TOPIC: Boating OBX Sound.

My wife like to go to North Carolina every year. So we do...

Anyway i'd like to take the boat this year. We found a house with a dock on a canal. But the draft is only 1 foot at the dock.

I have a 68 MFG Chevron that is 17 feet.

My questions:

1. What is the draft of this hull? If i mark the water level on the transom and measure down to the keel is that the draft?

2. Has anyone boated the Sound in NC? Is it worth it if you're not fishing?

3. I know salt water is the enemy. If we take it should i flush it every day or is it OK to dock it and only flush it at the end of the week?

4. Should we take the waverunner instead? There are 4 of us and it's a 3 person waverunner but one of us is under 30lb!

Any other thoughs? I wouldn't go out of sight of land, being it's such a small boat.

Yes, out of Elizabeth City up the Dismal Swamp canal. Great boating.
There were plenty of folks fishing. You will have fun.

thanks for the advice.

we were planning on staying in Avon. that's about an hour on land from Elizabeth city.

i would not leave it overboard for a week without antifouling paint.in a couple of days it would be covered with growth.

dlatshaw wrote:

My wife like to go to North Carolina every year. So we do...

Anyway i'd like to take the boat this year. We found a house with a dock on a canal. But the draft is only 1 foot at the dock.

I have a 68 MFG Chevron that is 17 feet.

My questions:

1. What is the draft of this hull? If i mark the water level on the transom and measure down to the keel is that the draft?

2. Has anyone boated the Sound in NC? Is it worth it if you're not fishing?

3. I know salt water is the enemy. If we take it should i flush it every day or is it OK to dock it and only flush it at the end of the week?

4. Should we take the waverunner instead? There are 4 of us and it's a 3 person waverunner but one of us is under 30lb!

Any other thoughs? I wouldn't go out of sight of land, being it's such a small boat.

dlatshaw wrote:

My wife like to go to North Carolina every year. So we do...

Anyway i'd like to take the boat this year. We found a house with a dock on a canal. But the draft is only 1 foot at the dock.

I have a 68 MFG Chevron that is 17 feet.

My questions:

1. What is the draft of this hull? If i mark the water level on the transom and measure down to the keel is that the draft?

2. Has anyone boated the Sound in NC? Is it worth it if you're not fishing?

3. I know salt water is the enemy. If we take it should i flush it every day or is it OK to dock it and only flush it at the end of the week?

4. Should we take the waverunner instead? There are 4 of us and it's a 3 person waverunner but one of us is under 30lb!

Any other thoughs? I wouldn't go out of sight of land, being it's such a small boat.

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dlatshaw:

We live in eastern N.C. right between Jacksonville and Wilmington, N.C. This is a little south of the OBX.

We regularly cruise the Atlantic ICW with our 18 foot Glasspar Seafair Sedan and our 1960 Glasspar G-3 Skiboat near Topsail Island, N.C. As long as you stay in within the channel markers I think you will be fine with your boat!

FWIW,...I would NOT leave the boat in the water though. I would take it out and at least thoroughly rinse the lower unit each day.
I actually use a liquid called "Salt Terminator" on both of my outboard motors on our boats.

Here are a couple of pictures of my Wife and I cruising the ICW in our 1960 Seafair Sedan about a week ago:

I run the Potomac all the time and I NEVER leaver her in the water. i always wash her down with fresh water and run the motor in the rubber garbage can with fresh water after every run. Water is very brackish here but no problems when I do this.

Bob

Hey Red G-3....

I used to run the ICW all the time. I really loved the area around Beaufort NC and Cape Lookout. The longest trip I made there was from Beaufort to Myrtle Beach. Little River Inlet was a nice spot.

I boat the OBX sound every year. It is a 3 hr drive from Richmond and we go down 3 times a year at least.

That 1 ft is probably the lowest when the tide is out. Yes, from the waterline to the keel is the draft. If your engine is up.

I would suspect that you will be able to use the boat at that dock and if it bottoms out at low tide, just wait a couple of hours.

The fishing is sometimes good there. Avon is south of Nags Head and there are grey trout, flounder, lots of species there. I usually put in at the coast guard station at Oregon Inlet and fish the sound side of the Bonner bridge.

Alot of people like waverunners if they aren't fishing.

philpowerboat wrote:

Hey Red G-3....

I used to run the ICW all the time. I really loved the area around Beaufort NC and Cape Lookout. The longest trip I made there was from Beaufort to Myrtle Beach. Little River Inlet was a nice spot.

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Phil:

Thanks for your reply and input Sir!

We have also boated in those areas you listed. No doubt about it, there is alot of clear, clean water to boat in here in eastern N.C.