sailing from Connecticut to Norfolk

[satenig]

My husband and I just purchased a 34' Jeanneau. We were planning on sailing south in November, but after reading all the threads we realize we need to leave sooner. He can't leave his employer till mid-November but can take some time off to sail the boat south and fly back. He's wondering how long it will take to get to Norfolk from New London, Ct without any night sailing. Does anyone know?

[MorganPaul]

I would say about 14 days.

[labatt]

I can tell you that WITH night sailing, we did Norfolk to NYC in two days a few weeks ago. Not doing night sailing will restrict your ability to do the Block Island to Norfolk run, so you'll have the following hops: New London to somewhere, somewhere to City Island (to wait our the Hell Gate current until it's favorable), City Island to either Sandy Hook or Manasquan (Manasquan would be better from a "make it to the next hop" perspective), Manasquan to Atlantic City, Atlantic City to Cape May, Cape May up the Delaware to Delaware City or Chesapeake City, Delaware/Chesapeake City to Annapolis. From Annapolis it would be either an overnight to Norfolk, or two to three days down the Chesapeake. You could also run from Cape May to somewhere on the outside, but I'm not sure where (Ocean City?). There are both anchorages and marinas along the way (although Manasquan will be tough). You are probably talking about at least 10 days given the PERFECT weather, which the closer you get to November the less likely it is to happen.

My recommendation is to get a few people together and then do the two night trip from New York City to Norfolk. It's a pretty easy run along the coast the whole way so there are several opportunities to duck in and it pretty much makes sure you have a long enough weather window. You would need to buy or borrow some safety equipment for the overnight run - jacklines, harnesses and tethers, strobes, etc. - but it would save a huge amount of time.

[bubb2]

If you need help or would like me to move the boat I am available. 40 years sailing experience, 15 years delivery experience. !00 ton USCG Master. References available.

[wwilson]

Originally Posted by satenig

...how long it will take to get to Norfolk from New London, Ct without any night sailing. Does anyone know?

We've done that run a couple of times: usually up the NJ coast overnighting at anchor each night then on the homebound leg Block Island to Cape May directly (overnight sail).

I think Paul's estimate of 14 days is prudent - though it could be shortened with longer days. Figuure 40-50 mile days and plan on firing up the diesel as often as not. A 4-time Atlantic Crosser once told me, "the dirty little secret of cruising is that you motor more often than not".

It is ~460-nm to Norfolk via LI Sound, Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay. By the way, I doubt there is good entry for your boat along the DELMARVA unless you go into Ocean City, MD. Without that, the Cape May to Virginia Capes leg is an overnight for almost any s/v! You may have to go up the Delaware and down the Chesapeake if you want to avoid night sailing altogether.

Don't forget to build in some weather lay-days or you will be tempted to push yourself to do something uncomfortable - or worse.

Have a good trip,
Wayne

[satenig]

bubba2, i don't know how to reply to you personally.
, but how much would you charge to come along for the trip and if that includes night sailing, how many days do you think?

[bubb2]

Originally Posted by satenig

bubba2, i don't know how to reply to you personally.
, but how much would you charge to come along for the trip and if that includes night sailing, how many days do you think?

My first question, Do you and/or your husband have experience sailing offshore at night? The reason I ask, is you said in your first post "without night sailing." This time of year the nights are long and getting longer. There would be a 4 hour night watch and 4 hour day watch each for a 3 person crew per day. It the weather is good and world is perfect, The trip could be done in 2 days. Plan on 4 days and hope for 3 days.

I can be reached at 914-703-0170.

[CapnRon47]

My wife and I did the trip last year when we purchased our first boat in Milford, CT. We broke it up into two legs. The first leg we did earlier in the summer.
Day 1 - Bridgeport to just before the Throg's Neck Bridge, anchored in Manhasset Bay
Day 2 - Thru East river out of New York Harbor to Sandy Hook, NJ - anchored
Day 3 - Outside NJ from Sandy Hook to Barnagat Bay - anchored

We mostly motored but had some great sailing off the Jersey coast.




Day 4 - Barnagat to Cape May - took a slip for the night
Day 5 - Cape May Canal to Delaware Bay thru Delaware Canal -we could have stopped at Chesapeake City, but it was still early so we continued on to the Sassafras River (this was a long day we got in late at night and ended up tied up to a T-head until we could get our slip). We had planned to keep the boat in the Sassafras until the end of the summer.

We had mixed weather, rain 2 days, sunny the rest.
In September, after Labor Day, we moved the boat from the Sassafras to North Carolina. The Chesapeake part of the trip to Norfolk went like this:

Day 1 - Sassafras to Rock Hall (34 nm)- our usual late start, we took a slip at Rock Hall because I had intended to have our autopilot installed there, but they were not able to get to it, so we pushed on without it.

Day 2 - Rock Hall to Back Creek just below Annapolis (15 nm) - anchored.

Day 3 - From Back creek to the Solomons - we were having good weather but motoring into a head wind and we did not want to tack back and forth across the bay as we were trying to make time, not knowing exactly how long the trip would take.

Day 4 - We had planned to make Deltaville, but tropical Storm Hanna was coming up the coast and the weather started to deteriorate. We had a rough time crossing the mouth of the Potomac River, the river currents and the wind across the large fetch of the Chesapeake made for very confused water. We ended up ducking into Reedville, just the other side of the Potomac. Very hospitable place even if it is a bit out of the way. We spent 2 restful nights in a Bed and Breakfast in town, while Hanna blew over.

Day 6 - From Reedville to Fisher's Bay - around a 60 mile run.

Day 7 - from Fishers Bay to Norfolk - 47 miles.

We continued on down the ICW but this is where you wanted to stop.


These two trips to this point took us 12 days with a day layover for Tropical Storm Hanna.

cheers,

[josrulz]

We just sailed our "new" 1984 Sabre 34 from Essex, CT to Norfolk (and then up to Maryland) in May of this year. We did overnights offshore, and made the whole trip from Essex to Norfolk in 72 hours, including one night at anchor outside Throgs Neck.

Day 1 - Essex, CT to Throgs Neck (83 miles), spent night at anchor
Day 2 - Through NYC, fuel very early in the morning at Sandy Hook, and continued
Day 3 - Continued offshore
Day 4 - Arrived very early morning in Norfolk.

If you're trying to do no overnights offshore, the tough spot is NY to Cape May, only because there aren't many places to duck into. Delaware Bay can be a bit lean on stopping points too. Though as CapnRon47 pointed out, it can be done.

My recommendation would be to allow for the full 14 days, so you're not tempted to push harder than you should, resulting in a bad situation. That pressure can really be your undoing. For our 72 hour trip, I allowed 6 days, just in case, and we were doing overnights. You'll probably do it in 6 -7 days, but this gives you flexibility.

If you have any other questions about certain legs of the trip, I'm happy to answer. You can PM me if you want.
-J

[JimHawkins]

Why not break it up into pieces? Take a couple days to take the boat down to NYC or NJ, leave it there, and go home. Rest, recuperate, take a shower, enjoy your own bed. Then a week or two later take it down to the Chesapeake, leave it there, and go home again. Then when you're ready, take it the rest of the way. That way you'll ease into your cruising life without the stress of a big difficult trip right off the bat, and you can really enjoy the places along the way.