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Bryan Minihan wrote:

Anyone know which NOAA charts I need to get for a trip from Wilmington
NC to New Bern NC? I'm moving my boat and haven't sailed down here
enough to really get into purchasing charts (previously lived near
annapolis and we used the ADC chesapeake chartbook exclusively)...

We have the Maptech chart for the ICW. You can get a hardbound
chartbook for North Carolina from Claiborne Young, but I think it is
not only expensive but would be hard to use in the cockpit. I do like
his book on North Carolina though.


On the same topic...anyone have a general guesstimate of how many days
it would take to sail (motor) from Wilmington to New Bern?
Again...I'm more familiar with the upper chesapeake (that's also where
I learned to sail, not too many years ago).

We try not have to do more than about 40-45 sm a day. Depending on
your boat, you may want to do more. It should be a fairly easy 3-4
day trip.

Wilmington down the Cape Fear River - go across Snows Cut (watch the
current in there because you can't make any progress if it is against
you, and up to Wrightsville Beach. The Wrightsville Beach bridge
opens only on the hour. You can anchor or go into a marina at
Wrightsville or at Masonboro.

We usually come from Southport and stay at Hampstead at the Harbor
Village Marina. If you anchor at Wrightsville beach, you can anchor
on the marine base at Mile Hammock Bay. From there, we go to
Swansboro.

Then from Swansboro up Core Creek and through the Adams Core Creek
Canal, down Adams Creek to Oriental, and then another day should have
you in New Bern (we would go on up to Belhaven via Hobucken).

ICW mileages are

Hobucken MM 157.3 (which is about the same distance as New Bern)
Oriental MM 181
Core Creek (Bock Marine) MM 195
Morehead City MM 204
Swansboro MM 228
Onslow Beach Bridge MM 240.7
Mile Hammock Bay (Marine base anchorage) MM 244.5
Sears Landing Bridge MM 260.7
Hampstead MM 266.3
Figure 8 Bridge (hour and half hour) MM 278
Wrightsville Beach bridge (on the hour) MM 283.1
Masonboro Inlet MM 285
Snow's Cut MM 297
Cape Fear River MM 300-309
Southport MM 310 about the same distance down the River as Wilmington
is up.


Also on the same topic...anyone have any advice for such a trip?
Specifically, we're moving our boat (morgan 41 OI) from Baker Marine
to Northwest Creek Marina some time in the next month. I imagine the
ICW is the more peaceful route, but I've heard dredging funding has
dried up down there lately, and I'd like the least surprises along the
way (learning about the boat and all, specially with the size, I'd
like this to be the easiest route possible, if not the fastest =])


grandma Rosalie