Cape Hatteras one more time

richforman · 03-13-2008, 04:41 PM

I know this has been talked about in other threads (did a search!) but let me ask again for a general answer: is the Cape Hatteras area viable for a riding-focused vacation for me and my wife over the summer? I see the consensus seems to be that pwc's are banned on the ocean there but that you can ride on the Pamlico (?) sound which (I think) is between the barrier islands and the mainland. Is that enough good interesting/pleasant/scenic riding area to fill a few days of exploration and rec riding? How many miles wide and across is the sound? Are there beaches, coves, islands, parks to ride among and stop at? Is there a decent chance of getting calm flat conditions to ride around in? One of my wife's favorite interests as far as riding with me, is to take photos of lighthouses from on board my 'ski and the reason she came up with this a possible suggestion is that the lighthouse there is one of the most famous ones on the coast. Would it be possible/legal to ride though the inlet and ride close enough to the lighthouse for her to snap some pics? Even if we could, are conditions there generally too rough/scary near that point for us to even want to do it? (Remember this is two-up riding with my generally landlubbing wife on the back, heavy winds and surf are not conducive!)

What say you? As I've talked about in some other threads, we have had very enjoyable vacations with my 'ski in SW Florida and the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River in upstate NY. I always figured Outer Banks would be another good destination to hit some day but some of what I'm reading makes me unsure of how much potential it has for a jetskiing trip. Affordable hotels near ramps or with their own on any of the barrier islands?

Thanks guys,
richforman

surfer8210 · 03-14-2008, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richforman

I know this has been talked about in other threads (did a search!) but let me ask again for a general answer: is the Cape Hatteras area viable for a riding-focused vacation for me and my wife over the summer? I see the consensus seems to be that pwc's are banned on the ocean there but that you can ride on the Pamlico (?) sound which (I think) is between the barrier islands and the mainland. Is that enough good interesting/pleasant/scenic riding area to fill a few days of exploration and rec riding? How many miles wide and across is the sound? Are there beaches, coves, islands, parks to ride among and stop at? Is there a decent chance of getting calm flat conditions to ride around in? One of my wife's favorite interests as far as riding with me, is to take photos of lighthouses from on board my 'ski and the reason she came up with this a possible suggestion is that the lighthouse there is one of the most famous ones on the coast. Would it be possible/legal to ride though the inlet and ride close enough to the lighthouse for her to snap some pics? Even if we could, are conditions there generally too rough/scary near that point for us to even want to do it? (Remember this is two-up riding with my generally landlubbing wife on the back, heavy winds and surf are not conducive!)

What say you? As I've talked about in some other threads, we have had very enjoyable vacations with my 'ski in SW Florida and the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River in upstate NY. I always figured Outer Banks would be another good destination to hit some day but some of what I'm reading makes me unsure of how much potential it has for a jetskiing trip. Affordable hotels near ramps or with their own on any of the barrier islands?

Thanks guys,
richforman

Hey Rich, long time no see or chat. Let me know if you need any info on "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" as I've been there about twenty times over the years to surf the area.
For starters it a great place to ride even if you only stayed on the sound side. I'm sure you won't have to though as I believe they've recently opened the hatteras island area up to PWCs.
Summer is great and a Noah weather radio is a must as conditions can change radically in a short period of time.
Your sure to get more responses from others who've been there with PWCs.
Get in touch anyway, almost time to ride soon.

mccann316 · 04-11-2008, 03:47 PM

I drove all the way down there with two PWC's from NY a few years ago on vacation and never even took them off the trailer. All we saw was no PWC signs all over. There was a place that rented ancient PWC's but you had to ride within a buoy course in very shallow water. From what I saw the Bay is extremely shallow almost everywhere. My X's father said they were allowed there so I never questioned it until we arrived. I never saw one except at that rental place but I saw millions of signs everywhere banning them. I was told if you could find a place to lauch and never came to shore you would be ok but wasn't worth the hassle.

Roombo · 04-23-2008, 05:23 PM

I agree with mccann. My father lives on the Albamarle Sound, around 30 miles across from Kitty and we never go, all the research Iv'e done concludes that it's more of a pain in th a** then it's worth, at least in the northen part of OBX around Oregon inlet. If the Pamlico sound is anything like the Albamarle be carefull, it gets rough real fast. The intercoastal waterway from Elizibeth city up is nice, no light houses though.

richforman · 04-23-2008, 05:48 PM

Thanks a lot for the info fellas, I kinda let the idea die and made a different vacation plan for the summer anyway, for 4th of July weekend which is also our 5th wedding anniversary, we are gonna ride to and stay for a few nights on Block Island about 34 miles off Orient Point, there are three lighthouses nearby for my wife to click pics of (two on B.I. and then Judith Point 9 miles away on the Rhode Island coast) and spend a few days exploring the whole island on foot and bicycles, it is supposed to be really beautiful, I have only been at the two harbors but never seen the whole rest of the island. I wouldn't really have any bread for a vacation but I decided to allot my stimulus check toward that when it comes next month, hopefully my trip will save the economy.

richforman

Roombo · 04-24-2008, 10:47 AM

Block Island is great, huge boats hammering into the inlet, scary has hell sometimes. FYI, fog can roll in fast around there. Look up a small Island called Cuttyhunk, near the Vinyard so it's far, great destination though. Have fun.

Darren94 · 05-14-2008, 05:05 PM

so, can you ride in the sound/intercoastal/bay? i was planning on taking the skis this year.

richforman · 05-14-2008, 05:24 PM

Hey Roombo, yeah in fact a friend and I wanted to make it from L.I. to Martha's Vineyard (and back!) a summer or two back, didn't make it that far (got a little past Providence before we ended up turning around), we didn't start out quite as early as we needed to and conditions got a little rough in the afternoon, but that's on our list of "missions" to accomplish one of these days.

richforman

Va Superjet · 05-14-2008, 10:57 PM

Yes you can ride in the sound. Cape Hatteras national seashore is all a protected area so no beaching is allowed. You can beach at islands in the sound, but I am not sure where or which ones. The sound is fraky, one minute you're in 10 feet of water, next you're in less than a foot. No good markers anywhere to show channels. To get out in the ocean is a joke, it's really far from the private ramps you are allowed to use, and you can't beach anywhere to take a break. I've brought skis there b4, after the great PWC banning and never take them off the trailer. If you want to ride surf, get up with the Wavejunkies in VB and ride with them, they have ramps where you can put in and get to the ocean.

Roombo · 05-16-2008, 10:59 AM

Hey richforman, It gets crazy out there. We were coming back from Block Island going to Thames river Ct on our 38 Silverton, the radar showed a huge piece of land directly in front of us, turns out it was a nuclear sub creating a 10-15 wake! Amazing.