New York marinas

[magnusmurphy]

We're taking our boat from Newport to the Chesapeake this summer and plan to spend time in New York during July. We've never been there by boat and anyway don't know NY at all so could do with some advice.

Should I book a marina slip? If so, could you recommend one/some? If I just show up in New York, would I be able to find transient space somewhere convenient?

What about the Chesapeake? We'll be cruising to our final destination at Great Bridve VA where we'll leave the boat till November. Any advice regarding this itinerary would be appreciated. Places to go/avoid, good guides, etc.

Thanks

Magnus

[sailor25b]

The West 79th St boat basin on the Hudson River is run by NYC, and it's the only way to tie up to Manhattan without paying a fortune. Otherwise, there are hundreds of places in outlying areas.

[camaraderie]

The answer is that you do NOT want to stay in NYC...you want to stay across the river in NJ and take the ferry across...much safer, better depths, fewer large wakes here:
http://www.libertylandingmarina.com/
http://marinas.com/view/marina/169

[NJDockDine]

You may want to go a little further South and find a marina in the Sandy Hook area. There are lots of marinas in the Atlantic Highlands and up and down the two rivers there - Navesink and Shrewsbury. There are also plenty of good restaurants in the area in case you want to get 'out' a little.

Good luck.

-Pat

[sailingdog]

Just be aware that the New Jersey shore can be a nasty one in bad weather and that many of the harbors are essentially impossible or very dangerous to enter in heavy weather.... and that you'd be better off heading out to sea than trying to take refuge in most of them.

[camaraderie]

Once yer done with NYC...go to Atlantic Highlands either marina or anchor to prep for the "offshore" portion of your trip. Obviously...wait for a good weather forecast. If you are going to blast through to Cape May it will take about 24 hours. If instead you prefer to day sail and pull in..first day is Manasquan Inlet...2nd day Atlantic City (maybe a few days if the slots hook ya!)...3rd day is Cape May. All three are good straightforward inlets in settled weather but only Cape May is a ClassA inlet.
From CapeMay...you can duck out the back side if your mast is 55' or less to head up the Delaware Bay to the C&D canal on a flooding tide ONLY!
Once through the C&D you have the whole Chesapeake to explore and the Cruising Guide to the Chesapeake Bay is an excellent reference for good spots to visit on your way to Norfolk. Great Bridge (and the locks) are 11 miles from Norfolk but there are several bridges with restricted openings that you will need to plan for.

[NJDockDine]

Good protection in Atlantic Highlands behind the sea wall

[magnusmurphy]

Thanks so much for all the help guys. I really appreciate it.

Here is another question: Our boat draws 5'10". Would the Bahamas be very problematic? Should we change our plans because of the draft and go somewhere else? We have friends who are Caribbean veterans who feel we should make a beeline to the Virgins and then cruise the eastern Caribbean. This is a significantly different trip than starting in the Bahamas. Further, IF we do go to the Bahamas, how difficult is the trip from the Turks to the Virgins? Seems it is directly into the prevailing winds.

We have six months and no particular itinerary. we want to have fun, have time for homeschooling for our two teenagers and explore beautiful places. Other than that everything is open to change of opinion.

The first leg is Newport to Great Bridge. We're doing that in July/Aug. I'll carefully study all the advice given above on my chart.
We then only pick up the boat again at the end of November and obviously have to be out of the hurricane zone by sometime June.

Magnus

[camaraderie]

Magnus...you will have absolutely no problems in the Bahamas with 5'10. And you'll be able to go to 95% of the places shoal draft cruisers go to.

As much as I love the Bahamas...if your goal is the caribe AND you and the boat are bluewater capable then your friends are right. Head out to Bermuda and then south for 10 days or so and you are there. (I did NOT do this and wish I did!! )...but friends have and the Caribe1500 out of Norfolk every Nov.1st or so might be a good way to do it.

I did the thorny path down through the Bahamas chain to T&C, DR, PR and Virgins and further south. It is a long hard slog with motorsailing against prevailing wind and waves for about 700 miles and frequent long layovers because conditions would not let us move. It took us about 10 days of ACTUAL cruising/motoring to get from GeorgeTown in the Exumas to St. Thomas...but it took over 2 months of actual time to do that due to the need to wait for NON prevailing weather! Don't think I'm chicken about conditions either....people at anchor with us left and came back with their tails between their legs...you just don't understand what continuous 20Kt+ winds for a month in your face can do to sea state as well.
Now we LOVED everywhere we visited along the way EXCEPT Luperon,DR but it would be a lot easier to see it all with the wind at our backs on the way back home from the Caribe. We loved the Bahamas best of all (and i draw 6 ft.) so don't miss them one way or the other!! Good luck!

[mgiguere]

This is another great stop after your "off shore" trip down along the NJ coast (which I've done a bunch of times). It's very historic, has great beaches, can anchor inexpensively in front of the coast guard station, or stay at a slip, and has great restaurants.

Beyond that, the Chesapeake Bay is a great cruising area and worth spending time researching and visiting...even beyond Annapolis.

Sounds like fun...have a good time.

Moe