Advice for Hurricane Holes near Long Island Sound

[heatherbrie]

I'm currently in Greenport, Long Island, and planning to leave tomorrow to find a good hurricane hole in case Irene whomps the sound. Does anyone have any recommendations for the best spot within a one or two day sail of here? I'm looking at Point Judith Pond, which is a day's sail away, and was wondering if anyone had experience there (especially in a 6' draft boat) and if there were any other tested holes in the area.

[Mirari]

From Greenport your best bet is to head up the CT river. Hamburg cove is a popular spot to weather a storm that may get filled up. You can certainly head further up river, as far as Hartford if you want to. Plenty of islands to tuck behind, but with 6 foot draft check the charts. The good part if if you drag most of the bottom further up is mud or silt and not rock so damage will be less. Lets pray we don't get a direct hit

[RichH]

Right now passageweather.com (and others) has mid-Eastern LIS in a direct hit scenario. Im 'paddling' as fast as I can for the canyons of NYC to 'hole up'.
Hope you all on LIS stay safe.

[jimrafford]

I just spent a couple of days on the back end of our summer cruise in the inner pond of pt judith. Excellent anchorage, depth was about 10 feet and muddy. not a lot of protection if there is a big storm surge.
From Greenport your best destination is the ct. river. There are several locations all the way up the river as far as portland. Where I am in westbrook there is a brewers w/ new docks and pilings this year.
The computer models don't look good for us at this point.
I plan on stripping the boat on sat. and crossing my fingers. If you come this way and need a lift back to the ferry let me know.
Jim

[BarryL]

Hey,

Would the Sterling Basin make a good hurricane hole? I stayed at the Townsend Manor Marina few years ago and the basin seemed like it would be pretty good.

Note that I have never experienced a hurricane since I have been a boat owner so I don't really know what makes a good H-H.

Anyway, I'll be paying attention to the weather and preparing my boat as required. Of course, I'm supposed to leave Saturday afternoon for vacation.

Barry

[CalebD]

We left our Tartan 27' on it's mooring near Nyack, NY in 20' of water on the Hudson River for h'cane or tropical storm Ernesto (2006) that brought 24 + hours of easterly winds in the 40 - 50 knot range. Of course we removed sails and added chafing gear etc.
It was rough but she survived.
Often hurricanes become 'extra tropical' by the time they get to the tri-state area (CT, NJ, NY). One of the last hurricane in memory that actually remained a hurricane upon reaching the north east was hurricane Bob: Hurricane Bob - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And the most intense hurricane to hit our area was back in 1938: 1938 New England hurricane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
which produced a storm surge of nearly 14' in some areas of the RI/CT shoreline. The majority of tropical weather we get is usually just some intense wind, rain and a bit of tidal befuddlement.
A lot of what you decide to do depends on your circumstances. If you want to keep the boat closer to Greenport, NY I'd suggest breaking out the chart and finding a place called Northwest Creek which is about due south of Greenport; it is a little shallow but if you can get in there with good ground tackle you would be able to ride out a tidal surge, if one comes. If you want to try to get away from the east side of the hurricane then move your boat further west to the western LI Sound, CT River or even the Hudson.
We are all hoping it heads much more to the east then the current estimated track shows - which looks a lot like the path of hurricane Bob.

[Minnewaska]

I'm not sure Point Judith is a great idea. Inside has many shallows and I have to wonder if the deeper anchorages become more crowded, which is very bad in a hurricane!! The refuge is useless.

The CT river is a good idea, but well within the potential for a direct hit. If I were trying to run away, I would crank the iron genny at daybreak and head straight for the Hudson. Its the least likely to get hit, although, no where in the northeast is out of the question.

I'm reasonably cautious, so I've made plans to haulout and we'll see what the next couple of days bring. That said, I do have some suspicion that the NWS dramatizes this to keep the potential for unprepared catastrophic loses to a minimum. FEMA gets a big bill when these hit and the more we are prepared, the better for both of us.

[heatherbrie]

Thanks, everyone! Your advice has been incredibly useful. We're headed up the CT river for the weekend, though the forecast now shows the beotch tracking out further east every day - let's hope it stays that way! Good luck to everyone - hope y'all come out of this with NO damage and little stress!

[WDS123]

Our hearts an prayers are with all of you in the storm path

[thomaslynch]

I would duck into Mattituck, Mt. Sinai, Port Jefferson, Northport, etc. These are all quiet harbors with 100 to 150 high cliffs and land sourrounding the the the west, south and east.

Most notibably when the big LI hurricane's of the 1800s and then Gloria etc. direct hit, there is little damage on the "leeward" side of the island? as well the long island sound buffers these harbors from the rising waters of the atlantics way out in greenport through the Plum Gut etc. i would get somewhere quick many moorings and transient spots are booking up.