Sailing from Mystic CT to Catskill, NY

[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!

[skipmac]

Watch the currents when tides ebb and flood. Can add or subtract a knot or two in LI Sound heading east from Mystic. When you get to the East River it can add or subtract 5-6 knots so you really have to plan the trip through Hell Gate to the Battery with the currents.

Haven't been past lower Manhattan on the Hudson so can't help you there.

[hugosalt]

Skipmac has it right...East River through Hell Gate, down to the Battery and then up
the Hudson. For sailboats, never up the Harlem River as many very low bridges.
In Manhasset bay, free moorings for 48 hours and thinking $25. per night after.
call Matt Myran 516-767-1691/ chan #9
Very protected bay. Anchoring also option as plenty of room and good holding.
Good transportation to NYC close by.

[antoha]

not heard of sailboats going up Harlem River after passing Hell Gate (not sure if bridges would give enough clearance, and currents may not be permitting).

your stopover ports could be Port Jefferson (on LI) or Branford, CT (day 1); then Port Washington (on LI) or Mamaroneck, NY (which is on the MNR - several marinas/YCs there, within 15 min of the station), day 2. both are within your ~50 nm range. after that you could go through hell gate/east river/round up the battery and head up the hudson (you would need to time it, the tide can be 4-5 kts, but when done right you're riding the tide all the way), going as far up as past GW bridge is probably doable in a single day, or even past Tappan Zee bridge.

we've done the LIS portion of the trip (our home port is Mamaroneck), usually in 30-40 nm increments (smaller boat, and no real rush), but with enough motivation 50 could still be pleasant.

anton

p.s. very handy to have the Navionics app (cheap for iphone, more for ipad), great for planning and has the tides it you don't plan out too far in advance (i remember there was a bug in their tide calculator where they weren't doing daylight savings time switching right, maybe it's been fixed, it's accurate as of now)

[skipmac]

From what I can see on the charts, I think you could go the Harlem River, at least in theory but there are 10-12 swing bridges with restricted opening, very strong currents and I read a note that indicated heavy commercial traffic.

[Flyboy01]

All great comments, thank you. Anton, Thank you for the itinerary, I will check it out. A look at Navionics indicates no problem transiting the Harlem in terms of depth, but yes, several bridge openings would need to be timed so it may not be worth the 15 miles it saves. Keep em coming. Will have to moor somwhere near Tappen Zee, I suspect.

Steve

[skipmac]

The Harlem River channel sounded interesting so I did a bit more research. It does seem to be navigable by sailboats, even with a tall mast as all bridges are either lift, swing or very high fixed. However a couple of articles mentioned problems with the opening bridges, limited schedules, frequent construction problems, bridges that are stuck closed in hot summer temps, and a restriction that only one bridge is allowed to be open at a time. The last issue can trap a boat in the river if one bridge is stuck open or left open during construction.

Also the opening bridges aren't manned but require a call four hours in advance to a local office to get someone to come out to open the bridges. One article mentioned local kids occasionally like to drop rocks off the bridges onto boats below.

Sounds like it might be an option for exploration or an adventure but if I was trying to get from here to there I would go around the Battery.

[keepondancin]

One long day can get you to City Island or Manhasset, depending on tide and boat speed. You can get to at least Norwalk or Greenwich. If you can get yourself staged to leave early, from City Island/Manhasset, on favorable tides, try to follow the tide out through Hell's Gate, hitting the Battery while the tide is still outgoing, or about to change. Ride the incoming tide up the Hudson, (Hudson has tide over current) and you can make the Tappan Zee area. One more long day can get you to Caskill. You can anchor in the Tappan Zee Bay on the east side, either north or south, or marinas. Going North, you can anchor off Cold Spring, or there is the Garrison Boat Club that may have moorings, or the Newburgh Yacht Club. Roundout Creek has several Marinas. As you get further up past Newburgh, the river gets shallow out side the channel, and you could probably sneak in somewhere to anchor. One spot would be just north of the Roundout Creek light house. Passing tugs and barges will rock the boat. Going past West Point, and thinking about our history is really quite an experience. Forget the Harlem River.

[zeehag]

hudson river is estuarial to north troy.
catskill is gorgeous. we used to sail out of catskill creek into hudson river
check your charts well and find the anchorages you can use with your draft and needs.

[brucep2100]

Also, the view of lower Manhattan, Statue of Liberty (while you're waiting for current to change) Intrepid, Palisades, ... Spectacular.

[Cadence]

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!

You may want to check if the Harlem River is a viable option for a S/V?

[1boat2many]

I bought my current boat (O'Day 31) in Mystic, sailed her down to Pt. Washington - had a nice beat to windward on the way down, stopping at Milford for the night (good anchorage behind Crescent Island) - it's about 55 miles so a really good day (for me). That said, either Pt. Washington which is very well protected and a good place to leave your boat for the week, or City Island if you just want to overnight. Both are very convenient for planning a passage through hell Gate at slack tide. You might want to consider Liberty Landing Marina for your next stop - it's on the NJ side of the Hudson and there's a water taxi stop at the marina that gets you into lower Manhattan - either for fun or for access to major transportation lines at Grand Central or Penn Station. The nice thing about taking the East River south is that you will have no problem with bridge clearance and can plan for a favorable tide. If you stay at Liberty you can plan your transit north with favorable tide as well.

[hugosalt]

I did not stress my point enough in my earlier post # 3.
For sailboats, NEVER up the Harlem River.
Please, do not even think about it.
Thinking about 14 very low bridges with issues mostly covered in above posts.
(Grew up along the East River and sail western LIS.)

[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.

[irwin27destiny]

We stayed a night on a mooring at the Nyack Boat Club. Nice place . Great view of the bridge at night. Nice town with many places to eat. Wish we could have stayed a couple nights . Also stayed a night at riverfront marina in Newburgh. Also a nice spot . Some wave action from the ferry but not as bad as i thought. Nice riverfront and also plenty of places for dinner. We where on our way from Rochester NY . Had the mast stepped in Catskill . Hop-o-nose also a nice spot.


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