Good place for sailing in NJ.

[Jaqun]

I am also in the Princeton Area. I keep my boat in city Island at the City Island Yacht Club. Takes about an hour and a quarter to two hours (rush hour) to get there but it opens up all of long Island Sound. On a long weekend we will go to Oyster bay or Northport or Port Jefferson to anchor out. Across the way is Manhasset bay (which has free moorings) and there are dozens of other close by places to explore. We take longer trips to destinations such as Montauk, Block Island, Watch hill and Cuttyhunk, and next year the Vineyard.
Alternatively, we race out of Raritan Bay yacht club which is a very nice club and much closer (45 minutes)but you are sort of limited in weekend destinations. Raritan Bay has very nice sailing and the club has very competitive racing.

[Rchido]

Originally Posted by MySolution

Raritan Bay is an excellent place to sail. Easy access to the ocean and NY Harbor.
Check out Keyport Yacht Club.
Family oriented club with an Anchorage to moor your boat.

I would add Raritan Yacht Club to your considration. A few munutes closer to Princeton and avoids most of the Friday traffic. Careful around the edges, the bay is kind to my 5.5' draft.

[DrivinSteve]

I will add another vote for the Raritan Yacht Club (Home - Raritan Yacht Club ) in Perth Amboy. Easy access from NJ Turnpike/I-287. Keyport is an additional 15 minutes and Atlantic Highlands can be another hour on a Friday afternoon the summer.
Raritan Yacht Club offers easy access to Hudson River and Long Island Sound destinations including Newport and Block Island. RYC is my hailing port and I am very familiar with the area. The waters and inlets between Cape May and Sandy Hook all pose limits for your boat and mission.
I am a professional delivery captain (100T Master, ASA Instructor) and have made the trip you propose many times. Please PM me if you want to discuss your situation.

[JimsCAL]

Originally Posted by spoehlein

I own a Tartan 3500 and sail out of Pt Pleasant, NJ, Canal Point/Johnson Bros Marina.

I kept an ODay 22 in that marina over 40 years ago! Lived in northern NJ then and spend every weekend on the boat, enduring the Jersey Shore traffic back and forth.

[altinr]

I had many sailboats in Barnegat Bay, up to 4’3” draft, and currently sail the Chesapeake, with many trips NY to the Chesapeake.

Barnegat Bay is small, but has nuce daysailing. You can anchor overnight in Toms River, Barnegat Light (if you don’t mind fighting the wakes for 5 mi in the Oyster Creek Channel to just short of the inlet), and a few adequate anchorages on the Bay, with varying protection. There are good marinas in Forked River, and Key Harbor in Waretown.
Probably some good ones up near Toms River too.
Summer has reliable 10-15 knot southerlies.

I’ve sailed in the NY and Raritan Bay area, and the scenery is great. Tidal currents are strong. You can certainly anchor out near Sandy Hook and in Great Kills, Staten Island.

Cape May has nowhere to go except 6 hr north to Atlantic City, or to the Chesapeake, a full day away. Not much to see on Delaware Bay.

The northern Chesapeake is attractive ( we had a slip in Georgetown on the Sassafrass for years). The spiders are way out of control around there, though! And, there’s little wind and lots of heat on the Chesapeake in summer.

Good luck!

[DMCantor]

When we lived in NJ, we kept our boat in Nichols Great Kills Marina on Staten Island. New York harbor is a fabulous place to sail, lots of iconic scenery (eg Statue of Liberty). I know the marina was hard hit by Hurricane Sandy, not sure of its current status.