Hobie Cat Forums

Can anybody suggest a good overnight trip camping with the Hobie Cat out on the NC Coast? I'm in Charlotte NC with a Hobie ready to jump into the ocean.

Related note: If anybody would like to join me I would entertain a planned group trip.

-Erick

If you're looking for a place to camp and sail out of- Frisco Woods campground on Hatteras is great- right on the sound and you can leave the boat rigged on the beach. For an overnighter, Portsmouth island might be doable- you'd have to inquire of NPS, but I'm not real sure of places to sail from Ocracoke--- Dave

Newbie here bumping an old thread.

I would recommend Cape Lookout, easily accessible from Harkers Island, NC.

hey can you sail there in the winter with a drysuit? we are thinking about heading south over xmas for a week or so and want to know how far we'll have to drive.

I would think so. I've really just started ocean sailing this year but have been sailing in local lakes for a few more. When I decided that I wanted to further my sailing season I got a ronstan full steamer wetsuit and started in early March on the lakes and was fine. The lake I normally sail on is pretty small and shallow and probably gets colder that the ocean water, don't hold me to it, it's merely my own speculation. Not really the dead of winter I know, but I feel I could have started a little sooner. NC weather can be kind of funny, from year to year the differences in temps throughout the seasons tend to fluctuate quite a bit. Some winters are cold as the dickens, at least for us Carolinians, and some are relatively mild. But, you can count on the summers being hot with 80-100% humidity on a regular. Step outside and sweating within seconds sometimes. I'm sure others will chime in, maybe some folks that actually do it, but I haven't yet invested in a good drysuit.

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James
83' H16
Sail # 76909

i guess we'll stop in NC and stick our feet in the water. it its too cold...we'll get back in the car and keep driving south

Reviving an old thread! Finally got a minute away from work to get down here- coming down I saw windsurfers at Canadian hole in wetsuits! 'Course, they're probably Canadians ! The sound feels like maybe low 60's- in the shallows on a sunny day! If there's a breeze tomorrow, maybe I'll drag the 14 down and give it a shot!

For several years I have launched into the sound at the ferry ramp in Rodanthe and sailed the boat to a beach for the week. With beach wheels it will not be hard to launch on the ocean side from several places including the Rodanthe Pier or possibly even the parking area around MP30.

I've only kept the boat on the ocean side beach once, but it wasn't a problem at all. Normally I keep it at the end of one of the streets dead-ending at the sound. This is in the off-season.

I would not launch from New Inlet (about MP36). It's shallow for a LONG time as you head into the sound.

There's also a nice concrete ramp just south of the ferry slip but it seems to be owned by Kitty Hawk Kites.

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'78 H16 - 32692 ex-rental
'00 H16 - 104691
Old Holsclaw trailer