Sailing from Mystic CT to Catskill, NY

[ebsail]

Moorings are available at the Nyack Boat Club at $20 per night. Call on Channel 9 after 12 noon . Includes launch service from 12 to 9 PM weekdays and 8AM-9PM weekends. Nyack is located on the western shore of the Hudson River just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction zone. Look for the 80 moorings. Note: No wakes when under the bridge and go 1/2 mile north before turning west to avoid the safety zone of the bridge constructors.

[Chas.7]

Hello,
I've been through the gate many times. In 1982, I powered my 26ft Steelcraft through it with 9.9 hp. I would try to hit the gate the fourth+ hour of the flood. The first two hours of the ebb will get you around the battery, after that you will hit the ebb from the North River. Pick you tide and day, August is the least foggiest month.
Good luck

[Chas.7]

Also monitor channels 13 and 14 VTS, you don't want to meet a stern tow in the gate

[Flyboy01]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will factor it all in as I organize the itinerary. The trip will likely be the second or third week of October. ~ Steve

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by pesarsten

You should check out Englewood boat basin and Alpine basin just south of the Tappan Zee bridge. The bridge is being replaced, there is major construction , barges, cranes, etc. I also believe ther is a 1 mile exclusion zone around the bridge. Perhaps one of the basins could give you more info.

You mean the Tappan Zee is being replaced. I can remember watching it being built form the yacht club while on vacation as a kid. Either they did a lousy job or I'm older than dirt. Probably the later.

[SailFastTri]

Also be aware of the many construction barges building the new Tappan Zee bridge alongside the present one. You should only pass through there in good visibility, as things can change daily.


Edit: oops didn't see the other post on this.

[Sandero]

Originally Posted by Flyboy01

First time sailing 43' S/V from Long Island Sound (Mystic) up the East, Harlem and Hudson river for winter repositioning. Looking to do about 50 miles per day, moving the boat about 80 - 100 miles over the first weekend. Then leaving the boat in a secure location and return the following weekend to finish the journey --again 40-50 miles per day. Prefer moorings, will take anchorages as well. Any experience share, advice or suggestions on where to stay are appreciated. Thanks!

Mystic to the Thimbles... pick up a mooring or anchor... good holding... easy landfall.. protected.. picturesque Thimbles to Port Jef.... can be hard on the wind tho... anchor off the west right after the entry channel... quiet... good holding... pretty. Port Jef to Port Washington or maybe City Island... PW is nicer... Plan your dash down the East river in slack or fair tide... and over to Staten Island... Liberty Marina (who wants to say in a slip????) then up the Hudson to where you choose... never been up there with the boat.

[FredMG]

Mystic up the Sound is not hard, with around 170 or so places to put in. In May I helped a friend who bought an O'Day 31 move it from the mouth of the Potomac River to Port Jefferson, NY. We took a week however due to some fixes and waiting out the weather at Atlantic City for 2.5 days. We did AC to PJ however in one long and literally 24 hour day. Last leg was passing through Hell Gate just as it got dark, and motored overnight, tying up in PJ at 3:30am. So, figure PJ to NYC/East River taking rougnly 7 to 10 hours.
I'd suggest something like Mystic to Port Jefferson, where there are plenty of services, and restaurants, etc. if you want on shore (very nice, pretty little town too). Second day you could head to City Island, or if you don't mind catching the evening tide down the E. River (which will boost you 4 to 5 knots or so, we motored up and were doing around 10 kts over the bottom verified by GPS plotter).... around lower Manhattan and across to Liberty Marina, but you'd be arriving well after dark and there aren't many places to tie up on the E. River.
Alternatively, on the Connecticut side you have some harbors, Branford, Bridgeport (actually just west of it as Bridgeport is not a very pretty place). Further West Norwalk is a good place and puts you a littler further along. (I'm on Long Island, have been sailing 48 years this season by the way. Retired engineer/boat designer by the way.)

[JerseyJoe]

Ditto on all that say skip the Harlem and time your slack tide at Hell Gate. Port Washington, Manhasset and City Island are all good choices for mooring or anchorage for prior night.

If you want to break up the trip a bit more once you hit the Battery head straight across Hudson to the south side of the Liberty Island on the south bank of Liberty State Park at Pier 7. There is small safe anchorage in front of the Liberty National Country Club. Hug the pier on the way in as shoals on port side. Shh...don't tell anybody. You can then time your next leg up the Hudson with a fresh day if you are not on strict timetable.

[FredMG]

If you go to Port Washington, my friend George Martin runs the Manhassett Bay Shipyard, you can find him on Facebook if you like. He's a sailor, lived on a housebarge for over 30 years, now is moving aboard a 53' power cruiser. He's got contacts all over Port Washington. Tell him you "know" me, Fred Goldfarb.

[ztsf]

First, obtain a copy of the 2016 Eldridge to get the actual timing of the tides, and charts that show the currents in Long Island Sound, as well as through Manhattan.

Second, navigation by sailboat up the Harlem River is impractical. Plan to navigate the East River around the Battery and head up the Hudson.

To make a favorable run of tide current on the East River, plan to leave either City Island, New York or Manhasset Bay, New York at high tide at the Battery. This will give you a favorable AND MANAGEABLE tide current through Hell Gate and past Roosevelt Island, where the current runs the strongest in the East River.

On our Transit up the Hudson River we used Lincoln Harbor Marina in New Jersey, Haverstraw Marina at Haverstraw, New York, and Norrie Point State Park in New York. These all provided good dockage at reasonable prices.

I believe, as has been stated, that moorings may be obtained in Nyack, New York. Exercise EXTREME CAUTION in navigating this area, as there are many many barges anchored in the Hudson near the construction site of the new Tappan Zee Bridge. Do not navigate this area after dark, it is very dangerous!

Safe travels!

[FredMG]

Just a quick reply again: Being careful going up or downstream in the upper and Manhattan/Brooklyn East River channels also includes watching out for tugboat/barge traffic. I don't know who else here had the "opportunity" I did (wife and me) but due to engine failure we once sailed up the East River from just south of Governors Island, through Hell Gate, and out to Oyster Bay, at night. Wind was dead astern and it went well, but you must time the tides. We had a 31' cruising trimaran at the time.

[ztsf]

Ditto the previous comment about tug and barge traffic in both the East and Hudson Rivers.

As someone suggested previously, monitor channel 13 on VHS, and study your chart to understand where the tug is broadcasting from.

Depending on the time of your transit there will also be many ferries, New York Waterway ferries and Staten Island ferries in the lower Battery area (tip of Manhattan), and on the Hudson. During the day there will also be sightseeing boats, as well as normal freighter traffic in the lower New York Harbor as high as Bayonne.

You will however be afforded with great views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as you round the Battery.

[antoha]

Oh, and also there's only one correct side of Roosevelt island for a sailboat to transit east river, and that's closer to Manhattan; on our previous boat (a 28 footer) we once tried going through the other channel and narrowly escaped touching the bridge with the mast (had to turn around and motor hard against the current)...

[Three Sisters]

Originally Posted by Flyboy01

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will factor it all in as I organize the itinerary. The trip will likely be the second or third week of October. ~ Steve

Google street view can provide the some of the optics to expect around
Hellgate. It would be Shore Blvd., Astoria, NY. I'd like to do this trip at slack tide. Enjoy