I'm contemplating sailing from Beaufort,NC to Cape Lookout and on to Ocracoke next week. I understand Core Sound is pretty shallow for sail boats so am planning on going off-shore. I'm looking for information as far as safe anchorages along the way and any other advice you guys may have. thanks, Scott
scottmacc@coastalnet.com
Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Advice
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Ken Coit
Re: Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Advice
Scott,
Andy may be the best source for your question, but I'll stick my nose in just because I am here now.
They call it the Graveyard of the Atlantic for a reason. Cape Lookout Bight was the safe haven that some skippers have used more or less successfully; some lost their ships. I don't recall there being anything but open beach between Pt. Lookout and Ocracoke Inlet, what do your charts show?
Ocracoke Inlet is not a picnic either as I understand it.
Boats travelling up and down the coast are often 50 to 100 miles off Hatteras to have sufficient sea room in the event of bad weather.
I'd go to Pt. Lookout and have a good time and then turn around and go to Oriental and Ocracoke via the ICW because I don't want to bet on a good weather window. Andy may have another view.
In any case, keep on sailing,
Ken
parfaitNOSPAM@nc.rr.com
Andy may be the best source for your question, but I'll stick my nose in just because I am here now.
They call it the Graveyard of the Atlantic for a reason. Cape Lookout Bight was the safe haven that some skippers have used more or less successfully; some lost their ships. I don't recall there being anything but open beach between Pt. Lookout and Ocracoke Inlet, what do your charts show?
Ocracoke Inlet is not a picnic either as I understand it.
Boats travelling up and down the coast are often 50 to 100 miles off Hatteras to have sufficient sea room in the event of bad weather.
I'd go to Pt. Lookout and have a good time and then turn around and go to Oriental and Ocracoke via the ICW because I don't want to bet on a good weather window. Andy may have another view.
In any case, keep on sailing,
Ken
Scott MacCready wrote: I'm contemplating sailing from Beaufort,NC to Cape Lookout and on to Ocracoke next week. I understand Core Sound is pretty shallow for sail boats so am planning on going off-shore. I'm looking for information as far as safe anchorages along the way and any other advice you guys may have. thanks, Scott
parfaitNOSPAM@nc.rr.com
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Bob B
Second Ken's Advice
I think that Ken's suggestion is a good one. I lived on Ocracoke for several years and that inlet is no picnic. Very tricky unless you have really studied it. It is much easier finding your way out rather than your way in. The bouys marking the channel are easy to miss and very convoluted.
You may want to do the Cape Lookout trip. Then, do Ocracoke through the ICW/Sound trip. Plenty of anchorages and stopping stations until the trip from the Neuse on over. Watch the channel and follow the ferries. Then, you could go out Ocracoke and around to Cape Lookout on the next big adventure.
Have a great time.
Bob B.
CD25D Tiva
Charleston, SC
BundyR@aol.com
You may want to do the Cape Lookout trip. Then, do Ocracoke through the ICW/Sound trip. Plenty of anchorages and stopping stations until the trip from the Neuse on over. Watch the channel and follow the ferries. Then, you could go out Ocracoke and around to Cape Lookout on the next big adventure.
Have a great time.
Bob B.
CD25D Tiva
Charleston, SC
BundyR@aol.com
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Andy Denmark
Lookout-to-Ocracoke -- Attention: Webmaster
Hi Scott,
Ken and Bob are on the money. Don't even think about Core Sound (too shoal) or trying to negotiate Ocracoke Inlet in anything less than ideal (read daylight and good weather) conditions.
Ocracoke by means of the Neuse River, Brant Island Shoal, and up to the ferry channel is your best bet for the first trip out.
If you need an interim stop near the mouth of the Neuse River, either South River (off Lukens), or Broad Creek on the north shore (South of marker #4)are both good. I live about 2 miles further up Broad Creek and you'd be welcome to tie up here.
Have a great cruise!
Andy Denmark
CD-27 #270 "Rhiannon"
Lower Broad Creek
Oriental, NC
N 35* 05.137', W 076* 38.695'
ATTENTION: WEBMASTER
I tried to send this message twice last night. Both times it disappeared when I clicked "Preview Your Message".
This has been happening a while now. What's going on??
APD
trekker@coastalnet.com
Ken and Bob are on the money. Don't even think about Core Sound (too shoal) or trying to negotiate Ocracoke Inlet in anything less than ideal (read daylight and good weather) conditions.
Ocracoke by means of the Neuse River, Brant Island Shoal, and up to the ferry channel is your best bet for the first trip out.
If you need an interim stop near the mouth of the Neuse River, either South River (off Lukens), or Broad Creek on the north shore (South of marker #4)are both good. I live about 2 miles further up Broad Creek and you'd be welcome to tie up here.
Have a great cruise!
Andy Denmark
CD-27 #270 "Rhiannon"
Lower Broad Creek
Oriental, NC
N 35* 05.137', W 076* 38.695'
ATTENTION: WEBMASTER
I tried to send this message twice last night. Both times it disappeared when I clicked "Preview Your Message".
This has been happening a while now. What's going on??
APD
trekker@coastalnet.com
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Scott MacCready
Re: Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Advice
Sounds like it's a good Idea I checked here first. I'll head from Oriental across the sound to Ocracoke then. Once there, any favorite sails in the area... ie up to Hatarass? How about through the inlet to the ocean side of Ocracoke for a short day sail? thanks everyone
scottmacc@coastalnet.com
scottmacc@coastalnet.com
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Joe Valinoti,
Re: Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Advice
Scott: Have we met? I thought I knew just about everyone with a Cape Dory in the Oriental area. You should consider joining CDSOA by downloading the application at this site. If you want to go North from Ocracoke, try Manteo (a long sail, but a great place) as you may find Hatteras disapointing. If you want to go South, go out the inlet and sail outside to Cape Lookout and come back by way of Beufort. We own the CD30 Cutter "Vita Bella" and live in Oriental.Scott MacCready wrote: Sounds like it's a good Idea I checked here first. I'll head from Oriental across the sound to Ocracoke then. Once there, any favorite sails in the area... ie up to Hatarass? How about through the inlet to the ocean side of Ocracoke for a short day sail? thanks everyone
vwman@coastalnet.com
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Scott MacCready
Re: Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Advice
Joe, no, we haven't met. I've been in New Bern since November doing some contract work at the hospital. I picked up My CD25 in March and have been saling the Neuse since then. The other responders here have steered me away from making the trip from Cape Lookout north to Ocracoke. Is the trip safer in reverse? I have a week off begining Tuesday and wanted an extended trip. thanks, Scott
scottmacc@coastalnet.com
scottmacc@coastalnet.com
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Andy Denmark
Re: Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Advice
Hi again Scott,
Let me stick my head out and offer a suggestion or two, hopefully to save you the angst of finding them out on your own.
Ocracoke Island is a great place to visit. Sailing in, briefly looking around, and sailing off somewhere else is to overlook one of the fascinating places of our coastal history. Where else can one find genuine pirate lore (Blackbeard, for one), British cemeteries, documents from German subs which plagued our coasts during WWII. plus families and traditions that go back to the earliest days of our country. It is a sailing place, too. The people there know and respect the sailors who visit.
To leave this place that requires weeks to absorb all the history, just to go to an armpit place like Hatteras or Englehard for the sake of saying you've been there, approaches ludicrous. Ocracoke is a place to be enjoyed, not simply a nice harbor to sail into and back out. Ocracoke is a great place to use your boat as a floating motel room and really take in the beauty and lore of the place. It's cheap, too. The docks at the Nat'l Seashore are still $.50/ft. the restaurants are top notch. the people are friendly, etc. Make it a place to remember and enjoy. One of my favorite liveable fantasies is sitting on the deck at Howard's Pub, eating Spicy Steamed Shrimp, drinking a cold Bud, and awaiting a piece of the best key lime pie in the world, after which I row out to Rhiannon at anchor in a place where pirates, merchant ships, privateers, and fisherman, did so literally hundreds of years before.
Another point I think might help you is not to take the waters around here too lightly. While it is nice to think of sailing all over Pamlico Sound, the Atlantic offshore, and even some of the sounds and rivers, ( they are all beautiful), the weather and water here can kick your butt in a heartbeat. I cross Pamlico Sound (frequently) fully equipped as if I were going transatlantic. The mouth of the Neuse River can be one of the meanest pieces of water you've ever seen. People die on the water there, mostly because they don't appreciate how nasty it can turn, and how quickly. Weather dictates everything and learning it is important.
Get-there-itus, the disease that says you have to be back at work on Monday morning, no matter what, is a killer. One of my more frequently made trips is to catch the ferry to Ocracoke when the weather clears to pick up and bring back boats who couldn't get back to the mainland because the weather turned on them. One of the Coast Guards' most frequently required responses is for boats whose skippers thought they could handle the conditions and make it back to their home piers on the mainland. They can't -- and don't. It's simply too rough. Ken Coit is right on when he said there is a reason this place is called the graveyard of the Atlantic.
Please don't think I'm trying to rain on your parade. I admire your sense of adventure and independent spirit. God knows, there are enough people in the world who try to twist reality into something it isn't (our government specifically not excepted). All I'm trying to get across is to be careful, be prepared, and not be surprised when your plans (and schedules) have to change without notice because of the vagaries of wind and water.
I hope you can visit the raft-up at Cape Lookout and get to meet some of your fellow Dorians.
With best wishes,
Andy Denmark
CD-27 "Rhiannon"
Oriental, NC
trekker@coastalnet.com
Let me stick my head out and offer a suggestion or two, hopefully to save you the angst of finding them out on your own.
Ocracoke Island is a great place to visit. Sailing in, briefly looking around, and sailing off somewhere else is to overlook one of the fascinating places of our coastal history. Where else can one find genuine pirate lore (Blackbeard, for one), British cemeteries, documents from German subs which plagued our coasts during WWII. plus families and traditions that go back to the earliest days of our country. It is a sailing place, too. The people there know and respect the sailors who visit.
To leave this place that requires weeks to absorb all the history, just to go to an armpit place like Hatteras or Englehard for the sake of saying you've been there, approaches ludicrous. Ocracoke is a place to be enjoyed, not simply a nice harbor to sail into and back out. Ocracoke is a great place to use your boat as a floating motel room and really take in the beauty and lore of the place. It's cheap, too. The docks at the Nat'l Seashore are still $.50/ft. the restaurants are top notch. the people are friendly, etc. Make it a place to remember and enjoy. One of my favorite liveable fantasies is sitting on the deck at Howard's Pub, eating Spicy Steamed Shrimp, drinking a cold Bud, and awaiting a piece of the best key lime pie in the world, after which I row out to Rhiannon at anchor in a place where pirates, merchant ships, privateers, and fisherman, did so literally hundreds of years before.
Another point I think might help you is not to take the waters around here too lightly. While it is nice to think of sailing all over Pamlico Sound, the Atlantic offshore, and even some of the sounds and rivers, ( they are all beautiful), the weather and water here can kick your butt in a heartbeat. I cross Pamlico Sound (frequently) fully equipped as if I were going transatlantic. The mouth of the Neuse River can be one of the meanest pieces of water you've ever seen. People die on the water there, mostly because they don't appreciate how nasty it can turn, and how quickly. Weather dictates everything and learning it is important.
Get-there-itus, the disease that says you have to be back at work on Monday morning, no matter what, is a killer. One of my more frequently made trips is to catch the ferry to Ocracoke when the weather clears to pick up and bring back boats who couldn't get back to the mainland because the weather turned on them. One of the Coast Guards' most frequently required responses is for boats whose skippers thought they could handle the conditions and make it back to their home piers on the mainland. They can't -- and don't. It's simply too rough. Ken Coit is right on when he said there is a reason this place is called the graveyard of the Atlantic.
Please don't think I'm trying to rain on your parade. I admire your sense of adventure and independent spirit. God knows, there are enough people in the world who try to twist reality into something it isn't (our government specifically not excepted). All I'm trying to get across is to be careful, be prepared, and not be surprised when your plans (and schedules) have to change without notice because of the vagaries of wind and water.
I hope you can visit the raft-up at Cape Lookout and get to meet some of your fellow Dorians.
With best wishes,
Andy Denmark
CD-27 "Rhiannon"
Oriental, NC
trekker@coastalnet.com
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John Nuttall
Bridge to Scotty.....
......
Kirk to Scotty:
You've heard a lot of good advice here....heed it.
It's not like driving to FL to pick up a CD25 without a trailer arranged.....you lucked out......you can't rely on going offshore here an "lucking out".....you may run out of luck......
You gotta week off?......Try this:...from New Bern come down to Oriental...spend a day and a half......relax.....
Take a half day and motor down to Beaufort.......spend a few days there......lots of cruisers with stories to tell....dinghy around the waterfront...go to Harkers Island and see the local boatbuilders and decoy makers......check out Carrot Island - look for Wild Ponies.....spend a day in the Maritime Musem & the Wooden Boat School.....
By then the Cape Dory Fleet should be pulling out for Cape Lookout....join them......you will be glad you did......
There is a ton of stuff and history to check out right on the Cape.....
Slow down, relax don't try to do too much.....it will be more fun, really.....
John
s/v Aimless
Kirk to Scotty:
You've heard a lot of good advice here....heed it.
It's not like driving to FL to pick up a CD25 without a trailer arranged.....you lucked out......you can't rely on going offshore here an "lucking out".....you may run out of luck......
You gotta week off?......Try this:...from New Bern come down to Oriental...spend a day and a half......relax.....
Take a half day and motor down to Beaufort.......spend a few days there......lots of cruisers with stories to tell....dinghy around the waterfront...go to Harkers Island and see the local boatbuilders and decoy makers......check out Carrot Island - look for Wild Ponies.....spend a day in the Maritime Musem & the Wooden Boat School.....
By then the Cape Dory Fleet should be pulling out for Cape Lookout....join them......you will be glad you did......
There is a ton of stuff and history to check out right on the Cape.....
Slow down, relax don't try to do too much.....it will be more fun, really.....
John
s/v Aimless