NC/Mid Atlantic Gathering in 2015?

[robert843]

@Paulie It was awesome we saw a little of everything on that trip. I had to get talked into it due to the distance we left from Charleston Harbor at 11am tooled around the harbor for a bit and then headed up the river. We did 127 miles that day as we went up and back the same day spent a little time swimming up on the lake. Got back to Charleston around 6pm. The river was awesome once you left Charleston headed up there was literally one no wake zone the whole 56 mile trip up so you could cruise at your pleasure and stop and look at the things you wanted to look at.

 

[Paulie]

@robert843 Awesome! That's a trip that is definitely on my short list. Did you stay overnight in Charleston and if so, did you keep you boat in the water or on the trailer somewhere down there?

 

[Andy S]

If you guys decide to go away from the coastal theme I would vote for Lake Norman since you guys had already done Gaston and its about twice the size of Gaston. My first vote would still be a coastal theme either in NC or SC I truly believe it offers a lot more than any lake in SC and NC. We are also discussing a weekend though and honestly a coastal event may be over whelming for some just for a weekend there is so much to do and see that it would be tough to get everyone to agree on the plan for a weekend. One option that offers both is Lake Moultrie or Lake Marion both these lakes have access to the Ashley River thru some locks which is about a 50 mile run to Charleston. Charleston offers a pass through a naval base on the river and a beautiful ride through the low country. In Charleston you have Patriots Point with the Carrier Yorktown and a few submarines and other things also fort Sumter. You could make a whole day just with the run to Charleston and back to the lake with lots of things to see and do along the way. Probably the best trip i have ever done was the run from Charleston to Lake Marion. Here are some pics from May took are Friends boat and a jet ski.View attachment 14764 View attachment 14765 View attachment 14766 View attachment 14767

On their own Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie are not very good boating lakes, especially for a get together unless the get together was do some fishing. The run from Lake Marion through Lake Moultrie through the Pinopolis Locks and down the Cooper River (not the Ashley River) to Charleston is a great run and would be worthy of Jetboaters.net gathering.

Here is a thread I started about the trip, https://jetboaters.net/threads/columbia-to-charleston-sc.1286/#post-18308, which I still have not done yet.

The pros of the trip:
Convenient for many people, I95 runs across Lake Marion.
The trip to and from Charleston is a very interesting and uniqe journey.
Charleston has many locations to stay on the water, either on Cooper River side or on the Ashley River side of Charleston.
During the day there are many place to explore by boat: Fort Sumter, Morris Island Lighthouse, Ashley River, and inter-coastal waterways.
At night there is always Charleston to explore.

The cons of the trip:
On the return day, for some it might be a very long day of boat ride and trailering back home.

 

[Andy S]

If we get a decent amount of rain this spring I am going to do my best to make the run from Columbia to Lake Marion, hopefully I can make it work.

 

[justason]

@robert843 @andy07sx230ho

The Charleston to Marion trip was one that was discussed last year right? this does sound pretty cool
! Charleston is a solid 4 hours for me. the 2nd day plus the ride could be hard felt on Monday morning..

I still like Gaston for being kinda central(?) and easy, I've been wanting to see lake Norman but have never gotten there.....

where is this image from? , meaning by GPS co-ords or map screen capture.....I've heard of ships moth-balled in the rivers around Charleston but never found them....these be those??? can you get close to them?

 

[Andy S]

@justason Yes the Lake Marion to Charleston was discussed last year and nothing materialized for any gathering location, hopefully this year will be different.

 

[robert843]

@justason There is nothing stopping you from getting close to them. I came probably withing 100 yards to get a better look even the Aircraft Carrier at Patriots point we got within about 20 yards of it and a submarine they had over there. Near where all the ships where docked you pass a small active naval base that was the only area where you were restricted on how close you could get there where signs on the river telling you not to slow down through that area and to keep moving the even had their own security boat in the water keeping you moving but they had two what appeared to be active subs in dock as we passed so it may have out there for that purpose

https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.843827,-79.937682&spn=0.030106,0.028496&t=h&z=15

 

[robert843]

On their own Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie are not very good boating lakes, especially for a get together unless the get together was do some fishing. The run from Lake Marion through Lake Moultrie through the Pinopolis Locks and down the Cooper River (not the Ashley River) to Charleston is a great run and would be worthy of Jetboaters.net gathering.

Here is a thread I started about the trip, https://jetboaters.net/threads/columbia-to-charleston-sc.1286/#post-18308, which I still have not done yet.

The pros of the trip:
Convenient for many people, I95 runs across Lake Marion.
The trip to and from Charleston is a very interesting and uniqe journey.
Charleston has many locations to stay on the water, either on Cooper River side or on the Ashley River side of Charleston.
During the day there are many place to explore by boat: Fort Sumter, Morris Island Lighthouse, Ashley River, and inter-coastal waterways.
At night there is always Charleston to explore.

The cons of the trip:
On the return day, for some it might be a very long day of boat ride and trailering back home.

@andy07sx230ho you are very correct on all counts. Sorry i get these rivers mixed up from time to time the road I live on in Myrtle Beach is Ashley River Rd so I think i got it mixed up sorry it is the Cooper River. Also agree i would not want to stay on either one of those lakes the trip it self was great but the lakes where nice but not really a lot to do on them. We only made it to Lake Moultrie I did not go all the way to Marion. I did have to go all the way to that side of lake Moultire by the power plant to get fuel as the only other spot we found by the lock didn't have any at that time. I just found out today i got my promotion through work and I will be moving to Columbia Jan 1st so no matter what happens with this gathering if you want to make the run in the spring April or May sometime let me know I have no issues even just doing this as a one day round trip it was a good one or even spending the night in Charleston which what we did on the last trip. @Paulie we did stay in Charleston we did the round trip in one day so we did not leave anything in the water. The hotel we stayed at in North Charleston was fine with us parking with our trailers there over night. There are a lots of place to dock over night in Charleston though. If your looking for one close to lodging I don't recall the marinas name but there is a Marriott Courtyard on the water front with a marina right in front of it.

 

[Andy S]

@robert843 congrats on your promotion! If there is anything I can do/help with your move to the Columbia area just ask I'll be more than happy too help.

I'll definitely keep you in mind for a trip down the river to Charleston.

 

[tim h]

@justason Yes the Lake Marion to Charleston was discussed last year and nothing materialized for any gathering location, hopefully this year will be different.

I think this may be workable for me !!

 

[Andy S]

I think this may be workable for me !!

After the first of the year I will work on some logistics for this trip and post the info so it can be one of the choices for a gathering trip or something to do at a different time.

 

[robert843]

@andy07sx230ho I had dinner at my friends house last night who we annually do the lake Moultrie trip with. We tentatively plan to do the trip on May 9th this year. We plan to launch in lake Mountie around 9am and spend that night in Charleston and come back sometime the next day if your interested in joining us let me know. Right now we have three boats and somewhere between 1-3 jet skis going. For anyone else who read this it is not the official nc/sc gathering it's just a trip a few friends and I do every year but anyone is welcome to join.

 

[Paulie]

@andy07sx230ho, my wife and I might be interested in joining you guys. Do you have any other details that you can share, like where you will put in on lake Moultrie and where will you stay/dock your boats in Charleston? Sounds like a great trip.

 

[Andy S]

@andy07sx230ho I had dinner at my friends house last night who we annually do the lake Moultrie trip with. We tentatively plan to do the trip on May 9th this year. We plan to launch in lake Mountie around 9am and spend that night in Charleston and come back sometime the next day if your interested in joining us let me know. Right now we have three boats and somewhere between 1-3 jet skis going. For anyone else who read this it is not the official nc/sc gathering it's just a trip a few friends and I do every year but anyone is welcome to join.

The wife and I would love to join you guys but unfortunately that is a weekend that I have to work and can't take off, I hate it when work gets in the way fun.

@andy07sx230ho, my wife and I might be interested in joining you guys. Do you have any other details that you can share, like where you will put in on lake Moultrie and where will you stay/dock your boats in Charleston? Sounds like a great trip.

It has been awhile since I have actually done the trip so hopefully @robert843 will answer your questions with current info.

The last time I did the trip we launch in Lake Marion at the http://www.lakemarionvacation.com/# and stayed at the Hampton Inn on the Ashley River next to California Dreaming. There is Santee State Park on the southwest side of I-95 that you can launch from but I don't know if you can leave your truck/trailer their overnight, that is one of things I wanted to check on.

 

[Paulie]

Thanks @andy07sx230ho. I will keep an eye on this thread as the details unfold.

 

[robert843]

@Paulie I will get you the details as the come out. We usually start in Charleston and return the same day so this will be a bit of a new one for us starting up there. We will probably either launch from Amos Gourdine Landing or Hatchery Landing. We will more than likely dock at City Marina there is a Courtyard Marriott right on the water there. Where Andy docked is nice as well lodging may be less on that side so we are still deciding on that. The only advantage to City marina is it is on the Downtown side but loding will likley be pricey on that side. We Have not made this date fixed yet it will likely be on that weekend but it may be the weekend before should know in the next 3 weeks.

 

[Paulie]

Thanks @robert843

 

[Andy S]

@Paulie I will get you the details as the come out. We usually start in Charleston and return the same day so this will be a bit of a new one for us starting up there. We will probably either launch from Amos Gourdine Landing or Hatchery Landing. We will more than likely dock at City Marina there is a Courtyard Marriott right on the water there. Where Andy docked is nice as well lodging may be less on that side so we are still deciding on that. The only advantage to City marina is it is on the Downtown side but loding will likley be pricey on that side. We Have not made this date fixed yet it will likely be on that weekend but it may be the weekend before should know in the next 3 weeks.

If your group ends up moving the date back a weekend or forward a weekend, we will definitely join you. Don't change your plans on my account, make it work for your group.

Here are a couple of weak reasons for launching in Lake Marion instead of Lake Moultrie. If you are trailering from west of the lakes or from I-95, it is a shorter tow to launch and less back roads to drive on. You get to experience Lake Marion and Diversion Canal. The downside is there is nothing special about Lake Marion, it shallow and you have to stay in the channel so you don't hit any stumps.

The reason we picked the Hampton Inn to stay at was that my mother-in-law used to live only a mile or so from that hotel. The city Marina with easier access to downtown Charleston is a better option for those that want to explore Charleston by land.

 

[veedubtek]

Definitely in for this. I'm sure you can count @DieselCamel in too.

 

[Julian]

Is anyone interested in a Kerr Lake gathering?