Where to Sail to from Connecticut?

[cgroshart]

Hi all-

Boatless newbie here. I grew up daysailing out of CT in a 20 foot open hulled sailboat, sunfish and trailered catamarans. I did a little larger boat sailing a few years ago.

I am now settled in the New Haven CT area and am interested in sailing again and eventually buying a boat.

My first question is what do people in this part of the country do on their sailboats on an average weekend or day besides racing?

I know about block island and have been to Fishers island once by plane.

Aside from longer trips to Nantucket or the Vineyard, what does one do with a sailboat in one day? Cruise along the coast to sightsee? Cruise out to the sound and then back?

Sorry for such a vague question! I am trying to get a handle on what a typical sailing season might entail (so i can sell it to my landlubber wife).

Thanks all in advance.
Chad

[cdennyb]

Tell her you bought a 40'er and are headed to the Bahamas in a month and to get the provisioning list started. THAT should wake her up... LoL

[Tempest245]

Well, you can follow the ferry boats over to Port Jefferson and back...Port Jeff is a cool town imo. Lots of moorings a great overnight or weekend spot.

[kismet424]

Hi Chad,

There's tons of places to go, I'm on the other side in Oyster Bay. Oyster Bay, Northport, Port Washington, Port Jefferson, Mattituck are all good weekend trips across the sound for you. That doesn't even start with all the amazing spots in Connecticut! I'd highly recommend picking up one of the many Long Island Sound guidebooks that are out there. (I have a Doziers and Waterway guide, and there are many other good ones too.)

Matt

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by Tempest245

Well, you can follow the ferry boats over to Port Jefferson and back...Port Jeff is a cool town imo. Lots of moorings a great overnight or weekend spot.

Met a guy at a marina in Port Jeff. He had his new Valiant 47 there overnite in a transient slip. I'm not kidding about this...he said it was $250 a night, but they did your towels and laundry and brought them back to the boat.

[SunKing]

How about just sailing??? No destination... I bought a sailboat to get out on the water and leave 'civilization' behind... Find a quiet protected cove for the overnighter and enjoy the company of your wife...

[hugosalt]

Think what your wife enjoys...does she like to sightsee...plenty of
natural spots, waterfront homes...make it a social outing with friends...many sailing clubs and yacht clubs are as much social
gatherings as they are about sailing...does she enjoy going out
to lunch or dinner...many great harbors within a hour or two of
you...take her to a sea side restaurant...does she like the beach,
pack a picnic lunch...or just anchor in a great spot...listen to some music...have a drink...enjoy the sunset on the water...
sail/motor up one of your rivers to a park...any seaside concerts..
walk/shop a town...then slowly introduce her to sailing the boat..
no voices raised now, we don't want to lose her...then with any luck a cruise along the coast or to the sound and back will be the destination!
You are in a prime cruising location, reasonable wind conditions,
great harbors, towns, rivers, plenty of places to stage boat for
extended cruising if needed...Peconic bays (very protected),
Ct. River...Old Saybrook, Essex ...there surely will be something to interest you bride!

[Tempest245]

Originally Posted by Christian Van H

Met a guy at a marina in Port Jeff. He had his new Valiant 47 there overnite in a transient slip. I'm not kidding about this...he said it was $250 a night, but they did your towels and laundry and brought them back to the boat.

Yes, I know the place. It's hotel and resort. I prefer the mooring balls for $35.00. They have a great launch service. The launch operators are often very Friendly, smart, cute college gals...they don't do my laundry, but they have brought me Ice...The town just built a great laundry and shower facility that's very nice!

[danielgoldberg]

You have stumbled into one of the best cruising grounds around. I'll list a few things, but what you really should do is go into a West Marine and buy the Embassy Cruising Guide for Long Island Sound. It will give you tons of information about all there is to do on LIS. With that intro, here's a limited preview:

1. Day sailing from that area is great. The Sound is large there, the water is relatively clean, and the wind is fairly good. Go out, sail around Middle Ground, and head home. Great way to spend an afternoon.

2. Weekends. You've got a relatively large number of harbors that are close enough for weekend trips. You have Port Jeff, as others have noted. There's the sand pit, which is lots of fun, Conscience Bay is beautiful and serene, or you could head further into the harbor to pick up a mooring and go into town (lots of fun stuff to do there). Other than Port Jeff, you've got Northport, Huntington, Oyster Bay, Charles Harbor (in front of Milford), Westbrook, Branford, and a few others.

3. Longer trips. You mentioned that you know Block Island. You've also got the Connecticut River, the Shelter Island area, which itself has a whole host of places to go. And if you want to go west, you've got Port Washington, City Island, Mamaroneck, and even NYC.

This is one of the best cruising and sailing areas around, so if you want to get back into sailing, you've picked a great spot.

[Tempest245]

Originally Posted by cgroshart

Sorry for such a vague question! I am trying to get a handle on what a typical sailing season might entail (so i can sell it to my landlubber wife).

Thanks all in advance.
Chad

Chad, I would sell it by getting a cruising guide, then come spring take some road trips to some of the great spots that you COULD sail to..IF you had a boat....you could hop the ferry over to Port Jeff...check for some of their special event weekends..
The Connecticut River is great...Old Saybrook, Essex...very scenic..

There's a book called..The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast
By Robert and Roger Duncan and Paul and Wallace Fenn
That I keep onboard..that is a wealth of information and pretty descriptive of some of the destinations. It covers more than just the L.I. sound but once you do get you boat...you'll go further!


To The Long Island Sounders.....Who's the Lobsterman who paints his Buoys to look like penquins??....

[CalebD]

To further what danielgoldberg said about NYC, there are NYC Parks Dept. operated moorings in the Hudson that you can get for about $40/night which is way cheaper then any flea bag hotel. Transient slips are available but not so cheap.
Seeing NYC from the water is like no other experience. It gets even better as you go farther up the Hudson to Nyack, Haverstraw, West Point etc etc.
If you prefer natural beauty then head east instead of west. You can keep on going for quite a ways.

[cgroshart]

This is just the sort of info I was looking for. Thanks guys for all the advice!

I will pick up one of the Embassy guides and start plotting my approach.

Thanks again,
Chad

[CarlF]

I would give a lot more thought about how to introduce your wife to sailing than where you plan to go. If you mess up, you'll be sailing alone for the rest of the marriage. Many guys do mess up by trying to go too far, not picking their weather, or yelling because they get tense.

First, take some cruising sailing lessons - together. If you can't find a local solution, consider one of the Steve Colgate programs. It was years into sailing before I figured out that one of my wife's biggest fears was that I would fall overboard and she'd be there helpless - drifting away.

When it's time for a boat, I'd think about a 19-23ft keelboat with a small outboard and a head (porta potty is OK). Cape Dory Typhoon, Sea Sprite 23 come to mind but there are many choices. You can buy a used one in good shape for well under $10,000.

Don't even think about Port Jeff for a year or more. Do 2-3 hour day or evening sails, with a picnic at anchor. Try to sail upwind first so it's a run home - just in case a nasty wind/chop comes up.

Finally, I'd join a sailing club or yacht club. Your wife will get good support and advice from other women in the club and you'll learn a lot about the local waters. New Haven has a great - and very down to earth - yacht club. No gold plated yachts here:

New Haven Yacht Club

Carl

[mrohr]

,Chad: great advise here,don't blow it with your wife, you really need her to be onboard (pun?) with you on this.Read all over what is written here take baby steps with her,keep all short at first, do not scare her,make her uncomfortable,bore her with tedium etc.,save the suffrering for yourself and your gung-ho buddies. If you are attentive (and a little lucky)you may just realize your dreams. BTW ,the book 50 Great Places to Sail includes your area for good reason.Imho LI. sound area is the best place to begin with everything well charted and help nearby.

[LtBrett]

As mentioned, the LIS is one of the greatest cruising grounds in the world. It is 100 miles long, narrow, and bordered on both sides by numerous interesting towns and secluded anchorages. The density of boaters also makes it very social if you want. I hooked my landlubber wife by taking her out for cocktails with friends, either on my boat or by nesting a few boats together at an attractive anchorage, or by meeting friends for dinner and arriving by boat. Kids are easily hooked, but if its just the wife, you'll have to appeal to her preferences. New Haven is a fantastic home port--much cheaper than anything west or the "destination" ports to the east. The only drawback is that the harbor itself seems to take forever to get out of, especially if you are becalmed and are trying to get to the brisker winds of the Sound.

I'd also recommend talking to boat owners at the local marinas. There is a tradeoff to consider: Home port in New Haven, do most of your day sailing in New Haven harbor and nearby waters with weekend excursions to cruising destinations versus home port in a cruising destination and tolerate an hour drive to get to your boat.

Brett