Tag: regional updates

Festival and Food in Oriental, North Carolina

Cruisers migrating south along the ICW this fall should time their stops in Oriental, North Carolina, to coincide with a few special weekends. The 3rd Annual “Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival” takes place on Saturday, October 15th. The town invites musicians from around the region to play from the porches of homes and businesses along the waterfront with a selection of folk, blues, country, and pop features. Shiloh Hills and The Carmonas are headlining the festival this year and will take the main stage overlooking the Neuse River at 3:30PM. The festival will take place rain or shine since alternate indoor locations have been arrranged.

On October 22nd a seasonal favorite spices up Oriental Harbor with the 9th Annual Chili Cook-Off from 11AM to 2PM at the Oriental Marina and Inn. Local chefs offer a variety of chili to taste, and proceeds from the $10 admission tickets support the local theatre. At the conclusion of the event, visitors vote for their favorite chili.

If you don’t get enough to eat at the Chili Cook-Off there’s a new grocery store in Oriental. This favorite ICW stop has been without a grocery store for some time, but the owner of a nearby Piggly Wiggly opened a well-stocked, brand new store in town. Locally and lovingly referred to as the “Piglet”, it’s only a short drive or bike ride from the nearby marinas.

ICW Local Knowledge
A prized possession of all boating enthusiasts is “local knowledge”—a familiarity with conditions in their home waters. Knowing where they may run aground at low tide keeps local cruisers out of trouble, but cruising in unknown waters presents a challenge. Hank Pomeranz is making cruises in unknown waters much easier. Pomeranz offers a free seminar sponsored by Zimmerman Marine and Southport Marina titled Weather and Navigation Briefs on the Dock every evening during peak ICW cruising season. Transient mariners get “local knowledge” of the shifting ICW channel north and south of the marina’s location near the mouth of Cape Fear River. Pomeranz refines his seminar each day by taking reports from cruisers that call in conditions. Attendees also receive a detailed weather forecast for the following 36 hours, which Pomeranz is uniquely qualified to present as a retired U.S. Navy meteorologist. The seminars are scheduled to begin in mid-October and will run every evening at 6PM for two months.

Long Awaited Seagate Yacht Club
Delray Beach has one of the most vibrant downtown centers in all of Florida and will be even easier to visit by boat with the opening of the Seagate Yacht Club on November 1st with a new clubhouse, pool and captain’s lounge. The Seagate Yacht Club is on the property of the former Delray Beach Yacht Club only a few blocks south of the Atlantic Avenue Bridge over the ICW. The club is open to both members and transient cruisers and is an easy walk away from great shopping and award-winning restaurants along Atlantic Avenue.

By Bob Arrington, Southern Boating Magazine October 2016

Fishing, Festivities and Fees

The Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC) is one of the world’s best resorts for sailors, from its nearly always placid North Sound Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands setting to its over 100 vessel fleet of monohull sailboats, performance catamarans and windsurfers. It’s in this vein of catering to sailors of all skills that the BEYC started its Pro Am Regatta 30 years ago. The event is set for October 22-29 this year and pairs professional sailors with amateurs during a week chock-full of festivities that includes fleet racing, team racing and match racing. “We are pulling out all the stops for our 30th anniversary,” says John Glynn, vice president of sales and marketing. “The skipper’s list includes past winners like Ed Baird and Taylor Canfield, plus crowd favorites and industry legends like Dave Perry and Dave Ullman, plus three to five other skippers to be announced.” The event is sailed in IC 24s, a modified J/24 design, with four guests per boat and a rotating pro sailor on the helm. In addition to the racing, guests and pros can mingle at nightly dinners, cocktail cruises and entertaining gatherings. Guests can ask the pros pointed questions about the America’s Cup, Olympics, One Design Racing, and other topics at the highly anticipated Scuttlebutt “State of the Sport” Forum. Cruisers are welcome at the cocktail functions and, in some instances, can join the racing fun. The Pro Am’s Defiance Day coastal races to The Baths for lunch and back are open to all boats, including cruising catamarans. beyc.com/compete

Fishing on B.V.I. charters

As of July 1st, The Moorings power catamaran fleet in the B.V.I. are registered fishing vessels, which allows charter guests to fish after obtaining a proper fishing license. The decision to register the yachts followed a reinforced fishing policy by the B.V.I. government. Fishing in the B.V.I. is highly rated with plentiful amounts of tarpon, kingfish and barracuda. moorings.com

U.S.V.I. mooring fee increase

Unchanged for more than 20 years, annual costs for anchoring and mooring in the U.S.V.I. were increased in May to $10/foot for pleasure craft, $15/foot for liveaboards and $20/foot for commercial craft. Visiting craft can still moor or drop anchor for free for up to 14 days per year; moorings in the Virgin Islands National Park on St. John still charge a fee for overnight use.

Trio of Billfishing Tournaments

Whether you’re cruising to the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles or further south to the ABC islands this month, you’ll find a great billfishing tournament. The Port Antonio International Marlin Tournament takes place October 1-8 out of the same-named port on the northeast coast of Jamaica. The week of angling for big blues is punctuated by a native canoe fishing tournament on the layday plus nightly parties. Next up is the Varadero Aruba Caribbean Cup set for October 20-23 out of Varadero Marina & Boatyard in Aruba; the opportunity to catch a Grand Slam has long hooked anglers on this event. Finally, the St. Lucia International Billfish Tournament is scheduled for October 25-29 out of Island Global Yachting’s Rodney Bay Marina on St. Lucia. Newly placed fish aggregration devices (FADs) should increase the likelihood of fantastic fishing as well as an opportunity to break the island’s 707-pound blue marlin record and win a new car. jamaicasportsfishing.com; preschallenge.com; facebook.com/slugamefishingassociation

By Carol Bareuther, Southern Boating Magazine October 2016

 

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