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Advice Sailing North West Atlantic Coast (U.S.) North Carolina to NYC

10K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  jimgo 
#1 ·
Hello,
I have purchased a 40' sailboat, 5'7" draft in Wilmington North Carolina - planning to sail up Atlantic Coast to NYC by way of Sandy Hook; then transit the NY river/canal system to Lake Ontario.
My target is 80-100 miles per day, looking to port each evening - would appreciate some input from those who have done the journey... Ports to avoid, to visit... cautions, details... where to stay inland, venture offshore...
Thank you.
WB
 
#2 ·
Are you planning to go up the Chesapeake or stay out in the ocean? I bought a boat in the lower Chesapeake and considered sailing/having her sailed "outside" to NJ, and much like you, I didn't like the idea of sailing at night. When I looked into it, I had a hard time figuring out how I'd do the stretch from the Norfolk, VA area to Delaware. There really aren't that many good inlets along the VA/MD coast, and that makes it tough. Of course, going North on the Chesse adds significantly to your trip, but you're guaranteed to find a place to tuck in. You'll need to double-check the depth (my boat's draft is 3'10", so you don't want to rely on me!), but I think the Chesse tends to be the safer route unless you're going to sail at night.

Otherwise, I'll pass along Chef2Sail's recommendations: Cape May, Atlantic City, Barnegat. I started looking at doing a trip to NYC, and one route I considered was north to either Shark River or, if you can make it, Atlantic Highlands. From there, you can pop over to NY and get upriver (depending on the weather and tide) somewhat easily.

Hopefully some of the more experienced members will chime in soon!

Either way, good luck, and be sure to let us know how it goes!
 
#4 ·
...Of course, going North on the Chesse adds significantly to your trip, but you're guaranteed to find a place to tuck in.

Otherwise, I'll pass along Chef2Sail's recommendations: Cape May, Atlantic City, Barnegat. ...

Hopefully some of the more experienced members will chime in soon!
Take a look at this thread:
fastest-route-annapolis-nyc I posted my experiences from Annapolis to NYC last month with a 40' boat with 4'9" draft. ( I did almost this same trip with a 33' long 5'3" draft in 2009.)

I cant tell you anything about the outside route.

how much overhead clearance do you need?
 
#3 ·
How high is your mast? It's probably below 65' so you can transit on the ICW as well. You will want to avoid going around Cape Hatteras and use the ICW/dismal Swamp route instead. Read up on the dangers of CH, the Graveyard of the Atlantic. things can get ugly there pretty quickly and the inlets around there are not navigable in bad weather.
I would research every inlet on your route and mark by how safe they are (in any weather, in good weather, never). Read the threads on here about running on the ICW and get Skipper Bob's Guide to Anchorages. Great advice in there.
 
#5 ·
Thanks guys - I had determined that it was unwise to head offshore in the area North of Wilmington NC as there appear to be few or no ports of shelter available for several days. However, there ended up being survey issues and I regrettably had to reject the boat; so the matter is now ended.
 
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