The Wonderful Beaufort Waterfront

I haven't paddled every piece of water in North Carolina, but even so, I'm ready to go on record by stating that this excursion is in the top five best paddles in the state.  It's exceptional for the eye candy of the Beaufort waterfront, for the stops you can make along the way, and for the salt-water skills you can hone.

Vital Statistics:  You have good options with this trip.

You can launch and paddle down and back along the waterfront.  Published trip lengths vary, but I *think* the Beaufort waterfront is roughly three miles long.

If you'd rather just paddle across Taylor's Creek to the Rachel Carson Preserve to walk about over there, you can do that.  That little jaunt won't take but five minutes.  Or, you can paddle the length of the waterfront, and then beach your boat to walk on either or both of the mile-long trails on the south side of Carrot Island.

Or you can paddle around Carrot Island for a total of about 6 - 7 miles.  If you take this paddle, which is what I did, then you can beach at the marsh trails for a rest stop, re-launch, circle left around the point, paddle Bogue Sound, and then pick your way through the marsh islands in the North River Channel to return to Taylor's Creek.  I found this paddle to be a great experience for my current skill level.  I gained experience with swells and breakers (in a good way this time!) and learned about navigating (at eye level) the marshy island areas.  The one thing I decided not to do was beach on Bird Shoals, on the Bogue Sound side of  Carrot Island.  I'm not too smart yet about launching in breakers.  However, I believe this would be a good place to begin to learn.

Boat Ramp:  Yes!  Use the one on the north side of town, at the end of Lennoxville Road.  It's a double ramp with a generous parking lot.  However, get ready for ramp contention.  LOTS of people use this ramp, and my experience was that many of them don't observe good boat etiquette, especially the woman in the Yukon who almost backed over me.  (Manners and rear-view mirrors are apparently overrated in her world.)

Would be nice if the NC Wildlife people would add a small sandy beach for those of us in self-propelled boats.  I wasn't the only paddler having to dodge behemoth-boat people.  

That said, a compliment is due someone because of the map board at the ramp.  Study it before you launch so that if you decide to circle Carrot Island, you have a relatively good idea about how to pick your way around the marsh islands.

Restrooms:  Yes!  And picnic tables when you get back and want to enjoy a snack before loading your boat.

What You Will See:  Beaufort.  Sailboats. Yachts. Maybe the wild horses (they were over on Shackleford Banks when I paddled.) Birds.  Fishermen on Carrot Island.  Flounder beds!  I actually saw flounder beds!