Hello from Savannah, Georgia, USA

[helenwiley]

Greetings Bob and I live in Savannah and are preparing our Finnsailer 35, "Cornucopia" for a trip back up the ICW.

We sold the car and moved to Georgia via boat in 2007. Now that we are retired, we are preparing to return to New England waters.

This trip up we are planning on taking Long Island on the seaward side. This will avoid Hell's gate which we have done 4 times already.

Have any of you done this and what anchorages or marinas did you use on the Long Island coast?

[WanderingStar]

I have not done the trip that way, but I used to sail the South Shore extensively. Because I was homeported there, I didn't stay at marinas either. But the bays inside the barrier islands have plenty of good anchorages. The "State Boat Channel" is Long Island's section of the ICW. It runs through numerous islands and salt marshes that provide good sheltered anchorages. The water is not deep, the bottom is generally sand or mud, sometimes grass.
Marinas in NY are expensive, but there are plenty of great towns on the bay to visit. On the Fire Island side there are several town marinas and beach communities, bring mosquitoe repellent.

[helenwiley]

WanderingStar, thank you for the information. I am not familiar with the "State Boat Channel" but will look into it.

[WanderingStar]

You can look at charts online, I think through google earth. I'm not certain if that name (state boat channel) is official or local, but you'll see it on the chart.