new carolina member....

[CliffA]

hello ladies and gents....i just joined CSR a month or so ago and just found this 'Carolinas' forum...i live in Lancaster, SC and work in Charlotte, NC...i was born and raised in Mooresville, NC so i am familiar with Lake Norman...now we normally boat in Lake Wateree in upstate SC but plan to do some exploring of other lakes with our 'new' 1998 215EC...i have been reading some of the post on this forum and i am getting some good info on other lakes and marinas...we just purchased the 215EC last Thanksgiving so we have not had it on the local lakes yet...it was a Florida freshwater lake boat and it was still warm enough in FL during T'giving to take a test drive...from what i have seen and experienced so far and read on-line about the 215 we are very excited about getting it out on the water...we plan to do a few 'overnighters' and possibly explore the ICW some...anyway, just wanted to say hi and hopfully we can join the group at one of the events on the lakes...

 

[Kendall]

Welcom Cliff!

There are several Lake Wylie and Lake Norman CSR guys on here. Welcome to the club!

:smt038:smt038

 

[jason78]

Welcome to CSR Cliff. I spend some around Lancaster County myself but do all of my boating at Lake Wylie. You will find out this is a great group and you will get some great advice too. I have learned a significant amount about boats and boating in the last year primarily with the help of those here at CSR. Although the date has not been scheduled, there is an annual Sea Ray gathering at Lake Wylie (as well as other lakes across the US). I had ( or still have- for sale) an 03 225 Weekender which is the next generation of your 215EC but very similar. That is a great boat and handles like a dream. I am sure you will enjoy it. If you have any questions we are all here to help.

 

[Dave S]

Hi Cliff

We live in Fort Mill and boat at Lake Wylie. Congratulations on the 215.

Stop by and meet the folks at Lake Wylie Marina when you get a chance as they are your local Sea Ray Dealer and have an excellent service department.

Dave

 

[CliffA]

thanks for the replies guys....Lake Wylie is definetly on our list of Lakes to explore...i work with a lady that lives on the lake and she tells me they really enjoy boating on it....and i can't wait to go to 'T Bones' for a meal and an adult beverage...or 12.....do any of you happen to know the closest public ramp on the south east side of the lake?...i am thinking that Lake Wylie Marina will be the closest ramp for me to put in....

Dave,
i worked for Springs Ind for 25 years before i changed jobs 6 years ago....while at Springs i worked at several plants and the last several years were at the HQ in Fort Mill....nice small town but it is growing quickly out near I77.....

 

[Captain Allen]

Welcome from New Bern, NC !!

 

[NCCamper]

Hi Cliff,

Welcome to CSR! We are from Charlotte, and also boat mainly on Lake Wylie. We thoroughly enjoyed our 1st summer with the Sea Ray last year. We are looking forward to our "1st launch" of 2010 on March 12th. We plan on camping at McDowell Park for the weekend, bringing both the camper and the boat.

There are a couple of public landings nearby. One is right between T-Bones and Lake Wylie Marina; another one is Nivens Creek Landing off of Rt 160. We use either Nivens, or Copperhead Island ramp. Copperhead is right across the NC line, off of Rt 49. One of those 3 should serve you well. NOTE: Nivens is extremely busy in season, and there is not a no-wake zone around the ramp area. Copperhead actually has 4 ramps, a courtesy dock, and lots of parking, and a restroom onsite. Plus, there is a no-wake zone all the way out to the main channel. It's a nice, quiet launch area.

Let me know if you have any questions. See you at the lake!
John

 

[jason78]

thanks for the replies guys....Lake Wylie is definetly on our list of Lakes to explore...i work with a lady that lives on the lake and she tells me they really enjoy boating on it....and i can't wait to go to 'T Bones' for a meal and an adult beverage...or 12.....do any of you happen to know the closest public ramp on the south east side of the lake?...i am thinking that Lake Wylie Marina will be the closest ramp for me to put in....

Dave,
i worked for Springs Ind for 25 years before i changed jobs 6 years ago....while at Springs i worked at several plants and the last several years were at the HQ in Fort Mill....nice small town but it is growing quickly out near I77.....

Cliff, the closest ramps on the South side of the lake are Ebenezer Park in Rock Hill or Nivens Creek in Fort Mill/Tega Cay. Tega Cay also has two ramps but be aware you must have a Tega Cay parking permit or you will get a ticket. The TC ramps will be less crowded but you probably want to stick with the first two. The ramp by Lake Wylie Marina is called Buster Boyd Access Area which is probably the largest and then you have Copperhead Island Ramp as well which is basically right across the lake from Buster Boyd. Although I have never used it, I have heard, as John said, that the Copperhead setup is very nice.

Note: If you plan on docking at T-Bones, take plenty of fenders!

 

[CliffA]

thanks for info on the Lake Wylie ramps...maybe a good time to check them out during this miserable weather...

also thanks for the heads-up about docking at T-Bones...sounds like it is a popular spot...are there other restaurants/bars on the lake?

 

[jason78]

thanks for info on the Lake Wylie ramps...maybe a good time to check them out during this miserable weather...

also thanks for the heads-up about docking at T-Bones...sounds like it is a popular spot...are there other restaurants/bars on the lake?

Unfortunately no- unless you count the fish camp way up the river. You would be able to get to it in your boat. I have been past it in my 225 once but never docked up to it. From what I have been told you need to be very careful docking there because it is off the main channel and depth can be an issue. This place is pyhsically located near the intersection of Morris Chapel Road and Wilkinson Blvd in Charlotte if going by land.

If you decide to go up that way in to the actual river channel, do yourself a favor and talk to someone who has been up that way for pointers. It is manageable but you need to know where to go and where not to go. I would be willing to give you advice if needed and several others here are familiar with that section as well. I have been all the way up to NC HWY27/Mt Holly Huntersville Rd. but stopped there due to advice from others.

Jason

 

[CliffA]

thanks Jason....its not a big deal to me if there isn't a selection of restaurants or bars on the water...we usually bring enough rations on board to take care of our needs quite nicely....even have enough for fellow boaters to enjoy if we ever get together with you guys....(if you like Jack Daniels and ginger ale).....don't get the wrong idea...i do not drink while navigating the boat, only when docked or anchored and i allow enough time to 'feel better' before going home...

i doubt i will be brave enough to go up the channel...i do have a depth finder and the PO left a nice navigation system in the boat that shows the contour of the lake/river bottom and depths but i'm not experienced enough right now to know what i am doing....i don't want to take a chance and damage my new baby...

once we get ready to explore the lake i'll post again for some pointers and maybe arrange for a hook-up with a fellow CSR member or two....

 

[Zeppi]

Hello from Fayetteville NC. Lakes Norman and Wylie are on our lit of lakes to explore this spring also. Along with New Bern, Savannah, and Lake Kerr in NC. It is a long list so I hope the weather breaks soon.

 

[Sadler]

Hi Cliff,

If you decide to give the ICW and the coast a try, give me a yell. There's a group of CSR boaters who get together several times a year for coastal trips and we'd love to have you join us.

Sadler

 

[islandhopper00]

Hello Cliff, I used to live in the Lake Wylie area, untill I moved up to Denver near Lake Norman.
There will be a new restaraunt in the Mt Holly area, accross from the white water rafting center, on the river part of the lake. It's a new marina and access area in the riverview waterfront neighborhood.
the seafood resaraunt at hwy 74 is shallow, but if you go slow, you can pick your way thru.
I have had my boat all the way to the dam at Mountain Island lake. It is very shallow in spots, but you can pick your way if you go slow.

I'm still learning Lake Norman, but so far it's great. The only thing is, there is no real sand bar. What they call the sand bar is really just a tie up spot. You can't get out of the boat and stand on the bottom like on Wylie. I really miss that. Maybe I'll find something like that on Norman somewhere.

Anyways, welcome and like Sadler said, join us in Charleston for some fun trips. We always have a great time. Mike P.

 

[CliffA]

thanks guys....exploring the ICW and Charleston area is definetly on our list...we need to get used to our 'new' boat first though...we just moved up from a small 18.5 ft bow rider to this 'huge' 21.5 ft cuddy so it will take a little time to get used to the new boat...we have not had the cuddy out on the local lakes yet...we love the Charleston area...my son has a condo on James Island...he lived there a couple years and we visited him often...he now lives in Columbia, SC and rents the condo so we don't go down to Charleston as much as we used to....if we do join one of the CSR cruises we can always use our 'huge' 21.5 footer as the fleet dingey for the larger boats some of you guys own ;-)......

we visited the local West Marine on Hwy 49 near Lake Wylie this w/e for the first time....we were just looking around and longing for the day when winter breaks and we can get out on the water....we were very impressed with the West Marine store...they have a fairly extensive inventory....the sales guy we talked to took all the time needed to answer our questions (and there were a lot of them) and was very pleasant to talk to...he never gave us the impression that we were asking 'stupid' questions like some sales reps can and did not act like he had to 'go somewhere else' during our questions....

we went to the mid atlantic boat show this w/e in Charlotte....this was out first boat show...there are some BEAUTIFUL boats out there....i can see where it would be easy to get caught up in all the shine of the new boats and all of the modern convieniences but at the end of the day logic prevailed and we decided they basically perform the same function as our '98 215EC....maybe someday when my 'second' ship comes in we can consider a new boat, but in today's economy that is not even a consideration for us....

 

[Zeppi]

Don't worry Cliff, I think we have the smallest boat in the group. I doesn't discourge us. We went to the Greensboro boat show a few weeks ago. We didn't see anything tempting.

 

[JimT]

Don't worry Cliff, I think we have the smallest boat in the group. I doesn't discourge us. We went to the Greensboro boat show a few weeks ago. We didn't see anything tempting.

My first boat was a canoe.

 

[jason78]

we visited the local West Marine on Hwy 49 near Lake Wylie this w/e for the first time....we were just looking around and longing for the day when winter breaks and we can get out on the water....we were very impressed with the West Marine store...they have a fairly extensive inventory....the sales guy we talked to took all the time needed to answer our questions (and there were a lot of them) and was very pleasant to talk to...he never gave us the impression that we were asking 'stupid' questions like some sales reps can and did not act like he had to 'go somewhere else' during our questions....

That West Marine store is great. The manager Brad, has given me the highest level of customer service.

When do you plan to launch Cliff?

Jason

 

[First Born]

Another Lake Wylie boater just saying hello and welcome to the board!!! :thumbsup:

 

[CliffA]

thanks for the welcome Wesley....i have met many good people on this forum so far...

Jason,
the short answer to your question about when we are going to launch is ASAP...whenever we feel the temps will stay above freezing at night we will start seriously considering launching...probably in another month or so...if we happen to have a warm w/e before then we might go out...i just drain the engine and exhaust risers for the winter so it is not really a big deal if i would have to 're-winterize' the boat again due to freezing temps...now that i know where the drain plugs are and the steps involved it should only take 15 -20 mins to drain everything....i have some work to do on my trailer including recovering the bunks...i can probaly use this as an excuse to launch the boat early as it is much easier covering the bunks without the boat on the trailer....i feel sure one of the local marinas would allow me to dock the boat in one of their empty slips while i recover the bunks in the parking lot...but this will have to be done before the marina gets busy....