Is there a passage from the Delaware River to NY harbor?

[RaySea Lady]

The line below seems to indicate that there is although I have never seen it. I always thought you had to go the ocean route from NY harbor to the Delaware or Norfolk.


The paragraph below is from the website Page Title

Starting from the St Lucie Inlet on the east coast of Florida, your Great Loop distance on the
Atlantic ICW is 987 miles to Norfolk, VA. From Norfolk, it is another 279 miles to the Hudson
River for a total of 1,266 miles. From Florida's east coast at St. Lucie heading north, the ICW
will take you through the Dismal Swamp, and lead you on up to the Chesapeake Bay, the C& D
Canal, and the Delaware River. From there, it is across New York Harbor to the Hudson River.

[jmackay]

Anything of any size needs to go outside. There is no practical route from Cape May to Barnagate Inlet. From there inside to Manasquan is very shallow and I know of no inside route from there to Sandy Hook. It's about 18 to 20 hours from Sandy Hook to Cape May in a sailboat at about 6kts. Going north stay offshore 3 to 5 miles for a favorable current and heading south hug the shore for a counter current.

[hellosailor]

The C&D Canal cuts across the top of the Delmarva peninsula. All it buys you is a fast trip from the Chesapeake to the Delware, then you go south out by Cape May and either take the ICW or the open Atlantic up to NYC.

There's no secret canal, and sailing up the Delaware River won't get you into NYC.

[Travelnik]

Originally Posted by jmackay

Anything of any size needs to go outside. There is no practical route from Cape May to Barnagate Inlet. From there inside to Manasquan is very shallow and I know of no inside route from there to Sandy Hook. It's about 18 to 20 hours from Sandy Hook to Cape May in a sailboat at about 6kts. Going north stay offshore 3 to 5 miles for a favorable current and heading south hug the shore for a counter current.

How shallow? My boat draws around 28"-30".

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by jmackay

Anything of any size needs to go outside. There is no practical route from Cape May to Barnagate Inlet. From there inside to Manasquan is very shallow and I know of no inside route from there to Sandy Hook. It's about 18 to 20 hours from Sandy Hook to Cape May in a sailboat at about 6kts. Going north stay offshore 3 to 5 miles for a favorable current and heading south hug the shore for a counter current.

I agree with the post above, but "anything of any size" and "very shallow" is vague. We have often taken the Cape May canal from the Delaware with our 54'7" vertical clearance and we have often entered Absecon Inlet at Atlantic City and come out at Manasquan with our 4'3" draft on our 41' ketch. Outside is easier in good weather, but sometimes when the weather is nasty we'd rather move inside than sit and wait. This doesn't disagree with all that have correctly said that you can't get from the Delaware to NYC without going outside.

[Waterway Guide]

Just for fun: There still is a canal that runs from the upper Delaware to a river that dumps into the Hudson...called the Delaware-Raritan Canal. Unfortunately it closed to commerce a long time ago. You can still do it with a kayak, but you have to portage the old locks.

[skipmac]

The charts do show an inside passage from Cape May to Manasquan Inlet. When I planned my trip south I started checking it out but found a couple of fixed bridges at Atlantic city and south with only 35' clearance. I stopped looking at that point since I have a sailboat so can't remember what water draft would carry through.

Raysea if you can clear a 35' bridge and have shoal draft you might make it. If you can get that far it will leave you about 25 miles outside from Manasquan to Sandy Hook.

[DeepFrz]

To bad the Delaware Hudson and the Morris canals are closed. They would have been beautiful trips.

[RaySea Lady]

Thanks a bunch guys. I have been through there a few times and always did the ocean route and when I saw this article I thought I had missed something.

It is also good to know that you can go from atlantic city to sandy hook. My draft is 32 inches and my air draft is down to 15 foot 1 inch so that is good.

We are starting the planning for a trip to florida with the boat next year, leaving mid summer. Hopefully all works out.

thanks again

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by RaySea Lady

It is also good to know that you can go from atlantic city to sandy hook. My draft is 32 inches and my air draft is down to 15 foot 1 inch so that is good.

Just want to make sure there is no misunderstanding. Going south from Sandy Hook there is no canal or inside passage. You will have to go outside in the open ocean for about 25 miles until you reach the Manasquan inlet.

From Manasquan with your shallow draft and low clearance I think you can make it inside all the way to Cape May but look at the charts carefully to be certain. I have not done the trip inside nor entered any of the harbors down the Jersey shore so check with those with local knowledge of the area to confirm.

[RaySea Lady]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Just want to make sure there is no misunderstanding. Going south from Sandy Hook there is no canal or inside passage. You will have to go outside in the open ocean for about 25 miles until you reach the Manasquan inlet.

From Manasquan with your shallow draft and low clearance I think you can make it inside all the way to Cape May but look at the charts carefully to be certain. I have not done the trip inside nor entered any of the harbors down the Jersey shore so check with those with local knowledge of the area to confirm.

Thank you for the clarification Skipmac, much appreciated !

My air draft is 17.5 with Radar in normal position but I had a stainless bracket made to lay it down securily without disturbing any wiring and that brings me down to the 15.1 .

[chef2sail]

We take the trip from the Chessie and back every year to the LI Sound and NE. I also lived in Ocean City , NJ while I worked in the Atlantic City casinos for 20 years. By sailboat the options are limited with Cape May, Absecon, Barnegat (trecherous) , and Manequan as he only viable options. The ICW is not for a sailboat except from Barnegat to Manesquan. Powerboat is a different story however. Aside from the obvious aircraft the ICW is possible from Cape May to Maneaquan with this caveat. There are many winding extremely narrow channel areas with no more than 25 ft width . Also these channels have shoal in them uncharted as they are behind shiftingbarrier islands

A owerboat has options of other inlets however as you can traverse the channel which the CG moves on a weekly basis. The caveat here is that other than the ones I mentioned above very shallow shoals extend up to a mile offshore on the inlet channel side and in onshore winds they may have 6 ft rollers going horizontal across the inlet. Also opposing wind and tide exaggerates this. It can be 2 ft in he Cocean and the back bay and 8 ft in the inlet proper. Extreme caution for other than Cape May, Absecon or Barnegat.

Dave

[RaySea Lady]

Originally Posted by chef2sail

We take the trip from the Chessie and back every year to the LI Sound and NE. I also lived in Ocean City , NJ while I worked in the Atlantic City casinos for 20 years. By sailboat the options are limited with Cape May, Absecon, Barnegat (trecherous) , and Manequan as he only viable options. The ICW is not for a sailboat except from Barnegat to Manesquan. Powerboat is a different story however. Aside from the obvious aircraft the ICW is possible from Cape May to Maneaquan with this caveat. There are many winding extremely narrow channel areas with no more than 25 ft width . Also these channels have shoal in them uncharted as they are behind shiftingbarrier islands

A owerboat has options of other inlets however as you can traverse the channel which the CG moves on a weekly basis. The caveat here is that other than the ones I mentioned above very shallow shoals extend up to a mile offshore on the inlet channel side and in onshore winds they may have 6 ft rollers going horizontal across the inlet. Also opposing wind and tide exaggerates this. It can be 2 ft in he Cocean and the back bay and 8 ft in the inlet proper. Extreme caution for other than Cape May, Absecon or Barnegat.

Dave

Thanks for the heads up Dave, I have been checking out the passage from Manasquan Inlet on my Garmin Homeport, and I can clearly see its limitations. It is doable, but turning a 65 footer with a 16 foot beam in a 25 foot width channel could be challenging

We would normally go on the outside anyway, but just wondering if there was an inside passage if it gets rough with waves of 8 foot plus.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by chef2sail

....................The ICW is not for a sailboat except from Barnegat to Manesquan..................Dave

I would again suggest that only the span of the NJ ICW from Atlantic City to Cape May is "not for a sailboat". Just five weeks ago I navigated from Barnegat Bay to Atlantic City "inside" on my 41' sailboat without incident as I have done several times in the past.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I would again suggest that only the span of the NJ ICW from Atlantic City to Cape May is "not for a sailboat". Just five weeks ago I navigated from Barnegat Bay to Atlantic City "inside" on my 41' sailboat without incident as I have done several times in the past.

The only restriction I see on the charts for this section is a fixed bridge with 60' clearance. One question, your OI41 only draws about 4.5' I think. What was the depth like from your recollection? OK for a deeper draft?