Delivery from Chesapeake Bay to R.I.

[radsailor]

I own a J/95 sloop which I keep in the Southern Chesapeake Bay. Next summer I would like to move it to R.I. for a couple of months (July and August)and then back to Chesapeake Bay at the beginning of September. Aside from picking a good window to avoid hurricanes,

Any recommendations on preparation, route, etc.

[Sparx]

A common route would be out the mouth of the Chesapeake, then north along the Virginia Capes, and shortly there after setting a waypoint off Block Island.

If two/ three days at sea doesn’t fit the bill, then the alternative is work you way up the Chesapeake, through the C&D canal, down Delaware Bay. You can take any of this is short hops anchoring for the night as you please. From the mouth of Delaware Bay make the run to the mouth of New York Harbour stopping at Atlantic Highlands.

Then either out in ocean to Montaulk, or into the East River with the tide, then hop your way through Long Island Sound.

Either way is a pleasant sail

The Chesapeake and Long Island Sound certainly make for many fine stops if that suits you. In July/August winds will be fickle along this route, but it very doable. Offshore winds are likely to be pleasant from the south west the entire journey.

[SailingHarmonie]

If a J-95 was my boat, I'd put it on a trailer. This really isn't a boat designed for long distance travel, and not at all for real ocean work. Possible, but not a piece of cake. To do this safely will require a combination of experience, knowledge, and luck. The more knowledge and experience you have, the less luck you need!

But assuming you have already dismissed the land option...

If you jumped offshore and did it in one go, it would be about 3-4 days. The real issue here is if the weather goes bad unexpectedly, the inlets could be extremely hazardous for a boat like this. Anything else will be a lot longer, although broken up into smaller pieces.

If you are in the far south of the Chesapeake, it would be faster to head out to the ocean and jump up to Cape May. You have draft low enough board up you could hop up the ICW through most of Jersey. Either jump out back into the ocean at Barnegat, or be really careful at the Pt Pleasant Canal. Mis-timing the currents there can be a real disaster for an underpowered boat.

Barnegat or Manesquan to Sandy Hook. Wait for weather and tide to cross to Long Island. Again, shooting the East River to Long Island Sound will be a challenge. You'll need to time current just right. Once you are in LIS you can relax a bit and stop at your leisure.

For the inshore route you will require reliable anchoring gear, or marina stays.

[boatpoker]

Just out of curiosity I queried Google about your mast height.

Google now responds with an AI answer as their first response.
Google says your mast height is 10.99'

I guess their intelligence really is ... artificial

[radsailor]

Firstly, I would have a professional delivery captain with his/her crew so experience is not an issue.
Why do you say the J/95 is not designed for long distance travel? It is rated for offshore sailing. Yes, the accommodations are somewhat minimal, but with a sun shower, butane burner(I made a fold down shelf for it)and a couple of 7 gallon fresh water jugs I would think it would o.k. for 3-4 days. The V berth has 6" memory foam cushions and is very comfortable, yes I know, not the best location for sleeping offshore. There is a very nice securely installed out of the way Engel ac/dc refrigerator.
The boat sails beautifully and its twin rudders give fingertip control even with high heel angles. The boat is very fast. Yesterday with wind in the mid teens, I averaged 7 pts reaching and 6'5 knots upwind with a single reef in the main and the small stock jib. This with the autopilot on almost the entire day.

I frequently read about people taking their boats on long offshore trips to various destinations on Catalinas and such. I need more convincing as to why this is a bad idea.

[TheOffice]

It can be done. I'd carry extra fuel, upsize your anchor and chain. AIS is VERY helpful.
Be prepared to wait for a weather window in Cape May. If you are going to do the East River check the currents. You can't fight them. Lots of anchorages in LIS. Cape May to Block is about 36 hours at 6 knots.
Coming home will likely be upwind. Good foulies are a must!

[KelseyB]

With that size and displacement, I'd recommend going inside as much as reasonable:

North on the Chesapeake to the C&D Canal. Bailout options in: Cape Charles, Deltaville, Solomons, Tilghman Island, Annapolis, and many anchorages further north. There is plenty of anchorage on the Chesapeake side of the canal, as well as a marina or two in Chesapeake City, to wait for the favorable current. You HAVE to catch the current, especially on a boat with only 14 hp, but don't worry too much if the tide forces you to go through at night - the canal is super well-lit. It's the ships that are the issue - stay tuned on the radio.
Through the canal and down the Delaware to Cape May (you could probably enter Cape May through the Cape May Canal to avoid swinging outside, but double check that bridge clearance). The Delaware doesn't have bailout options, so this is all one run, and square waves are likely. Expect heavy commercial traffic.
From Cape May, you're forced outside for the rest of Jersey - even if something claims the NJICW is deep enough, it's not. And even if it is, you won't clear the bridges. You can sail almost straight up to the beach along the whole Jersey coast, and bailout options abound, but they're usually behind inlets that can get rowdy, and the harbors there are built for powerboats, not sailboats. Last bailout before NYC is Manasquan Inlet. Look out for whelk pots.
From NYC, you can go through the East River into Long Island Sound or go outside Long Island Sound. Going inside means you have to deal with the East River and its current/traffic, going outside means you don't have many reasonable bailouts. If going inside through the East River, stay in the Atlantic Highlands area or Liberty Landing to wait for the current. Navigating NYC itself is not as daunting as it seems - much easier than driving a car through Manhattan!

For a J/95, I'd be most worried about your displacement and horsepower. You may find yourself calculating that this trip should take a week, but then it takes 2 because you have to spend half the time waiting for weather. On a 30' boat with double the displacement and double the horsepower doing this trip last year, I was grateful for every pound while surfing down the Delaware and riding swells off Jersey. It doesn't mean you can't do it, it'll just be a wet ride, most likely, or a healthy amount of waiting.

Reserve a slip or mooring in Newport as early as you can - applications for summer storage have already begun, and many will close by January 1!

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

It can be done. I'd carry extra fuel, upsize your anchor and chain. AIS is VERY helpful.
Be prepared to wait for a weather window in Cape May. If you are going to do the East River check the currents. You can't fight them. Lots of anchorages in LIS. Cape May to Block is about 36 hours at 6 knots.
Coming home will likely be upwind. Good foulies are a must!

Seconded on all of this! Good foulies for sure, and layers. Extra docklines, headlamps with a red setting, a way to make coffee, and tumblers with lids. Comfortable life jackets, a PLB or a few, and I'd argue for jacklines and harnesses, even if they never need to be used. Extra winch handles. A more robust kit of spares and damage control items than you probably carry for local sailing. And probably an audiobook. If it were me, I'd be preparing to aim for marinas, just for comfort's sake, but note that you'll be sailing with crowds in both directions. With delivery captain/crew, also note that you'll be paying even for days that you're waiting on the weather, but you shouldn't let this tempt you to push when you shouldn't.

[leecea]

I would have a professional delivery captain with his/her crew

So won't they decide on the route? Not sure how it works but I thought the delivery skipper usually made this call.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by KelseyB

With that size and displacement, I'd recommend going inside as much as reasonable:

North on the Chesapeake to the C&D Canal. Bailout options in: Cape Charles, Deltaville, Solomons, Tilghman Island, Annapolis, and many anchorages further north. There is plenty of anchorage on the Chesapeake side of the canal, as well as a marina or two in Chesapeake City, to wait for the favorable current. You HAVE to catch the current, especially on a boat with only 14 hp, but don't worry too much if the tide forces you to go through at night - the canal is super well-lit. It's the ships that are the issue - stay tuned on the radio.
Through the canal and down the Delaware to Cape May (you could probably enter Cape May through the Cape May Canal to avoid swinging outside, but double check that bridge clearance). The Delaware doesn't have bailout options, so this is all one run, and square waves are likely. Expect heavy commercial traffic.
From Cape May, you're forced outside for the rest of Jersey - even if something claims the NJICW is deep enough, it's not. And even if it is, you won't clear the bridges. You can sail almost straight up to the beach along the whole Jersey coast, and bailout options abound, but they're usually behind inlets that can get rowdy, and the harbors there are built for powerboats, not sailboats. Last bailout before NYC is Manasquan Inlet. Look out for whelk pots.
From NYC, you can go through the East River into Long Island Sound or go outside Long Island Sound. Going inside means you have to deal with the East River and its current/traffic, going outside means you don't have many reasonable bailouts. If going inside through the East River, stay in the Atlantic Highlands area or Liberty Landing to wait for the current. Navigating NYC itself is not as daunting as it seems - much easier than driving a car through Manhattan!

For a J/95, I'd be most worried about your displacement and horsepower. You may find yourself calculating that this trip should take a week, but then it takes 2 because you have to spend half the time waiting for weather. On a 30' boat with double the displacement and double the horsepower doing this trip last year, I was grateful for every pound while surfing down the Delaware and riding swells off Jersey. It doesn't mean you can't do it, it'll just be a wet ride, most likely, or a healthy amount of waiting.

Reserve a slip or mooring in Newport as early as you can - applications for summer storage have already begun, and many will close by January 1!

I was about to write a huge guide about this trip since I do it all the time. there is only one thing left to add.

Have fun!

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by KelseyB

The Delaware doesn't have bailout options, so this is all one run, and square waves are likely. Expect heavy commercial traffic.

You don't like the Cohansey River anchorage ?

[jeanathon]

As leecea said the exact route will be up to your delivery skipper. General route though since you are making both legs in hurricane season, try to make the trip north earlier rather than later. You don't have to go around Hatteras so with a decent weather window you can rhum line it direct to Block island. As far as the trip back you will want to make that earlier as well. If you have too strong of westerly winds you can hug the coast line, but you will have to go out at Atlantic City to avoid shoals which will get bouncy, and crossing the mouth of the Delaware bay can be exhausting. Also forget trying to sleep in the V-berth in any kind of sea. I've had crew that caught some Zzz's while levitating between waves in the V-berth, but she was by far the exception.

[Howler]

Not much to add, but having done it last summer as part of a delivery from Florida to Maine, a few tips:

- We needed to motor or motor-sail more than expected, as a minimum through the C&D canal, down the Delaware River and through the East River, where you have prevailing wind on the nose. With you 14HP engine, that could prove demanding. Bring lots of fuel and definitely time tides / currents / wind.

- If you prefer day hops, you can anchor overnight on the Delaware River, west side, just north of the C&D Canal Exit. Not beautiful, but convenient. Current pretty strong so have good ground tackle.

- We stopped in Cape May. Definitely a power-friendly harbor. ANC or space is very limited squeezed between a busy channel and shore. And we picked up an underground cable. There is a marina, which might be a better option with your shallow draft.

- Leave early for NYC (i.e. middle of the night) if you prefer not to enter NY Harbor after dark.

- You can anchor behind the Statue of Liberty (not sure about overnight). Liberty Landing in Jersey City is an option but you’ll need a second mortgage to pay for it.

- Enter the East River at the time the guides / websites say. They call it Hells Gate, but with the proper timing it’s Heaven (and really fun to boat right through the heart of NYC).

- Plenty of mooring options in Port Washington, Port Jefferson and Oyster Bay, NY.

- Mystic, CT was a fun stop.

Have fun and take your time.

[Andrew Lippman]

I've done this a few times. It's a great trip with the exception of a boring sail all night up the Jersey coast. The trip up the East River is a must-do. Great views of Manhattan, the bridges, the UN, etc. And the LI Sound is usually gentler than outside. Whether you do the C&D Canal or out by the bay depends more on where you start. From Norfolk, I would go outside.

Either way, Cape May is a fine stop. There are marinas that can hold you. If you have lots of money, you can stay at the North Cove Marina in Manhattan. There are no facilities, no shower, garbage or anything, but you are in a great part of the city. Liberty Marina is another option. There are loads of stops in the Sound.

[hbucklin3]

Originally Posted by radsailor

I own a J/95 sloop which I keep in the Southern Chesapeake Bay. Next summer I would like to move it to R.I. for a couple of months (July and August)and then back to Chesapeake Bay at the beginning of September. Aside from picking a good window to avoid hurricanes,

Any recommendations on preparation, route, etc.

I’ve sailed from the bottom of the Bay directly to Block Island roughly 300 nm, averaging 5.5 knot min. Do not transit NY’s freighter corridors, out and inbound at night. AIS will tell you what ships are coming and you can call the captain for advice on bow or stern crossings. We averaged better then 5.5 knots but when we couldn’t make good on that speed under sail, the kicker came on. A fairly tight window to NYC’s freighter lanes.
PS I really dislike Delaware Bay!