anchorages/mooring from maddison ct to new york city

[jasonr575]

I am planning a trip for next year would like to make it starting from madison ct to new york city and back, was looking for some good anchorages, moorings (free if possible) and cheap marinas for the trip. Hopefully with a place to dinghy to land and close to some good nightlife if possible. Any recommendations or places i should avoid?

[camaraderie]

On the Long Island side you have good harbors in Port Jefferson, Northport/Huntington Harbor, Oyster Bay, Manhasset Bay. All have easy access to nice towns and ameneties. From there you will head down the East River (SEARCH for Hell Gate Threads!) and to the Liberty Island Anchorage. Moorings are available at the 74thSt. Marina on the west side of NYC.
You can look at the appropriate charts on line here:
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html

[jasonr575]

I do have a cruiser book so i can look up the marinas that are listed, i was looking more for some good anchorages, free or private moorings or private slips someone would let me use for a night (i would be willing to pay a fee).
Basically i am trying to make the trip without paying $140 a night for a slip to "park" my boat every night ( which was my minimal cost this past season).
Also interested in a new or small marina that is cheap and may not be listed.
I suppose i should have posted that i have a 37 ft sailboat with 10 ton displacement, 12 ft beam, 4 ft draft.
I have also noticed in my own marina in the mooring field you occasionally get a cruiser who comes in very late in the day, maybe just after dark and grabs a mooring and is gone just after the sun breaks. I know they have not paid for it. Is this considered somewhat acceptable, or at least mostly overlooked? I am not looking to screw anyone out of paying for something i used but i have paid up to $60 a night for a mooring, 165 for a slip, came in just before the marina closed, and was out in the morning, I think that is kind of pricy.
My boat is fairly large but i am not a rich man and just want to find a way to get away for 10 or 14 days without having to remortguage the house.
In new york city i plan on staying a few days an am not concerned with anchoring there, just a decent marina to call home for a few days, mostly concerned with the cruse there and back.

[camaraderie]

Jason...that's why I gave you anchorages...that means drop the hook for free and take the dinghy into shore. You don't have to pay a thing on this trip till you get to NYC.

[jasonr575]

sorry i misunderstood, i thought you were referring to the marinas in the area. I will check out those places in the maps when i get a chance. Thanks

[joethecobbler]

I too have an aversion to paying Marriott Rated to slaeep in my own bed !
When I travel I usually avoid the more populated areas when conditions permit.
Last year when I passed through NYC I anchored west of the Statue of liberty adjacent to a park . I was free and there was even a boat launch and dock you could (I did) use to land a dingy . Stayed a day maybe two, then continued on.

[chef2sail]

Liberty Island Marina is a great place. Stayed there last year. $7 boat trip from the marina to wall st

[mazzy]

Manhasset Bay has plenty of room to anchor, though you may be rowing for a bit thru the mooring fields. There's the town dock to dinghy to and walk to Main Street restaurants, or tie up at Louie's ($$$), LaMotta's($$) or DiMaggio's ($$$$). Moorings are reasonable thru the Pt Washington Water Taxi (ch 9) as an option.
Mike

[denby]

Jason,

I go up and down Long Island Sound and never pay anything. I even went to Marthas Vineyard and Buzzards bay this year for nine days and only spent $5 for pump out at New Port and $10 for docking one afternoon at Vineyard Haven.

[SollaSollew]

We do this run several times a season. Where you stay of course is a function of the expected wind at night and the angle you need to make on the wind while sailing. On the south shore of LIS we like Northport. You can pick up a mooring from the Yacht Club or anchor just outside their mooring field. The area is very well protected though, a correlary of this is that its about 45 minutes to and from the main track west to NY Harbor. On the CT side, anchoring inside of Shefield Island near Norwalk is pretty good in a north or south wind. I would enter from the west since Eastern approaches can be a bit dodgey. Further west I'd pick up a YC mooring in Stamford or City Island. As a member of course, I'll steer you to the City Island YC. Of course this time of year launch service wherever you go is limited.

Key to your whole run is timming the tides through the race. The cruise down the East River is quite spectacular though we found the Hudson a bit of a bear given the amount of traffic and the erratic chop created by all the vessels transiting these waters.

Stay at the 79th boat basin. It's about $40 per night I think.