Marinas in South/North Carolina

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Crusty Chief

Crusty Chief

Guru
Joined
Jul 25, 2014
Messages
1,967
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Pairadice
Vessel Make
Sold Selene 47
Pairadice is planning to arrive in South/North Carolina area sometime in June.

We are looking for a marina to put Pairadice in for 4-6 months. I dont know the area very well, and am hoping for suggestions from you all.

Would prefer a marina that is fairly safe from possible hurricanes, ( Inland?) close to a major airport and a town of decent size for provisioning.

We also dont know what to expect for costs associated with parking the boat in these area’s, so any help there would be appreciated.

Pairadice is a CG documented boat and registered in Oregon, so are we subject to possible tax issues in either of these states for 4-6 months?

Thanks in advance and cheers!
 
I believe South Carolina coastal counties have a 180 day exemption from registration/and I think they call it a personal property tax (much of the state is less). Date you enter till the day you leave state waters. Went through the same drill 2 summers ago.


Like all tax/registration info, best to pick a place and check that specific location or call the county tax office.



A great protected marina for long storage that is a hurricane hole and inexpensive is Osprey Marina just south of Myrtle Beach.



Usually inexpensive fuel too.



https://www.ospreymarina.com/
 
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Thanks for the tip, looks like a great spot.

Also, we are probably more interested in SC as we will be heading down to the Bahama’s after hurricane season. Our insurance dictates we must be North of Florida for the hurricane season. Dont know if Georgia is an option, so lets kinda throw that out there as a possibility.
 
Osprey was a good rec, Myrtle Beach is a semi-major airport, as are Savannah and Charleston. Check with Osprey as to how they do with the flooding that can take place on the Waccamaw. Brunswick Ga has always been a hurricane season retreat, though I'd prefer Thunderbolt/Savannah as it is a bit more protected, OK airport, very nice town and lots of boating services. You might consider keeping the boat up on the hill at Thunderbolt as an option.

Here in North Carolina I'd definitely recommend dry storage at Bennett Brothers (Wilmington) or one of the more inland yards like Jarrett Bay (where we pulled for storms, excellent service), True World, Bock, or Wayfarer's Cove in Minnesott beach. Wilmington has the more robust and convenient airport though.
 
While many marinas seem well protected from storms .....storm surge covering wide expanses of marsh offer little protection from both wind and wave once the water get high enough. Without trees or structures, some marinas can get pretty beat up.


In Georgia, if lucky, the storm goes by at low tide, if not, depending on which way the wind blows can be pretty devastating.


Osprey is in low country and got a lot of flooding after some of the last hurricanes, but they dealt with the high water and the terrain and centuries old bald cypress swamp mostly surrounding it.



I agree there are some good marinas in NC that being on the hard is probably best and Brunswick, SC (Brunswick Landing Marina) is probably a good choice for that too.
 
In my stomping grounds, Port City Marina, Wilmington Marine Center (on Cape Fear River) and Harbour Village Marina (Hampstead), St James near Southport, are in protected basins that historically do pretty well in hurricanes. At Port City, don't get a slip on the face dock, we lost a Hatt there in one of the last storms. The river gets slap stood up, but inside the basins conditions pretty good. There are other marinas in our area that have varying degrees of protection depending on which way the wind blows.

Harbour Village, WMC, St. J, you will need a car. PCM is pretty walkable to downtown, but will need a car for anything big box.

Anything on Wrightsville Beach is fairly protected, generally pricey, and car needed. Sea Path, WB marina, Bradley Creek Marina. BCM does pretty well in storms. Sea Path can get stomped with SW wind.

Southport Marina is sorta in a basin, but got stomped due to an unfortunate s. wind and very weak docks. Similar damage to the one to the west (forgot name). The Bald Head ferry dock marina (not BHI, but n. of Southport, forgot name) did well.
 
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Wacca Wache Marina Murrells Inlet, SC might be a good option. It's inland on the Waccamaw River so it's protected from fetch and wind. However, it's close to a Publix.
 
Greetings,
Try Lamb's Marina in Camden, NC. Fuel, close to Elizabeth City, NC (5 minute drive), 40 minute drive to Norfolk airport, safe (or at least it used to be-I don't expect it's changed much), very sheltered, weather-wise. Lambs Marina
 
Shrew said:
Wacca Wache Marina Murrells Inlet, SC might be a good option. It's inland on the Waccamaw River so it's protected from fetch and wind. However, it's close to a Publix.
Click to expand...

Publix???? Is this a east coast store?
 
I’m getting the impression from you guys, that it might be in our best interest to haul the boat and store on the hard since we will be away from it for most of the 4-6 months prior to heading south to the Bahama area. Probably cause in the event of a major storm or hurricane the surge and rising tide will cause not only damage to the boat, but most likely the marina will suffer too.
That was what we did in the northern Sea of Cortez and I see no reason not to consider that option there on the East Coast.

Thank you all for your suggestions, got some homework to do.
 
Publix is THE major grocer in the southeast. I don't know about the northeast.
 
Lightkeepers Village in Little River is reasonably priced and fairly well protected.
 
One thing about being on the hard....not every place will have power to run dehumidifiers or air conditioners....and it is humid as hell so mold/mildew might be a problem.


Provisioning will almost never be more than an inexpensive uber/lyft/rental car ride away in most areas you will be. Plus marinas sometimes have courtesy cars or plain good people for supplies.


Agree with Ready about Lightkeepers or Myrtle Beach Yacht Club in Little River, SC. That's where I was for Hurricane Dorian 2 summers ago and it is well surrounded/protected by high terrain and condos. Some worry about storm surge but Dorian barely surged 2 feet or so based on the live web cam I watched. The marinas there have nice facilities ...not sure which ones allow you to use what....MB Yacht Club had a nice pool and on site restaurant.
 
One thing about being on the hard....not every place will have power to run dehumidifiers or air conditioners....and it is humid as hell so mold/mildew might be a problem.
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Yes, so you don't keep your boat in one of those places.

To me the key issue is how much are you planning to use the boat? To me that dictates the key decisions about where and how to leave it.

Some places may be great for storing the boat, but don't offer much in the way of cruising destinations. Frankly, there are many really fun places and anchorages within a short day's cruise at trawler speed (or even just a dinghy ride) from Savannah or Morehead City/Beaufort, and not that many from Wilmington or Charleston, for instance.
 
If you are going to be on the hard for the six month period, a good choice would be City Boatyard in Charleston. It is now owned by Safe Harbor. It is fairly far inland on the Wando River and on a high piece of land. City Boatyard regularly hauls boats in advance of storms and knows how to secure them.

City Boatyard is full service and electricity is no problem.
 
I might not have been clear on our intentions. We plan to leave the boat for up to 5 months in one place, June through October and go home to Vegas during that time. When we return in October, we will prep the boat to head south down to the Bahama’s in November for the winter and return to the East Coast before the next hurricane season starts. Hope that clears things up a bit. We are looking at all options, storing on the hard as well as Docking at a secure location.
Thanks again for all the recommendations, we really appreciate your help.
 
Home

As close to the Bahamas as you can get and not be in Florida.
Protected, out of the water with electric and cheap. The St Mary's River is the Georgia - Florida. You might appreciate being "days" closer to the Bahamas in November.
 
BigTime said:
Home

As close to the Bahamas as you can get and not be in Florida.
Protected, out of the water with electric and cheap. The St Mary's River is the Georgia - Florida. You might appreciate being "days" closer to the Bahamas in November.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. “Days” closer is a relative thing, we have gotten use to open ocean and 36-48 hour runs here in the West coast of Latin America. I knew it was gonna be some long legs, the wife is having a hard time with these long runs though. She misses the day hoping we did up in Canada and SE Alaska. (I do too)
 
Brunswick Landing Marina

Brunswick Landing Marina has recently made improvments to their dockage, and has raised docking prices. You may want to compare.
It is protected from most storms, but is subject to large tides. Mostly floating docks.
Dorian came through at low tide, with not too much wind, which may have saved the town and the marina, as there was a lot of surge.
JohnS
 
Crusty Chief said:
Does this yard also do Bottom paint jobs and other yard work?
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Yes, had my bottom done there 2 October's ago. They were competitive with a lot of yards around but not inexpensive compared to some.

As far as I know the can do other work or get contractors in for what they don't. For top notch yards, you might need to go to Thunderbolt up in Savannah.... I can't say for sure who is good but I have heard good things about the Hinckley yard up there.
 
Thanks all for the information, please keep any other suggestions coming.
 
A bit further north in NC and well protected is River Dunes in Oriental NC. It is just off the ICW/Pamlico Sound/Neuse river. You’re about 1/2-3/4 of a day from Beaufort inlet at trawler speeds. Docks are floating so even in a massive rain producing hurricane that floods the neuse and Pamlico the boats do well.
 
If looking for a marina near SC/GA border, take a look at Shelter Cove Marina on Hilton Head which is situated on Broad Creek. Full disclosure, I have slip there. Recently dredged, so good water depth, great facilities, water, power, easy access to stores for shopping and good security, cameras, patrols. Hurricane Irma took the floating docks to near the top of pilings, but my boat rode it out well. Google location, marina sits in the middle of island, so well protected from surges. Another one is Windmill Harbour - I have no knowledge on particulars, but this one sits ICW and has a lock entry system so water level does not move with tides.
 
Ski in NC said:
In my stomping grounds, Port City Marina, Wilmington Marine Center (on Cape Fear River) and Harbour Village Marina (Hampstead), St James near Southport, are in protected basins that historically do pretty well in hurricanes. At Port City, don't get a slip on the face dock, we lost a Hatt there in one of the last storms. The river gets slap stood up, but inside the basins conditions pretty good. There are other marinas in our area that have varying degrees of protection depending on which way the wind blows.

Harbour Village, WMC, St. J, you will need a car. PCM is pretty walkable to downtown, but will need a car for anything big box.

Anything on Wrightsville Beach is fairly protected, generally pricey, and car needed. Sea Path, WB marina, Bradley Creek Marina. BCM does pretty well in storms. Sea Path can get stomped with SW wind.

Southport Marina is sorta in a basin, but got stomped due to an unfortunate s. wind and very weak docks. Similar damage to the one to the west (forgot name). The Bald Head ferry dock marina (not BHI, but n. of Southport, forgot name) did well.
Click to expand...



I have had 2 boats that slipped at Wilmington Marine Center. Fran was a CAT 3 and my boat had 0 damage. There was another hurricane and another boat and no damage. The management at WMC was very good and nice to work with. I ended up at Port City in Wilmington for the hurricane that sunk the hatteras on the face dock. I was in a slip. No damage. I have also stayed at Brunswick Landing and they had quite a bit of damage recently (Matthew) I believe. Also when I was last there the yard was not well thought of. Jacksonville airport is reasonable close to Brunswick. Good Luck
 
JohnS said:
Brunswick Landing Marina has recently made improvments to their dockage, and has raised docking prices. You may want to compare.
It is protected from most storms, but is subject to large tides. Mostly floating docks.
Dorian came through at low tide, with not too much wind, which may have saved the town and the marina, as there was a lot of surge.
JohnS
Click to expand...


Been a while since we were in the area, but the paper mills in Brunswick and nearby Amelia Island cause us to avoid the area entirely. At least the mill in St Marys GA closed down. Some people are affected by the smell (like my wife), to others it's NBD...
 
Many people in Brunswick Landing complain about the sewage plant down the street. Even that is pretty rare and the paper mill is far enough away it is really rarely a problem for many.


I have spent a lot of time there and in Brunswick with good friends that kept their boat there for many years and are long term residents of Brunswick.


The year or so after they moved their sailboat over to a place next to Golden Isles Marina, they lost it in a hurricane.


I will take the occasional odor over a better place for protection...but having a first ate that could smell a pulp mill in anther state I get it...but even Brunswick Landing never really bothered her so much to ask to refrain from staying there.
 
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