NC boating

alk

alk

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Somehow my wife talked me into renting an Outer Banks house for a week this summer, in Avon. I'm thinking about bringing the little boat down, it's a 23' bowrider, with an I/O. Boating with this boat ( and crew) generally involves finding some flat water and skiing/tubing, followed by anchoring at/off a beach for a couple hours. Once in a blue moon maybe dock at a restaurant, and even less often some fishing -nothing serious, jut to entertain the kids.

Looking at Active Captain, not sure what our options are in these parts. are we better of trailering down towards Hatteras, or further south? The chart makes it look like a pretty far haul from Avon out past the shallow water, with limited markers to keep away from the 1 ft spots; and the nav equipment on this boat is limited to a compass, vhf, and paper chart, as I don't generally take this boat anywhere where I cant see the next marker.

I tried to find some cruising guides that would help with anchorages, skiing, etc. but so far no luck. Is anyone familiar with these waters? thanks.
 
I lived in Manteo and worked the Avon area for 4 years, and did very little boating. Winds blow
all the time. Lot of skinny water. I'd sooner rent a local boat than trailer one all that way. But, don't let this discourage you. :-)
 
Boating wise, that area is really for hard core fishing, out on the ocean via Hatteras Inlet. I'd leave your boat at home myself, enjoy the fantastic beaches and chill out. Make sure you go to the light house obviously, and the Graveyard of the Atlantic museum. Take the ferry down to Ocracoke (one of our very favorite cruising destinations) one day to enjoy the village, some really good retaurants and great beach there. The trip to Portsmouth Village from Ocracoke via a water taxi type boat is also interesting, bring bug spray. Between that and the ferry you will get in some boating, and if that is not enough do a half day fishing charter out of Hatteras. It's a beautiful, fun area to relax, far preferable IMO to the over-developed craziness up north in the Nags Head / Kill Devil Hills zone.
 
Thanks, after seeing the charts, I was afraid that would be the consensus. I originally started boating when I was young because my friends liked to lay on the beach all day, which I enjoyed about at much as root canals, so this might be a long week.
 
I thought there was some prety good small boat boating in Pamlico Sound behind Avon, good for the activities you are interested in. Quite a few years ago I took my jon boat with us for a week and there was a boat ramp behind a gas station on the sound side. Only problem I had was the ribbon weeds..they can clog up your intake.
 
A jon boat is a different animal than an I/O 23 footer, draft-wise especially. One reason you see a lot of the former around here and very few of the latter.

ALK, there are plenty of things to do , as mentioned in my post, around there if beach combing isn't your thing. And if I say so myself, these aren't just any beaches.
 
I hear you George. I need to buy a Jon boat (:
 
Alk, I agree with George's suggestions. The ferry to Ocracoke was probably our favorite thing. Ocracoke is a real treat. small enough to walk or bicycle, but a boat can be rented also. Really crowded in the summer though..
 
I've been to ocrakoke before, and camped at the beach on the Hatteras side of the ferry, probably was 1994, a few years before owning a boat. Curious if you can pull a boat/trailer onto the ferry?
 
Spent many a day at OBX. The last thing you need is a diversion to all it has to offer. Just kick back and enjoy. If you want to boat foe a day, rent.

Posting pix is a must.
 
Thanks everyone, you've at least saved me the headache of towing my boat across five states. Kills me to rent a boat when I have one sitting in my driveway, and another at the marina - so we will find other things to entertain ourselves. For me, the last ten years vacation days in the summer have meant extra days on the boats in NJ or MD, so I suppose a change of scenery will be nice.
 
Hatteras is not so far from Avon, if you aren't afraid of skinny water, you can do some fishing and boating in the sound. Yes, you can take your boat on the ferry to Ocracoke. I don't know about venturing out in the ocean if you aren't an experienced offshore boater, though, Oregon inlet can be anything from exciting to downright dangerous, Hatteras inlet some better, but still can be treacherous if the wind and current are doing the wrong things. The channels near the inlets are pretty variable, the CG puts in temporary bouys, sometimes there are buoys set by locals, it can be pretty tricky, but you can ask the folks at the ramp what the situation is and go slow. Of course the locals know the channels real well, one thing that is disconcerting is to get the advice to put her up on plane to go thru a certain area, 'cause she draws less that way--I'm not making that up. If you want to fish in the ocean, I'd recommend chartering, plenty of offshore and inshore boats available--the area is a great place to fish, great place to go to the beach and just plain good for a vacation of any sort.
 
I've taken this boat plenty of times through the southern six jersey inlets, in some fairly rough, well rough for 23' bow rider, weather; and down DE bay a couple times in some chop. It's actually a pretty solid boat, wellcraft, but looks like a baja. But that was not with wife and kids, who will be along for this trip, so out hatteras inlet probably wouldn't be happening.
 
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