Chester, PA to Long Island Sound - Winter

[svenskflicka]

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. This forum is full of some amazingly intelligent and thoughtful people. I'm glad I stumbled across it.

Unless we get some kind of unusually amazing weather, the plan is to head down to Chester to receive the boat, spend a day or two testing out the systems and then leaving her on the hard down near the C&D for the winter.

On a total side note, the boat was supposed to come with a transom bench, similar to the attached photo, but it turns out they couldn't locate it.

The broker located one in Miami, but I need to ship it up from the dealer down there.

Any kind sailors in the Miami area that can lend a hand in getting this thing in the mail?

[kmacdonald]

If you change your mind and decide to sail it up north let me know. It sure would be nice having a new boat a few miles from home to get ready for the sailing season. I'd crew with a few conditions. No day hops and wait for good weather. Where on Long Island is it going?

[svenskflicka]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

If you change your mind and decide to sail it up north let me know. It sure would be nice having a new boat a few miles from home to get ready for the sailing season. I'd crew with a few conditions. No day hops and wait for good weather. Where on Long Island is it going?

Huntington, NY

[Tylermartinsail]

Originally Posted by svenskflicka

Thank you for the tips, I will definitely call some delivery captains and do some reading on the inlets.

The idea would be to make the run non stop, 48 hours or so.

I understand your thinking. I sail for a living and inherently take on lots of deliveries for work, however I turn down more deliveries than I take up. My main reason for declining a delivery job is safety. So pretend this isn’t your boat, pretend it’s just a delivery that you are going to be skippering. Would you do it? Based on you experience and condition of the vessel? Of course a delivery captain would also be asking if it’s worth the money! Haha
If you asked me to do the delivery, I would immediately want to know about the vessel. And if I thought for a second, it wasn’t in near perfect condition, I’d decline, because it’s not worth the trouble to me. Winter passage making is not forgiving. But if the boat is 95% trustworthy, I’d consider it....if the pay was really good. I’d want $700 a day to do that trip in the winter, that’s what my skills and time are worth as a professional. This isn’t an offer btw, too cold for this key west boy, but just to put it into perspective.

[hellosailor]

Shipping the transom bench might be simplest by asking someone (Taskrabbit or Uber even) to drop it off at a UPS Store in Miami, and just paying that store to wrap it up and ship it. Shipping rates probably are going up after January 1st, fwiw.

If the Miami (broker?) is willing to wrap it up, all the better. If the bench is really heavy and they have a motor freight account, having it shipped up to a motor freight depot near Huntington may be a very economical way to have it shipped. (Depot pickup being lots cheaper than last-mile delivery.)

[edexter]

And once in the Sound, mind the tidal change - can be 8 to 12 feet twice a day. As a youth sailing in Smithtown Bay, we often chuckled about the sailboaters anchoring a half mile off West Meadow beach with plenty of keel clearance at high tide, only to find the boat listing 50 degrees at low tide, laying over on a nice firm sandbar. Or trying to get into Stony Brook harbor with the tide going out - the current can exceed the hull speed of a lot of boats. I'd sit on the jetty and wave...

[jzaraschi]

Having made that passage many times as hired delivery captain may I suggest putting on a truck, and you will have it in Long Island Sound in 1 day.


This time of year it is difficult to string 2 good days together. Additionally, the winds have a nasty northerly component which makes going up the N. J. Shore ugly. The days are short, and the best you can do is 40-60 mi. a day
(daylight sailing only).
Save the wear and tear on your boat and yourself, and alny foolish crew you can talk into going along.

[Black Diamond]

A Salona 38 is a light boat, seems not suitable for a potential rough crossing. if you were in a Valiant 50 I might say "go for it', but this isn't a boat (opinion) for blue water crossings in winter.



Trucking the boat would cost more than a delivery captain, and you have the added fun of crossing the Connecticut border with a boat on a truck. No oversize loads can be on I-95 between Friday and Monday night. You could sit on the border for a few days waiting... worth checking the details..


fwiw

[timeout2]

Wheels are at the stern. You would not be able to hide under the dodger and let the auto pilot do the driving. Too much traffic and the autopilot may be broken. I personally wouldn't do it but there are a lot of frostbite sailors in Boston harbor who race all winter. Many insurance policies require the boat to be out of the water for the winter. Check yours.

[kmacdonald]

It's about a two day run. Real easy, just wait for decent weather. 50 degree plus days aren't far apart.

[sveinung]

Lots of concern over being outside on colder weather here.. People sail year round in higher latitudes with proper clothes and gear, comfortable and dangerous are two very different things. If your username indicates where you grew up Im sure you're used to being outside year round in Sweden like we do in Norway.

I buy in on the new boat concern, anything between Verrazzano and Whitestone bridge will be very unfortunate places to have an engine issue (lots of commercial traffic, narrow and small current window before you have 6 knots).

[svenskflicka]

****UPDATE****

We will not be attempting to make the passage. We will sail the boat down to the C&D and put her on the hard in that area for the winter.

[WanderingStar39]

It got cold fast this fall. Good luck in the Spring.

[pa391as]

If you're looking for experienced crew, PM me.

[svenskflicka]

Hey everyone, we took the boat up last week. 39 hours straight. Would have been more like 34, but the water pump went,(thankfully I had a spare on board) and we missed the tide at the East River. So we enjoyed a nap anchored up next to Lady Liberty to wait out the tide.

Other than that it was pretty straight forward. We didn't go through the Cape May Canal as my air draft is 57.5ft.

We followed other's advice on Cruiser Forums and took a left after Brandywine Shoal towards G5 and then just scooted along the coast from there.

We found both the NOAA and Navionics charts to be pretty spot on in this location, on that day.

Anyway, she is finally home, and I can't thank the forum members enough for all of their support and knowledge.