Thinking about the upcoming spring sail in North Carolina, I reached out to friend Chris Farr today for some information. Last year I struggled with shoals on my sail north from Cape Lookout Bight to Core Sound. Early in the sail, I misread the temporary buoys around a dredging project just north of Barden Inlet and found myself stuck on a shoal. That was my fault. Later in the sail, about midday, I was surrounded by shoals just below the town of Atlantic. You can see those shoals in the satellite image above. This was not my fault. Those shoals seem to be constantly on the move, and the few navigation markers are useless.
Looking for better options, I reached out to Chris and had a text discussion about the shoaling and different canals. Chris does a lot of sailing in the area with his family on board the Menger Cat TIGGY and knows the area well. He confirmed that Salters Creek Canal, which begins below Atlantic, is navigable and leads north to Long Bay. From Long Bay, I can head north, east or west. Perfect. Thanks for the information, Chris.
Looking at the charts and satellite images of the area reminded me of shrimp burgers I had years ago when sailing Core Sound (back when there was less shoaling and the nav markers actually meant something). I could not remember the name or location of this great little waterfront restaurant, so I had to dig back into the logs for some information. The place was called The Grill and it was perched on the shore of Core Sound at Morris Marina.
It was easy access from the sound, located just about where "Morris Marina Ferry" is marked at the bottom right of the satellite image below. There was plenty of space for tying up SPARTINA, and it made for a nice lunch stop on the way up or down Core Sound.
The image above shows that the marina is being (or was - there is no date on the image) developed and the The Grill, which only served a handful of locals and a wayward sailor or two, no longer exists. I am glad for the memories or those early cruises, and the great shrimp burgers enjoyed along the way.
1 comment:
I too sailed the length of the Core sound years ago, in a boat that drew 4 feet. I was recently thinking of looking at a "zero-draft" boat to do so again, so the Salter Creek idea really intrigues me. I hope you will try it & report back.
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