DIRECTIONS. From a position 23% miles eastward of Long Shoal lighthouse make good a 180° true (S. 2 W. mag.) course for 1334 miles to a horizontally stripped can buoy, or from Bluff Shoal lighthouse a 70° true (ENE. 34 E. mag.) course for 211⁄2 miles will lead to the same buoy. Then steer 133° true (SE. 3% S. mag.) for 24 miles to a position 100 feet southward of North Point light (black slatted pile structure). Round the light and steer 35° true (NE. 3 N. mag.), passing a black spar, to a position 75 feet northward of Muddy Slue light (red slatted structure). Then steer 98° true (ESE. 34 E. mag.) and be guided by the buoys. The best anchorage is just eastward of Mid-Channel can buoy, but there is a smaller anchorage inshore of the black and white nun buoy near the ice house.

Far Creek just northward of Middleton anchorage, leads to Englehard, where gasoline may be obtained. The mouth of the creek is marked by a lighted beacon. Four feet can be carried to the landing.

Middleton Anchorage is a broad, open bight in the northern shore of Pamlico Sound, about 6 miles northward of Gulf Shoal lighthouse. The anchorage has depths of 9 to 13 feet and is sheltered from eastward by Gibbs Shoal, which has from 1 to 4 feet over it. There is no shelter from southeasterly or southerly winds. The anchorage is large and easy of access, and is used to some extent by tows and other vessels. Middleton is situated a short distance inland from the anchorage and is reached by light-draft boats by going up Middle Creek. Vessels must pass south of the black buoy on the southeast end of Gibbs Shoal in entering.

DIRECTIONS. From northeastward.-From a position 2 miles southeastward of Long Shoal lighthouse steer 250° true (WSW. 5% W. mag.) for 13 miles; or, vessels of 7 feet draft with a smooth sea can cross Long Shoal about 3⁄4 mile northwestward of the lighthouse, and steer 238° true (SW. by W. 5% W. mag.) for 12 miles. Either course will lead to a position 1/4 mile southward of the black buoy on the southeasterly end of Gibbs Shoal. Then steer about 265° true (W. mag.) for 1 mile, and then steer 310° true (NW. mag.). Anchor about 3/4 to 1 mile from shore in a depth of 11 to 12 feet. On all sides of the anchorage the shoals rise abruptly from depths of 9 to 11 feet.

From westward.-Passing about 1/2 mile eastward of Gull Shoal lighthouse, a 350° true (N. 2 W. mag.) course will lead to the anchorage.

At night.-Pass well southward of Gibbs Shoal, and bring Gull Shoal light astern on a 354° true (N. 1 W. mag.) course, which will lead to the anchorage. The low, marshy shore, which extends long distances in front of the woods in places, does not generally show at night.

Small vessels of less than 5 feet, in rough weather, prefer to pass inside of Gull Shoal lighthouse if bound southwestward from Middleton anchorage, by entering Wyesocking Bay (see p. -), then passing westward of Gull Rocks, between them and Hog Island Point, where there is 5 feet of water.

Wyesocking Bay makes into the north shore of Pamlico Sound northwestward of Gull Shoal lighthouse. It is a convenient anchorage for small craft of 6 feet or less draft when following the north

shore of the sound. The entrance is obstructed by shoals, through which a buoyed channel leads into the bay northward of Gull Shoal. Gull Rock, which just shows above water, is a part of the shoals on the south side of the bay. Buoy No. 2 at the entrance lies 134 miles 319° true (NW. 34 N. mag.) of Gull Shoal lighthouse. Anchorage in 10 to 11 feet can be had 1/2 to 1 mile northwestward of this buoy, on the west side of a shoal with about 4 feet over it which extends from the buoy to the shore.

A canal dug to 6 feet leads from Old Bay, an arm of Wyesocking Bay, to Nebraska, a village 2 miles inland, where gasoline and supplies may be obtained.

A canal leads also to Mattamuskeet Lake in the interior.

DIRECTIONS.-To enter the bay pass about 200 yards southward of buoy No. 2 and steer 277° true (W. by N. mag.) for 14 miles to a position 100 yards southward of buoy No. 4. Then steer 305° true (NW. 12 W. mag.) and anchor in 7 to 8 feet, 3% to 1/2 mile off the west side of Long Point, with its southerly end bearing eastward of 108° true (ESE. mag.). Above this anchorage the head of the bay has depths of 3 to 5 feet.

The mouth of the canal to Nebreaska is marked by pile dolphins on each side of the dredged channel leading to the cut in the marsh. The 305° course will lead a little south of the entrance.

Bluff Point, low and marshy, separates East Bluff and West Bluff bays, two unimportant bights, southwestward from Wyesocking Bay. Extending southward from Bluff Point is a large area of shoal water, a tongue of which, called Bluff Shoal, extends across Pamlico Sound. The soundings on it are from 7 to 12 feet and the best crossing is marked by Bluff Shoal lighthouse (house on piles). A shoal with 4 feet of water over it lies 2 miles south-southwestward of Bluff Point. It is marked by a nun buoy.

Juniper Bay makes into the north shore of Pamlico Sound 11⁄2 miles eastward of Great Island. The entrance is about 11⁄2 miles wide, but toward its head the bay narrows gradually and 3 miles above the entrance it is a narrow, crooked stream. Shoals make off from both shores, but the middle of the bay has a depth of 7 to 10 feet. At the head of the bay is a boat canal which communicates with Mattamuskeet Lake. There is considerable traffic to the farms on the bay in small craft of 5 feet or less draft, which use the inside route through Swan Quarter Narrows and Bay, and the canal to Deep Bay, in making the passage to and from Belhaven.

Swan Quarter Bay makes into the north shore of Pamlico Sound westward of Great Island. At its entrance the bay is about 2 miles wide, but it contracts gradually toward its head, which is distant about 42 miles above the entrance. A depth of 8 to 11 feet can be taken up to abreast the town of Swan Quarter through the channel, which is marked by range lights and buoys. The bay is full of oyster beds.

Great Island is low and grassy, and has a few houses at its northern end. Swan Quarter Narrows, the channel northward of the island, is good for vessels of 6 feet draft.

A canal 50 feet wide and 6 feet deep connects Swan Quarter Bay with Deep Bay. From Deep Bay the canal trends 49° true (NE. 34 E. mag.) through the land to Swan Quarter Canal light, passing

northward of it, and then trends 80° true (E. 11⁄2 N. mag.) for Swan Quarter range rear light to the channel of Swan Quarter Bay.

A canal 30 feet wide and 7 feet deep has been dredged 1/2 mile in an east-northeast direction from Swan Quarter Bay to Swan Quarter. The canal entrance is on the eastern side of the bay 11 miles above Swan Quarter range rear light, and is marked by a lighted beacon (red structure); dredged material shows on the shore northward of the canal entrance.

DIRECTIONS.-Local vessels up to 6 feet draft use the canal to Deep Bay (see below) in making the passage to or from points on Pamlico River and Belhaven, and use Swan Quarter Narrows when coming from or bound eastward. Strangers in vessels of deeper draft should enter by the deeper channels which lead between the extensive shoals southward of the bay. The following are directions from eastward:

Passing on either side of Bluff Shoal lighthouse at a distance of about 1/4 mile, bring it astern on a 296° true (NW. by W. 14 W. mag.) course for 12 miles, passing 1 mile southwestward of Great Island light (red and black pile structure). Pass 1 mile southwestward and westward of Great Island, and steer 336° true (N. by W. 34 W. mag.) on the line of the Swan Quarter range lights, passing close to the perpendicularly striped buoy in the entrance. Pass 200 yards eastward of the front light, steer 326° true (NNW. 12 W. mag.), and pass about 200 yards south-southwestward and 150 yards westward and northwestward of the rear light. Then steer 35° true (NE. 12 N. mag.) for about 1/2 mile, and then follow the curve of the channel northward and pass about 100 yards eastward of Buoy No. 3. Anchorage in a depth of 11 feet can be had about 1/4 mile eastward or northeastward of the front light; above the front light anchorage can be selected in the channel, which is good for a depth of 8 feet to buoy No. 3.

Rose Bay makes into the north shore of Pamlico Sound at the entrance of Pamlico River. The entrance is about 134 miles wide, but shoals making off from both sides leave the channel about 5% mile wide. The depth in the channel is 9 feet or more for a distance of 4 miles above the entrance; the principal shoals are marked by lights or buoys for this distance, above which the channel is narrow, crooked, and is good for a depth of 6 feet. Rose Bay, Deep Bay, and the canal to Swan Quarter Bay form an inside route that is generally used by local vessels up to 6 feet draft. The canal is described with Swan Quarter Bay.

DIRECTIONS.-Approaching from southward, bring Pamlico Point lighthouse astern on a 3° true (N. 5% E. mag.) course; approaching from westward give the shore a berth of 1/2 mile, and pass southward of the fish stakes on the shoals westward of the entrance. Pass 1/4 mile westward and 250 yards northwestward of Judith Island light, steer 55° true (NE. by E. 14 E. mag.), and leave buoy No. 1 about 50 yards on the port hand. When past this buoy steer 27° true (NNE. 34 E. mag.) and be guided by the buoys; anchor southward of buoy

No. 3.

To Deep Bay. From buoy No. 1 steer 75° true (E. by N. mag.) for 1 mile, and then steer 122° true (SE. 34 E. mag.) for 11⁄4 miles to

108136°-22—11

a position 250 yards southward of Upper Island Point light. A 93° true (E. 5% S. mag.) course will then lead to the entrance of the canal which leads to Swan Quarter Bay. A lighted beacon is to be left to starboard in entering the canal.

Mouse Harbor, Big Porpoise Bay, and Middle Bay are small, shallow bays on the western side of Pamlico Sound between Pamlico Point, at the entrance of Pamlico River, and Jones Bay. There are no aids to assist a stranger. They are frequented only by the boats of local fishermen.

Jones Bay makes into the western shore of Pamlico Sound just northward of the entrances of Bay and Neuse Rivers. The bay is navigable for vessels of 7 feet draft for a distance of 5 miles above its mouth. The entrance is somewhat obstructed by shoals, through which a buoyed channel leads into the bay. On the north side, near the head of the bay, is the post village Hobucken, the small-craft landings for which are in the cove 34 mile above Drum Creek. When the water is high small boats can be taken through the old canal from Ditch Creek to Bay River.

DIRECTIONS. From eastward.-With a smooth sea a depth of 6 feet can be taken across Brant Island Shoal by passing about 250 yards southward of Brant Island Slue light pile structure on a southwesterly course. From a position 1/2 mile southwestward of this light steer 280° true (WNW. 34 W. mag.) for 6 miles, and pass about 200 yards southward of buoys Nos. 2 and 4. Or, from a position 1/4 mile southwestward of Brant Island Shoal lighthouse make good a 289° true (WNW. mag.) course for 1034 miles and pass 3% mile southward of buoy No. 2 and 200 yards southward of buoy No 4.

Round buoy No. 4 at a distance of 200 yards, steer 33° true (NE. 34 N. mag.), and pass 200 yards southward and eastward of buoy No. 1. Anchor 1/4 to 1/2 mile northwestward of buoy No. 1, above which there are no aids. About 1 mile above buoy No. 1 a spit extends nearly halfway across the bay from the point on the southwest side of the entrance, and otherwise the channel is near the middle.

From westward.-Avoid the shoal, which extends over 1 mile southeastward from Bay Point; Bay Point light is on its southerly end, and the shoal extends a short distance eastward and nearly 3/4 mile northeastward from the light. A 317° true (NW. 12 N. mag.) course, heading for the westerly point at the entrance of Jones Bay, will lead eastward of this shoal and up to buoy No. 4.

Cedar Island Bay is a large, irregularly shaped body of water making into the western shore of Pamlico Sound southward of Neuse River entrance. The shores of the bay and its numerous branches are marshy, and it is of no importance except for its oyster beds. A depth of 9 feet can be taken into the principal arms of the bay through narrow and crooked channels. Cedar Island Bay light marks the northwest side of the channel at the entrance of the bay, and is located in a depth of 8 feet on the end of the shoal which extends south-southeastward from Swan Islands. From the south branch of the bay next eastward of Long Bay there is a canal dredged to 6 feet deep and 60 feet wide into Thoroughfare Bay and thence into Core Sound.

Royal Shoal. In the bight formed by the hook of Royal Shoals vessels and tows sometimes anchor when the sea is too rough to make headway in the sound. The shoal, which has from 2 to 4 feet over it, and is bare in one place, breaks the sea so as to leave comparatively smooth water at the anchorage. The depth is 9 to 14 feet and the holding ground good.

DIRECTIONS. From the vicinity of Bluff Shoal lighthouse pass 1⁄2 mile northward and westward of Northwest Point Royal Shoal unused lighthouse and then steer about 198° true (SSW. mag.).

When Southwest Point Royal Shoal lighthouse bears 130° true (SE. mag.), steer 142° true (SE. by S. mag.), and give the lighthouse a berth of about 3⁄44 mile in rounding it until it bears westward of north.

Pass 12 mile eastward of the lighthouse on a north-northeasterly course; anchorage can be selected from 3/4 to 1/2 miles eastward or northeastward of the lighthouse in a depth of 10 to 14 feet.

Core Sound is a narrow and shoal body of water extending along and just inside the beach for a length of 27 miles, from the southwest end of Pamlico Sound to a point inside Cape Lookout. At its western end Core Sound joins a similar body of water, known as Back Sound, and a narrower body, north of Harkers Island, known as The Straits, both of which connect with Beaufort Harbor and Inlet, forming an inland waterway for boats of 4 feet draft between Pamlico Sound and Beaufort Harbor, about 5 miles shorter than the deeper route by way of Neuse River and Adams Creek. Core Sound varies in width from 2 to 3 miles, and has a general southwesterly trend. It is nearly filled with shoal banks, over which the depth ranges from 2 to 4 feet; but a channel, from 7 to 10 feet deep, winds through the sound and is continuous except at three places, where bars of 5 feet depth must be crossed. These bars are situated as follows: Harbor Island Bar, at the entrance of Pamlico Sound; Piney Point Bar, off Piney Point, about 15 miles down the sound; and Yellow Shoal, off Bells Point, 6 miles farther southwestward.

Wainwright Slue is a small anchorage at the entrance to Core Sound about 1 mile eastward of Harbor Island Bar lighthouse. It is marked by two buoys, and shelter from the sea is afforded by the surrounding shoals, which have from 2 to 3 feet over them. The depths range from 9 to 19 feet, and vessels anchor in the entrance, or farther in so as to get the best protection from the sea.

Thoroughfare Bay, on the north side of Core Sound, is connected with Cedar Island Bay by a canal 6 feet deep, and this forms a boat route into Pamlico Sound near the mouth of Neuse River.

Back Sound trends about westward from Core Sound for 6 miles to Beaufort Harbor and varies in width from over 2 miles to 1⁄2 mile. Passage to Core Sound, except for very light draft boats, is blocked by a shoal at the junction of the two sounds, over which there is but 312 feet of water.

The Straits parallel Back Sound north of Harkers Island and Middle Marshes, and offer a through deep passage from Core Sound to the western end of Back Sound. The width is from 3% to 34 mile, but the clear channel is only 100 yards at places.