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Cape Charles, Va

9K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  Cruiser2B 
#1 ·
Wife and I are planning a trip to Cape Charles from Norfolk. We are looking for any specific info in regards to Marinas, Navigation and achorages. I have heard it is a nice little town. Any info on the area would be great.

Thanks SN
 
#2 ·
Yes, quiet, but nice for a visit.

The city marina is simple enough; Google "Cape Charles." Note that there is no anchoring in the harbor. I'm not sure of Kings Creek.

Kelly's Gingernut Pub is a favorite of mine, nearly worth the trip. There may also be some stuff in the trip reports on my blog.

Skip Sunday; everything's closed.
 
#3 ·
The entrance to Kings Creek, at least the last time I was there, was silted in to about 4 feet at high tide. Cape Charles Harbor doesn't have a place to anchor, but you have lots of water at the City Marina and the entrance to the harbor is a piece of cake.

Cape Charles has an interesting history, and at one time I knew many of the residents. Things have changed somewhat, but the center of town, particularly along the beach, has some incredible, old mansions, some dating back to the U.S. Civil War.

Cape Charles is where Virginia's aquaculture industry began, when a guy by the name of Ballard began cultivating clams at the mouth of Kings Creek in waters adjacent to Cherrystone Campgrounds. I interviewed him many years ago and wrote a story about his aquaculture operation in the Washington Post.

Almost forgot--The national bird of Cape Charles is the mosquito, which in this part of the world seems to grow to the size of a crow. Be sure to have those hatch screens in place long before the sun goes down or they'll eat you alive.

The best area for anchoring is to the south, behind the concrete Liberty Ships that form the old breakwater for Kiptopeke Landing. Depths here range from 8 to 20 feet, you are protected from most winds other than dead north and if you have time, dinghy to Kiptopeke State Park and explore the incredible beaches and dunes areas. This time of year the wild yucca plants should be in bloom, and more often than not you can find lots of whelk shells littering the beach.

Good Luck,

Gary :cool:
 
#5 ·
The entrance to Kings Creek, at least the last time I was there, was silted in to about 4 feet at high tide.
Bay Creek has dredged Kings Creek and put in new private markers since I was last there. My brother takes his 5.5' draft in and has never had any problems. I did touch 4 years ago w/4' draft, but that was before the new marks were installed.
 
#4 ·
I'll second the city marina is pretty simple, and Kelly's Gingernut Pub is a must.

If your looking to go a bit more upscale, Bay Creek Marina on Kings Creek is one of the best marinas on the bay. Great facilities and a great restaurant, plus they'll give you bicycles to ride into town to Kelly's Pub. Boating - Bay Creek Resort and Club

Not many anchoring options, but it's worth the trip.
 
#6 ·
I was in cape charles in the summer of 2007 , they had just completed upgrading the city marina.
While we did not anchor in the harbor , I do remember seeing 2 other sailboats anchored there adjacent to the old rail yard area just west of the launch ramps.
Is the no anchoring restriction something new? and if so how is it that it is not permitted ?
I almost stopped there again last year but the wind picked up as I was approaching from Hampton so I continued on northward and anchored in cod bay on the SE end of Tangier Island near the "wreck" spent 3-4 days there until the wind shifted to give me a lee shore, then I left,
 
#7 ·
Good news about the marina. Many, many years ago, when I first traveled to Cape Charles, this marina was called Kings Creek Marina. The guy that owned it, Donny (can't remember his last name) lived in a stilt house perched on the dock. His mother-in-law lived in a stilt house on the opposite side of the dock. There were just a handful of charter fishing boats running from the marina, several commercial fishing boats, and the oysters in the creek were fat and succulent. One of the charter fishing captains, Otis Asal, was known for his knack for catching huge, black drum, many approaching 100 pounds. The fish were scaled with a garden hoe, and the scales made outstanding guitar picks. I think I still have a couple of them somewhere in the office.

At the time, the marina was pretty run down--my, how things have changed. I intend to put this location on my 2011 itinerary. Thanks for the link.

Gary :cool:
 
#8 ·
Can you shed any light on anchoring in the cape charles area and the anchoring restriction if any?
the state park seems a bit off the beaten path.
the kings creek area looks alot closer to the old town,is ancoring permitted in any part of kings creek?
We kinda liked the quite little town of cape charles and met friendly watermen there from tangier as well as from the town.
 
#9 ·
We love Cape Charles. It is a little sleepy, but that is part of the charm for us. We usually tie up at Bay Creek Marina, but that's the price of keeping my wife happy. If it was just me, the city marina would be fine.

You enter the channel to Cape Charles off of the bay well south of town and then head north parallel to the coast for quite a way. You can turn into the harbor/city marina or keep going past the breakwater and turn into King's Creek. Bay Creek does a good job keeping the channel marked, and they have good directions on their website. I have seen people anchored in King's Creek opposite the marina, but usually multihulls with shallow drafts. You can use Bay Creek's dinghy dock and facilities for a fee if your draft is shallow enough to allow anchoring out there.

The local museum is worth a visit it you have the time, the grocery store has an old fashioned soda fountain with awesome banana splits, and I also heartily recommend Kelly's.

You aren't that far away by car if you are in Norfolk. You could always drive up and scout it out by car. All the channel markers are visible from the beach.

Chris
 
#10 ·
Joe,

I'm not sure if there is a "no anchor" restriction there, but there is a fair amount of traffic, both commercial and recreational in this area, which could make anchoring a bit difficult. Additionally, there's a pretty hefty tidal change here and loads of things to snag your anchor upon--rocks, cables, etc...

Cod Harbor used to be one of the best locations in lower Tangier Sound for catching weakfish and flounder that I know of, particularly a spot the locals refer to as California. The wreck you passed was one of my favorite locations to catch swelling toads, which stacked up among the rusted hulk of the Tangier Wreck. The fist time I fished this particular area the wreck was intact, but naval aircraft from Patuxent Naval Air Station used it as a strafing target until most of it was blown apart. There are remnants of several other wrecks in that area: San Marcos, Old Texas, Davidson and American Mariner. The only one that is still above the water is the American Mariner. The others are now navigation hazards that could rip the bottom out of a boat in a heartbeat.

Good Luck,

Gary :cool:
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the anchoring info in cape Charles as well as kings creek, I only draw 3-4 gepending on loading.
I was refering to the wreck or the small manhaden ship just of the beach on the SE side of Tangier. I think you were refering to the large one to the west of the Island. cause if they were strafing the one I anchored neer I suspect the folks on tangier would be a bit nervous! as it's about 3/4 mile from the church !
 
#12 ·
The bunker boat is a relatively new wreck, one that I didn't know existed until I talked with one of the local Crisfield charter captains a couple months ago. The Tangier Wreck is on the west side about 1.5 miles from the beach. You really can't see the wreck--just some of the ship's I-beam ribs protruding just a few inches above the surface. The only target ship that is still above the water is the American Mariner, which is about 6-miles northwest of Smith Island. The only navigation hazard there is the remnants of the Old Hannibal, which is completely submerged. The Hannibal's boilers are about 50 feet west of the American Mariner. If you have some diving gear onboard, the water is just 18 feet deep and you can find lots of high-quality anchors attached to the boilers and surrounding debris. The anchors are lost every season by unwary anglers that try to anchor close to the ship to catch tautog. Once an anchor is wedged in the midst of several tons of steel the only way to retrieve it is with diving gear.

Good Luck,

Gary :cool:
 
#13 · (Edited)
Anchoring restrictions, from the Coast Pilot

"There is public access to the bulkheads and slips at
the eastern end of the harbor. Anchoring is forbidden in
any part of the harbor or the basins. A "no-wake" speed
limit is enforced. A harbormaster enforces harbor regulations,
and a dockmaster supervises docking at the
municipal facilities. Gasoline, diesel fuel, and water are
available. Some marine supplies may be obtained in
town."

It is a customs port of entry, the Coast Guard has active operations, and barges come and go. Thus, no anchoring.

Often, when asking the Coast Guard for information about a specific harbor or passage, they will reffer the recreational sailor to the NOAA Coast Pilot as the primary information source.
 
#14 · (Edited)
We opted to stay at Bay Creek Marina last year on our Southern bay cruise instead of Cape Charles, for several reasons...one being it was hot as hell and the kids wanted to go swimming...docking between two work boats wasn't what the admiral desired either ;). I have heard they were planning to fix up the public docks though?

BCM is very nice, reminds me of what homes in Bermuda would look like. The cleanest and swankiest bathrooms I've ever seen in a marina. The pool was silly small compared to the resort. The restaurant was okay, but consider I can be tough customer to please. The marina has floating dock and is looks new, and its big (a bike would have been nice...maybe a golf cart LOL). Oh...and that channel up into the creek and marina...a good 30 +/- minutes or more, and not one I would want to do in any kind of rough weather...and we only draw 4'!!!

I wouldn't go back to BCM, next time we're south we will stay in Cape Charles for sure...I was bummed we never got into the town...oh well, next time :)

A few pics of the marina:





 
#15 ·
Shawn,

You could have walked to town from there--it's only about a half-mile or so. A big thumbs up for the photos. I may still have some from the 1970s when I first went to Kings Creek Marina. You have to make sure you walked on the portion of the dock ONLY where the support trusses provided sufficient strength to hold the weight of a person. Back then, most of the dock boards were rotted and a couple commercial captains pushing wheelbarrows of crabs broke through. Some of the locals got together and pitched in enough money to buy some rough-cut oak planks from the local saw mill and provide much needed repairs. Trouble with those 2-inch-thick, red-oak boards was they were too tough to drive a nail through. Each board had to be drilled so it could be nailed in place. It took nearly six months to complete the repairs.

Thanks again for the info,

Gary :cool:
 
#16 ·
Gary,

We would have gone into town...got distracted by the pool and the community at BCM ;) On that same trip we passed by Ononcock (sp?) too...good reasons to make the trek back South someday :)

BTW, does anyone know of links to all the various wrecks around the bay ( the more notorious ones of course). Sounds interesting, I would like to learn more.
 
#19 ·
We would have gone into town...got distracted by the pool and the community at BCM ;) On that same trip we passed by Ononcock (sp?) too...good reasons to make the trek back South someday :)
Next time you're down that way, make the trip up the creek to Onancock...

Haven't been in there lately, but I doubt too much has changed... Beautiful community, and very friendly...
 
#18 ·
#22 ·
We never did make into Cape Charles. We were have such a relaxing time at anchor we just sayed put. Did some swimming and just enjoyed doing nothing! Sail over from Norfolk was great- 15kts. Put A reef in while sailing, had some pretty good swells too. Sail back was not so much fun light winds in seemingly every direction. Wind was dominantly coming from our home so we tacked a bit.....about 4miles from home wind died. I was done with the sun and heat so i fired up the engine and motored home:( . All in all a great weekend and time spent on the water with my wife.
 

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