Cruising from Port Jefferson, NY to Block Island recommendations

[gsuescum]

There’s also the entire North Fork of Long Island to explore. Shelter Island is great to visit.

[keepondancin]

Monday is a good day to get to Block. Week Enders have left Sunday afternoon, and the stragglers leave Monday morning. Leaving Stonington 8 or so puts you in Salt Pond 11-12, probably the best chance for a mooring. If experienced, anchoring is,pretty easy and use the launch.. You can rent bikes at the dock and bike a few miles into town.

[malbert73]

This last comment is key. Not sure what kind of boat and/or anchoring equipment you have. Anchoring in Block adds some challenge as it can be windy, and some parts are somewhat deep. I've seen boats drag onto each other at night when the wind comes up. So, if you're pretty new, a mooring may be best to reduce that stress. But, they are tough to get later in the day, and especially on weekends.
Perhaps better to reserve a dock slot at the Oar restaurant/Block Island Boat Basin, or Paynes next door? Then you don't need a dinghy, and you can walk into town or about 1 mile from those places to the ocean beach.

Re Watch Hill- we really like Little Naragansett as an anchorage as you can walk across the barrier peninsula to the open beach which can have good waves which your kids would like. Without a dinghy, you'd need to anchor close enough to swim ashore. But yes, we found some thin spots in the channel but no issues with 5 foot draft

[EME]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

The worst trips are the ones where you follow a detailed schedule. Put slack days in and you can sit out bad weather or stay another day if the gang wants to.

I agree. But I sort of want to have a plan because we’ve never made these trips and have no clue where to go. Maybe time wise/day wise we’ll adjust due to weather or wind, but want to have a plan in hand before we head out.

[pjShap]

The attached LongIslandSoundAndVicinity.pdf is a brief summary of places I've stayed in Long Island Sound, Block Island Sound and Narragansett Bay.

[EME]

Originally Posted by Reeve21

You are looking at about 70 nautical miles to Block, and Old Saybrook is about half way. You could also stop at Orient By the Sea which would shave a few miles, but the navigation is a little more challenging as you may need to time your passage through Plum Gut to avoid strong adverse currents (I don't know your boat or its speed).


So you have 2 pretty long back to back days if you are in a sailboat, and 2 more to get back, and your whole trip is 5 to 6 days. The math doesn't work for me :-).


As someone else said, Mattituck is nice and would make for a shorter first day. Then on to Saybrook/Stonington/Mystic and finally to Block. That will be a more enjoyable trip for your crew, but you will need more than 5 or 6 days.

Thank you. How many days do you think we’ll need with these stops you suggested?

[Reeve21]

Originally Posted by EME

Thank you. How many days do you think we’ll need with these stops you suggested?

8-10 days would be a much nicer pace.

[Kettlewell]

Get the Northern Waterway Guide for its descriptions of harbors and information on facilities. https://www.waterwayguide.com/ship-s...ion/3/northern

[EME]

Originally Posted by malbert73

We’ve been cruising from Chesapeake to NE for a bunch of years with our 2 kids.
Block island is one of our favorites. If no dinghy you’ll have to get a dock to really enjoy it. One of the must do activities for ours is going to the entrance channel
Beach which is fun for swimming, exploring, fishing, and watching the boats come and go. But you’d need a dinghy.
Lots of great stops along the way- if you have no dinghy I’d recommend Saybrook Point marina in CT. Nice place with a couple of pools, a restaurant, and other resort stuff. You can rent or use bikes from the onsite resort. Not cheap but a nice spot along the way. We went to Block I from there in 1/2 day by timing the currents

Thanks so much. So do you recommend making first stop from Port Jefferson at Saybrook, spend there a day and then head out to Block island in the morning? How many days do you think is good to spend at block island with kids? How about on the way back home from Block Island, what other nice destination can we stop at to visit?

[EME]

Originally Posted by Reeve21

You are looking at about 70 nautical miles to Block, and Old Saybrook is about half way. You could also stop at Orient By the Sea which would shave a few miles, but the navigation is a little more challenging as you may need to time your passage through Plum Gut to avoid strong adverse currents (I don't know your boat or its speed).


So you have 2 pretty long back to back days if you are in a sailboat, and 2 more to get back, and your whole trip is 5 to 6 days. The math doesn't work for me :-).


As someone else said, Mattituck is nice and would make for a shorter first day. Then on to Saybrook/Stonington/Mystic and finally to Block. That will be a more enjoyable trip for your crew, but you will need more than 5 or 6 days.

Thank you a lot. We won't be on sailboat, we will be traveling with power boat. Hopefully that will help with timing a bit. I will look into these destinations. Do you recommend getting a marina slip or mooring at these places? If mooring, do they have water taxis as we don't have a dingy this season. Hopefully next one!

[Reeve21]

Originally Posted by EME

Thank you a lot. We won't be on sailboat, we will be traveling with power boat. Hopefully that will help with timing a bit. I will look into these destinations. Do you recommend getting a marina slip or mooring at these places? If mooring, do they have water taxis as we don't have a dingy this season. Hopefully next one!

In old Saybrook, you can take a slip at one of the marinas or take any open mooring with a yellow streamer in North Cove and pay the daily fee
to the North Cove Yacht Club to be picked up on their launch.

In Mystic if you want to be downtown I think you will need to take a slip at one of the marinas. If you’re OK being a little further south on the Mystic river, then Noank village boat yard and Mystic shipyard both rent moorings with launch service.

In Stonington you can take a slip at the Stonington Harbor yacht club or Dodson’s Marina. Dodson’s also offers Moorings with launch service.

[EME]

Originally Posted by Reeve21

In old Saybrook, you can take a slip at one of the marinas or take any open mooring with a yellow streamer in North Cove and pay the daily fee
to the North Cove Yacht Club to be picked up on their launch.

In Mystic if you want to be downtown I think you will need to take a slip at one of the marinas. If you’re OK being a little further south on the Mystic river, then Noank village boat yard and Mystic shipyard both rent moorings with launch service.

In Stonington you can take a slip at the Stonington Harbor yacht club or Dodson’s Marina. Dodson’s also offers Moorings with launch service.

thank you so much again! I really appreciate it

So far the way I mapped it from all the responses I received that's what I came up with. Does it sound reasonable or should I add more days? We can try to leave saturday morning and come back sunday late afternoon the following week, totalling of 8 days.

1. Port Jefferson to Old Saybrook (spend a day or 2 there), stay overnight.

2. Next morning head out to Montauk (also spend a day there and stay overnight), I'd love to show kids Montauk as they've never been there.

3. Next morning head out to Block Island (spend 2 days there)

4. Head home and stop at GreenPort for a day or overnight

5. Head back to Port Jefferson from GreenPort the next morning.

Will 8 days be enough or should I eliminate Montauk as 2nd stop going to Block Island? Or change some other point to make it more convenient?

[Reeve21]

Originally Posted by EME

thank you so much again! I really appreciate it

So far the way I mapped it from all the responses I received that's what I came up with. Does it sound reasonable or should I add more days? We can try to leave saturday morning and come back sunday late afternoon the following week, totalling of 8 days.

1. Port Jefferson to Old Saybrook (spend a day or 2 there), stay overnight.

2. Next morning head out to Montauk (also spend a day there and stay overnight), I'd love to show kids Montauk as they've never been there.

3. Next morning head out to Block Island (spend 2 days there)

4. Head home and stop at GreenPort for a day or overnight

5. Head back to Port Jefferson from GreenPort the next morning.

Will 8 days be enough or should I eliminate Montauk as 2nd stop going to Block Island? Or change some other point to make it more convenient?

It really depends on how your crew is feeling and what the weather is doing. If you’ve got calm seas and Fair weather you could fit all of this in as you will be able to travel quickly from port to port in your powerboat. Just be flexible and you’ll have a great time!

[EME]

Originally Posted by Reeve21

It really depends on how your crew is feeling and what the weather is doing. If you’ve got calm seas and Fair weather you could fit all of this in as you will be able to travel quickly from port to port in your powerboat. Just be flexible and you’ll have a great time!

Yes of course. Good thing we have a cabin, so kids can relax inside and not complain as much lol. Otherwise I know it's going to be difficult!

[NYSail]

We are in Mt. Sinai and travel to block island every summer at least once and sail the east end all summer long. Mattituck nice with kids because of the pool… hike up the ri er and make sure it’s high tide if you draw over 5.5. Watch hill is gorgeous but need a dinghy to get to the beach and town. Swimming in the bay can be a challenge when the rivers are running brown. Mystic is great…. We have visited a few times with our grand daughter and stay at the museum. The aquarium is a short walk and also great fun for kids. Block is great…..gets very crowded in the summer. Launch will pick you up on the annchorage, however as was said be prepared as storms can whip up and create havoc….. Also as was said, 5-6 days is tight as you give yourself no time for weather, specifically fog. It can get nasty. We have been delayed for days due to fog. Best be prepared.
All that said, the trip and experience is excellent!

Good luck!