Ocracoke Inlet - Local Knowledge

[Captain Bill]

I'm planning on going out of Ocracoke inlet on Saturday Morning May 22. Has anyone been out the inlet this spring? If so, how is the inlet . Ocracoke inlet often changes dramatically with the seasons so I'm looking for recent knowledge. I will be in a Cat that draws 4 feet. Thanks in advance for any help.

[yardpro]

wow that's a lot of water for a cat....

i am just south of there and am interested as we will be planning a trip there this summer..

love to join you but the 22 is my birthday so we will be celebrating at home in morehead....

[witzgall]

I would not go through there unless I had some good local knowledge from folks that have gone through days before, and I trusted. Most likely this will be from a power boater.fisherman.

Chris

[ggray]

Call the Coast Guar.d there for a very conservative assessment

[stevesailor]

the last time i went out that inlet was a year ago. then it was pretty straightforward, following reds and greens, except for when you got to the last sets of bouys there was serious shoaling on the greens. the shoaling was really obvious with any waves though, so we just stayed far away from the last two green sea bouys and were completely fine drawing 4.5.

for recent knowledge go into silver lake. the dockmaster has a chart for sale of current conditions but its pretty useless, as its just following reds and greens. we talked to the fishing boat crews since they leave every day out of that inlet they know exactly whats going on. you can also hail the coastguard and they can give you info.

it was a really easy experience though after we found the right people to talk to.

[Captain Bill]

We successfully went out Ocracoke inlet on Saturday morning. The tide was low and running out at high speed. The channel was pretty deep for the most part with more than 12 feet except for a small area near the tip of the island where it got down to 6 feet. That only last a hundred feet or so then started dropping off again. We found the channel well marked and easy to follow if a bit winding. The rollers were coming directly down the channel once we cleared the tip of the island. There were also refracted and relected waves off of the various bars and with the current running against them at 2.5 knots it got a bit spirited but nothing dangerous. Once we cleared the channel things settled right down and we had a beautiful motor most of the way to Cape Lookout. There was almost no wind until we got abeam of the cape where we finnally got to do a little sailing.

I did see a Cat run aground just north of the Morehead City-Beaufort bridge on the ICW. This information is for anyone coming in Beufort Inlet. The markers on the south side of the bridge are harbor markers and follow the RRR rule. The markers on the North side of the bridge are ICW markers and follow the rule that Red is on the left proceeding northward. This poor fellow in the cat didn't realize they had changed and tried to keep the red to starboard. He was behind me and I didn't see what he was doing until I heard the crunch which was audible even over the din of my engines. Towboat US got him off a couple of hours later at least it sounded like he was back underway from a couple of his radio calls.

Thanks to all who replied.