Sandy Hook to Cape May

[msulc]

Glad you made it Duncan. We were out there at the same time but quite a bit ahead of you. Your boat was one of the few sailboats I saw on AIS (on www.marinetraffic.com) but did not realize it was you until I went back on this post. We went straight through to Annapolis and got there early Monday morning. The sea was pretty rocky that day (a couple of our crew got sick), but at least we got to sail most of the way on Saturday.

[duncan_ellison]

Msulc,

Didn't realise you were ahead of us. That was a weird night with the 180 deg. windshift which happened in seconds at the front came up from the south.

One of the boats we were sailing with broke a chainplate in one of the erly gusts and had to put into Barnegat to fix it.
When the sun came up, I was surprised to see the size of the following seas being kicked up by the norther.

We were surfing quite badly. Enough that the vent pipe on my Packless Shaft Seal was throwing salt water out of the top and all over the watermaker etc. (Must deal with that)

Perhaps you were ahead of this by then, but if they had got up any further, I was considering deploying a drouge.

Kudos to you for continuing on to Annapolis in those conditions. We then got stuck in Cape May for a few days as the window closed.

Francie,

Saturday night doesn't look too bad from what I can see (www.passageweather.com), but ....

The conditions you would set off from Sandy Hook depend really on your heavy weather experience / tolerance. We set off in predicted 10-15 and were seeing 25+ for some time. My best advice is that if you are inexperienced / short handed / not set up for heavy weather, take your time, enjoy the Atlantic Highlands (we did), take the sea streak to NYC and wait it out for calm conditions to do this trip.

Duncan & Joan

[francie]

We are looking out for your boat for you! We, along with our other two co-conspirators are at mooring balls at Marlboro. We noticed the missing prop. The earliest we would plan to go is Saturday or Sunday. Winds seem to be increasing here as the day goes on. We rented a car and saw some sights on the Hudson today, will probably try to move a little further south tomorrow.

[lorenzo b]

Looking at NOAA and it doesn't seem great for this coming week, seas 5 to 10 ft.
any thoughts?

[Tempest245]

Hi Lorenzo,

It's not looking great for any big moves south near-term unless you're comfortable in up to 25 kn winds with seas up to 10 ft. Winds out of the north..following seas?

What's your draft? I suppose if you were antsy you could make a move and get into barnegat bay via manasquan inlet....and head south a bit inside...I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble though, if you're comfortable where you are... Sunday morning might be the only break you get...

Otherwise, get cozy....

[lorenzo b]

My draft is 6 ft and my cats will not allow me to even think of seas over 4 ft.
I'm a big fat fair weather woos.

[Tempest245]

HA..I hear ya! Make a pot of Stew, grab a good book...and hunker down...

The sun should come out tomorrow..

[lorenzo b]

Right now I'm looking at Thursday for a run down to Atlantic City.
We're still in Flushing Queens pigging out on the asian food here.

[francie]

NOAA Graphical Forecast for Philadelphia, PA

Checked out this website, an offshoot of NOAA. Tuesday looks like a possibility for us to head to Cape May. We are in Haverstraw at the present time and will head closer to NYC when the window looks like it will open! How far offshore do people generally stay when making this passage.

We are a 45 foot sailboat with years of racing, some long distance, and comfortable with not being in sight of land. Boat is seaworthy.

Mike & Francie

[Tempest245]

Hey Mike and Francie,

I usually stay about 3 miles offshore in about 60 ft of water. It keeps me inside the larger shipping, and close enough that I can spot the Landmarks and inlet buoys.

We've been seeing a number of lows and highs blowing through. I just looked at NOAA for Tues, Wed. You will have shifting winds and some lumpy seas...but that is Ocean Sailing...Winds out of the west usually bring some rain, they will clock north which is better than the prevailing SW for this trip...
It looks like Tues. evening..into wed will see improving conditions...Tues morning may still be sloppy but if you push on, it looks like it will get better through the night.
If you waited until Wed morning it looks like Wed into Thurs...you might avoid the tues slop......it's only Sat...so hard to predict too far ahead..but looks like you've got a decent window....especially if you want to sail..with a northerly component...

[sabray]

Depends on the weather I go a little further off and run the outside edge of the further out shipping lane if its rough. Adds a little time but it buys space and I think its a little less choppy. If its flat calm I run the inside shipping channel well once I did.

[lorenzo b]

TUE
W WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT...SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 5
FT IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN.

TUE NIGHT
N WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT. A CHANCE OF
RAIN.

WED
NW WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT. A CHANCE OF RAIN
THROUGH THE DAY.

THU
W WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT.

[Tempest245]

looks good.....west winds on the jersey shore tend to flatten the seas a little...beam reach for sailors....headed south

[francie]

Thanks for the info, Tuesday certainly looks good enough at this point for the trip to Cape May. We are headed to NYC Monday, and plan on anchoring near Liberty State Park. We have planned our route for slightly more than 3 miles offshore.

Appreciate the feedback and suggestions,

Mike & Francie

[lorenzo b]

Now they are saying SW winds seas 4 to 6 for tues
not so good