Marina Review for Beaufort Docks Marina

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 25, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Great staff and location. The loaner car helps with groceries, booze and getting parts from Morehead City. Yes, the WiFi is poor. It is at most marinas. I use a hotspot on my cell phone and have reliable and generally good service at most locations along the ICW. The only fault at Beaufort is the log walk to the head and showers.

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Marina Review for Alligator River Marina

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 25, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

I'll agree with Ross Wiltse. This is a good option when the Albemarle Sound kicks up. Just follow the marks into the marina. Not a resort, but you have power, water, fresh food, fuel and clean showers. There are nearby unmarked anchorage north of the bridge, but not something I want to explore when the wind has kicked up.

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Free Dock Review for Harding's Landing Marina, Bath State Dock

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 21, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Free docking for 72 hours. Dock boards have been replaced with large stable pilings. No water or electrical. Fill out form in mailbox at the end of the dock.

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Marina Review for Myrtle Beach Yacht Club

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 17, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Great Marina. No Uber or Lyft on call. Guest made reservation for Lyft 24 hours in advance to ensure trip to airport. Used InstaCart to purchase groceries which worked well.

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Anchorage Review for Five Fathom Creek–South

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 15, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

We anchored in Five Fathom creek north of marker “20” past the charted location of the submerged wreck. We arrived at low tide and found plenty of water, but a sailboat leaving the next day at high tide seemed to find a shoal in Town Creek. The channel is narrow, but has deep water close to the banks. The current and wind may be in opposition, so you way sit sideways to the wind for a while. Set an anchor alarm and enjoy the birds. Five Fathom Creek connects to the ocean from the ICW, so “Red, Right, Return” applies . The green daymarks entering the creek from the ICW can be confusing. There are three green daymarks close together - 37, 35A and 25. Only day mark 25 represents Town Creek channel - the others are ICW ATON. Since you are turning into a channel that goes to sea, green daymark “25” should be left to starboard as you proceed down Town Creek to Five Fathom Creek.

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Marina Review for Leland Oil Company

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 15, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

We pulled in for a quick visit after anchoring the previous night in Five Fathom Creek. Payed $10 for a brief visit which is only fair. Quaint little town that will remind you of the town in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Great hospitality.

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Marina Review for Harborwalk Marina

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 15, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Great stop. All the restaurants are open along the Harborwalk.

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Marina Review for St. Johns Yacht Harbor

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 12, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Great staff and excellent assistance. Very clean and spacious showers. Nice pool and laundry. No restaurant on site. Lyft and Uber were non-existent at diner time and cabs needed to be reserved. The courtesy car is available during the day until 6:00 PM. There is food delivery available via popular apps, but may take some time. An excellent overnight stop if you plan ahead to deal with the remote dinner availability and challenging currents.

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Marina Review for Harbour Town Yacht Basin

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 10, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 4

A resort destination. Agree with all the comments about the staff and harbor. The walk to bathroom can be long and longer to the showers with limited hours. Make dining reservations on the weekends. The closest grocery stores are over 3 miles away and difficult to reach since there is currently no Uber or Lyft operating on the island. Taxis work the airport and may require a 30 to 45 minute wait for pickup elsewhere.

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Bridge comment on Diamond Causeway (Skidaway) Bridge

Comment by: Jim Zeigler on May 7, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'

While still shown as under construction on NOAA charts, the bridge is complete, has traffic across it there was no construction activity that we could see.

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Marina Review for Sunbury Crab Co. Restaurant & Marina

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 7, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Read all the reviews on the Sunbury Cafe. This is far from a waterway resort and not for every boater. The owners are courteous and helpful. The food is great. We did encounter some depths less than we expected along the shoal across from Jones Creek but easily corrected our course towards deeper water. Given the apparent lack of traffic on the Medway River (there are no markers above "2"), it is likely that the charts are based on older surveys but generally correct. As always, prudence dictates standing off the charted shallow water and maintaining a watch on the depth sounder.

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Marina Review for Palm Cove Marina

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 3, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Good stop along the waterway. The channel has been dredged and we showed more that 7 feet at low tide in the middle of the channel. The dock staff are excellent but can be very busy on the weekend with smaller boats housed in the dry storage facility. Respect that they can be very busy. The river outside the channel is wide if you need to wait for them to free up or if another boat is ahead of you. The area opposite the fuel dock is tight, so keep track of other large boat traffic entering or exiting the marina. On the other hand, you may have a rude experience when you call to make reservations, but she does not represent the attitude of the rest of the staff. Very good restaurant adjacent and you are within walking distance of groceries.

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Marina Review for Marineland Marina

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on May 3, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 4

This marina is located immediately across A1A from the Marineland Research facility and beach access. Otherwise, there are no local facilities or attractions other than the food truck offering breakfast and lunch at the beach. The bathrooms and laundry were utilitarian reasonably attended to daily. We could not connect to the GFI protected pedestals on their 18 floating docks due to an incompatibility with our older Xantrex invertor/charger system. This was the first marina out of 25 we have visited during on our ICW travels last fall and this spring that presented this problem. We were able to move to an available, narrower fixed dock with an older pedestal. The dock master on duty took over the entire docking operation, ordering us how to dock our boat, without asking. The shoaling at the entrance and the cross current in the ICW were not an issue entering the facility.

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Bridge comment on Main Street Bridge

Comment by: Jim Zeigler on Apr 30, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'

Main Street Bridge is designated Daytona Beach Bascule Bridge in the printed guide (2020).

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Marina Review for Cocoa Village Marina

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler on Apr 29, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Just completed a 2-night visit. Very clean and well maintained marina, excellent help docking and good advice on securing boat and local sites and activities. Inside the marina, there is a wave deflector that did a good job attenuating the wakes of larger boats out in the Indian RIver. Enjoyed meeting the staff and visiting Cocoa village. The Travis hardware store is absolutely amazing. Ken and Karen did a great job.

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Anchorage Review for Sloop Point G13

Reviewed by: Jim Zeigler, Tortuga, on Oct 11, 2020
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 4.0'

We anchored here on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Constant small boat traffic with moderate wakes. Both ebb and flood currents are strong, but good holding. Lots of swing room in the middle, but keep on the lookout for local work barges moving along the shoreline to service the many private docks. Did not try to go ashore.

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