PREFACE This publication covers the coast from Cape Henry to Key West, including Albermarle and Pamlico Sounds and other tidal waters contiguous to this coast. It is based mainly upon the work of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, including the results of a special examination made during 1935. The volume embraces the same territory as the previous editions of Section D, excepting that only that section of the Intracoastal Waterway between Norfolk and Albermarle Sound, including the Dismal Swamp Canal, has been fully described. The Intracoastal Waterway, Norfolk to Key West, is fully described in a separate publication entitled "Inside Route Pilot, New York to Key West." Navigators are requested to notify the Director, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, of any errors or omissions that they may find in this publication, or of any additional matter which should be inserted for the information of mariners. Corrections and additions affecting all Coast Pilot volumes are included in Notice to Mariners, published weekly by the United States Department of Commerce. The aids to navigation mentioned in this pilot are those effective, according to the latest available information, on February 28, 1936. A supplement, giving the more important changes to the text, is issued about a year after a Coast Pilot volume is published, and again at approximately yearly intervals thereafter until a revised edition appears. Each supplement is complete in itself and cancels all previous issues. The date of the latest supplement to each Coast Pilot is given in the List of Coast Pilots published quarterly in Notice to Mariners. In using this volume reference should be made to the latest Supplement and to Notices to Mariners issued subsequent to the volume or supplement, and due regard should be given to the possibility of changes having occurred since the date of the latest of these publications. The supplement may be obtained, free of charge upon application to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C., or to any of its field stations. This edition was prepared by Lt. Earle A. Deily, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, under the direction of Comdr. F. B. T. Siems, chief, coast pilot section. The United States Lighthouse Service, the United States Engineers, and other authorities all cooperated in furnishing information. February 28, 1936. VI R. S. PATTON, Director. UNITED STATES COAST PILOT ATLANTIC COAST-SECTION D-CAPE HENRY TO KEY WEST The courses and bearings given in degrees are true, reading clockwise from 0° at north to 359°, and are followed by the corresponding magnetic course in points, in parentheses. General directions, such as northeastward, west-southwestward, etc., are magnetic. Distances are in nautical miles and may be converted approximately to statute miles by adding 15 percent to the distances given. Currents are expressed in knots, which are nautical miles per hour. Except where otherwise stated, all depths are at mean low water. In accordance with the desire of the International Hydrographic Bureau, each depth is followed in parentheses by its equivalent in meters. Heights are given in feet with metric equivalent in parentheses. Use this Coast Pilot with reference to the latest Supplement that may have been published and the Notices to Mariners issued after the date of the edition of this pilot or of the Supplement. 1 1. GENERAL INFORMATION THE COAST The information contained in this volume relates to the Atlantic coast from Cape Henry to Key West, a distance of over 1,000 miles, embracing the coasts of a part of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. From Cape Henry to Cape Florida the general character of the coast is low and sandy, backed by woods. The highest points of land near the coast southward of Cape Henry are Engagement Hill, elevation 66 feet (20.1 m) on Bodie Island in North Carolina, and Mount Cornelia, elevation 63 feet (19.2 m), just northward of the entrance of St. Johns River in Florida. The principal harbors lie between Cape Lookout and the St. Johns River, the stretches of the coast northward and southward of these limits being broken only by a number of unimportant inlets. Between Winyah Bay and the St. Johns River the shore is very broken, the harbors, inlets, and sounds being in many cases but little over 10 miles apart. This part of the coast has shoals which extend from 3 to 8 miles offshore. Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, Cape Fear, Cape Romain, and Cape Canaveral are well known to navigators familiar with this section of the coast because of the dangerous shoal areas extending seaward from them. These shoals are generally sand, shifting to some extent with every heavy gale; with the strong currents which are found at times, they form the greatest danger for the navigator while passing along the coast. From Cape Florida to Key West the coast is formed by a chain of small islands, known as the "Florida Keys ", off and nearly parallel to which are the Florida Reefs. The keys and reefs are of sand, shell, and coral formation. Rocky coral patches are found in places along the Florida coast southward from Miami. The harbors along this stretch of coast are Miami and Key West, and there are a few anchorages among the keys and reefs. South of latitude 27°24′ N., and lying at a least distance of 42 miles eastward of the coast of Florida, are Great and Little Bahama Banks and the Bahama Islands; and southward of the Florida Reefs, at a least distance of 78 miles, is the island of Cuba. North and west of these islands and skirting the coast of Florida are the Straits of Florida, through which flow the waters of the Gulf Stream. The straits, in connection with the channels between the islands, form the northern approach and entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. HARBORS AND PORTS, REPAIRS, HOLIDAYS, DISTANCES, ETC. Harbors. Southward of Cape Henry the more important harbors, either commercially or as places of refuge, are Lookout Bight, Beaufort Harbor (N. C.), Cape Fear River, Winyah Bay, Charles 2 |