Hello, Couple in NJ New To Sailing

[sandytales]

Hello,
We are very excited to this forum! We are from NJ and having never sailed before purchased our first sailboat back in May, it is a 1969 Sailstar Courier 26. Since then we have been sailing almost every weekend gaining experience and having fun. We are tracking our stories and progress through a blog at sandytales.com, come check it out.
Thanks,
Jordan + Erica

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Jordan & Erica.

Centerboard or fixed keel version?

[sandytales]

Hey, thanks for the welcome!
Ours is the CB version, it works well for where we sail (barnegat bay, nj).

[chef2sail]

Welcome

Bristols are neat boats. I bought my first sailboat ( an Islander 28) and sailed on Barnegat Bay for almost 9 years. I lived in Ocean City, NJ at the time and the Bay was a great place to learn how to sail a keel boat as I graduated from Hobie Cats in the ocean. We used to anchor at Tices and swim in and build fires on the beach. We kept our boat at Dillons Creek marina on the Toms River.

Not sure if you have a depth finder, but I would use it on the Bay as you are aware it shoals in many areas....and there are uncharted humps everywhere. I would suggest a different technique for getting off a grounding other than leaving the safety of the boat as you can see t can sail away from you really fast. We all have been aground. Usually swinging the boom out with no sail and putting a weight on the end or people will heel the boat over enough to free you. Keeping the sail up is a two edge sword as it may heel you over, but it may also push you further up on the shoal. Another way is the The kedge method works well where you take your anchor out to deeper water ( you can swin it out bouyed by a life preserver. The wrap the anchor line around the winch and winch you way out to deepr water, Me carefull with you engine as you dont want to ingest too much sand/ mud. If possible usually its better to come out the way you went in.

We now have moved to the Chesapeake and have a 35 C&C MKIII . Every year we leave the Chessie take it to Cape May via the C&D canal and Delaware River and hop up the coast to NYC thru the East River and out the LI Sound to newport , Block Island or Marthas Vineyard. We always stop at Barnegat Lighthouse on our way up and anchor. I know that inlet as I have traversed it many times, and I also know how trecherous it is and its reputation ( well deserved), but I have good knowledge of the area and will attempt it with good weather. The anchorage behind the Sedge islands called Meyers Hole is awesome. Dont try tha inlet for a while until you become proficient sailors as it is a tough one. Better to go up the canal to Manesquan as that inlet is straightforward and doesnt have 15 foot rollers from sandbars lining its fairway.

Good luck with you new boat.

Dave

[sandytales]

Thank you for the advice Dave! It is much appreciated

Your boat and annual trip sound great. We hope to be able to do something like that one day!

[Reills]

Hi Sandytales and welcome. I have found Manesquan Inlet has some pretty strong currents. I have made many trips from the Rappahannock River on Chesapeake Bay to Long Island Sound and beyond. Our boat was too deep to comfortably navigate Barnegat Inlet, so we had to go Atlantic City to Manesquan bypassing Barnegat.

[chef2sail]

Our boat was too deep to comfortably navigate Barnegat Inlet, so we had to go Atlantic City to Manesquan bypassing Barnegat.Reills

Barnegat Inlet is not a shallow one. I have done it over 40 times and see no less than 20 feet all the way through. The anchorage area is shallow. The problem with Barnegat Inlet is that there are shoals going out 1/2 mile on either side of the rock jettys into the ocan. On an ebb tide with a northeast or east wind this creates breakers in the shoal area with roll across the "fairway" from the bouys to the inlet. Also there is a shoal i/2 way down the rock jetty on the south side which means you have to stay close to the north jetty which ca be unnerving from some. This is a teecherous inlet no doubt/

Manesquan, Atlantic City, and Cape May are the only three really easy inlets in NJ as they are straightforward and dont have shifting shoals or shoals extending from their jettys into the ocean. I have never had a problem entering any of these inlets even in less than ideal conditions.

All inlets with a body of water behind it will have a substantial tidal current flow.

Dave

[bstreep]

I grew up on LBI, and have been in/out (out/in?) Barnegat many times. Ugh. Not a very nice place, at all. That being said, I've been through the inlet a few times when it was like a millpond.

We live in Texas now, but go to LBI every Labor Day. Good luck with the boat.

[sandytales]

We have experience with those inlets but in power boats . We have yet to try any with the sailboat, but it's great to hear all the input. When we do try,we'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Our boat is in Cedar Creek in Bayville... so the Barnegat Inlet would be the closest...but we'll see!

[chef2sail]

Comming in Barnegat in a power boat is substantially different than a sailboat. The current doesnt really affect the boats performance in a powerboat the way it does in a keel boat which is a desplacement hull. The drafts tend to be substantially different also.

The biggest difference however is the speed at which you come through the inlet. Most powerboats are capable of outrunning the breakers and currents, whereas if you come in the inlet from the ocean in the afternoon against a 3 knot ebb tide you make maybe 3.5 knotts headway which seems like slow motion and can have you set up to be at the mercy of the breakers and wakes.

While your hull is substantially safe in the ocean than a PB, it is this same displacment hull with a lack of large engine therefore speed whwich can get you in trouble in this inlet. Couple that with a sailboat you must stay within the winding marked channel of risk grounding and beeing bashed by the breaking waves.

As I metioned Barnegat is a trecherous inlet and needs to be respected. On the average 2-3 sailboats are lost each year there. I would transit this inlet for the first time with someone knowledgeable of the local shoals channels if you decide to try it with your new to you sailboat.

Dave

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you here and congratulations on your boat.
kind regards,