Roughing out plans for ICW trip south. Suggestions welcome!

[JohnP]

Do you have a bus heater connected to the engine cooling Loop to heat the boat while underway?

This is really something to consider. It is on my future to do list!

 

[caltexflanc]

Coinjock is otherwise mostly about staging for crossing the Albemarle Sound... which can be very pleasant... or very snotty.

There are plenty of anchorages for waiting out the weather if that's an issue. Having been to Coinjock by car, I never saw the point of stopping there by boat and paying for the "privilege".

 

[Wayfarer]

I think it is precious you are trying to plan so specifically all your stops and days.

Ray covered it pretty well. I will add that if you are in a hurry (and it looks as if you kinda are), a lot of where you stay in the towns along the way will be inconsequential. With 50-60 mile days and such short amounts of daylight this time of year, you will be up early and into your next stop just before dark.

Lol, precious... I've certainly been accused of worse! I guess I wouldn't say I'm in a hurry. I don't really have any specific destination in mind, and I don't have any time table or mileage goals or anything. I'll say I'm excited more than anything. I'm really looking forward to getting going, and I have fun charting out options in advance, especially when I'm still stuck at work.

You're definitely going to face some cold weather. Don't let it ruin the fun. You have a good heating system on the boat and I'm sure you have some great cold weather jackets. Still get out and explore. Most places don't shut down and sometimes to be in a popular area outside of tourist season carries some added benefits.

Make your trip a relaxed one. Cruise as much or as little in a day as the mood strikes you. Stay longer or shorter based on your mood of the day. If you're thinking "I'd really like to sleep in tomorrow" then do so and spend another day there. The beauty of your situation is there are no rules. You don't have to be anywhere at any given time or do anything specific. You make the rules along the way. Find things that really peak your interests.

And, don't worry that you miss things, don't see it all. That's best. That way you need the next trip and the next and the one after the next after the next.

It'll definitely be a chillier trip, but like you said, I've got a good heating system, plenty of layers and blankets, and enough hot chocolate mix to kill a hippo. Also, It's going to be -5F in Sault Ste. Marie tonight, so even if it's 38 when I get to the Carolinas, It'll feel nice, lol.

Relaxed is going to be the word of the day as often as possible. I was in a bit too much of a hurry on the last leg, and it burned me out. Like I said above, I'm not in a hurry, and if I get tired, I'll stop. If I don't feel like cruising, I won't, and if I find somewhere I want to stay for a week, I can. I will barely be scratching the surface this year, and that's a good thing. If all goes well, I'll still have plenty to look forward to next year, and the year after that.

Way better suited for dinks, but I think I read you are travelling without.

In fact, we try to avoid GA and run offshore from south SC to Fernandina. If you have never seen the GA ICW, probably worth seeing it once. One and done for me, lots of miles wasted on switchbacks.

I do have a dink, but it's untested. it's a round bottomed hard shell affair with not a lot of freeboard, and I suspect it may be a bit too tippy for my big clumsy ass. It may turn out to be a good setup, but I haven't launched the thing yet, or taken it for a spin. I don't know if 'Ol' Three Horse Johnson' even runs.

I can kinda see how people might love or hate the Georgia section. It can actually get a little confusing on the chart compared to the rest of the ICW I've studied. I do want to do it at least once. A lot of people love it. I might be one of 'em!

One over-arching thing I haven't mentioned is to read the weekly LNMs! Important info there. Also learn how to pull up the USACE surveys as others have mentioned. Especially if you have older charts.

We always stayed at Thunderbolt Marina if we were docking in the Savannah area or needed work on the boat at the fantastic boatyard there, which offers great yacht (and I mean YACHT porn on display. I think they still supply fresh Krispy Creme donuts and a newspaper to your boat every morning.

Georgia is a gunkholer's paradise in our opinion; the Whaler put a lot of miles in exploring. Very beautiful. Got a whole bunch of other anchor spots and side trips, on request. We considered Georgia a cruising destination more than a place merely to pass through. Great, beautiful "wilderness" anchoring and exploring.

You had me at Krispy Creme donuts I wouldn't mind hanging out with some superyachts. Maybe I can make some rich friends, lol.

Excellent advice about the NTMS and Survey Charts. I'm pretty well into the habit of checking that sort of thing, which is good. One less thing to remember to do. I update my charts regularly, so hopefully they'll be close enough. I'm also on a few facebook groups that are always posting areas of shoaling and other hazards like that.

Do you have a bus heater connected to the engine cooling Loop to heat the boat while underway?

I've got a 12 volt/propane forced air furnace aboard. It's not looped through the engine cooling, and neither is my hot water heater for that matter. Not sure why, but with my big fat fresh bank of new house batteries, and regular cruising days and shore power stops, I should be pretty well covered. If not, the genset is fresh after a sprucing, and will cover the gaps. Theoretically.

 

[ranger58sb]

After Coinjock...



If you need shorepower for a night or want some minor food supplies (snacks, sodas, etc.) the Alligator River Marina isn't hugely expensive... and they do make really good fried chicken. This is a on-road gas station, plus small convenience store, plus small restaurant of the plastic utensils variety.... so they can do other food too... but the fried chicken tops the list. Easy in/out docking, docks in very good condition.

Then there's Belhaven. There are several viable anchorage areas, including Dowry Creek... but we haven't done that there so I can only speak to the marinas.

Last trip southbound, we stayed at Belhaven Marina which is "downtown" and it was fine, decently protected, decent docks.

Northbound we stayed at River Forest, less expensive, more exposed, and the docks are a bit long in the tooth these days. We stayed there once back when it was under the earlier ownership, and it was still an active Inn (I put my crew for a couple nights) and it was very pleasant... but some of that was about the personal treatment (owner invited us to his birthday party)... and the docks were getting a bit tired even then. Viable now, but not as protected as the downtown place. They do give you a golf cart for downtown runs...

This year southbound we stopped at Dowry Creek Marina. VERY nice people, very good (mostly new, I think) docks, courtesy car (I used it for an Ace Hardware run), NOT completely sheltered from the southeast (contradicting some of the guidebooks) but otherwise not bad, NO restaurant on site yet (contradicting some of the guide books). Cost was similar to River Forest, lower than the downtown Belhaven Marina... but then again it wasn't downtown.

There's another dock possibility, Belhaven Town Docks, not many slips, no power, can't remember if it was free or just cheap... but a buddy boat stayed there during our 2017 trip and they said it was fine. I suspect because it was either free or cheap.

Both the Town Dock and Belhaven Marina are within easy walking distance of 3-4 decent restaurants, Ace Hardware, etc. and I don't think the grocery is too far away, I think walkable. In retrospect, and even as nice as the Dowry Creek people and facilities were, I think we'd more likely stay downtown at Belhaven Marina on the way back... if we go through there again.

The River Forest guys told us in early 2018 that there's (was?) a Tuesday night jam session, bring your instrument and have at it... or just go enjoy the music... but we haven't happened to be there on a Tuesday. Don't remember if that takes place at River Forest or if it's at someplace else downtown.

-Chris

 

[ranger58sb]

New River marina often the lowest price for diesel on the whole trip. Though a poor spot to spend the night due to being on the ICW with no protection. If not using the online Waterway Guide fuel list....it's very good.

Cheaper than Osprey?

New River Marina: Great fuel stop for diesel. Plan on stopping there with tanks low. Last I was there (two months ago) it was like $2.18 plus 7% tax if you are not commercial. Not a great place to stay the night.

Yep, New River was still $2.189/gal PLUS tax when we came through in mid-Nov. Our buddy boat stopped there to take on a load; they agreed, not a great place to stop over, otherwise. Apparently the marina pumps boatloads of diesel (a good thing) given the commercial fleet there.

The next best prices we've seen have been Top Rack ($2.589 including tax) and Osprey ($2.499 including tax and the $.10 BoatUS discount).

Used to be Myrtle Beach Yacht Club was known for really good fuel prices, but we didn't see their price as we passed this year. In 2018 when we were northbound, I think they were about $.10-.15/gal higher than Osprey after factoring in Osprey's BoatUS discount.

Some other prices seen on this trip have been ranging from $2.659 (Atlantic; my earlier post was wrong) to $2.89/$2.91 (River Dunes and Alligator River) to around $3.26 (Tidewater and Bridgetender).

FWIW, here in the JAX area, Lamb's diesel price was $3.259/gal the other day when some boat neighbors went over there for a load, and Mandarin Holiday Point (slightly further up (south) the St. John's River) is at about $2.449/gal.

-Chris

 

[rgano]

Wayfarer, pardon me for being Captain Obvious, and you being a professional mariner doubtless have this all in hand, BUT I found that perusing the guides/Active Captain with a blank Excel spreadsheet in hand was helpful. Like you I imagine a doable distance and then begin to look for overnight locations. I place each in a row with pertinent info spread across the columns. Row one was always ICW mile maker which was the basis of some auto-calculated items to the right -things like distance from the previous location (row) above, accumulated distance from origin. Also phone numbers, pool levels for inland rivers/lakes, bridge schedules and heights and just about anything which I could fit in one landscape page of printed material went on there. When you are alone and stuck at the wheel and suddenly need to make a decision as darkness approaches, the guides and even Active Captain might be too time consuming and distracting while a printed page or two with your PRE-distilled thoughts can make the search and decision process a snap.

And as an aside, when I took a boat from the Gulf Coast to Lake Michigan in 2017. I put the entire trip plan onto an Excel sheet using primarily Active Captain, Coastal Explorer, and Google Earth. I took my marina/anchorage/lock/bridge info into Excel from AC which CE interfaced with at the time and then "flew" every inch of the 1400 miles using GE to verify everything. Every leg had a route generated from CE duplicated onto the chartplotters, and the autopilot did most of the rest with ongoing verification with visual/radar if needed. I felt supremely confident with my printed Excel spreadsheet on the console next to the Garmin chartplotter being compared with CE on my laptop computer and carried no bulky guide books nor paper charts as I had eleven years prior, and the whole thing went off without one single navigational hitch through six major river systems.

Planning for singlehanding I think requires far more attention to detail than when you have another dependable hand at hand.

 

[ranger58sb]

Planning for singlehanding I think requires far more attention to detail than when you have another dependable hand at hand.

Good points, Rich, and we've done much the same thing. Including some spreadsheeting and some auto-calcs.

In our case, we do some winging-it about time, distances, shallow areas, bridges, tides, speeds... and likely overnight stopover points...

And then my Admiral flies the route beforehand, usually the night before we start a segment... which in turn makes navigation almost trivial -- for me, while we're actually underway.

-Chris

 

[rgano]

Good points, Rich, and we've done much the same thing. Including some spreadsheeting and some auto-calcs.

In our case, we do some winging-it about time, distances, shallow areas, bridges, tides, speeds... and likely overnight stopover points...

And then my Admiral flies the route beforehand, usually the night before we start a segment... which in turn makes navigation almost trivial -- for me, while we're actually underway.

-Chris

Having an admiral willing and able to do that must be a wondrous experience. I am essentially a one-man band in regards to the nautical aspects, especially the technical ones. The admiral here is a sage person who can provide reasoned alternatives when presented with the complete picture, but pretty much sticks to the domestic side of boat life. She stays in her lane, and since my idea of food prep and the like only includes what I can put in my hand in two minutes or less to ingest while busy doing something important, that's OK.

As a retired Naval Officer I am ashamed to say that my intended admiral training program has been a 21-year failure.

 

[BandB]

BUT I found that perusing the guides/Active Captain with a blank Excel spreadsheet in hand was helpful. Like you I imagine a doable distance and then begin to look for overnight locations. I place each in a row with pertinent info spread across the columns. .

Wifey B: Yes, yes, and yes. We also make a point to start lists of all possible stops on a route. We'll list the marinas (could add anchorages) and towns. We'll include details on the marinas. But then we'll also start a list of attractions and even restaurants. This builds year after year. Now most any port along routes we've done we can just look up and see the marinas, attractions, restaurants. We may have a stop we've made several times but we quickly see the sites we've never made it to. I know one we kept hitting the days of the week they were closed and finally hit when open. We also add our own comments, much like reviews. For instance, we have marinas where we've warned ourselves that they may overbook and not have your promised slip so confirm, confirm, confirm or restaurants at the marina that seem to decide what time to close on a whim more than a schedule. Build up your own database.

 

[caltexflanc]

Northbound we stayed at River Forest, less expensive, more exposed, and the docks are a bit long in the tooth these days. We stayed there once back when it was under the earlier ownership, and it was still an active Inn (I put my crew for a couple nights) and it was very pleasant... but some of that was about the personal treatment (owner invited us to his birthday party)... and the docks were getting a bit tired even then. Viable now, but not as protected as the downtown place. They do give you a golf cart for downtown runs...

Let me update this as we stayed at River Forest in November when helping our friends bring their boat down from Solomons.
The docks were in good shape, and the dock hands very professional.
The bathrooms look new and are big and clean and overall great.
They have added some very nice hotel rooms above the office and around the grounds, 3 as I recall. Ann and I discussed driving over there some weekend and staying there.
The golf carts are fun and handy, though its not that far into town.
The manor is now just for special events, they are working on getting licensed for bar/restaurant.
It was somewhat choppy outside the wood slat breakwater, which did a good job of cutting it down; we were on the outside dock closest to it. In really sporty conditions, I don't know.
Overall, given our druthers, we still like Belhaven as a nice anchorage, at least where we used to anchor further in, along with its handy little dinghy harbor.

 

[caltexflanc]

I do have a dink, but it's untested. it's a round bottomed hard shell affair with not a lot of freeboard, and I suspect it may be a bit too tippy for my big clumsy ass. It may turn out to be a good setup, but I haven't launched the thing yet, or taken it for a spin. I don't know if 'Ol' Three Horse Johnson' even runs.

A very protected place with a boatyard such as Atlantic Yacht Basin, would be a good spot to test it out and get it seaworthy. There is little to no boat traffic there between lock openings, and you could test the dink inside the marina anyway at first. They are very nice people in our experience. I'm sure someone around there could find a different motor for you if the current one is inadequate or beyond repair.

 

[ranger58sb]

Having an admiral willing and able to do that must be a wondrous experience.

Indeed, I am blessed!

And I remember to tell her I know that, mostly every day.

-Chris

 

[ranger58sb]

Oriental - Unknown marina, suggestions welcome. No idea what's here yet, but I've heard good things about the town.

Oriental has 5-6 free docks right inside the harbor, protected and in the middle of the action. The town regulations are confusing: one set of docks has different regs than another but commensurate with the town's vibes, forget about them. You will be fine for two days at least.

The town has a half dozen or so restaurants and bars, ranging from the Tiki Bar within spitting distance of the free docks, the local coffee hang out The Bean to Silos up the road.

Lots of good stuff here, thank you David. I didn’t realize that the Oriental town docks were free. Sounds like a good stop.

True about the no genset running at Oriental free docks which in winter is silly on several levels and people do run enough to charge batteries.

Oriental is a nice stop and we go there a LOT. Town docks are free and will be empty this time of the year. Even so, there is a nice little anchorage behind the breakwater if you feel the urge. However, for an easy single night stay without going into town, River Dunes is a nice place. We haven't been there in years, but still hear good things about it. You may also choose to anchor in Cedar Creek at the north end of Adam's Creek.

Oriental has a harbor cam to see if the free docks are open, if not, Adam's Creek just a few miles further south has some anchoring spots.

Thence, in your case, Oriental. Free town dock or marina. Mind the weather coming and going the Pamlico Sound and Neuse can get darn nasty with steep fast 2-3 foot chop or more.

Oriental is pretty small, and most folks have covered everything. Two years ago we stayed at the Oriental Inn and Marina over Thanksgiving on the way south and then again on the way back north. This is all the way inside the town harbor and right next door to a couple of the free slips. Very protected area, fixed docks. The Inn's outdoor Tiki Hut was doing a brisk business that might not be happening in January. Their restaurant, tried on the way back, was OK, nothing special. Pretty OK bagels and coffee right across the street at The Bean. The "downtown" harbor puts you right in the middle of a shrimp fleet, very picturesque... and there's a "garage" a few doors away where you can by fresh shrimp almost right off the boats... plus a small grocery/other stuff store of sorts another few doors away.

This year, we stayed at River Dunes, one planned day plus a weather day... latter partly because we likes the place a lot. Very protected area, very good floating docks. The guidebooks aren't very clear about dining options, but the short version is that there's good eats (a chef's choices, or a steak if you prefer) in the very, very nice clubhouse pretty much every day of the week, and then on long weekends there's another smaller restaurant probably with a broader menu.

River Dunes was slightly more expensive than the Oriental Inn & Marina.

Folks on a big power cat that we had been leapfrogging with on our southbound trip this year chose to stay at Whittaker Pointe Marina... which looks good on paper... and they said it would be very quiet, just what they wanted... but it looks like you can't get to "downtown" from there (water in the way) unless they do a courtesy car or something.

-Chris

 

[DavidM]

River Dunes definitely has one of the nicest marinas in NC. The private dining room is available to all marina guests and may be the best restaurant this side of Raleigh/Durham. Although I did find a gem in Beaufort- Aqua Restaurant.

Whitaker Point is isolated and not where you want to dock in a storm. The town has approved a restoration project that will build up the point that has eroded over the years and reinforce it with rip-rap. That may make Whittaker Point Marina a safer place in a storm. They do have courtesy car to get you in to the town center which is several miles away, so not walkable.

David

 

[ranger58sb]

Yep, New River was still $2.189/gal PLUS tax when we came through in mid-Nov. Our buddy boat stopped there to take on a load; they agreed, not a great place to stop over, otherwise. Apparently the marina pumps boatloads of diesel (a good thing) given the commercial fleet there.

FWIW, here in the JAX area, Lamb's diesel price was $3.259/gal the other day when some boat neighbors went over there for a load, and Mandarin Holiday Point (slightly further up (south) the St. John's River) is at about $2.449/gal.

I forgot to add, the New River price is for cash or check; they add a 4% fee for credit card purchases.

Mandarin Holiday price confirmed yesterday, $2.449/gal, no surcharge for credit cards. The two fuel dock slots look kinda shakey at first, but it worked OK. Friendly dockmaster, and he let us leave the boat for a while so we had a great lunch at the Fish Camp just behind.

-Chris

 

[ranger58sb]

Beaufort - Most likely Homer Smith Docks if available. (Is this the one that's pronounced Beaufort, or is it Beaufort that's pronounced Beaufort? )

at Beaufort docks i only come in and leave at slack tide.

Beaufort is quiet this time of the year. The Beaufort Town Docks are very expensive and you get almost nothing for it except proximity to the town. Nice for sure, but for what they charge, I would expect more than bathrooms from the 1970s. I would send you to Morehead City instead. The Yacht Basin is an option, but it is a tad pricey too. Still, if you need fuel, Mike is your guy.

Beaufort NC: Worth it to spend one night at Beaufort docks. Probably about $100. Lot of cool places to walk to from there, and in Jan it won't be busy. My girl and I run the boat up there for the weekend just for fun a couple of times a year. Cost be damned.

Yep, Beaufort, the one they pronounce like "Beaufort."

We stayed at the Town Docks two years ago, pricey, and we tend to now use/notice some of the marina facilities when we stop places... so didn't notice much about the bath house, etc. We really did like the town, though, so we think well worth a visit -- at least once.

That said, most everyone we know also recommend Morehead City Yacht Basin... and we actually intended to stop there this time to see what that's like... but the schedule worked out that we could press on to Swansboro instead, so we did that. As we passed Morehead City, it looks like docks on the Sound side would have been fairly bouncy, but we supposed it would have been very quiet at the Yacht Basin on the back side.

A few choices in Swansboro: Dudleys (inexpensive), Casper's (rebuilt docks in progress, not too much more expensive), and the free dock (I think no docking help, no facilities).

We tried Dudleys in both directions on the last trip; cheap, adequate, a long walk to town, or they have a courtesy car. Good Mediterranean restaurant on the island that separates Dudley's from "downtown" (or gubhub will deliver). The "best" slip is just inside their B dock, slightly better protected from wake from passing boats that don't slow down. This year, we'd heard Dudley's was shoaled in a bit from the last big storm, and there was a boat in that Inside B slip, so we went on to Casper's.

Casper's has all new docks, but they didn't have power to all of their slip possibilities yet. The only slips with power were outside on the face dock and then the just-inside slips adjacent to those. It's a place where it would be useful to ask for an inside slip with power... but they were already teken when we arrived, and outside wasn't bad anyway, we didn't get waked much that I remember. And maybe they'll have more power pedestals fitted by mid January anyway. Casper's is MUCH easier for walking access to the town, although we were disappointed that some of the shops we liked on the previous trip didn't survive the last hurricane and have closed, apparently permanently. Some very decent restaurants available.

We've found Swansboro to be a useful place to stage for the transit through Camp Lejuene and the bridges before Wrightsville Beach...

-Chris

 

[Little dougie]

Georgetown

I just posted this thread looking for recommendations for the Norfolk area yesterday. After several helpful posts, I thought maybe I should expand the scope of the thread, and open up my larger plan to your thoughts, recommendations, and suggestions.

So, based largely on previous posts in other threads by folks like Ranger42c, OCDiver, and countless others, these are the pins I have tacked into the chart for my first trip south:

Annapolis - Start point. Departing sometime in the first week of January (Theoretically)
Solomons - Anchor
Deltaville - Anchor
Norfolk - Waterside Marina, may take a day or two off here, depending on weather and how I feel.
Coinjock - Unknown marina, suggestions welcome
Alligator River - Anchor at Deep Point
Bellhaven - Not sure if I'll anchor or dock. Suggestions welcome.
Oriental - Unknown marina, suggestions welcome. No idea what's here yet, but I've heard good things about the town.
Beaufort - Most likely Homer Smith Docks if available. (Is this the one that's pronounced Beaufort, or is it Beaufort that's pronounced Beaufort? )
Mile Hammock Bay - I'd like to anchor here and hang out with the Ospreys, but based on mixed reviews about the holding, it may be weather dependent.)
Wrightsville Beach - Unknown Marina, suggestions welcome.
Southport - Unknown Marina, suggestions welcome. Southport marina looks like an option.
North Myrtle Beach - Unknown Marina, suggestions welcome. Thinking maybe Lightkeepers or Harborgate.
Georgetown - Not sure about this one. Worth a stop?
Charleston - Likely City Marina. Probably going to stick around here for several days. I've never been, but I'm looking forward to spending a little time here. I have friends in the area as well.
Beaufort - Not to be confused with Beaufort, which is pronounced Beaufort. I think I'll tie up at the free wall during the day if there's room, and anchor out overnight. Lady's Island marina is also a possibility if I decide to stay longer.
Savannah - Unknown Marina, suggestions welcome. It's likely I'll stick around here for a few days, maybe a week. I have good friends in the area here too, and It's another place I've never been and have always wanted to check out. Thunderbolt looks like a top contender here.

Beyond this point gets pretty hazy. I'll have to reevaluate when I get farther south. It all depends on how long I dilly dally along the way. I have a reservation for the Ft. Pierce rendezvous, but it looks like my company meeting will be happening around that time. I'd like to get down to St. Augustine, but who knows if I'll get that far this year.

I've never been to ANY of these places. I have little to no idea what I'll find there. If any of them are swirling toilet bowls of disappointment, feel free to say so! If there's somewhere in between these places that I really couldn't possibly miss, I'd like to hear it. Is there a sweet BBQ joint, or world's greatest ice cream in one of these places? Maybe the world's largest ball of twine? Let me know!

Also, as I mentioned in the other thread, I do have a couple of guide books, but I left them on the boat, lol. I've been scouring Active captain, TripAdvisor, and various other sources as well, and will continue to do so along the way.

Thanks gang!

Georgetown is a great little town. Pluff mud though. Hard to hold. Couple of good marinas and I also have a dock for rent on the boardwalk. Great restaurants and bars. I rent by day, week, month. Floating dock includes electric and water

 

[JoeApicella]

First suggestion is check Active Captain. Second is join MTOA, lots of very serious cruisers willing to help, offer lots of info, and some may even provide a free slip for a night to a fellow member. Check it out on mtoa.net. Regarding Norfolk, there are 2 places you can dock for free across the river in Portsmouth. Room for at least 6 boats each. You can see them on AC. Great restaurants and a vintage theatre as well. If you want to go to Norfolk for a day you can take the ferry that leaves from the free boat dock.

 

[markgromurph]

In Coinjock, there is really only one place. Tie up along side at the Coinjock Marina and reserve a couple of orders of the Prime Rib. Take the leftovers and make sandwiches for days.
In Bellhaven, if you make it on a Tuesday night, check out the town bluegrass jam. Not to be missed if that is your thing. Also, in Bellhaven, Spoon River restaurant is not to be missed. The town dock is OK if you can deal with twin 30 amp service instead of real 50 amp.
Tieing up in downtown Savannah is not for the feint of heart. Think Thunderbolt.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. m. Sorry. It's been MY experience on 3 separate occasions that the so called "Prime Rib" at Coinjock sucks. The last time (about 4 years ago) I ordered the "Admiral's cut" and literally it was a slab of meat with 1/3 of it solid fat. Tough as well. Waste of $44. Never had anything else to eat there so no comment.



I am a Prime Rib affection-ado and I make a mean PR myself. A FAR superior example is the PR offered at the simple Track One restaurant just across the Hwy from Lamb's Marina in Camden NC at the south end of the Dismal Swamp route about 5 miles above Elizabeth City NC. I think it was about $10, 3 years ago. Not high end but better than Coinjock.

 

[Woodland Hills]

FWIW, we have never had the prime rib at Coinjock, but we have enjoyed every meal there. See my earlier post about the post-dinner desserts. But disregarding that entirely, we still look forward to our stops there since the kitchen is just so damn good.

 

[psneeld]

Haven't seen mention of the Dismal Swamp route.

Any reason?

It is by far some snowboarder's preferred route.....

I am not asking about the route as I know it by heart, just why no one else mentioned it or Wayfarer's input on it.

 

[O C Diver]

Haven't seen mention of the Dismal Swamp route.

Any reason?

It is by far some snowboarder's preferred route.....

I am not asking about the route as I know it by heart, just why no one else mentioned it or Wayfarer's input on it.

It was mentioned, closed for the beginning of the year for maintenance.

Ted

Edit: Sorry mentioned in this thread:

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s58/norfolk-area-recommendations-48129.html

Closed January 6th for 90 days.

 

[caltexflanc]

Went to CJ by car once. Uh-Uh on the food, though don't remember having desert.
When helping to bring a boat down last month, we tied up across the way at the old Midway, now owned by CJ Marina, gave us a more quiet environment, but somewhat primitive docks. No dockhands, but it was late and we had experienced crew. Bathrooms were OK if you needed them. We had much better food available on board (one reason we never stopped there on our boat). The bad part was they charged the same per foot to stay over there as on full service side.

I just don't see any compelling reason to stop there unless time is at a premium and your day ends there, as was our case this time.

Yes the Dismal is closed for 90 days starting 1/5/20 for lock repair.

 

[BandB]

If the only thing positive you can say about a restaurant is they have good desserts, that's as dismal as swamp.

If we need to, we'll dock at Coinjock, but will not eat dinner in the restaurant. The one attempt to do so left too bad a taste in our mouths. We are also Prime Rib aficionados or affection-ados as labeled by RTF.

I do respect that others feel differently.

At one time the excitement was a lot of meat for lower than normal price but that seems to have changed.

 

[ranger58sb]

I just don't see any compelling reason to stop there unless time is at a premium and your day ends there, as was our case this time.

IIRC, 20-some years ago, Coinjock had some of the best fuel prices...

Not as good as some others, these days...

-Chris

 

[psneeld]

For many...... stopping at Coinjock is really just a staging waiting for weather to get across the Albemarle.

Yes, there are places to anchor out.... although few I like if the weather is holding up a crossing. So taking advantage of a marina might appeal to some if they have to wait for a crossing.

 

[ranger58sb]

Wrightsville Beach - Unknown Marina, suggestions welcome.
Southport - Unknown Marina, suggestions welcome. Southport marina looks like an option.
North Myrtle Beach - Unknown Marina, suggestions welcome. Thinking maybe Lightkeepers or Harborgate.

We've stayed at Wrightsville Beach Marina several times, twice on the 2017/2018 trip. East side, very nice, newly rebuilt (at the time) docks, expensive, easy walk to Blue Water Restaurant on site and we've had good meals there.

This year we stayed on the west side at Bridgetender's Marina, decent, less expensive, easy walk to Bridgetender's Restaurant on site and we had a good meal there. We were actually weathered in for a couple extra days this time, so we walked west a bit to the nearby grocery, had a good gyro lunch at a newish "Mediterranean" chain, etc.

On the earlier trip, we stayed at Southport Marina while southbound. Decent, although when we at first docked bow-to we learned the ends of the long finger piers can be a bit shakey. (We turned around.) Easy walk to town, several viable restaurants, Oliver's was especially good. Partly we chose Southport because some boat buddies had bailed into there after they discovered a raw water exhaust leak on one engine while off shore; Zimmerman's guys were waiting as they docked, fixed the problem almost immediately, all good. We also benefited very much from the nightly "Captain's Brief" offered by Hank Pomeranz/cYc, and their printed briefing package (60-some pages) of what to expect between there and the SC/GA line. The included USACE survey overlays were especially important that year; that said, Aquamap with USACE surveys pretty much replicates some of all that. OTOH, the suggestion to do a Securite call when entering/leaving "The Rockpile" was the kind of stuff NOT in Aquamap and we hadn't noticed that in the various cruising guides, at the time.

As we passed Southport proper this time, it looks like much of it, including where the Fishy Fishy restaurant lives, was underwater from the recent weather.

This year, we stayed at South Harbor Village Marina, decent docks (inside, if on the face, is better), lame pump-out (but it eventually worked), very nice staff. In fact, we were temporarily faced with what we thought was a family medical thing in the midwest, thought we would have to abandon the boat for a while, and staff worked out a better longer-term slip, much more favorable monthly rate, etc... and then when it turned out to be a false alarm, they also worked out a reversal of all that... very good experience. Two restaurants on site, one good Italian for dinners only, one good dock bar for lunches/dinners etc. including "endless fries."

Haven't stopped in North Myrtle Beach, but this is roughly in the area where you might consider the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club in Little River; decent docks, very protected, OK fuel prices (but not quite as good as a few others), onsite restaurant with entertainment... and yacht club membership with reciprocal privileges isn't required.

Barefoot Landing (east side) is day stops only, these days. One of our buddy boats stopped at The Barefoot Marina (west side), said it was OK. No direct experience.

OTOH, Osprey Marina in "Myrtle Beach" (actually Socastee) is very good, very protected, some of the best fuel prices, and very cheap! Not really near anything, no courtesy car (I think), so Uber or rental car is about the only way to resupply here. Recommended stop, though. On the previous trip, we left the boat at Osprey for a month while we did some family holiday visits, very favorable monthly rates, all good.

-Chris

 

[PJHoffnet]

For good information on AICW from folks going up and down year round, I'd recommend the ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423 FB group. Almost all the people are very friendly (yes, there are a few trolls, just can't shoot them fast enough) and the knowledge and experience level goes from just retired/bought a boat/heading south tomorrow, to seasoned cruisers and delivery captains/crews who have done the ditch so many times it's almost second hand to them. The Admiral and I have relied on the group for voyage planning for several years.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ICWCruisingGuide/?ref=bookmarks

 

[ssobol]

For good information on AICW from folks going up and down year round, I'd recommend the ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423 FB group. Almost all the people are very friendly (yes, there are a few trolls, just can't shoot them fast enough) and the knowledge and experience level goes from just retired/bought a boat/heading south tomorrow, to seasoned cruisers and delivery captains/crews who have done the ditch so many times it's almost second hand to them. The Admiral and I have relied on the group for voyage planning for several years.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ICWCruisingGuide/?ref=bookmarks

Too bad it's on FB.