Anyone familiar with Cape Fear area (maybe CapeFear)?

I’m heading to Charleston in a couple of days. My intent is to get my still newish boat in some water a little less placid than the local lake, and also to evaluate some different approaches to paddling in the wind. However, for the latter, C’ton isn’t looking to be particularly windy over the next week or so. The most wind I can find in the forecast, and still within driving distance of Atlanta, is up around the Cape Fear area. So after a few days in C’ton, if I am still wanting, I was thinking I might head north. I’m quite familiar with Charleston but not at all with Cape Fear. I thought about doing a circumnavigation of Bald Head Island but when I switch to satellite view on Google maps, it looked like the inlet that used to be on the north side of the island, thus making it an island, might be closed (and after Hurricane Florence, I’m not terribly trusting of any mapping data). I could still play around on the back side of the “island”, maybe including Zeke’s Island Reserve. I’m curious what the south side of Bald Head Island (the open ocean side that runs kind of northwest-southeast) is like in terms of surf (I’d be most happy with mild stuff - maybe no more than a couple of feet and rounded more than crashing/dumping), and how fast the current out of the Cape Fear River is if you hit it close to maximum ebb. Alternatively, or in addition, I would probably be staying at Carolina Beach State Campground so I could maybe leave from there and head up Snow’s cut and, if the conditions were reasonable, poke my head out of the inlet to the ocean. Anyway, if anyone would like to chime in with some local knowledge I’d be appreciative. And that does include restaurant recommendations as well!

Thanks,
Dave

I paddled that area but only once. We put in at a public launch near the inlet and played in the inlet. Then we paddled Snow’s Cut to the Cape Fear and just explored a bit. Turned around and paddled back to the take out. The thing I remember is that a local told us that because of the river and the inlet and the wind and God knows how many other variables it was damn near impossible to accurately predict what the current would be like in Snow’s Cut. Another thing that struck me… we went on one of the last beautiful, warm weekends of the year and it was like the third world. Many, many people fishing from the shore and lots of boat traffic. Wouldn’t have been surprised to see women beating clothes on rocks. Not at all sorry that I went. I think a weekday would have been better, though.

Some advice

  1. Stay out of Snows cut, current can be wicked going against. It was like paddling up stream with rapids.
  2. Bald island is no longer an island

Hi Dave! Congratulations on your new boat!

“I thought about doing a circumnavigation of Bald Head Island but when I switch to satellite view on Google maps, it looked like the inlet that used to be on the north side of the island, thus making it an island, might be closed (and after Hurricane Florence, I’m not terribly trusting of any mapping data).”

Correct. The times I’ve circumnavigated around Cape Fear, I’ve launched/landed from the public beach access at Fort Fisher/Cape Fear River access at Fort Fisher. There’s about a mile in between the two, but it works to drop off your kayak, drive to the takeout and park your car, then walk the mile back and paddle - or vice versa. That’s around a 20 mile paddle.

Alternatively, you could launch from Southport, paddle out to round Cape Fear (6 miles), then turn around and paddle back. (total around 12 miles without any playing around or wandering).

“I could still play around on the back side of the “island”, maybe including Zeke’s Island Reserve.”

It’s a nice, popular area to kayak without ocean exposure - unless you carry your kayak across the dunes.

" I’m curious what the south side of Bald Head Island (the open ocean side that runs kind of northwest-southeast) is like in terms of surf (I’d be most happy with mild stuff - maybe no more than a couple of feet and rounded more than crashing/dumping),"

Like anywhere, it really depends upon the day, the wave direction, period, and height, along with the tide level, and different shoaling formations leading up to the beach. In other words, you just don’t know. Two consecutive weekends in August, the first we had 3-5’ conditions along the south side of the island, the next we had 1-2’. And things undoubtedly changed to some degree after Florence. There are nice shoals at the mouth of the river that usually offer some fun.

“and how fast the current out of the Cape Fear River is if you hit it close to maximum ebb.”

Depends a lot on tide levels and river levels, but here are NOAA tidal current predictions and tide predictions for this coming weekend:
Saturday 10/20/18 tides: 4:52 am high tide, 11:02 am low tide, 6:13 pm high, 11:24 pm low
Saturday 10/20/18 currents: slack current 5:51 am, max current 10:05 am, slack 1:33 pm, max 2:52 pm

Sunday 10/21/18 tides: 5:37 am high, 11:46 am low, 5:56 pm high
Sunday 10/21/18 currents: Slack 6:45 am, max10:53 am, slack 2:21 pm, max 3:40 pm

Max current speed for those two days is predicted at 3.4 knots during the ebb, and 1.9 knots during the flood. Higher river levels mean lower flood current speed, and higher ebb current speed, as well as extending the time in which you have an ebb flow.

“Alternatively, or in addition, I would probably be staying at Carolina Beach State Campground so I could maybe leave from there and head up Snow’s cut and, if the conditions were reasonable, poke my head out of the inlet to the ocean.”

Take the ocean high tide and low tide times above, and add around an hour and 40 minutes to be around slack. So to time this paddle well, plan your paddle around ocean low tide. So Saturday, with 11:02 am as ocean low tide, the water will be ebbing from Carolina Beach State Park, through Snows Cut, all the way out of the inlet, until around 12:40 pm. Then you’ll have slack current, and it begins flooding back in for the next 6 hours. If you’re not sure about the conditions peaking out of Carolina Beach Inlet, wait until you’re sure the current will carry you back in before peaking out. If it’s easy conditions and you’re confident, you can go early, have the current help pull you out, ride a wave in, have current help pull you back out, ride in, etc. Just make sure you’re in full control in terms of ability to re-enter your kayaks in the ocean and get back into shore if you’re playing against a current pulling you out into the ocean.

I hope this is helpful. Carolina Beach State Park is a nice and inexpensive place to stay. Wrightsville Beach is another nice place to launch that’s just a short drive from there. I’m working M - F, 8 - 5. If you make it up this way, I’d love to make time to paddle with you on Saturday or Sunday, or any evening I could meet you for a quick paddle at 5:30ish.

In any case, I hope you enjoy your trip!

Consider also south of Charleston. The road out to Edisto Island/beach has several boat access places. One right on the highway where it crosses the intracoastal waterway. Steamboat landing is another out there and you can paddle out to the North Edisto River which pretty wide open salt marsh. In all the many times I’ve paddled there I can only remember one calm day. Watch the tides carefully they are pretty big so the trip needs some careful commonsense planning. When the tides are opposing the river current there can be some interesting turbulence as well.

I like Bull Island and Capers Island from Garris landing North of Charleston on US 17. The landing is part of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. it is about 21 miles to paddle around Bull Island and back to the landing. Lots of marsh and open water paddling in that area. You will want a chart as the marsh creeks can be confusing in that area, You can pick up a chart at the Sewee Outpost near the turn off from US 17 to the landing. Real nice beach on Bulls Island. Buck Hall farther up 17 is a nice place to camp if you plan to camp. Tides run from 5- 7 feet so paddle out with the out going tide and back on the incoming tide if possible.

@sedges said:
Consider also south of Charleston. The road out to Edisto Island/beach has several boat access places. One right on the highway where it crosses the intracoastal waterway. Steamboat landing is another out there and you can paddle out to the North Edisto River which pretty wide open salt marsh. In all the many times I’ve paddled there I can only remember one calm day. Watch the tides carefully they are pretty big so the trip needs some careful commonsense planning. When the tides are opposing the river current there can be some interesting turbulence as well.

That area is called the washing machine for good reason.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I got to Charleston Wednesday night and had all the wind I needed on Thursday. Got to try out and practice some things that I rarely get to try out back home. My boat, a Sterling Grand Illusion), seems to behave somewhat atypically - at least with me paddling it. First, in the 15-20 kt winds I was in, it hardly weathercocked at all (except going backwards in which case it weathercocked a lot which is good to know if I need to turn downwind). My provisional hypothesis is that the wind pressure on the upturned ends (both bow and stern - it has a lot of rocker) dominates over hydrostatic pressure differences on bow and stern and keeps it kind of pinned against the water on the lee side of the boat. Also because of the rocker, it’s footprint (or hull print [at least when unloaded]) is probably more of an elongated oval rather than a linear keel so that too I would think would minimize pinning of the bow and releasing the stern (e.g., in the same way that a floating beach ball would not weathercock). Again though, I’m just guessing. All I know for sure is how it behaved. In addition, it turned into the wind most easily with a bow sweep, and downwind most easily with a static stern pry. Stern rudders and bow rudders did very little to turn it upwind and little else was effective turning it downwind (other than backing up as mentioned, particularly with a stern draw on the upwind side). This seems contrary to most of what I have read.

Anyway, as I got my wind play time in, I won’t be making it up to Cape Fear but I greatly appreciate all the tips. I will keep the info for a future trip.

Dave

PS - regarding Bulls Bay, I was out there last summer and tried to go to the lighthouse. The sands had shifted since the last map was printed so I didn’t quite make it all the way but it was a fun trip. However, coming back to Buck Hall where I was camping (the skeeters were terrible BTW), the outgoing tide was rushing over top of that long shoal that kind of wraps around much of the Bay and I honestly was apprehensive of trying to cross it having had no experience in that area. Maybe it wasn’t so terrible but I imagined getting flipped and separated from my boat or hitting my head on the bottom (I wasn’t sure how deep the shoal was) and getting nipped by a shark or something (earlier in the day at another more modest shoal nearer the lighthouse, a small (18" maybe) shark almost jumped into my boat. So I struggled, and I do mean struggled, trying to make my way against the max ebb tidal current through a salt marsh backchannel that eventually got me to the same area.

Dave the next time you plan on heading up this way give me a heads up. I am very familiar with the Cape Romain area and love paddling there.

Yes the bugs numbers can compete with the Everglades at times.

A member of our group just got a Grand Illusion. Loves it.

What group is that String? I like mine a great deal as well. Hope to get a review up before long.
Will do Castoff.

@Monkeyhead said:
What group is that String? I like mine a great deal as well. Hope to get a review up before long.
Will do Castoff.

Sea Kayak Meetup in Greenville, SC. We have members from NC and GA also.