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Cruising from Great South Bay to Great Kills, Staten Island
Hi!
I'm a novice sailor and about to buy my first sailboat, an Island Packet 27. I need to move it from Amityville, NY to Great Kills, Staten Island. Are there any rules or concerns I should be aware of crossing the Lower Bay area from Coney Island to Staten Island (other than avoiding those huge tankers). Any pointers on the best route to take would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Nice boat. I sailed out of Great Kills for a number of years. If the boat is new to you, spend some extra time before your trip verifying that all of the systems and especially the engine are in good working order. While there are traffic lanes, they really only apply to the commercial vessels. Just be aware that the big boys come on you faster than you might think, and they do not deviate from their course. So spend as little time in the well marked traffic channels as possible. Also look at the tidal current charts so you are aware of what you may be dealing with there. Crossing the lower bay should not be a problem. Good luck.
Definitely take a few sails to get to know the boat and make sure everything is in working order. As far as a route, I would stick to the channel that cuts across the bay around Gilgo and then follow the channel along Jones beach and out the inlet there (see attached screenshot). Once your out of the inlet, just watch out for the big boats and keep in mind that most of the time, their line of sight is hundreds of feet -- so even though you can see them just fine, they may not be able to see you and don't expect them to alter course since they have right of way in the channels
Iirc, it is about 50 nm. from Fire Island inlet to NY Harbor.
At 5 knots that would take a sailboat 10 hours so leave really early if you can. At least the daylight hours are still quite long.
Get some "local knowlege" about the inlet. Ebb tides can cause some fairly large standing/breaking waves where the Great South Bay pours into the Atlantic.
Expect to motor if you can't make 5 knots with sails.
Be safe.
Have fun.
Yeah, I pulled that screen grab from the Navionics app. You can check out their webapp too -- they recently updated it to have a lot of the same functionality as the app: https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@8&key=uszvFpwk%60M
I'm told that I would need to call ahead at the Robert Moses draw bridge if I take the 'short cut'. If not, I can take the 'long way' and stay in the channels since it can get really shallow out there.
hi Dakod
I sail GSB and have since a kid.
at Amityville you are so far west it makes little sense to use Fire Island inlet. You are better off taking the cut south to west Gilgo and follow the State Boat Channel west to Jones Inlet. Just prior to the inlet is a drawbridge you must call ahead Check Before your trip for the current procedure on opening as it has changed since I was last through. This part of the trip is likely to be motoring until outside inlet. Stick to the channels coming south. Check Jones for slack water and if you can time yourself to go out at slack on the flood. Fire Island is a major detour for you on a westward trip. From where I am in Babylon its usually west channel all the way around although each year I sound my way through Snakehill Channel with mixed success ( never on the ebb!) Not sure what your new vessel draws but boat channel is good to Jones
I was wondering about Jones Inlet for him from Amityville too but I don't have the local knowlege baywater has of the GSB.
Hopefully the OP used his route. I say "used" because he has likely already moved the boat to SI, I hope.
We may not hear from the OP again; then again I could be surprised.
hi Caleb...i didnt realize his trip was imminent...ah well ...hope he did well!
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