Lake Ontario - Erie Canal - NY - ICW - Bahamas

[Courageous]

We are planning to leave Lake Ontario the last weekend of September to eventually arrive in the Bahamas before the end of the year. We are looking for advice on places to stay around New York City or to travel to the Chesapeake to wait out the rest of the Hurricane season. We intend on traveling down the ICW and cross somewhere around Ft Lauderdale then cross over to the Abacus. We would appreciate any input on good places to stay in the Chesapeake waiting out the season and to perhaps jump on a plane to head back home for a while to tidy up some business matters.

cheers

[Captivy]

http://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/marinas/10

It's run by the city, inexpensive, secure and you're right in Manhattan.

You do get wake, you're right on the Hudson plus if you want luxury...go elsewhere...

[Courageous]

hi again, thanks for the input. Any advice in the Chesapeake, whats good areound the begining of the ICW.

Cheers

[Captivy]

Originally Posted by Courageous

hi again, thanks for the input. Any advice in the Chesapeake, whats good areound the begining of the ICW.

Cheers

We had friends anchor in Spa creek, Annapolis last year while the boat show was on, 1/2 hour walk to the show...

[Kettlewell]

There are hundreds of wonderful spots to spend time in the Chesapeake. What are you looking for? I would suggest planning on cruising the bay for the month of October, if your schedule allows. It is great to go to the Annapolis sailboat show in early October, where you will meet lots of fellow cruisers and I'm sure you'll hook up with some friends with similar interests. Dockage in Norfolk area is plentiful, but it is cheaper further north in Virginia if you don't mind being in some out of the way creek--beautiful, but quiet.

[Pblais]

You'll want to wait for favorable weather leaving NYC then on to Cape May, NJ. End of September starts to make for bad weather at times and the leg to Cape May affords few options so you need to be patient with weather leaving NYC.

October is the BEST month to be on the Chessapeake and I would spend as much time as possible there. There are far too many places to see in a month, but I would get moving along south by early November as the weather can change and long periods of high winds can nail you down. I would watch weather patterns and maybe start south to NC sooner if it looks like weather favors that change.

[ChrisClipper]

We are staging at Spring Cove Marina in Solomon’s Island, Maryland. Prepping to leave and hit the ICW late October – early November, no rush for us.
There are a few Canadians doing the same thing in the area and lots of us will be at the boat show. The Chesapeake is full of excellent marina’s and you almost have to select them more based on your needs than anything else. A lot of people take a break in Hampton as the last stop before the ICW, including those waiting to start the Caribbean 1500 and those doing the ARC Bahamas route that generally leave around the first week of November.
Kettlewell has it right, there are plenty of places to go if you want to avoid the full marina experience like Carters Creek up the Rappahannock or York river or even Ingram Bay and Reedville, which are still within an easy sail to the start of the ICW.
A few years ago I used to have a Catalina out of Pickering – Swan’s marina, those 42’s are nice boats.

[Courageous]

thanks for the input, i am now just begining to sort out the general route from NY out and around to Deleware Bay up to the top end to get into the Chesapeake. from there i might have to fly home for a bit to tidy up work items.

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by Captivy

Marinas : West 79th Street Boat Basin : NYC Parks

It's run by the city, inexpensive, secure and you're right in Manhattan.

You do get wake, you're right on the Hudson plus if you want luxury...go elsewhere...

This year they have on a maximum length of 40 ft.

Go over to sheltered Manhasset Bay and take the train in to NYC--
free mooring for the first 2 nights.

[Courageous]

thanks Donradcliffe...

[Courageous]

what is the best passage for newbies from NY harbor to the ICW, go to Delaware Bay and up to get to the Chesapeake and go south, or head straight from NY to the beginning of the ICW, timing not a factor...

[gettinthere]

Atlantic Highlands, south of NYC, has relatively cheap fuel and space to anchor behind the breakwall.
From there it is three day trips to Cape May; Manasquan, Atlantic City and then into Cape May. No place to anchor in Manasquan.
From Cape May, if you time the tide it is an easy day to Chesapeake City and a free for 24 hours, town dock or anchor in the basin.
From Ches City it is two easy days to Annapolis with a variety of anchorages along the way.
Annapolis to Norfolk is 3 more day sails with anchorage choices every evening.

[Finistere]

Summit North is a good marina in the CD Canal at the top of the bay, all the old floating docks were replaced this year. Easy access to Philadelphia airport if you need to fly home.

[Courageous]

good input, thanks