State

An aerial view of the Sanders* yacht basin at Elizabeth City, showing some of the large yachts stopping over for supplies or repairs. Catering To Yachts Elizahof li Cily lias t'wiincl it to lie a profitable business anil lui ml roils of yachts now slop over on their way between Northern anil Southern points. «I/ W M. К KITH SAtMIKRS II HUE is the safest, beet all- around yacht basin on the Atlantic sou board i Did yon say City Island, New York? Or Biscaync Bay, Miami f Or Charleston, S. C. ? Well, unless your answer i- Elizabeth City. North Caro¬ lina. you are 100 jier eeut wrong. Yes: Eli/al- th City has what is gen¬ erally recognized a* the safest. best all-around yacht basin from Maine to Key West. That may sound like a pretty broad -tatcnicnt when one considers the splendid yacht basin at Miami and the one at City Island, but both these places have disadvantages not t" be encountered at Elizabeth City. For instance, the water at City Island i* dirty, it frequently freezes over in the winter, and there is always a tide to be reckoned with. It is a fact that yachts tied up at City Island frequently have their top decks level with the docks at low tide. Miami, too, has some tide, and in addition it has salt water, which harbors para¬ sites that do considerable damage to yachts. (To say nothing of the Florida hurricanes.) At Elizabeth City there i- no tide to speak of. the water in the Basqtio. tank Itiver is clean, the Pasquotank Ims not frozen over in 20 years, the water is fresh and parasite-free, and there are splendid docking and repair facilities. To paraphrase a certain cigarette manufacturer’s slogan. “No other yacht basin on the Atlantic coast can make that statement.’* Because it is located approximately halfway lietwcen Now York and Florida on the inland waterway, and because of its splendid yacht facilities. Elizabeth City in recent years lias become n favorite stop-over point for yachts milking the North-South trip in the fall and the South-North trip in the spring. Approximately inn yachts slopped over at Elizabeth City in the fall of 1037, some only for a few hours, others for a number of weeks; some only to take on fuel or supplies, others for a thorough overhauling. Approximately ••0П pleasure craft made Elizabeth City a stopping point in the 1037 •pring trek northward from Florida, and indications arc that the 103s fall -orison will surpass nil previous records. During the week of Novem her 11-12, a total of 31 yachts were tied up at the Elizabeth City yacht ba-in at one time, the previous record being 27. These craft ranged in size from 23-foot cruisers to 120-foot yachts, and in price from $3.000 to $300.000. Many Prominent Visitors Among the prominent person* wIiom- yachts have stopped over at Elizalieth City are: Ed Wynn, tin- radio comedian: Janie* Koo-ovelt. the President’s oldest son and eon lideiitial secretary: John Charles Tlmma*. the concert baritone; At water Kent. dr., son of file radio t\ coon; W. T. Grant, the ehnin-loi. king: W. II. K. Simonds. the saw and tool manufacturer: Mrs. .1. I». Dona¬ hue. daughter of the bite F. W. Wool- worth. and others too numerous f«. mention. And Elizabeth City i- just begin niug to come into its own я« я eon let for yacht storage and repair-. Through -oine unfortunate error, the Con*t and Geodetic Survey charts, which arc tie (ConUnvfrl »n f>aoe fv'Citl ir-four) 9