Cape May to Montauk in 2009

[lori dee]

hello,

I am taking my 35' Columbia 11.7 from Solomons, MD to Montauk, NY in late August/early September 2009. We will be a crew of 2 with about 10 years of sailing experience on the Chesapeake Bay. Have made the trip to Cape May before. Looking for any and all info concerning places to tuck in to anchor along the south shore of Long Island prior to Montauk. Also, any suggestions for the same along the New Jersey coast. The boat drafts 5.5 feet. Not sure where we will break off to go into the ocean, open to suggestions.
Thanks!
Lori Dee
Aboard Makani

[svcattales]

Originally Posted by lori dee

hello,

I am taking my 35' Columbia 11.7 from Solomons, MD to Montauk, NY in late August/early September 2009. We will be a crew of 2 with about 10 years of sailing experience on the Chesapeake Bay. Have made the trip to Cape May before. Looking for any and all info concerning places to tuck in to anchor along the south shore of Long Island prior to Montauk. Also, any suggestions for the same along the New Jersey coast. The boat drafts 5.5 feet. Not sure where we will break off to go into the ocean, open to suggestions.
Thanks!
Lori Dee
Aboard Makani

Lori, We made that trip 2 yrs ago and it was our first time also. We stopped at Barnegat NJ after leaving Cape May. The inlet was pretty good and there was a good anchorage on the inside close to the inlet. Barnegat can be nasty with a wind vs current situation so pick your weather window accordingly. We decided to take the inside route through New York harbor so we could play tourist and see Manhattan and Lady Liberty. Our next stop was a great anchorage in NY Harbor called Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island. Harbor has great protection and there is anchoring room on the north end beyond a large mooring field. The Brooklyn Bridge, Lady Liberty and the Manhattan skyline was really spectacular close up.

We took the East River passed Manhattan and it was relatively easy. There is lots of current so you have to time your passage, but you can make great speed all the way to Long Island Sound. Going through the famous "Hell Gate" we were doing 11 kts on the GPS. This route was not difficult and you might want to do it at least one way just for the sightseeing. There is lots of shipping traffic in NY harbor, but we just stayed outside the shipping channels and had no problems. The ferries were all over the place, but once we figured out their basic routes, we avoided them easily. Once we were in the East River, boat traffic was light, but we pitied all the commuters stuck in traffic jams.

Long Island Sound was beautiful with plenty of anchorages and clean/clear water. We anchored at Manhasset and Port Jefferson. On our return trip, we anchored in the "Fish Tale" at 3-mile harbor near the Hamptons and that was very protected for a frontal passage. We didn't stop at Montauk since our destination was Marthas Vineyard. Also, suggest you stop at Block Island as a side trip. We really enjoyed exploring the island and anchorage is good. Try not to do it on a weekend. We arrived at 4PM on a Friday and were overwhelmed with all the boats. Every morning a gondola came by with fresh baked goods and that was pretty cool.

Have a great trip.

[camaraderie]

There are no all weather sailboat inlets on the south shore of Long Island except close in to the city. Your best bet if time is a constraint is just to head out of the Cape May inlet and GO to Montauk direct with a 2 day good weather window.
If that is not within your comfort zone, then you should head up the Jersey coast...Atlantic City, Manaquan and Atlantichighlands are all good inlets and each a day sail apart. From there you can head up the East River into long island sound and work your way out to Greeport and Montauk.
Figure 6 days with no night sailing on that route...assuming decent weather.