Soon,, I keep telling myself. Soon..

But today, it is like the end of the world out there. Rain, then snow, then
rain, more snow, .. wind starting to pick up..

Oh,, and its April 15.

===

Good time to look at my cruise plans for the summer .. I will be going down
east since that is where I moor.

I know most of the popular anchorages along the coast. But what about the
"secret" spots. The over-looked spots.

Any of you got any secret anchorages to share? Along the coast of Maine?
Or, where you sail?

Hey,, its raining .. what's a Captain to do.

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:07:52 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

Any of you got any secret anchorages to share? Along the coast of Maine?

I have a few but if I shared them they wouldn't be secret anymore
would they?

Wayne ,, we won't tell anyone ..

===
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:07:52 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

Any of you got any secret anchorages to share? Along the coast of Maine?

I have a few but if I shared them they wouldn't be secret anymore
would they?

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:57:44 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:07:52 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

Any of you got any secret anchorages to share? Along the coast of Maine?

I have a few but if I shared them they wouldn't be secret anymore
would they?


Wayne ,, we won't tell anyone ..

===


OK then, I'll let the cat out of the bag. This place is totally
undiscovered and one of the finest and most protected coves you could
ever hope to find.

Don't tell anyone else...

http://www.boatmaine.us/the-basin.aspx

"NE Sailboat" wrote in
news:s7zUh.7909$IG1.2405@trndny07:

Any of you got any secret anchorages to share? Along the coast of
Maine? Or, where you sail?



There's 3200 mostly-deserted miles of waterways deeper than 15' within 50
miles of my keyboard, mostly N or S of Charleston Harbor. Just drop
anchor out of the marked channels and enjoy.

Boot up Google Earth and look at:
32*46'41N 79*57'24W in the anchorage and mooring field of the city.
The anchorage upper left across from Ashley Marina is open and in a
heavily protected no-wake zone. Bottom is pluff mud. The Scarborough
Bridge is new and 60' clearance. US 17 is a drawbridge she only opens
once an hour. There's a dingy dock at City Marina below the bridge at 32
*46'44N 79*57'06W you can use ONLY AT HIGH TIDE coming in from the SE
entrance through the maze of boats. It's high and dry mud at half tide.
City Marina has an excellent restaurant open early for breakfast at
reasonable prices. Across the river at the entrance to Ripley Light
Marina 32*46'41N 79*57'34W is California Dreamin, an upscale
lounge/restaurant with beautiful view. They have another HIGH TIDE ONLY
dock that's dry at low tide. The entrance to that marina is way too
shallow for sailboats from the awful silting as you can see the tide
flowing by on Google Earth's picture. The restaurant's dock is N of the
restaurant building.

Lionheart is at 32-46-47-63N 79-57-18-58W as you walk onto J-dock, the
party dock. It's a long, sobering walk from the parking lot in the rain
and cold.

On Google Earth, notice all the blank docks at Ashley Marina on the city
side between the two bridges. The picture was taken after the marina was
sold and was under complete renovation. The docks are restored. Ashley
is now called "The Harborage at Ashley Marina" and is a dock condo, but
still rents to transients. What you actually own for $130K is a LOCKER
with the promise of a certain slip. The water is public property so they
haven't figured out how to sell you that, yet, but they're working on it.
Sure is cheap for living downtown.

Ok, so you don't want to be downtown. How about near Buzzard's Roost.
Google EArth to: 32-45-12N 80-00-44W on the other end of the fast-moving
Wappoo and Eliott's Cuts down the ICW. See boats anchored out off both
ends of the marina in the Stono River? There's a more remote place.
Buzzard's Roost is also home to a great seafood bar/restaurant, the Noisy
Oyster, owned by a local shrimper. It's just behind the marina store
next to the bridge, which is new at 60' too. This is in the Stono River,
which ends at the Kiawah River opening into the sea...IF YOU'RE REALLY
CAREFUL OF THE SANDBARS. The restaurant has a dock for your dink in the
creek between it and the bridge, guarded by a squadron of geese and ducks
who bite to protect their nests. You can dock at the marina dock to use
the store and head. Buzzard's Roost is more of a middle-class-family
marina...lower priced....more rural on John's Island....less
"amenities"...which accounts for it always being mostly FULL TO CAPACITY.
They monitor 16 to call them, as do the other marinas. All our bridges,
by the way are on Channel 9!

While we're cruising the Stono, let's go out to seaward to my favorite
beaches...boat-only beaches. Where the Kiawah River runs into the sea is
Bird Key, a bird sanctuary NO DOGS PLEASE. 32-38-01N 79-59-01W, not
where Google says it is...That's a sandbar. Bird Key is a really nice
pile of sand you can walk around shelling in about an hour. This whole
area is too shifty for good boating, as you can see in the photo. The
Atlantic waves constantly change it all. Behind bird key, a channel is
marked with small markers and is dredged so the shrimp boats behind Folly
Island to the NE of Bird Key can get into the river to go to sea. Even
then, it can be tricky. That fantastic beach that hooks around the end
of the other side of the river is also boater-only because of the swamps
behind it the Yankee millionaires haven't ruined, yet. This is exclusive
Kiawah Island. This beach is "steep" with deep water close ashore. Our
"secret anchorage" out here for the big boats is "Up Da Creek" whos
opening is at 32-37-52N 80-00-45N. This creek has a nice current that
keeps it cleaner. The party raftup goes up it to a nice spot a few
curves up and a huge raftup-in-the-swamp for the weekend happens many
times a year. A small boat ride takes the honeys to Bird Key and
Kiawah's beaches for fun-in-the-sun, shelling, watching HUGE horseshoe
crabs makin' babies in the shallows of Bird Key, where the best sand
dollars can be found if you get their first. How's that for a spot?

You can haul up most any place you fancy and noone screams at you, here,
away from the expensive houses....unlike Hilton Head Island, SC, where
they now have an ordinance against dropping anchor in front of the big
real estate tax generators.

Let's go back to the harbor, and take a little dingy ride up Shem
Creek....

The party place on Shem Creek, in Shrimp Boat territory, is Red's Ice
House, a laid back kinda place us locals love. Bring the kids, bring
your DOG, sit outside and eat, drink a few libations, climb up into the
two story "Tree House" and look out over our domain. Kick your shoes off
and chat up the ladies, preferably if not attached to some shrimper would
be a good idea..(c; Great food, great fun, rafted up 6 deep with all
kinds of power boats all weekend right out on the dock.
Notice the Red Roof at 32-47-31N 79-52-54W. There's a nice outdoor bar
just NW of that blue swimming pool across Shem Creek. It's attached to
a very nice indoor restaurant for a little higher class people than
Red's, or the other local bar RB's next to Red's. Take your pick....Shem
Creek is fun! Don't bring the sailboat. There's no place to park it,
though we HAVE docked Lionheart, the AMEL Sharki 41 at Red's dock on a
weekday when it's not busy with a lot of thirsty guests aboard....(c;

That's the Aircraft Carrier Yorktown (CV-10) from WW2 at Patriot's Point
Naval and Maritime Museum at 32-47-25N 79-54-31W. Just E of her is the
WW2 diesel sub Calamagore and behind her is an ancient CG cutter and a
WW2 destroyer to complete the ship collection. Notice the SAND BARS
around her. Yorktown got caught in a freak E wind and pulled her
original pier all apart, breaking some serious mooring pylons ashore and
just floated away with only 2 night security guards in the pitch dark
shortly after she arrived here. So, they SUNK HER! Millions of gallons
of fresh water were flooded into her bilges and capped with liquid wax to
prevent marine growth. Don't boat close to her as she's only in 5' of
water at low tide! Tour boats dock behind her around the bow end by her
dock. I have thousands of hours of volunteer work aboard Yorktown many
years ago painting, stripping, fixing things and installing with my ham
buddies a huge fire alarm system so the boy and girl scouts can safely
sleep aboard her all summer on weekends. The Japanese were unsuccessful
in sinking her. The Boy Scouts of America have sunk her many, many
times....(c;

That's Charleston Harbor Marina next to her. The whole marina floats on
Chain X system without concrete poles to hold them in place. They are
anchored to the bottom by huge chains. Ships pass by this marina going
in and out, but there is a seawall to slow the wakes. That hotel with
the big red roof is a first class facility with a most wonderful view of
Charleston, even from your pricey dinner table. Bring $$$$$...YANKEE
money, only, please!

It's 1AM so I'll close with one more......Capers Island, a totally
unspoiled Atlantic Beach only boaters can enjoy....
Anchor out at 32-51-10N 79-42-18W in the nice channel between the
billionaires on Dewees Island (zoom in and have a look at how the other
half lives without cars) and Capers Island, totally unaccessable to CONDO
developers and other vermin. Dink over to the nice beach at Capers from
the anchored out yacht and walk up the beach for THREE MILES in total
seclusion, usually. The families usually stay pretty close to the boats
at the river's mouth. Lay out your blanket with the little crabs and
please don't feed the wolves the state seeded the place with to eat some
rodents. Do remember it's THREE MILES UP and THREE MILES BACK with that
big sack of sand dollars, conch shells, massive abandoned horseshoe crab
shells....you got to CARRY. There are more shells on this ONE beach than
in all the shelling stores in Ft Myers...just sitting there waiting for
you. NOONE will walk over your blankie because NOONE will be
there...especially during the week! It's like being on another planet.

Just NE of Capers is Bull Island, a big nature preserve (see the dirt
tracks?). Its unspoiled beach is about 6 miles long! There is ferry
service from the state to Bull for nature lovers.

NE of that, the ICW opens up to sea at Bull's Bay. NOTICE THE
SANDBARS?!! But, from there to Georgetown, is another story......

Of course, we COULD go up the Cooper River and Tailrace Canal to Moncks
Corner, through the FREE LOCK at the power dam into Lake Moultrie for a
little "freshwater flushing" of the seacocks....That's fun, too!

Larry
--
Hope you're not in a hurry...this just scratches the surface around
here...
Oh, my place? I'm at 32-53-10.84N 80-04-24-59W at "Riverbend" on the
Ashley River under those trees...which are all blown over tonight from
the 50 knot winds! You can anchor out in 37' of water straight out from
our waterfront.....I don't have, or want, a dock, sorry.