Does anyone know of any good places to sail a Hobie 16 in Eastern North Carolina with easy water access? I usually have to sail at Jordan Lake because it has a nice site just for sail boats and allows you to back your boat right up to the water. Unfortunately windy days are hard to come by there. I'd love to find a public place near Oriental, NC where I could put in and launch from. I do have Cat Trax.
Thanks for the help.
Hey there, I'm in Raleigh, and I've sailed my h17 out at jordan before. Problem isn't so much the lack of wind these days, but rather, the lack of water!
At any rate, I think the best place to put in in Eastern NC is Beaufort. The creek is usually protected from the heavy winds, but theres just enough left over so you can get out to the inlet and past shackleford into the ocean. You might be able to find a couple of us out there in 17's and 18's on any given weekend.
Wrightsville Beach also has a public ramp on the "harbor" side of the island...
Thanks for the suggestion. Beaufort definately isn't too far. I did put in at the wildlife ramp in Morehead City one time (there's a SMALL sandy spot beside the ramps). The big problem there was the shallow water of the sound. We tried staying in the chanel but the wakes from passing boats kept rocked us pretty bad (of course the day we drove 2 hours to Morehead there was only a mild wind). After sailing around the sound for a while, and having my rudders kick up a thousand times, we set out for Fort Macon and open ocean. By the time we got there (remember, mild wind) we were so hungry we just turned around and headed back.
I'll definately give Beaufort a shot soon.
I have only sailed in Eastern NC once, but another site, www.catsail.com has a section on places to sail. Since they aren't really well organized there, here's a more organized list of the places it suggests for North Carolina:
Eastern North Carolina:
Oriental, at mouth of Neuse and Pamlico Sound
http://www.catsail.com/place160.htm
Ocracoke Island
http://www.catsail.com/place148.htm
Witchard's Beach (Washington, NC)
http://www.catsail.com/place177.htm
Lake Waccanaw (35 miles west of Wilmington)
http://www.catsail.com/place441.htm
http://www.catsail.com/place161.htm
Morehead City (which you said is not great, but the respondents on the other site seemed to like)
http://www.catsail.com/place483.htm
http://www.catsail.com/place433.htm
Piedmont:
Jordan Lake (near Raleigh/Durham, as you know)
http://www.catsail.com/place453.htm
Oak Hollow Lake (High Point)
http://www.catsail.com/place435.htm
Lake Townsend (Greensboro)
http://www.catsail.com/place434.htm
Charlotte Area:
Lake Norman (near Charlotte)
http://www.catsail.com/place408.htm
http://www.catsail.com/place303.htm
Hope this helps - I have not been to many of these places at all.
Jonathan