I have a few questions for sailors who are familiar with the ICW and rivers and sounds of the NC coast. I am looking for areas I can put in a CP16 for a couple days at a time and explore along the "inner coast" of NC. I hope for areas I will not be confined to strictly channels, and that might have interesting points to visit or restaurants to pull up to. My job prevents me from taking much longer trips, so if anyone has some good ideas for spots I can spend a couple nights while being not too far from a decent ramp, I am all ears.
I currently sail on a lake which is... fine... but I miss the salt air. I will be puttering around in the Chesapeake Bay a bit this summer and I am looking for more places to trailer to.
Southport is an interesting place. I live here.
It is a historic town, very quaint.
It sits on the ICW and the Cape Fear River.
The mouth of the Cape Fear is only a half mile out, dumping into the Atlantic.
There are a couple of Ramps here.
Good restaurants and lively music scene by the water.
I sail a Compac 23.
Have fun. Look me up.
I live on the inner banks (IBX). The northern outer banks (OBX) are beautiful, but the weather window needs to be right because there are not many places to hide. Also, you would need to take ferries to reach them if you're going to launch from there.
The IBX is a small boat heaven. Most of the towns have free docks. Some even provide bathrooms and showers. Towns like Washington, Belhaven, Vandemere, New Bern, and my hometown, Oriental, docks are within an easy walk to shopping and dining. If you prefer to anchor out, there are many creeks with great holding and weather protection. I have never sailed this area without meeting other trailer sailors along the route. The larger rivers are the Neuse, Bay, Tar, Pamlico, and Pungo. You won't be sailing in clear waters like the OBX. Although they are brackish, the bottoms are mud. Good holding, but not good for swimming. Early summer the waters are crowded with jellyfish and rays (skate). There are bull sharks and alligators, but you're more likely to see dolphins and turtles. Herons, Ospreys, Bald Eagles, Cormorants, Pelicans, and King Fishers are everywhere. Bobcats, Black bears, and deer can be seen along the banks. We are in our pine pollen season now. It doesn't affect allergies, but it leaves an orange powder on everything. You won't see much color in the fall as 99% of the trees are firs.
Weather wise, we sail year round except this year when we got 17" of snow overnight. It was gone in 3 days. Except for the pollen, spring is a great time to visit. Summers can be hot and humid, but no where as bad as in the Midwest. There is always a breeze on the water. Autumn can be warm or hot up to December. There is always wind out on the river and about once a week there is a small craft advisory. There is a Coastguard station nearby and Cherry Point Marine Air Base so helicopters, C130s, Ospreys, and fighter jets are in the air. If you're "lucky" you'll witness a practice bombing and strafing of their target island in Pamlico Sound.
Study Google Earth and plan your route. If you are in my area, pm me and we can meet up. If you plan to launch and retrieve in different areas, I can help with that.
Hope to see you on our waters!
Oriental and the Neuse are certainly on my list of places I want to visit.
I will be staying along Bogue sound for my birthday this year in a nice cabin with a dock. Unfortunately theres no way I can do more than kayak from the dock as its only a few inches at low tide, and the channel is a good half mile offshore. I was considering hauling my 16 along, but even if I put in at the nearby ramp the only thing I could do is go up and down the channel. Oh well, I still might if weather cooperates.
Pollen season is pretty rough here in the Raleigh/Durham area, last year I went out on Shearon Harris during this time of the year and the entire lake was a floating mass of pollen.
Southport sounds promising too, seems to be about what I am looking for.
Quote from: crazycarl on March 26, 2026, 09:51:10 AMI live on the inner banks (IBX). The northern outer banks (OBX) are beautiful, but the weather window needs to be right because there are not many places to hide. Also, you would need to take ferries to reach them if you're going to launch from there.
The IBX is a small boat heaven. Most of the towns have free docks. Some even provide bathrooms and showers. Towns like Washington, Belhaven, Vandemere, New Bern, and my hometown, Oriental, docks are within an easy walk to shopping and dining. If you prefer to anchor out, there are many creeks with great holding and weather protection. I have never sailed this area without meeting other trailer sailors along the route. The larger rivers are the Neuse, Bay, Tar, Pamlico, and Pungo. You won't be sailing in clear waters like the OBX. Although they are brackish, the bottoms are mud. Good holding, but not good for swimming. Early summer the waters are crowded with jellyfish and rays (skate). There are bull sharks and alligators, but you're more likely to see dolphins and turtles. Herons, Ospreys, Bald Eagles, Cormorants, Pelicans, and King Fishers are everywhere. Bobcats, Black bears, and deer can be seen along the banks. We are in our pine pollen season now. It doesn't affect allergies, but it leaves an orange powder on everything. You won't see much color in the fall as 99% of the trees are firs.
Weather wise, we sail year round except this year when we got 17" of snow overnight. It was gone in 3 days. Except for the pollen, spring is a great time to visit. Summers can be hot and humid, but no where as bad as in the Midwest. There is always a breeze on the water. Autumn can be warm or hot up to December. There is always wind out on the river and about once a week there is a small craft advisory. There is a Coastguard station nearby and Cherry Point Marine Air Base so helicopters, C130s, Ospreys, and fighter jets are in the air. If you're "lucky" you'll witness a practice bombing and strafing of their target island in Pamlico Sound.
Study Google Earth and plan your route. If you are in my area, pm me and we can meet up. If you plan to launch and retrieve in different areas, I can help with that.
Hope to see you on our waters!
Carl -- I didn't realize that alligators were that far north -- eeks!
The Alligator River NWR was so named for a reason! I have only ever seen one alligator in NC though, they are certainly far more rare than in FL.