have my Cape Dory 25D on Lake Murray--well she is coming back this weekend. There are 3 Sailing clubs on Lake Murray. I belong to 2 of them. We would love to have you!

There are some inexpensive condos on the lake (and some expensive ones). Lake houses have gotten pretty expensive. Living off the Lake is one of the cheapest costs of living nationwide. People say that Columbia is not much of a place to visit, but it is a wonderful place to live!

[K Chiswell]

We keep our 330 at Western Carolina Sailing Club, on Lake Hartwell. The club currently has a very active cruising fleet with everything from not too intense racing, to raft-ups with beach cookouts, even Christmas parades with lights, and more. The Army Corp has done a very nice job keeping the shoreline of the lake from being over developed. There are many islands and coves that you can anchor in and feel like you are farther away than you really are. We have 6 Cape Dories in our club, two 25Ds. If you have any interest in seeing WCSC pm me, I would be happy to show you around.

[Moonshadow]

I lived on Lake Norman and still own a home on the lake. It is great. Can be crowded on week ends during the summer. I think you will like it.

[Terry]

Well, Roberto, you can join the other halfbacks (folks who've gone to Florida, then headed back north) and come to Georgia. Lake Lanier is probably smaller than Lakes Norman or Murray, but doesn't ice over.

The weather. . . warm summers and cool winters. Cassandra doesn't sport a bimini, but it makes sense to have one in the summer. Sailing is year around. . . if you can handle a bit of chilly weather.

The winds. . . as with all lakes I've been on, the winds are variable in strength as well as direction. There are a couple of months that are challenging for those who haven't mastered light-air sailing.

While there are properties with docks available, for those who prefer neighborhoods/subdivisions off the lake, there are several marinas from which to choose. Aqualand Marina is conveniently located to most areas, and probably has the most sailboats. Property taxes are pretty reasonable in general, and drop dramatically for seniors, if you fit that category.

All the best. Terry

[jen1722terry]

Hey Roberto,

Sorry to hear you're leaving Florida. We'll miss your hurricane reports and sage advice about sailing down south but I can empathize. I lived in Lauderdale for a year in 1980. We bought a nice double-wide near our work and school. Four days after we signed the papers, a big storm headed our way. We were calling and calling our insurer to see if our binder was in effect, but the storm finally turned north and missed us for the most part.

My family had a summer house on coastal New Jersey and, while hurricanes were rarer and generally weaker than they were further south, the winter nor'easters could be worse.

I don't know the Carolinas at all. I do know New England and there is some wonderful lake sailing to be had with a 25. My favorite is Champlain. Lake Winnepesaukee in NH is also nice, but busier. The Finger Lakes in NY are quite pretty. The Hudson River above the Tappan Zee bridge is also nice cruising with lots to see.

But then there are the winters, which would be a shock for most Floridians, as well as the short sailing seasons.

My favorite cruising in my younger days was the Chesapeake Bay. It's busy in the central and northern areas, though not as crowded as Florida. The southern reaches are my favorite, with plenty of places to hide when the storms blow through. The winters are mild and, with over 11,000 miles of shoreline, the choices of pretty, quiet anchorages are almost endless. I miss sailing there so much that Jenn and I are seriously considering taking our 31 down to the Chesapeake in the next year or two. We plan on arriving in September and cruising well into December, then launching in April to come back up north before the heat sets in.

We live in Nova Scotia for half of the year and the sailing here is lovely but, again, the season is shorter. Most sailors up here launch in early June and haul no later than mid-November. When hurricanes do blow up this way they are much weaker and more inconvenient than scary. Living in Canada part time has it's complications, but the scenery, low density, quite reasonable real estate prices/taxes and pleasant local culture make it work for us. Many of our neighbors also own homes in Florida.

That's about all I can think of this morning of Christmas-plus-1. Best of luck with planning your big move up north. Email us if we can help in anyway.

Jenn and Terry