Do any of you folks sail the Albemarle or Pamlico Sound? I saw a ton of sailboats down in Oriental, but most of the boats in the Wanchese/Manteo area seem to be motorboats. I did see a catamaran(Stiletto?) in a slip down near Avon/Hatteras, wouldn't a shallow shoal keeled monohull or Cat be OK in the sounds? I'm Interested in buying a 27-31' boat, I know the sounds are very shallow.

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I'm a powerboat owner. Very little sailing overall. The Outer Banks is all about Fishing. The only small concentration of Sails is in Colington and a very very in Manteo. Oriental is the Sailing Capital of the Coast.

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I have sailed the area with a Beneteau Evasion 32 (4.6 draft). I owned a slip at shallow bag bay but sold it because it's shallow bag bay, lol. The sound is no problem motoring if you pay attention to your charts but the area in general is shallow and not somewhere you want to be tacking back and forth with anything over a 4ft draft. ...even then it's shoaly. A Cat might work but stay out of the Oregon inlet. Better sailing down Belhaven and South...

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Cat be OK in the sounds?

A cat boat (not catamaran) might be your best option, but as you well know, it's shallow; but if you get out a bit, plenty of water.

I think the real issue (we're boat folks, just not here) is where are you going to be sailing out of? Hatteras Village/Frisco area have a few very cool places to noodle around in. But as you head north (but south of OI) there is just less and less to see/no islands/shoals/etc; I mean how many times can you tool around Gull Island?

And, my silly opinion, a 30ish catboat is just about the coolest most chill vessel around!

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Phillips Boatworks in Buxton. I know they do tours, and I think lessons, but they may be a resource for you.

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Their fb page:

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I would think a Hobie Cat would be best in the sounds. Easy to launch, easy to sail and ideal for shallow water. They are a lot of fun when you can get one toon out of the water and hit 20+ knots.

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I would think a Hobie Cat would be best in the sounds. Easy to launch, easy to sail and ideal for shallow water. They are a lot of fun when you can get one toon out of the water and hit 20+ knots.

Oh, absolutely the best (and if in shallow water can't totally turtle). A Cats, too.

I just "assumed" the OP was potentially overnighting - I can tell you spending the night on a Hobie is NOT what you wanna do

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I would think a Hobie Cat would be best in the sounds. Easy to launch, easy to sail and ideal for shallow water. They are a lot of fun when you can get one toon out of the water and hit 20+ knots.

We sailed a Hobie 16' for a good 15 years out in the sound, and it was the ideal craft for the shoals and shallows.

She planed out in a roughly10-knot wind, and would literally jump waves AND bars in the 15-20K range! Anything above 20K and you had to reef the mainsail and put the crew out in the harness to keep it from flipping, which happened more than once in all those years.

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be living in Nags Head in the near future. There is sound access with no ramp in my development that has mostly kayaks and a few Hobies, they are a blast and I was definitely considering one. I am leaning towards a 30' cat or trimaran to stay aboard overnight on the weekends, and they have shallow draft as well. Sounds like a slip at Belhaven or Oriental would still be a better spot for that, or maybe north somewhere near Norfolk? The next time I'm in the area ill get down to Oriental and meet some folks.

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be living in Nags Head in the near future. There is sound access with no ramp in my development that has mostly kayaks and a few Hobies, they are a blast and I was definitely considering one. I am leaning towards a 30' cat or trimaran to stay aboard overnight on the weekends, and they have shallow draft as well. Sounds like a slip at Belhaven or Oriental would still be a better spot for that, or maybe north somewhere near Norfolk? The next time I'm in the area ill get down to Oriental and meet some folks.

You'll be fine with pretty much any 30ft Cat. Even a swing keel will get you out of the shallows and there are several models that you can trailer and overnight with. Just make sure you outfit with a sail you can reef as some of the mid sized trailer-able swing keel boats come with mainsails and jibs that can't readily do it. Without that ability you will eventually capsize with an overpowered headsail on the sound when wind gets unpredictable. Swing keels are notoriously light on ballast.

Something like this Newport 17 could be properly outfitted to do what you need cheap and easy without a slip. I own one and have had it in the sound AND the ocean and have overnighted with it.

Click to follow link...

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be living in Nags Head in the near future. There is sound access with no ramp in my development that has mostly kayaks and a few Hobies, they are a blast and I was definitely considering one. I am leaning towards a 30' cat or trimaran to stay aboard overnight on the weekends, and they have shallow draft as well. Sounds like a slip at Belhaven or Oriental would still be a better spot for that, or maybe north somewhere near Norfolk? The next time I'm in the area ill get down to Oriental and meet some folks.

You'll be fine with pretty much any 30ft Cat. Even a swing keel will get you out of the shallows and there are several models that you can trailer and overnight with. Just make sure you outfit with a sail you can reef as some of the mid sized trailer-able swing keel boats come with mainsails and jibs that can't readily do it. Without that ability you will eventually capsize with an overpowered headsail on the sound when wind gets unpredictable since swing keels are notoriously light on ballast.

Something like this Newport 17 could be properly outfitted to do what you need cheap and easy without a slip. I own one and have had it in the sound AND the ocean and have overnighted with it.

Click to follow link...

Reminds me of a West Wight Potter

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be living in Nags Head in the near future. There is sound access with no ramp in my development that has mostly kayaks and a few Hobies, they are a blast and I was definitely considering one. I am leaning towards a 30' cat or trimaran to stay aboard overnight on the weekends, and they have shallow draft as well. Sounds like a slip at Belhaven or Oriental would still be a better spot for that, or maybe north somewhere near Norfolk? The next time I'm in the area ill get down to Oriental and meet some folks.

You'll be fine with pretty much any 30ft Cat. Even a swing keel will get you out of the shallows and there are several models that you can trailer and overnight with. Just make sure you outfit with a sail you can reef as some of the mid sized trailer-able swing keel boats come with mainsails and jibs that can't readily do it. Without that ability you will eventually capsize with an overpowered headsail on the sound when wind gets unpredictable since swing keels are notoriously light on ballast.

Something like this Newport 17 could be properly outfitted to do what you need cheap and easy without a slip. I own one and have had it in the sound AND the ocean and have overnighted with it.

Click to follow link...

Reminds me of a West Wight Potter

This one is pretty cool.


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Yeah, resurrecting an older thread.... searched "sailing" and this popped up. Very cool story about some of our local sailors!

Hatteras Sailing students take a field trip to Annapolis to participate in Night Racing event

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So happy for them! I remember when this sailing club began a few years ago in Avon when they used the old "marina" in the Mill Creek area of Avon before they moved to Buxton.

Our past home was on Cobia Way...Mill Creek area...on a canal, but the "canal" was rather wide and the sailors had plenty of room. It was enjoyable watching their practices from the dock. A lot of young girls were beginning sailors which was great.

Thanks, OB.

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