Trip planning LI sound

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We did about a 350 mile, three week tour from Somerset, Mass (Newport) to almost Albany on the Hudson. My family lived in Chester for a while on the Connecticut River so Essex and the Gris was a sentimental tour down memory lane for me, but when we were done with the whole trip, my wife and our friends who did the trip with us said Essex and our evening at the Gris was their favorite stop. Hamburg Cove though -- when we lived there, I had a 14-foot Blue Jay open cockpit sailboat and would sail into Hamburg Cover a lot, but then that boat had a draft of about one foot, with the daggerboard up. We tried to get into Hamburg Cove with the Mainship - draws just under four feet -- and were very lucky to get out. Maybe it was an extreme low tide. The charts show a pretty narrow channel of around 8-9 feet on the way in and then about the same when the cove opens up inside. Maybe my chartplotter was off too, but we hit soft mud and almost came to a stop. Barely got out of there, I was really sweating it.
 
Northport is awesome. Thursday nights they have a band down in the park you can hear from the moorings.

Great eats in town. Bars etc…. Literally across the street from the harbor.

My home town. If you swing by, you can use a mooring gratis
 
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Alisske said:
Northport is awesome. Thursday nights they have a band down in the park you can hear from the moorings.

Great eats in town. Bars etc…. Literally across the street from the harbor.

My home town. If you swing by, you can use a mooring gratis
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Is that Northport in Long Island I assume? I've stayed in Lloyd's harbor but not Northport yet.
 
Yep. Northshore LI. . Just east of Lloyd Harbor.

Great little town. Still has trolley tracks on Mainstreet. (Albeit no longer used)

Gunthers Tavern has good strong cheap drinks. Fancy places are good too though
 
Alisske said:
Yep. Northshore LI. . Just east of Lloyd Harbor.

Great little town. Still has trolley tracks on Mainstreet. (Albeit no longer used)

Gunthers Tavern has good strong cheap drinks. Fancy places are good too though
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You mentioned moorings, are they all private or town-controlled or what? How is anchoring?
 
Yacht club and a small marina has moorings. We styed at the marina and they even dropped us off (and picked us up) at the Yacht Club across the harbor for a quick walk over to the Vanderbilt museum. Dockage at town dock for dinghy. There is even a theatre in town if you time your visit right.
 
It really depends on whether you want to go via Montauk, Coecles Harbor, Sag Harbor, Greenport in NY, or whether you want to go Watch Hill, Mystic, New London, Ct River along the RI/CT route.

You could go back and forth, or in via the northern route and out via the NY route.
 
On the way up or down to the Hudson Eldridge (as mentioned) is your Best Friend!
Below Croton Point on the East side is Shattemuc Yacht Club. Mix of Sail & Power. Commercial marina next door with ship's store, 2 restaurants, laundry & Train Station on a short walk. Reciprocal with many clubs - 1st night. Slips behind wave attenuator with power or moorings. Pumpout at service dock. Bathhouse / showers.
www.shattemucyc.org Select "About Us" then "Welcome Transient..." info & links to Snag-A-Slip & Dockwa! Best Sunsets on the entire Hudson!!
 
This is just what I am looking for. Great places to stop and where to be careful. I am open to crossing sound. The weather will dictate my travel days and where I stop, The better the weather means more stops along the way.
 
We may be a couple weeks behind you heading from Narragansett Bay to Lake Champlain.

When we bought the boat a few years ago, it was in Shady Harbor. Doing the return trip, we hit Haverstraw Cove (great anchorage), Liberty Park (nice!), East River to Safe Harbor Branford, met up with friends in Crocker's Boatyard in New London then Stonington, CT. From there it was an easy trip to Narragansett Bay and up into Wickford. Having sailed extensively in Western Long Island Sound, I would highly recommend any of the following: Sag Harbor, Three Mile Harbor, Montauk, Mystic, West Harbor Fishers Island (quiet anchorage) and Stonington. You won't be able to fit them all in, but any of them are nice. If there is any way your wife can meet up for the trip up the Hudson, I would highly recommend it. It was my wife's favorite part of the trip.
 
I might try Fishers Island, years ago I would take the ferry over to service tractors at one of the golf courses. Time will tell if and when my wife joins me, however my dog will be there to enjoy it. I am thinking Watch Hill or Fishers Island for my first stop. Next to Essex or Port Jefferson then Port Washington.
 
Planning on doing the Chesapeake Loop that follows Captain John Smiths exploration journey back in 1600. It's about 400 miles, 26 ports, and maybe 1 1/2 months.q
 
Two days moving followed by a day off for sightseeing, provisioning or bad weather. Don’t fight the weather. A day moving followed by a day off is even better.

Don’t miss a night tied up at Mystic Seaport. After the park closes you can wander through a 19th century seafaring town as if you were transported back in time 200 years.
 
I am looking forward to my time in the Chesapeake and I want to do the Albemarle sound too. The amount of places to see will guarantee a second Loop.
 
My Long Island Sound cruising summers happened a bunch of years ago but if things have not changed too much, this is what I found:

1. "Cruising" to boaters on the Sound consists of going from one's home yacht club to another yacht club for the weekend, taking a mooring and staying there overnight after drinks and dinner. Most of the yacht clubs at that time took transients or were open to members of almost any group that called itself a yacht club. Certainly, MTOA membership will get you into most of them except perhaps as you get close to NYC, since MTOA has a physical base in Virginia.

2. There aren't a whole lot of actual anchorages as you move toward NYC. You end up taking moorings most nights, as they fill the harbors.

3. My favorite area was the "Fishtail" of Long Island near Plum Gut, Orient and Shelter Island. We once spent four days out there, anchoring in different coves each night. It was lovely and more like my home waters of the Chesapeake where anchorages are everywhere.

BTW, my daughter and her family live in Ocean Grove in Swansea. I may want to pick your brain about that area if we take SNOWBIRD northeast one summer.
 
Unclematt said:
I might try Fishers Island, years ago I would take the ferry over to service tractors at one of the golf courses. Time will tell if and when my wife joins me, however my dog will be there to enjoy it. I am thinking Watch Hill or Fishers Island for my first stop. Next to Essex or Port Jefferson then Port Washington.
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If you are not familiar with West Harbor, Fishers Island....
On the port side just past the channel entrance markers there are 5 or 6 faded red mooring balls just inside of the rock pile. Those are Pirate's Cove moorings. They are free if you are only there for the day. But they charge if you're staying overnight.
However, if you are there before about mid-June, they don't come out and check them so you can overnight for nothing. IF they do come out, they do that around 3:30-4:00 in the afternoon. If you happen to be walking your dog on the beach, they won't make a second trip back to collect.
The moorings are good ones.

Also if you are going to make Port Jeff you'll be better off leaving from Fishers Island rather than Watch Hill. You'll save an hour, and PJ is a long run from the Mystic area.

Hope this helps.
 
Unclematt said:
I might try Fishers Island, years ago I would take the ferry over to service tractors at one of the golf courses. Time will tell if and when my wife joins me, however my dog will be there to enjoy it. I am thinking Watch Hill or Fishers Island for my first stop. Next to Essex or Port Jefferson then Port Washington.
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I wouldn't bother with Fishers Island. You can't get ashore from East Harbor. West Harbor can rent slips and (I think) moorings, however the island is basically closed except for a restaurant and ice cream shop in West Harbor.

If you're going into Fisher's Island Sound, you'd be better off in:

Watch Hill/Napatree
Mystic
New London
 
Shrew said:
If you're going into Fisher's Island Sound, you'd be better off in:

Watch Hill/Napatree
Mystic
New London
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I would suggest Noank over Mystic especially if just there for an overnight and not really sighseeing. Noank Shipyard Marina is one of my favorite places to stop in the area and closer to FI Sound than Mystic.
 
backinblue said:
I would suggest Noank over Mystic especially if just there for an overnight and not really sighseeing. Noank Shipyard Marina is one of my favorite places to stop in the area and closer to FI Sound than Mystic.
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Abbott's (lobster and seafood). If you're in Noank, have to go to Abbott's. If you're in Newport (well, Middletown) you can't miss Anthony's, and if you're in Noank, have to hit Abbott's. Certain things in life are mandatory.
 
kthoennes said:
Abbott's (lobster and seafood). If you're in Noank, have to go to Abbott's. If you're in Newport (well, Middletown) you can't miss Anthony's, and if you're in Noank, have to hit Abbott's. Certain things in life are mandatory.
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Exactly, and it's right next door to the marina. BYOB. Also, Costello's clam shack right at the marina dock is also good if you're looking for something less than a lobster feast. Speaking of lobster, there is one place that has the best lobster roll I've found and I've tried a lot of them. It's Lobster Landing in Clinton. Short walk from Cedar Island Marina. Also a great marina btw, and maybe a good stop for Matt if he is on his way to Port Jeff.
 
tomdove said:
2. There aren't a whole lot of actual anchorages as you move toward NYC. You end up taking moorings most nights, as they fill the harbors.
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I totally disagree. This is my back yard. Here is a list of great anchorages:
1) Northport Harbor
2) Oyster Bay
3) Hempstead Harbor
4) Manhasset Bay
5) Stamford Harbor
6) Norwalk Islands
7) West of Hart Island
8) Eastchester Bay
9) Captain Islands
No Yacht Club membership or reciprocity required. Just drop the hook and dig into mud. Many of these anchorages have restaurants close by and places to run a dinghy ashore. Manhesset Bay even has free guest moorings.
 
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Have to strongly agree with 2 savage. Believe one of the wonderful things about the entire northeast is the large amount of good places to anchor. Got a head slap from an old salt af few decades ago when I looked at chart and only considered designated anchoring fields. He patiently explained you need only care if the bottom is good, depth sufficient and is it protected from wind and wave. Even within NYC borders there’s good places to anchor. Of course the rivers are off limits but Brooklyn actually has some nice spots. Especially between Rockaway beach and Coney Island or as far in as Jamaica bay.
 
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The trip down Long Island Sound has a plethora of towns, harbors and anchorages that seem to be well covered by other posts. The challenge for this trip is the East River. Timing is essential to ensure a favorable tide as it can run up to 5 kts for both ebb and flo.

Depending on where you stay the night before, your 6 hour a day running requires knowledge of where you will end up after the East River. Since this is supposed to be a pleasure cruise, forget the Harlem River 'short cut' as this will mean you miss the awesome trip past the east side of Manhattan, around the Battery with its jaw dropping skyline (and view of the Statue of Liberty) then up the west side, past the cruise terminals, Intrepid Aircraft Carrier museum and other such landmarks.

There is little choice for anchoring or Marinas once you go under the Throgs Neck Bridge and enter the East River. Liberty Landing Marina (Jersey City) is one such stop and there is a new Marina in Brooklyn too, just past the Navy Yard that is cool. Both are expensive. Forget North Cove at the tip of Manhattan unless you can handle $500 a night.

From lower Manhattan going north there is nothing in the way of decent anchorages or Marinas until you get to the pier at Piermont. It is possible to anchor near the end of the Pier but you may instead want to see if Nyack Boat Club can offer a transient mooring. For a Marina, Safe Harbor in Haverstraw has excellent facilities and a decent restaurant on the water, the Hudson Water Club. Travelling north the area around the Bear Mountain Bridge offers a few anchorage choices and the scenery is spectacular. After that my knowledge is too thin to offer advice.

Hope this helps
 
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Every bit of this helps. I will have extra time weather permitting to enjoy extra stops. I am getting excited. A man his dog and a boat, what could be better. Thanks all
 
Can anchor between Atlantic highlands/Sandy Hook and get to manhasset bay or off city island and have the hook down with current going your way the whole time. North cove is a little too scary for me to get into. Did it once to drop off crew. Won’t do it again.
 
Anchored off Coney Island last November. Good holding, plenty of room however it was November!

Rob
 
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