Sailing north on the east coast

[sailnorthtoday]

Hello, I am planning a sailing trip from Maryland north up the east coast. I am looking for resources for information on destinations and anchorages, cost effective marinas and general advice.
How can information like this be found on this sight?
Thanks, Tom

[Suijin]

Go to ActiveCaptain.com and explore the map.

If you’re looking for general advice then a few more specifics about your trip would be helpful, such as your schedule, type and size of boat, skill and experience of crew, and destinations you want to definitely visit during the trip.

[SVRocinante]

Good day Tom.

We’ve sailed this area a number of times and might be able to at least offer our perspective on the things you mentioned.

We’re currently anchored in Provincetown on our return trip south.

A lot will depend on your style of “sailing” and I’d suggest that your best bet is to grab your charts, layout a leg and then ask about anchorages/marinas in that area.

For example, one year we did the NJ coast as an overnight run with Cape May & The Atlantic Highlands as our endpoints.

This year we broke it up into 2 day trips; Cape May -> Atlantic City -> Atlantic Highlands.

I’ve also used ActiveCaptain as a source of initial info when looking at an area, but in the end, our stops are usually determined by the amount of time we want to spend traveling and how much daylight we have (assuming we’re not sailing for multiple days)

Hope this helps and please feel free to ask specific questions - more than happy to help. BTW, so far, we’ve only been as far north as Casco Bay.

Regards,

[Unity]

I highly recommend spending a bit of time in Narragansett Bay (Newport is at the mouth). Wonderful, deep and smooth water and great anchorages. Newport and Jamestown (right next to each other) offer anything you could need (food, drink, entertainment, amazing boats, full marina services and endless ice cream!), but further North on the bay is worth the time. An awesome Herreshoff Museum in Bristol, Battleship Cove in Fall River, fun shopping and kayaking in Wickford, super calm anchorage’s with stunningly warm water in Greenwich Bay.

But also do not miss Block Island (awesome boat delivery of perfect pastries in morning and shrimp cocktail in afternoons), and then Cuttyhunk if you want oysters delivered to your boat shucked minutes before you eat them and plucked from the water that day.

And then there is Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, oh... and of course Newport and the mansions and beaches and countless other destinations ... before you even reach Boston or north to Maine. Recommend several weeks just around RI and southern MA!

It’s my backyard and while I’m biased it’s one of the best. Glad to provide more guidance / recommendations!

Chris

[Emouchet]

I am back from a 6 weeks sail between New York and Bar Harbor.
6 weeks was much too short to explore everything, but that just give me the will to get back next year.
Because of prevailing wind (SW) we sailed one long passage from NY to Bar Harbor (about 450nm), and then hop the coast on out way back:

Bar Harbor, various areas around Mount Desert Island, Swans Island, Center harbor, Belfast, Camden, North Heaven, Rockland, Tenant harbor, Boothbay, The Bassin (New Meadow river), Cliff Island, Portland, Saco river, Isles of Shoals, Rockport, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Newport, Bristol, Block Island, Fishers Island, Port Jefferson, Northport, Oyster Bay were our stop points.

On all these locations, you can anchor or rent mooring balls are very reasonable cost (25-35$).

[Scrimshaw4]

It would probably help if you would indicate approximately when you are planning on leaving and how long you intend to be away and / or how far North you plan on going. Also, will this be a single hand or crewed trip with overnight sailing capability.
None the less probably one of the most important items to have for planning and while en route would be a current copy of the Eldridge Tide book. JMHO