Anchorage Recommendations Jacksonville to Charleston

[Bill Root]

We're planning to finally get underway heading north Sunday, weather permitting. 'm looking for advice on good overnight anchorages between Jacksonville, Fl and Charleston, NC. (Pascal: sent you a PM, but haven't heard back from you yet.)

We carry a 60lb. Danforth as primary anchor and a Fortress FX-55 as second anchor, however, we will be traveling without a dinghy, so would like to avoid having to set a second anchor as much as possible. That means we need swing room for a 54' boat.

I anchored out a lot on this stretch of the ICW when we did the loop ywp years ago on our 43. Most of the places we anchored would be very tight for the 54, so recommendations from folks who have larger boats would be appreciated.

 

[Pascal]

Hi bill

didn't get or didnt' see your PM, i dont' see any PM notification with the new forum interface.

I've anchored in many places along that stretch incl. with the 70 I run. from south to north:

-Fernandina Beach on the red side, across from town, at the river junction
-Cumberland Island, across the ferry dock, good holding lots of room
-North cumberland Island
-Doboy Sound, near folly River
-Sapelo Sound, just south of sutherland bluffs
- Kilkenny creek
-creek on the east side of ICW at southern entrance to Fl passage
-Vernon or burnside River
-cooper river by Daufuskie Isl
-Beaufort Riven, in cowen creek
-Beaufort, off the marina
-coosaw River, off Sams pt
-church creek, off the wadamaw river

which ones i use depends on the timing of the tides as I need some tide with a 6+ draft thru a number of stretches likes Amelia river, Jekyll, Little Mud river, Hell gate, Asheppo-coosaw, etc...

If you look up these anchorages on Active Captain you'll find my notes and others.

I always use a single (BIG) anchor... two anchors are just a major PITA on a larger boat so I pick places with enough swinging room. Most of the anchorages listed in guides are too narrow.

With a danforth (or FX) i'd be concerned about the anchor not resetting on the current shift. Our bruce has held very well and always reset on its own with a lot of chain. Still I sleep with a portable Garmin set pretty tight to be alerted when the current swings

 

[GJH]

Pascal's points about current swing are well taken. A shame you don't have a dinghy as there are some very fun places to explore along the way.

I'll add a few of our notes, and I would be happy to discuss on the phone too. Most of these I have annotatated either on Cruiser's Net or Active Captain. All of these in our 56MY:

Fernandina: we like the Bell's River which offers better protection and almost no boat traffic.

St. Mary's: Makes more sense without a dinghy to anchor at Cumberland Island, but this is a lovely town, cruiser friendly and nice dinghy dock. You can park your big boat at the town dock for a few hours, first come first serve. There is also a marina there.

If you time entry and exit near high tide (especially the south entrance near the infamous Cumberland Crossings), the Brickhill River off "Table Point" is very scenic and quiet.

South Altamaha River on the straight near the little creek. Only downside is the boats from Two Way Fish Camp up river can be inconsiderate wakers. This is a good staging spot if the timing of the tides is bad for some of the trouble spots like Little Mud River up ahead.

Duplin River: Very pretty and another place to tuck in if tides aren't favorable. Popular, and there is some semi commercial traffic taking visitors to Sapelo Island


Wahoo River on the curve in front of the Wahoo Island; picturesque.

Beautiful Walburg Creek is one of our all time favorites, again the south entrance is best negotiated at higher tide. This is also a good stop if you are taking the ocean vs the ICW from points south. We anchor right in the middle of the northern straight away across from St. Catherine's Island proper. We've spent a few days there, including a memorable Thanksgiving. We prefer to head out the north exit, hang a right out of St. Catherine's sound, then commence to the Wassaw and on into Thunderbolt. Very nice scenic trip and you don't have to screw around with places like Hell Gate.

Thunderbolt/Savannah are nice places to dock as it is a wonderful town to visit. However we have anchored on both the Vernon River south of town and the Herb River right by Thunderbolt Marine.
We prefer the anchorage off Beaufort proper, but you really need a good set there given the bottom and the current. This is another place we stay a few days in and hang out in town.

Church Creek, just west/ south of Charleston. Not a bad place to spend your last night before the big city. From there, try to time your trip into Elliot Cut for slack tide!

There are some other interesting side trips well off the beaten path, depending on your time frame. I have tried to keep this to stuff fairly adjacent to the ICW.

 

[Bill Root]

Pascal/George:

Thanks very much. This is exactly what I needed. I like Active Captain, but it's never as good as hearing directly from guys on this forum who have been in the anchorages recently.

We won't anchor out a lot this time because of the dog (90lb. Belgian Shepherd), but next year we plan to get a much earlier start and do more dinghy exploring. I do have a 13' Whaler as a dinghy, but it is not what was mounted on the boat when I bought her. The sling and cradles that were on her don't fit the Whaler and I simply haven't had time to get the new ones mounted. I have to be back in home port just after Labor day, so I decided to get going now without the dinghy.

George: I would very much like to talk to you. Please provide your phone number.

 

[Nonchalant1]

Bill,

If you go farther north, you just gott'a try Cape Lookout just outside of Beaufort, NC. It's spectacular. If you're going there, see the anchorage here:

http://dougandkathysboatlog.blogspot.com/2007/04/we-went-out-into-atlantic-for-cruise.html

Anchor just inside the entrance from the Atlantic, miles away from the lighthouse tourists and all alone. It's my favorite anchorage in USA.

Best Regards,

Doug

 

[GJH]

Bill,

If you go farther north, you just gott'a try Cape Lookout just outside of Beaufort, NC. It's spectacular. If you're going there, see the anchorage here:

http://dougandkathysboatlog.blogspot.com/2007/04/we-went-out-into-atlantic-for-cruise.html

Anchor just inside the entrance from the Atlantic, miles away from the lighthouse tourists and all alone. It's my favorite anchorage in USA.

Best Regards,

Doug

Doug! STFU! That's a horrid place, full of sharks and jelly fish and exposed to storms, and a bunch of local rednecks beaching their center consoles, and no discos, sportsbars or shopping. Plus Skip and I already have been assigned that miserable duty. And a long long way from Charleston... How dare you?!

 

[labrador]

Doug, you have to get permission from my wife to enter HER anchorage called Cape Lookout. There is a board of directors consisting of George and Ann (GJH) and Giga and Skip (Labrador) who either accept or reject travelling yachts into our bight. Send your resume to us well in advance of your proposed stay with all pertinant info including what type of adult beverages you carry on board. You can bribe to two male directors with a priemium scotch listed on your manifest.

 

[Bill Root]

Doug, et al:

I don't think we'll make it as far north as Beaufort,NC. I need to be back in Florida Labor Day weekend. On the off chance that we do get to Cape Lookout, what brand of scotch would be considered an appropriate bribe?

 

[GJH]

We are very discriminating Bill. We strongly prefer a scotch that comes in a 1.5 liter bottle.

 

[Angela]

I go this email from Active Captain this morning for anyone who might be in Jax in September:

>>> Free Dockage for September >>>

The Marina at Ortega Landing, a 1st Choice marina in Jacksonville,
FL, is taking Co-Op's to a whole new level. For a Co-Op to be
approved by us, we require that the offer be extraordinary,
something more than is typically offered. Occasionally, we turn
down a proposed Co-Op because it just doesn't offer boaters enough
value.

Well, Ortega Landing took our instructions to heart and then did
one better.

The Marina at Ortega Landing is offering free dockage to any new
transient boater who stays at the marina during the month of
September. Free for one night, free for one week, or free for the
whole month.

"We're looking to bring in new boaters because we know if they stay
with us once they'll return and tell other boaters about us," states
Amy Schmid who runs the marina with her husband Captain Kris.

https://activecaptain.com/X.php?lat=30.277173&lon=-81.713626&t=h&z=16

 

[Bill Root]

Thanks, Ang. I saw this on Active Captain myself. I'm going to take them up on it gthe first few days of September before Labor Day.