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CT to Shelter Island

4181 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by ERICANDERSON, Oct 9, 2009

COBRIEN

Discussion Starter · Sep 26, 2009

Hi All- I just purchased a seaworthy 1980 Catalina 25' near bridgeport CT and need to sail her to a mooring on Shelter Island. Any tips on how long this might take and the best way to round Orient? thanks.

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aferlazzo

· #2 · Sep 26, 2009

You will probably need two days, assuming no night sailing. I assume you have a good outboard for when the wind dies. Try to head east on the sound on an ebb tide, the current will help you, and if you have the usual southwesterly breeze, a spinnaker or a poled out genoa will also help. I would duck into Westbrook (good fair weather anchorage right behind Duck Island) or Saybrook for the night... there are no harbors on the LI shore that you will be able to use.

On day 2, just go across the sound to Orient Point. Rounding Orient is pretty straightforward as I recall, but it's been quite a few years. Make sure you have good charts, know what the current is doing and of course watch the weather. Sailing around the Shelter Island area is a treat.

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aferlazzo

· #6 · Sep 28, 2009

A handheld gps is what you need. Something like this:

Garmin GPSMAP® 76 GPS Receiver -Slightly used - eBay (item 130333169254 end time Sep-29-09 12:23:32 PDT)

You might be able to buy some charts that can be loaded into it or if you can't do that, input some waypoints that you can use to have it always let you know where you are.

More on Westbrook marinas. etc. later.

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aferlazzo

· #11 · Sep 28, 2009

COBRIEN said:
I will opt for the GPS, and hopefully make the trip in 2 days. If the weather looks bleak for the day 2 trip from Westbrook through the Gut I will continue to dock in Westbrook until favorable day weather. If I am only looking to do fair weather day sailing, will just GPS and back up paper charts be sufficient? Will also consult Eldredge prior to the trip for those days I am on the water.

OK first, Westbrook marinas. You can find some others via google, but you might as well just tie up at Brewer's Pilot's Point:

Brewer Pilots Point Marina, Westbrook CT

First rate service and they also have marinas in Old Saybrook and Greenpoint, NY. They are literally everywhere in this area. You might save a few bucks elsewhere if you look around.

You should be fine with the GPS and paper charts plus Eldridge. Note that your handheld GPS will eat batteries, so have plenty of spares and know how to change them quickly while underway. It may not have built in charts so you will want to load in waypoints to help you along. You won't want to be converting lat and long from the GPS to your charts, it's too time consuming, especially if you are singlehanding. Stick to Garmin in the GPS... the very best IMHO. The one I linked would be great because you can buy the charts from Garmin to load into the unit, and it just does everything well.

Be sure to have some good binoculars and a hand bearing compass might also come in handy.

Make sure that chartkit from Defender includes the waters around Shelter Island. I am pretty sure it does, but just make sure before you buy.

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