Winter boating life in North Carolina?

[Prospective]

I am probably 2-3 years away from being able to move my boat south from RI during the winter rather than putting it on the hard from November to May. It has always been my goal to become a snowbird boater and EVENTUALLY I'd like to be cruising down to south Florida and the Bahamas each winter.

But at first I was wondering about the viability of going half way. To perhaps somewhere like New Bern, Oriental, Elizabeth City, or Wilmington. Idea would be to move the boat to an "in-town" type marina and use the boat as a winter escape from the north east. Usage would be weekends and occasional multi day visits. Maybe do a little short distance cruising/anchoring out but primarily dock condo type stuff. The appeal to me is it's a lot cheaper, quicker, and easier logistically to move the boat to NC than S. FL and might be a good way to dip our toe in the snow bird lifestyle while still working.

Question is, what's it like boating in NC in the winter for those who have experienced it. Is it dead? Will I be the only one on the dock? Is stuff open/closed (fuel/pump-out/waterfront services)? I know the weather won't be hot and sunny but will my reverse cycle heat work/be enough? How likely am I to be chipping ice off my deck. I just don't want to freeze my ass off. But 40-60 deg and sunny would be nice.

I do have a little frame of reference. I bought my boat out of Beaufort NC in February 2015. I didn't visit it until March but generally found the weather pretty mild. Beaufort and Moorhead city were pretty quiet but not shut down. Lot's of boats in the water but not much activity on docks. My boat was in the water and we slept on it without issues for a couple of nights.

Welcome anyone's input on this cold New England day.

 

[rsn48]

I live over on the other side on the Wet Coast. But in my area of coastal British Columbia although not in a really warm environment but clear windless or gentle wind days, there is absolutely no reason not to go out. Yet here the majority, I'd say roughly 90 % of boats don't go anywhere until the late spring. The only thing you really require here for pleasant cold day cruising is a heater and even then you might not need to turn it on till roughly 3:00 PM in the afternoon.

So why am I talking to you at all? Well, I'd find out if the climate is viable for cruising, I suspect it is, but boaters will tell you they put their boats away for winter, which might sway your opinion. So the majority of boaters are wussies but the dedicated addicted to the ocean and cruising types will be out there. You can tell the wussies, one sign is the boat is covered in canvas, to be taken off in the spring.

My buddy just bought a Nordic Tug 32 (now called a 34) and he will go out by himself to a relatively close island, drop the hook, make lunch and then come back. Can you guess which one of the two categories above he is in?

 

[DavidM]

I lived in Oriental for five years and kept my boat in the water in front of our house. I also have a trawler buddy who lived on his boat nearby year round. So with that perspective here are some thoughts:

Winterization is generally not required if you keep the boat in the water. I used a small space heater set on low for the cold months of Jan-Feb. The creeks would skim over about once each year and the heater was good preventative insurance.

All four towns are good choices. Oriental has two downtown marinas, New Bern one+, the + being another a short walk across the bridge. Elizabeth City only has a couple of marinas a ten minute walk from downtown as I recall. Wilmington has several downtown but they will be more expensive. Also consider Washington, NC and Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington.

Even though you can boat year round in that area most activities like races and cruise club events (except for Oriental's Instead of Football Regatta Jan 1st.) shut down Dec-Mar. But we would take our boat out overnight when the daytime temp hit 65+ which would happen several times during that period.

Living on board in a marina with either heat pump heat or a couple of space heaters during the winter would be quite doable. Most marinas will shut their water off during that period, but may open it up on warm days to let you refill your tanks. You may have to motor over to a fuel dock to find water though.

The docks will get coated with ice or snow once or twice each year, but will be gone the next day. Here is a pic of a frosty pier in Oriental yesterday: https://towndock.net/on-the-cover/frosty-pier

Ask me more specific questions either here or PM.

David

 

[Shrew]

We're snow birding between Rhode Island and the Space Coast in Florida. This is our first winter down here. We bought a house and left the boat in Rhode Island. The warm weather is wonderful, but it is certainly cooler than we expected. Admittedly, that cool weather looks to last about 2 months and 'cool' is relative.

It's 66 here today. What surprised us is how quickly we became acclimated. I've lived for 50 years in NH. My wife has spent 32 years in NH. If you gave us a 66 degree day in January, we'd call it hot.

Take a look at the average temps in the area and make your decision. It's 44-46 in New Bern today. Not really a good boating day IMHO.

 

[Prospective]

I lived in Oriental for five years and kept my boat in the water in front of our house. I also have a trawler buddy who lived on his boat nearby year round. So with that perspective here are some thoughts:

Winterization is generally not required if you keep the boat in the water. I used a small space heater set on low for the cold months of Jan-Feb. The creeks would skim over about once each year and the heater was good preventative insurance.

All four towns are good choices. Oriental has two downtown marinas, New Bern one+, the + being another a short walk across the bridge. Elizabeth City only has a couple of marinas a ten minute walk from downtown as I recall. Wilmington has several downtown but they will be more expensive. Also consider Washington, NC and Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington.

Even though you can boat year round in that area most activities like races and cruise club events (except for Oriental's Instead of Football Regatta Jan 1st.) shut down Dec-Mar. But we would take our boat out overnight when the daytime temp hit 65+ which would happen several times during that period.

Living on board in a marina with either heat pump heat or a couple of space heaters during the winter would be quite doable. Most marinas will shut their water off during that period, but may open it up on warm days to let you refill your tanks. You may have to motor over to a fuel dock to find water though.

The docks will get coated with ice or snow once or twice each year, but will be gone the next day. Here is a pic of a frosty pier in Oriental yesterday: https://towndock.net/on-the-cover/frosty-pier

Ask me more specific questions either here or PM.

David

Exactly the input I'm looking for. Thank you.

Again, I'm not really planning on "cruising" so much as using the boat as a floating condo that's someplace different than home and a bit milder. Condo/dock living. I'd love to spend a few weekends in a fun town with decent restaurants and shops that didn't feel like a ghost town. If we took the boat off the dock once or twice that would be great but definitely not mandatory.

When it's 50deg and sun is shinning, my enclosed flybridge is super pleasant. I sat in it on the hard during 30 degree weather and been fine. But not much fun in that when boat is shrink wrapped and decommissioned.

 

[Besslb]

Tom and I have kept our boat(s) in NC for the last 10 years. We are weekenders who live 2.25 hours away from New Bern. There have been several years when we are in shorts washing the boat or actual boating in Dec-Feb. Our cruising grounds are perfect for weekend visits to Oriental, Morehead City, Beaufort, even Ocracoke Island if the weather is good. We do have frost on the docks from time to time as well. One year we had six inches of snow on the boat.....another year the creek did actually freeze over. But never have we needed to fully winterize, and we can always visit for weekends, even when it's cold, with our oil space heaters and an electric blanket. We are currently down river a bit from New Bern at Northwest Creek Marina. It is 7 miles from town, so it keeps downtown as a destination as well by boat or car. Our marina only turns off water to the docks when the temps go under freezing. They also do in-slip pump outs for a fee, and the fuel docks and pump out docks are open year round. If you have any additional questions, let us know!


Oh, and our experience is that both at the New Bern Grand Marina (7 years ago) and at Northwest Creek (now), the boating community is still pretty active. People that use their boats regularly still visit them during the winter. So you will always find people on the docks.


We also spent a winter in Morehead a couple years ago....it was fun. We loved being in town at the Yacht Basin. Very walkable town. Their fuel and pump outs were open year round, but they don't have in-slip pumpouts which is a huge advantage in the winter.

 

[Prospective]

Tom and I have kept our boat(s) in NC for the last 10 years. We are weekenders who live 2.25 hours away from New Bern. There have been several years when we are in shorts washing the boat or actual boating in Dec-Feb. Our cruising grounds are perfect for weekend visits to Oriental, Morehead City, Beaufort, even Ocracoke Island if the weather is good. We do have frost on the docks from time to time as well. One year we had six inches of snow on the boat.....another year the creek did actually freeze over. But never have we needed to fully winterize, and we can always visit for weekends, even when it's cold, with our oil space heaters and an electric blanket. We are currently down river a bit from New Bern at Northwest Creek Marina. It is 7 miles from town, so it keeps downtown as a destination as well by boat or car. Our marina only turns off water to the docks when the temps go under freezing. They also do in-slip pump outs for a fee, and the fuel docks and pump out docks are open year round. If you have any additional questions, let us know!

Well that sounds very encouraging. Thanks!

 

[timb]

we own a slip in Oriental but not down town .ours is in Whittaker creek. maybe 5 minutes to town if you don't break the speed limit .nice place to be but it is a small town.

I am at northwest creek marina in New Bern until around April or longer(I like it here but my boat very slow so I may return to my slip) .New Bern is big enough there is plenty going on with the boating crowd or without.
I use the boat most of the year but don't leave the slip much in January or February. I haven't done any winterizing in 3 years . my reverse cycle units work fine . you do need to watch for frost on the docks.

you probably should rent first and then you can move around some .there will be some places you like better than others .

 

[sailormike]

We Live in Wilmington, NC 5 Min from our boats at Wrightsville Beach. Wrightsville Beach is a great place to keep your boat and there is lot of action in the area even in the wintertime. The marinas are still open and there are plenty of liveaboards and weekend warriors. It is not uncommon to have 60-70 degree days and this was the first year in years I have not taken a boat ride on Christmas and new years day. We might get a night or 2 where the water has to be shut off on the docks but they tell you in advance to fill up your watertanks. I have never winterized nor had my reverse cycle heat not be able to keep up even on the coldest of nights and the couple of snows that are gone as soon as sun comes out. No shoveling or scraping ice unless your ice maker acts up lol. You will see a lot of locals out and about as its less busy and more enjoyable to us. There are plenty of destinations and anchorages to explore and your 5-10 minutes from the safe deep water inlet of the Atlantic ocean. The North Carolina Holiday Flotilla is here and is the biggest weekend of the year where people decorate their boats for Christmas and fireworks. Fishing is great in fact they are catching some very large blue fin tuna close to shore right now. Getting here by car or air is easy as well the airport is about 10-15 minutes from beach and beach is at the end of I-40. Pictures are from Christmas day and the flotilla. There are a few restaurants within walking distance and about about eveything else you can imagine within a 10 mile radius. Hope this helps.

I am probably 2-3 years away from being able to move my boat south from RI during the winter rather than putting it on the hard from November to May. It has always been my goal to become a snowbird boater and EVENTUALLY I'd like to be cruising down to south Florida and the Bahamas each winter.

But at first I was wondering about the viability of going half way. To perhaps somewhere like New Bern, Oriental, Elizabeth City, or Wilmington. Idea would be to move the boat to an "in-town" type marina and use the boat as a winter escape from the north east. Usage would be weekends and occasional multi day visits. Maybe do a little short distance cruising/anchoring out but primarily dock condo type stuff. The appeal to me is it's a lot cheaper, quicker, and easier logistically to move the boat to NC than S. FL and might be a good way to dip our toe in the snow bird lifestyle while still working.

Question is, what's it like boating in NC in the winter for those who have experienced it. Is it dead? Will I be the only one on the dock? Is stuff open/closed (fuel/pump-out/waterfront services)? I know the weather won't be hot and sunny but will my reverse cycle heat work/be enough? How likely am I to be chipping ice off my deck. I just don't want to freeze my ass off. But 40-60 deg and sunny would be nice.

I do have a little frame of reference. I bought my boat out of Beaufort NC in February 2015. I didn't visit it until March but generally found the weather pretty mild. Beaufort and Moorhead city were pretty quiet but not shut down. Lot's of boats in the water but not much activity on docks. My boat was in the water and we slept on it without issues for a couple of nights.

Welcome anyone's input on this cold New England day.

 

[caltexflanc]

We lived on board full time for a few years in Morehead City.

Firstly, that was an outstanding place to be stationed, as you are very close to great anchoring spots, not the least of which is Cape Lookout Bight with its miles and miles of gorgeous undeveloped beaches. You are also not far from beautiful South River, and Ocracoke is an easy day's trip at Trawler speeds. We often went to these places and had the anchorage to ourselves during the winter.

Secondly, the boating services and products infrastructure in and adjacent to MHC/Beaufort is extensive, be it for services (mobile or boatyard) or products.

You do get winter here. (see pics below) There were often times when the marinas shut off the fresh water supply do to well below freezing temps. I highly recommend installing thermostatically controlled block heaters on the engines, to keep them a consistent temperature 24/7. Some here seem to think of them as something merely to aid starting, but that's just one benefit. By opening up the engine rooms (and blocking the exterior vents), ours kept the whole boat (a Hatteras 56MY) dry and temperate with no winterization needed for the water or engine systems.

I also recommend paying a little more and using a top flight marina with professional staff. We were at Morehead City Yacht Basin, where a skilled and knowledgeable staff kept a good lookout for absentee owners and were very communicative. The alternative is to retain someone (preferably a licensed captain) to regularly check on your vessel.

 

[Chrisjs]

You might consider going a little further South to the Myrtle Beach area. You can get cheap flights from Boston and Providence. We stayed at Osprey Marina for a few months several years back. Very convenient, just off ICW, very protected, nice people.

 

[ColonyCove]

NC winter boating

We started our 2021 NC boating season on Jan 7th. We keep an engine compartment heater in our Nordic Tug NT32 and winterize the fresh water system, but that's it. Our marina has not had to shut off the fresh water supply thus far. Photo is us leaving our home channel for lunch on the hook about ten miles away.

 

[MVMischief]

Have kept our boats in Oriental for about 8 years now - live a few hours away. We boat 12 months a year - 45 and sunny today, but we took our Ranger Tug out for a short cruise and had a great time. We've never winterized and keep the boat in the water year round. I guess we're right at the Hatteras line and although we've been through a number of storms, never had any damage (touch wood). Insurance rates are reasonable.

IMO if cruising were your goal, then it's hard to beat Oriental for its proximity to other destinations like Ocracoke, Belhaven, Beaufort/Morehead, and New Bern.

However, if your goal is to have a weekend getaway dock condo and don't plan on cruising a lot, New Bern is preferable because the town is larger and more active with great restaurant choices and activities. Also, it has a regional airport, now primarily served by American. It would be simple to fly in to EWN and uber over to the dock, then spend the weekend walking anywhere in town. Hop a flight back home when you're ready.

Being in Oriental would likely require you to keep a car here.

Look at the New Bern Grand Marina or Galley Stores marina. Both are right in the historic downtown. There will be plenty of activity on the docks.

Come on in! The water is fine!

 

[BandB]

Tom and I have kept our boat(s) in NC for the last 10 years. We are weekenders who live 2.25 hours away from New Bern. There have been several years when we are in shorts washing the boat or actual boating in Dec-Feb. Our cruising grounds are perfect for weekend visits to Oriental, Morehead City, Beaufort, even Ocracoke Island if the weather is good. We do have frost on the docks from time to time as well. One year we had six inches of snow on the boat.....another year the creek did actually freeze over. But never have we needed to fully winterize, and we can always visit for weekends, even when it's cold, with our oil space heaters and an electric blanket. We are currently down river a bit from New Bern at Northwest Creek Marina. It is 7 miles from town, so it keeps downtown as a destination as well by boat or car. Our marina only turns off water to the docks when the temps go under freezing. They also do in-slip pump outs for a fee, and the fuel docks and pump out docks are open year round. If you have any additional questions, let us know!


Oh, and our experience is that both at the New Bern Grand Marina (7 years ago) and at Northwest Creek (now), the boating community is still pretty active. People that use their boats regularly still visit them during the winter. So you will always find people on the docks.


We also spent a winter in Morehead a couple years ago....it was fun. We loved being in town at the Yacht Basin. Very walkable town. Their fuel and pump outs were open year round, but they don't have in-slip pumpouts which is a huge advantage in the winter.

Wifey B: Describes it well. We lived near Charlotte NC and still boated all we could. Sometimes just too freaking cold but other times fun. Omg it's going down to 47 here tonight (Fort Lauderdale) and we were on the water today and it was only 66 degrees. Frigid weather here. I don't like it.

Honestly, if I could choose where to live as a boater, I'd go further south than NC. However, you can still enjoy NC year round, most of the time.

 

[FF]

"Stuff happens" not very often but there should be a plan for a 20F week with no electric at the marina.

 

[timb]

"Stuff happens" not very often but there should be a plan for a 20F week with no electric at the marina.

mine is call in to work and go winterize the boat I haven't had to except the first year we had the 0 degree bomb cyclone and I didn't have a monitoring system yet. it was very tough only having the boat a month when this happened .it will only take a short time next time now that I know what works and what doesn't. not many people showed up for the late running of the dragon(new years oriental) and I made it back to work without using any vacation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2018_North_American_blizzard

 

[Ski in NC]

I keep my boat behind the house near Wrightsville Beach NC. Boat has been here since 2007, me since 1992. So have some experience with our winters.

Winterizing:

A crap shoot. Some winters lowest temps get into mid 20's F several nights a year. But every year or two we get a polar vortex where is in the teens and windy and things not expected to freeze, do freeze.

If we get one of those rare colds snaps down into the teens, we get ice (salt, so slushy, no damage to hull) but could be a problem with more fresh water. Reverse cycle units unreliable then, I have had mine freeze up. Had some plumbing in head (shower valve) bust from freezing.

Since I live next to the boat, if I see one of these freezes coming, I go down the night before and run the engine and gennie for a half hour to get some heat in the engine room. Maybe put a cube heater in the cabin and set it at 45F. Even with that the shower froze as the heat did not get there. Now I drain the FW plumbing outside the engine room.

I do loss investigations as part of my work, and when we get those cold snaps there are losses from freezing. About 3yrs ago, I investigated the sinking of a Swift Trawler (newish) and two old sailboats from freeze damage.

It is rare to get freeze damage, but you have to be prepared for it if you are a remote owner. No big deal for me as I live next to the boat. It is a big deal if you are many hours away. May need to enlist local help.

Boating. An Ocean SS is a flybridge boat. Flybridges in cold temps can be miserable. If you have a lower station boat, cold boating is no big deal. In fact, quite delightful as there is near zero traffic and the colors are different. We boat year round.

Marinas. Most, and all larger ones are open and staffed year round. They may turn off water and cease pump outs, that varies between facilities and the temps. Usually no big deal.

Dock power. Pretty reliable. Not affected by cold snaps or polar vortex type freezing events. Can be knocked out by ice storms, but not at big marinas and those storms by nature are when temps are near freezing, not down in the teens.

Air temps. Folows the pattern of cold fronts. A typical cold front comes through and temps dip into the 20's or 30's at night, 40's and 50's in the day. A few days later it can warm up to the 60's for a couple of days. Then a bit of rain and wind, then another front. Typical time between fronts is a week or two, but varies. A lot.

Polar vortex: 3-5 years between events, it seems. But gots to be prepared.

Snow: Very little most years, but occasionally (like 3-5yrs between events), we can get 2-6". Usually gone within a couple days.

This morning was 31F with frost on the dock. Highs expected around 50F this afternoon. Pretty typical.

 

[ranger58sb]

We spent a winter onboard in Charleston, many advantages to there. It wasn't warm all the time, in fact they had snow that year, but it was always "warmer than home" (Annapolis) and usually it was quite comfy. No issues with water and pump-outs. Nice city, with lots o' amenities. Decent airport. Free downtown bus service. Et cetera.

Further north -- like many have mentioned here (Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach/Southport, New Bern, Beaufort/Morehead City) all seem doable... but probably even less "warmer than home". Oriental is kinda tiny; we really liked going through there, but it's certainly not huge for a long-ish stay in one place.

-Chris

 

[Prospective]

Great feedback everyone thank you very much. I don't hear any surprises. I knew it could get cold down there, just didn't know how often. But sounds generally warmer than back in RI. Good advice to be in a full service marina which would be the plan. As I would not be able to "run down" to winterize, I would need someone to help out in case of emergency. New Bern and Wrightsville beach both sound like good options for dock condo living. I know I could get further south like SC but part of the appeal is I know I can get to NC with a good 3 day weather window, having brought the boat up from Beaufort in that amount of time. This may be 3+ years off when my youngest is off to college and may not even be with this boat. But I like to think ahead, especially when my boat is sitting on the hard under shrinkwrap.

 

[jimfrens]

I'm in Edenton, half hour south of Elizabeth City. Quaint small town feel, everyone is super friendly, have not had to winterize my boat as long as it's in the water. I will admit that cruising from here at trawler speeds means a day just to get anywhere, but you won't get waked by big powerboats anywhere around here either. The one marina here is a little run down but quite serviceable and cheaper than most ($6 / foot / month). There are several liveaboards here this winter. It's also very well protected from storms.

 

[Nomad Willy]

I have done nothing to winterize my trawler.
She’s under covered moorage in Puget Sound Wa. State.

Been a mild winter .. so far. We had some 25 degree weather in about early November. But after that it has just been wet. Thankfully it dosn’t rain constantly like it sometimes does in SE Alaska. Sunshine every 3-5 days and most rainy days are partly sunny or calm and overcast.

But in all coastal geography the weather varies depending on onshore/offshore winds so I’m expecting that a low offshore and a high inland will create an offshore wind that will pull cold air to coastal regions. But it may not happen.

The long term weather report said it would be a wet and mild winter likely w significant snow. But unless the offshore “event” is long lasting the mild weather will return. It’s like living w kids that play w hoses and thermostats ... all winter long. There’s a saying “if you don’t like the weather .. wait awhile”.

Sorry I didn’t notice this thread was for east coast.
Didn’t appear so in the thread list.

 

[ddw36]

I lived aboard a sailboat a few winter months in what is now the Grand Marina in New Bern, 25 yrs. ago. As I recall, the winter was cold; my enclosed cockpit was covered in ice each morning, making it difficult to work the zipper. I had a cube heater going, but a sailboat interior is smaller than a trawler's.



The Grand is ideal for a liveaboard; at least it was then. The rate was reasonable, and the marina was fairly full. Don't know how it is these days. The nice thing about the marina and New Bern is all you have to do to be downtown is walk about a block, and you're there. The Marriott Hotel ran the marina at that time. It had a fine restaurant and old-fashioned style dancing (where the couple actually touch each other). You just walked across hotel property and were downtown.


New Bern is a charming place and is so because when the Union came through in the Civil War, they did not flatten it like they did others. It was settled by Swiss in early 1700s; that's why it's New Bern. I enjoyed the place; I had to sell my boat due to other circumstances. In December they had a Christmas parade with all the boats decked out. Impressive.

 

[ddw36]

You have the Internet at your disposal; it would be a good idea to visit these places' websites and explore their layouts on, like, Google Maps. Even better would be to fly into New Bern, wintertime, rent a car, and explore these other places to get an on- the-ground feel.

 

[Bryant]

North Carolina

I am probably 2-3 years away from being able to move my boat south from RI during the winter rather than putting it on the hard from November to May. It has always been my goal to become a snowbird boater and EVENTUALLY I'd like to be cruising down to south Florida and the Bahamas each winter.

But at first I was wondering about the viability of going half way. To perhaps somewhere like New Bern, Oriental, Elizabeth City, or Wilmington. Idea would be to move the boat to an "in-town" type marina and use the boat as a winter escape from the north east. Usage would be weekends and occasional multi day visits. Maybe do a little short distance cruising/anchoring out but primarily dock condo type stuff. The appeal to me is it's a lot cheaper, quicker, and easier logistically to move the boat to NC than S. FL and might be a good way to dip our toe in the snow bird lifestyle while still working.

Question is, what's it like boating in NC in the winter for those who have experienced it. Is it dead? Will I be the only one on the dock? Is stuff open/closed (fuel/pump-out/waterfront services)? I know the weather won't be hot and sunny but will my reverse cycle heat work/be enough? How likely am I to be chipping ice off my deck. I just don't want to freeze my ass off. But 40-60 deg and sunny would be nice.

I do have a little frame of reference. I bought my boat out of Beaufort NC in February 2015. I didn't visit it until March but generally found the weather pretty mild. Beaufort and Moorhead city were pretty quiet but not shut down. Lot's of boats in the water but not much activity on docks. My boat was in the water and we slept on it without issues for a couple of nights.

Welcome anyone's input on this cold New England day.

I lived on the East Coast of NC for 5 years. Now I'm in Florida. As far as I'm concerned, there is no better cruising grounds for a Trawler than NC. The culture, food, ports of call, anchorages etc are world class in NC. You could spend a lifetime cruising that area and not see everything. Oriental, New Bern, Morehead City, Beaufort, Cape Lookout, the Outer Banks and on and on. The only down side to this area is that it's rather a "Catcher's Mitt" for hurricanes and storms coming off the Atlantic. Having said that, I wish my boat was in Oriental or New Bern right now.

Everyone has an opinion. That's mine.

 

[caltexflanc]

When we stopped cruising full time, but still lived aboard, we kept the boat at the Galley Store in New Bern, which IMO is far superior facility to the Grand for a whole bunch of reasons I can articulate on request. However, as I noted in my earlier post, we liked to use the boat as much as possible, and after a few months moved it to Morehead City and never returned. You have all the civilization amenities of New Bern (in some respects, more, especially but not limited to boating services and product infrastructure) and a better base for cruising. Our boating friends here in New Bern, most of whom who also like to use their boat as much as possible, for cruising or fishing as the case may be, also keep their boats in MHC/BFT.

The only demerit is that it another 1/2 hour to the airport.

 

[tparrent]

I just got home from a two day mini cruise out of New Bern. Yesterday was glorious with glass smooth water, temps around 60 and no wind. Today was getting a little sporty on the way back but not too bad.


I'm at New Bern Grand and there are always plenty of people around. Downtown always has people walking around as well. I really like the town.


I ran over to River Dunes marina last night. Spectacular marina and development but better as a weekend destination rather than liveaboard.


Lots of creeks to anchor out in and other interesting places to visit. If you never leave the dock, then New Bern is a fine place to be too.


In terms of weather, it's usually in the 40s-50s with the occasional mid 60s day. Better than NH and a whole lot closer than FL which is where you'd have to go to have reliably warmer temperatures. Once March rolls around, the weather here is fine and would feel real nice after months of cold up north.

 

[donpjr]

We were looking for a mid east coast place for our boat that could be our home port, away from the cold north. After looking up and down we chose New Bern, NC. New Bern is a nice town and New Bern Grand Marina is literally 5 minutes walk to downtown restaurants and activities. We stopped here on a trip from Maine last year rather than heading to our usual winter berth in Stuart, FL. So far we are happy with this selection. The Neuse River has some options for weekends out, we spent New Years on the hook in South River which is a few hours from New Bern. Oriental, Beaufort NC, and Bellhaven among other places are a day's run for us at our slow 8 to 9 kts. We have only one winter of experience but I haven't winterized, we go to the boat every few weeks and I keep a bilge heater operating that cuts in at 45F. I considered Moorehead City and other coastal areas, but for me New Bern is far enough inland that I feel a bit more secure from hurricanes (ok, Florence in 2018 was an issue but not so much wind as high water). New Bern Grand Marina survived this quite well with minimal damage to boats or infrastructure. This marina has several livaboards and remains active year round. Good luck in your search.

 

[pattormey]

From RI, live on NC Coast....

I am probably 2-3 years away from being able to move my boat south from RI during the winter rather than putting it on the hard from November to May. It has always been my goal to become a snowbird boater and EVENTUALLY I'd like to be cruising down to south Florida and the Bahamas each winter.

But at first I was wondering about the viability of going half way. To perhaps somewhere like New Bern, Oriental, Elizabeth City, or Wilmington. Idea would be to move the boat to an "in-town" type marina and use the boat as a winter escape from the north east. Usage would be weekends and occasional multi day visits. Maybe do a little short distance cruising/anchoring out but primarily dock condo type stuff. The appeal to me is it's a lot cheaper, quicker, and easier logistically to move the boat to NC than S. FL and might be a good way to dip our toe in the snow bird lifestyle while still working.

Question is, what's it like boating in NC in the winter for those who have experienced it. Is it dead? Will I be the only one on the dock? Is stuff open/closed (fuel/pump-out/waterfront services)? I know the weather won't be hot and sunny but will my reverse cycle heat work/be enough? How likely am I to be chipping ice off my deck. I just don't want to freeze my ass off. But 40-60 deg and sunny would be nice.

I do have a little frame of reference. I bought my boat out of Beaufort NC in February 2015. I didn't visit it until March but generally found the weather pretty mild. Beaufort and Moorhead city were pretty quiet but not shut down. Lot's of boats in the water but not much activity on docks. My boat was in the water and we slept on it without issues for a couple of nights.

Welcome anyone's input on this cold New England day.

I have been in NC (from RI) for just over 30 years. While we can stay on our boat here in the Beaufort area in the winter, we sometimes choose to stay in Hilton Head instead to gain about 10degrees warmer each day. This winter, we are staying in NC...but the 10 degrees would be nicer! So far a beautiful winter. Want more info, email me at hailmarymarine@gmail.com ...

 

[NCheaven]

"Nothing could be finer....." surely fits with trawler cruising in North Carolina! So, Prospective, you're on to something great! I started sailing in Elizabeth City with the Pasquotank River Yacht Club in PHRF racing in the 70s, got transferred and moved my San Juan 21' to the Neuse River, Blackbeard Sailing Club just down river and opposite shore from New Bern - one design SJ fleet there, moved further inland - lake boats, and decades later bought a trawler moored at BYC in Bristol, RI, brought it down to Chocowinity Bay, across the Pamlico River from Washington NC - the first Washington in the US. So, I'm delighted to share a little about 3 of the great rivers that flow into our two largest NC sounds.

I have seen the Pasquotank river and Chocowinity Bay both freeze over. I've also seen March NW winds literally blow the water out of both bodies of water. So, NC waters are not without weather issues in the winter. I live in Charlotte, 5 hours from Chocowinity, so I'm not able to react well to a sudden cold snap if the temps go low and the dock power goes out. So, I have a mechanic winterize my boat every year. Longingly, I view the Cypress Landing Marina web cam often, and I have seen some boats go out from time to time year round as many boat owners at CLM do not winterize their boats, but boats leave the marina far less often in the winter. I would encourage you to contact the Pasquotank River Yacht Club, Blackbeard Sailing Club, the dockmasters at Cypress Landing Marina, and the Washington town dockmaster - there are numerous deeper draft boats that winter there and at McCotter's Marina on the Pamlico. Washington Yacht and Country Club has open and covered slips, too. Each of those organizations would be able to give you information on winter boating in NC. We do have some wonderful boating weather at times on the NC coast, and I did some winter sailing on relatively balmy days when I lived 45 minutes from New Bern and had my boat on a trailer at BSC. As you know, NC waters are on the thin side, and wind tides are generally more notable in the winter than other times of the year. If you haven't already done so, I recommend going on Navionics and scouting water depths in areas of interest to you. Marinas in Belhaven and on Adams Creek above Morehead City may be of interest to you.

Sadly, I can't give you a yes or no on winterizing, but the above folks can help you. However, I can attest to Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound and their tributaries being wonderful boating locations with fascinating small colonial towns, many with free 1 or 2 night city docks, wild, unspoiled vistas - went back to my 1970s favorite duck hunting spot this fall - Rose Bay, and more. The history along the NC "inner banks" is fascinating, too. Waterways are relatively uncrowded, only one major bridge with a low air draft - Alligator River - 14', I think, and commercial marinas are very fairly priced compared to New England and the Chesapeake. So, winter or anytime of year, there are great cruises to take in NC without being in the "ditch" often.

Best wishes for your decision making process! As you will discover, finding a way to enjoy NC trawler cruising and exploring is very much worth the effort, any time of year! BTW, bring your fishing rods!

 

[BandB]

When we stopped cruising full time, but still lived aboard, we kept the boat at the Galley Store in New Bern, which IMO is far superior facility to the Grand for a whole bunch of reasons I can articulate on request. However, as I noted in my earlier post, we liked to use the boat as much as possible, and after a few months moved it to Morehead City and never returned. You have all the civilization amenities of New Bern (in some respects, more, especially but not limited to boating services and product infrastructure) and a better base for cruising. Our boating friends here in New Bern, most of whom who also like to use their boat as much as possible, for cruising or fishing as the case may be, also keep their boats in MHC/BFT.

The only demerit is that it another 1/2 hour to the airport.

Wifey B: To me the biggest negative to New Bern is distance from the ocean. In MHC or Beaufort, you're right there and able to talk off for further destinations. New Bern is inland, not even coastal. Now if you prefer inland cruising, then great.