NC Marinas

We are in the market for our first coastal boat and not sure where we want to keep it in NC? Any suggestions? We like Beaufort a lot. Also curious about what to look for in a marina and what costs to expect.

Beaufort Town Docks are right in the middle of town with easy access to the town's attractions. Floating docks and decent shower facilities. I suspect they are about $10/ft per ft for monthly rentals.

Further inside, you have Oriental and New Bern. The marina right in town in New Bern is about $7.50/ft. Oriental marinas might be a little more, probably in between New Bern and Beaufort.

David

Beaufort and Morehead are high rent districts. We are currently in Morehead at $14 per foot. Beaufort is about the same. Around memorial day we are headed back up to the Neuse where it is around $7/ft. and a better hurricane hideout. I am a big believer in not staying in your favorite place and making it a destination. It gives us much better motivation to go visit those places... by boat!

Anyway, we have stayed or visited a great cross section of the NC marinas. A lot depends on what kind of experience you want to get out of it. There are marinas near towns with lots of stuff to do with little social interaction between guests... and there is the opposite. Do you want to be around sailors or powerboats? Near an inlet, right on the ICW, or up river?

Give us a lot more info and let's see if we help you put.

Thanks so much for the replies.

We are looking at power boats so we would like to be around and learn from other power boaters I suppose. I completely understand and agree with your point about not being based at favorite destinations and being able to journey to those places. We would, however, enjoy having our boat somewhere that when we are there for a few days that if we do not take it anywhere, we could be close to things to do like restaurants.

As far as being on an inlet, ICW or up river, to be honest, we have no idea and would love advice and thoughts about those options. We live in Elon, NC and have a small airplane. So, we would love to be somewhere that has an airport close by and is not too far from home.

Tom.B, you mention you are in Morehead now. I am not sure how this works but are keeping your boat there for a few months then headed somewhere else to keep it there for a few months? I assumed boats had one home and took short trips for a few days or weeks now and then. It would be great if you can rent a slip for only a month or few months at a time. Is that the way it works? We have a boat on Lake Norman and we only have the option to pay for the year.

We like to call ourselves NCCruisers. We travel a lot and stay in different places for different lengths of time. All staying with driving distance from home. There are no rules for us. We like to move around and try different places. I mean, come on... that is what a boat is for!

We have been in two different New Bern marinas. One in Carolina Beach for 6 months. One in Oriental for 6 months. Mateo for 3 months. Morehead for nearly 3 now. And from each location we ventured out to further away places, using it as a jumping off point.

There are a few things though. We do, often times, pay a higher rate for shorter term slips rentals. It's not a lot and it is sometimes negotiable. Lots of marinas have annual rates, but we have only found one that require us to sign up for a year, so we left.

We are outgoing and don't have much trouble making friends, but we do have one marina that we pretty much call home. That is where our closest friends are. It is kind of our decompression location. After a year away, it is nice to come home and loft the stories of your latest adventures, pass along advice to the people that have never left in 15 years or more, and listen to the stories of home.

So don't think you have the tie up and never leave. Marinas want your money, and in exchange, give you a new experience and view from the flybridge. I could spend all day telling you what we have experienced and other will certainly chime in with their favorites for one reason or another, but until you get put there and find your own way, my(our) advice is only as valuable as what you paid for it.

Get your boat buying out of the way first and don't worry about where you think you want to be yet. You have a lot of learning to do first. Take this off your radar and don't get hung up on this part just yet.

You are within a 3+ hour drive of lots of interesting places: Washington, Edenton, Bellhaven, Oriental, New Bern, Moorehead City, Beaufort.

Why not bounce around and keep your boat at each of these for a month or so until you find what you like. One month rentals are maybe 10% more than yearly contracts and rarely if ever will a marina hold out for a year and not rent month to month.

If I were doing this I would want my home base to be central to these locations so I could do weekend cruises to outlying areas. Bellhaven might be a good choice. All of the others are within an easy day cruise from that point.

David

I kept my boat in Beaufort for about a year a few years ago. One of my favorite places ever. Here is a great diversity of places that you can travel to in less than a day. Cape Lookout Bight is probably one of the best anchorages along the East Coast. Water quality is amazing there.

I found this bare-bones marina that I have pinned on the attached map. There is no restroom or dockmaster. However, the docks are well-built and the location is awesome. I paid $250 per month plus electric for my 36 foot grand Banks. That's a heckuva deal. If you want to pay more and have better facilities and a spectacular location, Beaufort town docks.

I lost the contact info for the owner, but if you go there you can find a phone number.

One other thing… If you keep it in Beaufort or Oriental, there is a special rate that boat US has for Pamlico and Albemarle sounds that is much less than typical coastal insurance. Give them a call you probably will be shocked.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Very helpful. I will move on from this topic Tom.B as you suggested but first, one last question. If you drive to your boat and cruise it somewhere new, how do you get back to your car?

That "marina" noted above is not listed by Active Captain. So it must be a real Mom and Pop operation. One of the reviewers of the yard nearby noted the smell of the nearby fish processing operation.

David

Eddie said:

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Very helpful. I will move on from this topic Tom.B as you suggested but first, one last question. If you drive to your boat and cruise it somewhere new, how do you get back to your car?

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You have to do The Car Dance... or Dancing With The Cars, if you will. It is the suckiest part of moving, but it is a necessary evil. Usually we will both drive and just plant a car at the new location, then drive back to the old and both drive home.

djmarchand said:

If I were doing this I would want my home base to be central to these locations so I could do weekend cruises to outlying areas. Bellhaven might be a good choice. All of the others are within an easy day cruise from that point.

David

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Belhaven is a bad choice to keep a boat full time. Well, maybe Dowery Creek (friendly group there), but it is way outside of "town". Belhaven is a tired old town that is still struggling to find its way back with very little or nothing to do. A restaurant or two, a shop or two, and a watering hole or two. That's about it. Yes, it is coming back, and yes, it is a nice place to stop while cruising the ICW, but it it has litlle long-term dockage and the best destinations are pretty far away. If you like Beaufort, you would not like Belhaven. I would pick Washington over it for sure, but even that is pretty far up river.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the place. We have stopped there often. But with its sleepy town feel and lack of stuff, NC offers much better. Save Belhave for just a stopover.

David, I have to concur with Tom about Belhaven. It seems like it takes forever to drive to it. The town is struggling with the only food store we found out on the highway. 'Little' Washington to me would be a better choice. It's only about 25 miles up the Pamlico. However, Morehead and Beaufort are hard to beat. Especially if one likes to fish. Cape Lookout, one of the premier gunk holes on the east coast, is only about 6 miles from Beaufort Inlet. Plenty of eating establishments, too. Then of course plenty of marine services around the area.

I have only anchored out in Bellhaven and never actually gone ashore other htan fueling up. But I have heard the same comments: sleepy and kind of run down. I picked it mostly for its central location. Everyone loves Dowry Creek Marina, but as noted it is a long way outside of town.

Edenton or Washington might be better choices for a central home base but as noted they are far up the river.

As a single choice Beaufort would probably be a better pick. It has reasonable access to Oriental and even Ocracoke. And Cape Lookout can't be beat.

David

But as an OVERALL location? The one most centralized to just about everything NC has to offer for boaters? New Bern beats them all. I could go on and on about it, but won't right now. Still, it is really the best of everything up there. Save one thing... really... they don't support the boating community quite as well as Morehead City does. Boating support businesses are EVERYWHERE down here, and while NB in association with Oriental, does keep us all afloat, it pales to the amount of support Morehead, in association with Beaufort (ie. Jarret Bay Industrial Park), provides. It REALLY makes it hard for us to want to go back, but we have to. We need to check back in at Northwest Creek and want to be there for hurricane season. The sirens call us, but we shall return.

djmarchand said:

That "marina" noted above is not listed by Active Captain. So it must be a real Mom and Pop operation. One of the reviewers of the yard nearby noted the smell of the nearby fish processing operation.

David

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Us natives call that "Nasty Harbor". That was a deserved name 20 years ago. The docks there now are very nice and the area is well protected from the wind. It is not a fun or easy walk to anything retail wise, though. This will change when the new bridge project is complete, but probably for the worse. The fish house next door is a wholesale buying and packaging operation, not what I would consider a "processing" operation. As far as smell, think fresh seafood versus cat food. Locally, the old menhaden plant was what we'd consider a "processing operation".

Eddie said:

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Very helpful. I will move on from this topic Tom.B as you suggested but first, one last question. If you drive to your boat and cruise it somewhere new, how do you get back to your car?

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After doing this several times, Enterprise (one way) rental cars are way more convenient and worth every penny to not have to take two cars for the Car Dance. We just learned this recently!!

Moonstruck said:

David, I have to concur with Tom about Belhaven. It seems like it takes forever to drive to it. The town is struggling with the only food store we found out on the highway. 'Little' Washington to me would be a better choice. It's only about 25 miles up the Pamlico. .

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I have to agree with both of you on Belhaven....Tired town, dockage is iffy...
We're in Washington and have been for 2 years now. Charming small town, pretty waterfront, plenty of restaurants within an easy walk, and an airport Nearby... It takes some time to get down the river to other destinations, but the trade-offs are worth it to us. Bout $6.50/ft. with nice amenities. It's not a "marina" envoirnment, but a great place to hang out and boat out of..

Waterfront | Historic Waterfront | Little Washington NC

https://www.waterwayguide.com/featured-marina/washington-waterfront

Greetings,
Mr. E. Welcome aboard. I agree that looking for a marina at this point is a tad premature BUT since everyone seems to be offering suggestions, here's mine:

We docked for 5 years at Lamb's Marina in Camden, NC. Lambs Marina
It's a very well protected (hurricane-wise) place to dock your boat. A bit out of the way but about 5 miles out of Elizabeth City, NC which has all the major chain stores and grocery outlets.
I see current rate is $4.50/ft. Never had a problem with theft, super clean bath house, pretty good restaurant on site, diesel, gas and propane on site, courtesy car AND the superb hospitality known throughout the south.

It's NOT your average marina. NOT a big boating fraternity or "club" type atmosphere. Harbor is adjacent to a trailer park (friendly non-intrusive folks).

Homer Smith's in Beaufort is nice and has to be cheaper than the town docks. Lots to do in and around Beaufort -- New Bern, Oriental, Lookout Bight, Wrightsville Beach and on and on. We've kept our boat in many different places for different periods of time. Usually do combinations of 1 month leases. We've gotten to really know several places really well this way. Marinas are all different, and it usually comes down to the number of live aboards and what type of boats are staying there. To stage it we usually just rented a car or had someone else drive us in our car.

Made an offer today on a 2002 43' Silverton. We are so excited. Will have a lot more questions soon, hopefully.

Regarding the "cars dance", we have found that rental cars can be hard to find in some locations, and this can add to the cost. On the other hand, U-Haul has locations almost everywhere and renting their smallest truck was less expensive than a car. With a little planning you might even get a load to deliver. ��

Eddie said:

Made an offer today on a 2002 43' Silverton. We are so excited. Will have a lot more questions soon, hopefully.

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Congrats!!! Where is the boat located at currently??

Currently in Oriental. May try to move it soon if we get it to New Bern for a while.

Nice! I assume it's this one: 1998 Silverton 442 Cockpit Motor Yacht Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

I would make a few suggestions. This is your first boat, right? I would consider coming up to Northwest Creek Marina to get you started. Not for any other reason than it's a very friendly marina with a lot of great people that can help you get off on the right foot. Some of the most experienced sailors call that marina home and so do we. Often we have dock-sitting days where up to 15 or 20 (but usually about 8 or so) just sit around and talk about boating. THAT, my friend, is really how you learn things. We are eager to help.

However, since this will be your first season, NWCM provides unprecedented hurricane protection for the area. Moreover, it is easier to get in and out of than most of the others as it has better wind protection and no current (however unlikely current is in the Neuse anyway ) There are always people in your slip when you arrive to help you get in. Not just marina staff, but people who care.

There is a fuel dock and a pumpout system. There is also, for just $5, a service that the marina staff will pump you out in your slip during the week (The Honey Wagon visit). And the per foot price is the best in the area... $6.75 if memory serves with metered electricity and free water.

If there is a downside, their wi-fi kinda sux, so be prepared for that. The bathrooms are so-so, but are always clean. They're just old is all. We only use them for morning poos and the occasional pee. We shower onboard, always.

The sunsets are wonderful and there is always someone you could talk into going to anchor out in Upper Broad or South River. There is always someone to help you with projects or give you a ride somewhere. There are regular marina events and good onshore neighborhood walking with big field for dogs.

Anyway, take a look. Give them a call. Tell them Skinny Dippin' sent you and hopefully, we will see you there.

It is far enough away from New Bern for a peacful experience, but close enough for easy access to all it has to offer.

That's it Tom.B and they accepted our offer today. Actually, we accepted their counter offer and are really excited. I love your comments and will discuss with my wife Lisa for sure. We like the idea of meeting new friends to learn from.

That's what I'm talking about, nice ride Eddie

Hey, just realized guys that the one Tom.B post d is not it. Here it is. http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/200...058352/New-Bern/NC/United-States#.WQ9CqlQpChA

Eddie said:

Hey, just realized guys that the one Tom.B post d is not it. Here it is. 2002 Silverton 43 Motor Yacht Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

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Very nice! You will enjoy that so much!

Thanks Besslb! We are really excited!

Greetings,
Oooohhhh....Snazzy!