Boating in SC\NC

[swaterhouse]

I am in the early stages of looking for places to relocate and either the Charleston or HHI, SC areas or the Morehead City, NC area are on my list. Currently we live and boat in New England, specifically the south coast of Massachusetts. While our season is short, we do have some great boating up here. We don't fish, 75% of our boating is cruising for an overnight up to about 10 days at a time, and the rest is day trips - mostly to have lunch in a quiet cove or go to a restaurant. We have about 10 solid choices for day trips within about a 2 hour run (at 20 kts cruise), and 30-40 great overnight spots with a 4-8 hour run.

Boat goes in the water late May, real use is from late June through late September, and is hauled for season by end of October.

How do the Morehead City, Charleston or HHI areas compare?
What is the typical cruising season length (i.e. do people use their boats much in winter)?

 

[Lar694]

I live near Charleston SC, but keep our boat in Beaufort SC. You can boat year round here. I enjoy the "winter" months, as boat traffic is reduced as well as the bugs. Charleston can be a busy area, but either north or south is beautiful scenery with plenty of quiet anchorages. I prefer to be south of Charleston-just my choice-but many worthy day/week trips available. Savannah, Hilton Head, St Simon, North Florida to name a few. Feel free to message me for any info.

 

[ZZ13]

I am also in Beaufort (not to be confused with Beaufort, NC) at Port Royal Landing Marina. Great year round boating here. Lots of small barrier islands to anchor near. Morehead City might need you to go through winterizing. Not sure though.

We enjoy cruising both north to NC and south to middle-southern Florida from here. It's really a great central spot.

 

[JimT]

The climate in Morehead City is more of a temperate climate whereas Charleston and HHI are semitropical. The humidity and heat in the summer in the SC low country can be unbearable especially if you are coming from a cold weather climate.

Charleston and south from there you can boat year round. In Morehead City you will have some days when you can boat in January and February but you will also have some real cold weather, too. Both areas have plenty of great overnight destinations to explore. You really can't go wrong with any of these places.

 

[Alex F]

I am in the early stages of looking for places to relocate and either the Charleston or HHI, SC areas or the Morehead City, NC area are on my list. Currently we live and boat in New England, specifically the south coast of Massachusetts. While our season is short, we do have some great boating up here. We don't fish, 75% of our boating is cruising for an overnight up to about 10 days at a time, and the rest is day trips - mostly to have lunch in a quiet cove or go to a restaurant. We have about 10 solid choices for day trips within about a 2 hour run (at 20 kts cruise), and 30-40 great overnight spots with a 4-8 hour run.

Boat goes in the water late May, real use is from late June through late September, and is hauled for season by end of October.

How do the Morehead City, Charleston or HHI areas compare?
What is the typical cruising season length (i.e. do people use their boats much in winter)?

When we was faced with the same question, we picked Charleston. It was a great decision for us. I do agree that you could boat year round, but without a doubt you'll have cold temps (possibly below freezing cold snaps) during a pick time of winter months.

Realistically, doesn't matter where you go, don't expect to be swimming in the winter months. I'd say that avg temps are in mid 60s, at least that was the observation during our stay. We mostly did day cruises around Charleston area, as there are no "destinations" we could find within 20-30nm radius. This wasn't a concern as Charleston offers tons of entertainment. There's always something going on, pretty much on any given weekend. So, we had always things to do and see.

During spring break, we did an extensive cruise visiting Beaufort SC, HHI and Savana. The timing was great, as the weather had greatly improved. With temps being in mid 70's we focused on exploring and sites seeing vs. water activities.

I hope this helps a little.