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| Cruising Guide to Coastal North Carolina Claiborne S. Young Excerpt p.221-222 Vandemere Creek Anchorage 35 11.397N/076 39.202 W Vandemere, once the seat of Pamlico County, is today a small fishing village whose harbor is lined by picturesque seafood docks. The village harbor guards the Bay River’s northern banks north-northwest of flashing day beacon #5. Minimum approach depths run around 6 feet. Fresh seafood can sometimes be purchased at the town wharves, but there are no facilities catering specifically to cruisers. Vandemere Creek runs north and northeast from its like-named village, and plays host to one of the best new anchorages to make its appearance in this edition of Cruising Guide to Coastal North Carolina. Over the years fellow cruisers had told me about anchoring on the upper Vandemere Creek, but every time we tried to imitate them, shallow soundings kept making an appearance on our depth finder. A quick study of chart 11548 will yield the source of this difficulty, namely the surroundings, hitherto unmarked shoals. All that has now changed, decidedly, for the better. The Vandemere Creek entrance channel has been well marked with small, unlighted spar-type buoys. By following these helpful aids to navigation, skippers can now expect minimum 6-foot depts. For good shelter and maximum swinging room, we strongly suggest anchoring on the broad section of the channel, west of the streams’ 90-degree turn to the north. Good depths of 6.5 feet or better and complemented by excellent shelter from all winds, save gusty southwesterly blows, and enough elbow room for a 40-footer. A few homes and cabins peep out from the banks, but these tend to add to, rather than detract from, the creek’s eye candy. You would have to look far and wide to find a better anchorage than what you will discover on the waters of Vandemere Creek. With its new, welcome markings, even mariners without the benefit of electronic navigation can enjoy this haven. |
| Port Vandemere Inc./537 Oriental Road/ Oriental NC 28571 Toll Free 1-800-813-8492 Local 252-249-3030 e-mail thomas@portvandemere.com |
