Oregon Inlet

NYCAP- we already pay for the dredging everytime we buy fuel. Instead they take that money and spend it elsewhere. There's around $0.58 of tax on every single gallon of fuel you buy on the water, which is earmarked for maintaining the waterways.

Perhaps we should not give Iran $4 billion dollars in aid over the last 5 years and we should spend that money here, don't ya think? What are they using it for, to further their nuclear weapons development that they claim they're not doing.

If they collect a tax on marine fuel for the purpose of maintaining the waterways they're collecting said tax on. Then it should be used for the purpose it is taxed for. The NC government collects millions of dollars of marine fuel tax just in the Oregon inlet area alone, yet how much of that have they used to dredge the very same area they're collecting the tax from, next to none of it. Same goes for SC and GA. When was the last time ANYONE has seen a dredge operating on the ICW in GA, well over 10 years ago. Who gets hurt. All of the locals, the local economies, and the local businesses. Meanwhile the amount of aide the U.S. gives to foriegn countries that do NOTHING for us, is well over $5 billion dollars per year, if not $10 billion.

BINGO! Been waiting for this to be said. How about 5 % off the top of defense spending? Just didn't want to drag the thread into the political mire. Nuff said , Moving along gentlemen...

CaptJ that's clearly a political post and irrelevant to the subject. If you don't want our senators and congressmen to be able to take funds earmarked and passed for one purpose, and use them for any pet project they want, start by giving our presidents a line item veto. Talk with your representatives in Congress. One party has a clear majority. They should be able to pass most any legislation. Make the call and tell them that you want our presidents to have a line item veto, and that you want Georgia dredged. Let me know when they stop laughing. But again that's politics. The bottom line is that good projects are going unfunded. The NSA almost went unfunded, and that's national security. Just the other day a chunk of concrete fell from a bridge and went through a car's windshield. Our Vets are still waiting months to be seen by the VA or until they kill themselves (whichever comes first). We're either going to get serious about reducing the deficit or we're not, but if we're going to cut funding, giving up on Oregon Inlet is a good place to start. I'm more concerned that my friend's son gets treated for his PTSD than that someone in N.C. gets to go out fishing.

Either we get back on topic or big brother will pull the plug on us. The Army Corps of Engineers is a much better piñata to bash about dredging projects and the ports & channels priority list for dredging.

With regard to Oregon Inlet specifically, I personally don't use it as I don't need to go in/out there when in transit up/down the coast.

However to suggest that those boats home ported in the Pamlico/Albemarle region could use Beaufort or the Chesapeake just as easily to access the ocean is preposterous.

I'm not saying run from Orient to Beaufort. I'm saying move their operations.

"The Army Corps of Engineers is a much better piñata to bash"

I have no complaints with the Corp. I grounded a year ago February at Shallote inlet, and came back through that March to find dredging going full bore. We'll never be happy with them if we find bottom. That's the spot they should have dredged. lol. The fact is though that they have to prioritize where they'll spend what money they're allotted so the most (and especially commercial interests) can be served. 30 or 50 boats, most earning part-time income, needs to be low priority They can't dredge everything every year. Want them to dredge more places? Get on the phone and email, and get them more money. We all know where to direct them.

Let's see..Capt J's is political and Nycap's isn't...in what world?

Now, as to whether I support paying for this, the answer is absolutely YES. As to any other government expenditures, they have ZERO relevance to this site or to this thread. This is not the place to vent one's anger over the world situation or the economy or any other of those subjects.

As to dredging and the ICW and it's inlets, the federal funding has been cut back. NC and SC have stepped up some. This situation is both a road and a water issue and the answer isn't as simple as dredging. Personally, I have very close friends who ran charter fishing boats in NC and know many charter captains who operate in that area. Their friends are greatly impacted by the issues of Oregon Inlet. The suggestion that they should just pick up and move to Beaufort or Norfolk is the kind of comment one would make in some form of weird sense of humor as clearly that's not an easy thing to do nor is it a good solution.

Because it's a matter of federal funding, it's impossible to completely divorce the discussion from politics, but I was truly attempting to NOT make it an attack on one party or the other.
There is no humor intended in my suggestion that the fleet move. It happens all the time. I know of 2 docks in Ft. Lauderdale alone that threw their fleets out, although that was because the landlord wanted to make more money. Oregon is just on a larger scale; the government saving money. I'm sorry for your friend who may lose some money or have to move his operation 60 miles north or south, but I'm more sorry for the family that may drive across a bridge as it collapses or the vet who kills himself or his family because he can't get timely treatment for his PTSD.

Either way I find the comment to be glib. Let's move everybody in the Carolinas to Charleston. Think of the dough that would save.

And to analogize funding for PTSD with dredging the ICW is nonsense. The government spends money it doesn't have on all kinds of stupid stuff every day. It's just a matter of if they want to.

Last week I watched an episode of Deadliest Catch where they were shutting the fisheries just before the run. They went to Congress. The point is that this is about funding and where a limited amount of resources should be allotted. The CG and the Corp. feel that other places deserve the resources more. Think different, you need to take it to Congress. They write the checks. That's not glib; that's reality.
My opinion is in agreement with the CG and the Corp. If they change their opinion, for whatever reason, I'll agree with their opinion then as well. I've never run Oregon Inlet, and never expect to. I don't personally care in the slightest if it opens or stays closed. I've stated my opinion, which I have every right to hold, and am now going to walk away from this discussion. I'll leave it to those who seem to have a personal stake in what happens there.

NyCap your ignorance of the area and utter disdain for the Outer Banks is unbelievable. There are hundreds of charter boats that use that inlet daily. In addition to the charter fleet there are also some of the finest sportfishing yacht builders home based in Manteo that use the inlet as well. There is also the commercial fishing fleet that is based out of Wanchese. All in all I would venture to guess that the commercial impact of the boating community that use Oregon Inlet is in the Billions. Your statement that all these thousands of people that work and use the inlet pack up and move is preposterous. It would be the same to say that all the people on Long Island should not get federal funding and should have moved elsewhere after Hurricane Sandy. You know, because really there are just a few restaurants and things there.
I use the inlet quite a few times a year while moving boats North and South, fishing in some of the tournaments, and staging to make the trek to Bermuda. It is not user friendly, and I know it takes a lot to keep it opened up. I also know a lot of the local population that fight hard to keep it opened up. Believe me if they would be allowed to dredge it themselves and not rely on the Feds they would do it in a heartbeat.

And Capt. Neil your ignorance and utter disdain for the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corp. of Engineers is also unbelievable. You should be talking to your Congressman, not me. As for Long Island, we've had inlets closed to navigation here. Think Moriches and Shinnicock. A lot of people have died in those inlets because fishermen thought they knew better than the CG. Many of your guys fishing Oregon may have started here and moved south when they couldn't use these inlets. It happens everywhere. Eventually (after years) funds for dredging got alloted, and the inlets were reopened to navigation, and the fleet (at least a lot of the Shinnicock fleet) started working again. That's life on the water. So you can waste your time trying to insult me or you can expend that energy contacting your representatives in Washington. One is easy, but will not get your boats moving.

P.S. There were two inlets on Dune Rd. and one on Fire Island that I can think of right off the top of my head that are permanently closed, and completey filled in and dry. There'll soon be one (possibly two) new inlets on Long Island's south shore. That's nature and life on barrier islands.

While you argue, let me make the point that it is reopened now for drafts up to 5' which allows most of the sportsfishermen through. Meanwhile Cape Point has been closed to cars.

Dredges are also going to do a one time federal fix while the state appears ready to allow Dare County to increase sales tax 1/4% to cover future dredging.

Also, a point being missed is that a lot of this centers around the Bonner Bridge which needs replacing. One of the reasons for closing the inlet was to protect the bridge. It is believed that once the bridge is replaced (years, of course) the issue will be greatly diminished if not eliminated.

As to funding, the federal funding for dredging in NC dropped $7-8 million. NC has picked up a portion of that and may do more.

I see nowhere where I have disdain or ignorance of the uscg or acoe.... As a matter of fact I am happy to see that the acoe mobilized rather quickly and got the inlet back open to vessels with 5' or less draft. It also looks like the state and Dare county are stepping up the efforts big time to suppliment lost federal funds to keep the inlet open. My main problem with NY CAPT is that he could care less about the people that live and work in the outer banks and his comment that they should just close the inlet and pack up shop was just plain ignorant.

There's a lot you don't see capt. Keep that in mind before you appoint yourself someone else's conscience or come out of left field hurling insults at people you know nothing about. I'm quite capable of deciding who I will or won't care about all by myself.

Now I will unsubscribe from this thread, because this and you are a waste of my time.

Maybe it's best for this thread to follow the outgoing tide.

Thread closed.