Help me out guys... Oriental to Cedar Island?

[Joel73]

OK... here's the deal: I have a full price offer on our O'Day 22 but part of the deal is me helping the buyer sail/motor the boat from Oriental to Cedar Island. I am unsure of a few things. Sorry, my charts are on the boat.

1. Can i cut through from Turnagain Bay to Long Bay effectively avoiding going around Piney Island? I see a cut through but don't know the depths or if this even a reasonable way to get around the USMC bombing range. The O22 only draws 1'11" so depth is not a major concern but still we don't want to run aground.

2. Same question next cut over.... Can i cut through from Long Bay to Thorofare Bay with out any worries? I know there is a bridge there but i think the bridge has 45' clearance. Plenty for the O'day 22. Not sure about tides and depths though.

3. IF we average 4 kts... how long am i looking at for travel time?


Other concerns are an older outboard (1993) that has not been serviced in a few years but runs fine... and standing rigging that needs replacement. I don't think the rigging will fail and the engine runs fine but will it get us all the way there if we need it too? I don't know.

Am i begging for trouble here? Or should i just do it knowing that the new owner will be responsible for any towboat services? We've already had that discussion and he agreed to paying for any towing that may be required. Also, we've got charts, GPS, VHF, Handheld VHF, Cell service, safety gear and first aid.

Thanks in advance for any help here.

[Joel73]

Here is a "waterway guide"... not a chart... so you can see where i'm talking about. Once you get to the image click it to enlarge: http://www.ncdot.org/it/img/graphics/boatguide/7.gif

[sailingdog]

Joel-

Originally Posted by Joel73

OK... here's the deal: I have a full price offer on our O'Day 22 but part of the deal is me helping the buyer sail/motor the boat from Oriental to Cedar Island. I am unsure of a few things. Sorry, my charts are on the boat.

1. Can i cut through from Turnagain Bay to Long Bay effectively avoiding going around Piney Island? I see a cut through but don't know the depths or if this even a reasonable way to get around the USMC bombing range. The O22 only draws 1'11" so depth is not a major concern but still we don't want to run aground.

I think you can do the first cut through what is called "Old Canal" on the NOAA ENC charts. The NOAA charts don't say how deep it is, but indicate that it has a maximum depth of about 6', but that could have shoaled since the charts were last done. The nearest numbers on the charts say the depth is about 2'. Might be a bit tight.

2. Same question next cut over.... Can i cut through from Long Bay to Thorofare Bay with out any worries? I know there is a bridge there but i think the bridge has 45' clearance. Plenty for the O'day 22. Not sure about tides and depths though.

The water here appears to be deeper than the "Old Canal", but doesn't say exactly how deep it is. The bridge has 45' clearance according to the charts.

3. IF we average 4 kts... how long am i looking at for travel time?


Other concerns are an older outboard (1993) that has not been serviced in a few years but runs fine... and standing rigging that needs replacement. I don't think the rigging will fail and the engine runs fine but will it get us all the way there if we need it too? I don't know.

Am i begging for trouble here? Or should i just do it knowing that the new owner will be responsible for any towboat services? We've already had that discussion and he agreed to paying for any towing that may be required. Also, we've got charts, GPS, VHF, Handheld VHF, Cell service, safety gear and first aid.

Thanks in advance for any help here.

If you can make about 4 knots, you are looking at about 8-9 hours of travel time. Since the rough route I plotted out on Google Earth makes it about 30 miles or so to the eastern end of Cedar Island from Oriental via the two canals. If the wind is out of the North-through SouthWest, you should be okay to sail a large portion of it, since you'll be going mainly east.

Get an unlimited towing package as a safety measure. You'll want local knowledge for the two canals, to know if they're in fact passable.

[PBzeer]

It's possible ..... according to the chart. Try checking with SeaTow or TowBoat US and see if they have any local knowledge.

[Joel73]

Good idea John. I'm going to call Towboat and see what they know.

SD, I'm thinking that Old Canal might be too close. After looking at the NOAA ENC charts i'm worried that even though we draw 1'11" it might be tough in that area.... I'm gonna see what local knowledge i can find. The next cut looks very doable though and i would wonder why there would be a bridge with 45' clearance without a fair amount of depth there. I'm thinking go around Piney Island but cut through from Long Bay to Thorofare Bay. My guess was 9 hours too.

I'm also going to offer to split the cost of an engine inspection and new impellar since this affect my safety directly. There is no reason not to do this.

Anybody else got any knowledge of that area or any anyput they would be willing to offer?

[sailingdog]

Glad to help... if there's anything else I can do, let me know.

[SCoffshore]

That entire area to my recollection is a restricted area and you could become bomber meat if not carefull. I would call the range boss at Cherry point to confirm if you are even allowed anywhere near there. I would play it safe and go all the way around.

[Joel73]

Originally Posted by SCoffshore

That entire area to my recollection is a restricted area and you could become bomber meat if not carefull. I would call the range boss at Cherry point to confirm if you are even allowed anywhere near there. I would play it safe and go all the way around.

I am aware of that and am taking that into consideration. A phone call would be a good idea, i agree. As far as being allowed near there, the chart clearly marks the restrcted area and it appears that you are sill allowed to go into Turnagain Bay... but i'm not sure.

Thanks SCoffshore!

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Glad to help... if there's anything else I can do, let me know.

Thanks Sailingdog!

[PBzeer]

I've been in Turnagin Bay (tricky channel), and have seen nothing on paper or ENC charts to show it's restricted.

[mwrohde]

I could be way off base here, but what if you can make it through the cuts but the tow boat can't? If you have engine problems and for some reason can't sail . . . long shot on both happening at the same time, but that's how people get in trouble.