Fall and departure time for those who are traveling south to warmer climates is drawing near.  For those new to the cruising lifestyle and who are making their first passage south and for those who might be considering a different route or destination this year, I am over the next week or so going to publish a series of articles on the different routes one might consider and the pros and cons of each route and the time frame one should allow for the various options.

This series of articles will cover the routes one might take for destinations in Florida, The Bahamas and the Caribbean.  The pros and cons I list and the passages I make recommendations for and the various routes are my observations from having made these trip numerous times on my own boats and on deliveries.  Like everything in sailing there are many choices one can make about how they travel south, my recommendations won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

DISTANCES STARTING FROM NEW ENGLAND-NEWPORT RI

-Newport RI to Hospital Point, Norfolk VA (mile 0 ICW) via direct off-shore past Montauk P, NY 360nm

-Newport RI to Hospital Point, Norfolk VA via Long Island Sound and East River thru NYC 400 nm

-Norfolk VA to Miami via ICW 1090sm (statue miles)

-Norfolk VA to Beaufort NC 198sm

-Beaufort NC to Miami off-shore 622nm

Newport to Norfolk via off-shore:

Pros-Shortest distance to Chesapeake Bay

Cons-Prevailing winds SW or pretty much on the nose so route if done in a SW’ly will actually be longer than the 360nm listed above

-If done with a fair wind from East weather likely to be wet and cool to cold, if done in NW’ly gusty and cool.

Newport to Norfork via Long Island Sound and New York City:

Pros-good anchorages each night on way to New York City, good for crew acclimation.

Shorter off-shore passages

Cons-Slightly longer by about half a day

I prefer the Newport to Norfolk via Long Island Sound for just the reasons listed above, I’ve done this portion of the trip south both ways but find the Long Island Sound to City Island down the East River in New York City to be much more enjoyable.

Years ago, an Old Salt gave me a piece of advice, “Never pass up a fair wind”.  To this day I like to wait in Newport for the wind to go East and then make my run down-wind to NYC.  The downside to this tactic is in this part of the world my fair wind is going to be an Easterly which indicates a Frontal Approach.  As a result, the trip to NYC is likely to be made in the rain with maybe a F5-6 NE-E wind.  But it will be downwind and fast.  Usually 2 to 3 days from Newport depending on where I elect to stop at night.
Tom Lue, buy viagra tablets professor at UC San Francisco focused on individual’s lifestyle while curing impotence. When a person fails to respond to the stressful situations they cialis no prescription purchase at drugshop become nervous and tend to lose their control over emotions and behaviors. There are antidepressants but these medicines cause harm to the penile muscles and would damage the levitra cost of penis lastingly. The victims of this particular issue are only men delivery overnight viagra and not women or kids.
 

However long it takes to get to NYC I plan on spending my last night in the City Island/Kings Point area.  I then plan my departure from there to transit the East River and Hell Gate for 1-2 hours before EBB at Hell Gate.  At two hours before Ebb, I will have a slight foul current in the East River until I reach LaGuardia Airport but a fast ride down the East River from there on.  For the most part there is no special path to follow down the East River, other than at Hell Gate you need to stay to the right (West) of Roosevelt Island, this places you in the main channel past Manhattan, just stay between the buoys when they are present otherwise stay between the rivers banks. 

Keep two things in mind when planning your departure from City Island to transit the East River and Hell Gate.  One, you need to pass through Hell Gate on the EBB, at flood there is as much as 5+k of current here.  Two, it is deceiving but the distance from Throgs Neck Bridge down the East River to Gravesend Bay is 28 miles.  You really don’t want to be passing the south end of Manhattan or transiting any portion of New York Harbor in the dark, allow plenty of time for a daylight transit.

When you get to the Southern end of Manhattan bear left for the Buttermilk Channel that runs between Long Island and Governors Island.  You can go right at the end of Manhattan and round the Battery into the Hudson River and NY harbor itself but you will be dealing with the Staten Island Ferries (they don’t like to give way to little sailboats) and commercial shipping of all sizes who also won’t get out of your way as they are restricted in maneuvering by their draft.  Staying on the Long Island side of the harbor avoids most commercial shipping traffic.

After you pass under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge you will be in Gravesend Bay, if the wind has gone NW I continue south out of New York Harbor, round Sandy Hook and keep going.  If the wind is still from the East I proceed to the North shore of Coney Island and anchor until the wind swings NW.  Usually, I don’t have to anchor here for more than 12-18 hours before the wind swings fair.

As soon as the wind goes NW I leave, though I prefer to not leave in the dead of night as the route out of the harbor crosses two shipping channels and in the dark, with all the city lights ships are darn near impossible to see.  So, unless I have radar and today, AIS, and enough crew to have several pairs of eyes on deck I will wait until morning twilight so I can see what is around me.  I’ve entered and left NY harbor at night and it is scary when a ship suddenly materializes close by out of the city lights!

Once you leave Sandy Hook behind stay no more than 5 -7 miles off the shore.  Tugs with Barges run along about 10 miles off, large ships just a bit further.  Staying right around 5 miles eliminates most interaction with them. From Sandy Hook, Cape May NJ is a 24-hour sail, Norfolk 48 hours (off-shore) There are some stops along the NJ coast but NJ is shallow and not a lot of cruising sailors stop here.  I have gone into Cape May, but this is not a port to enter in the dark as it is in my opinion poorly lit.  Once in Cape May the holding in the anchorage off the Coast Guard station is not very good so take a dock.

If you stop in Cape May you have two options to proceed further south, one-off-shore to Norfolk about a 24-hour sail or two-proceed up Delaware Bay, cross the C and D canal to the Chesapeake Bay and then head south to Norfolk.  This second route will add on average about a week or more, depending on how many stops you make, to reach Norfolk.  Most cruisers I’ve met who have done this trip all say the concentration of commercial vessels in the Delaware Bay is the heaviest they have seen anywhere.  On top of the ship traffic, the bay is shallow and there are not many places conducive to anchoring overnight.

For those choosing the off-shore route sail about 5-15 miles off of the Delmar Peninsula. Once clear of the Delaware Bay shipping lanes around Cape Henlopen, with the exception of the occasional commercial fisherman, you will see little to nothing in the way of shipping you need to avoid until you are within the last few miles of the Chesapeake Entrance.  Once you see the Bay-Bridge tunnel steer to enter thru the Chesapeake Channel.  The Thimble Shoals Channel to the West is for deep draft vessels and you don’t want to interfere with them.  If you are lucky, along this route you might see a Right Whale as they are migrating south through here in the fall.

I try to reach the Chesapeake Channel entrance to the Bay in daylight, dawn will do, as there can be quite a bit of traffic, commercial and naval shipping all looking to enter or exit the Bay through the same little entrance.  Sometimes you have to run through the entrance like you are running across the Interstate Highway at rush hour, daylight makes this a lot less stressful and safer.

Once into the Bay, it is still 12 miles to Fort Wool and the Elizabeth River and then another couple of hours to Hospital Point anchorage at Mile Marker 0 of the ICW.

The anchorage at Hospital Point has good holding and is fairly large and able to accommodate a good number of boats.  There are lots of sights, museums, and restaurants a dinghy ride away across the river.  Showers, laundry, internet, and some shopping can be had at the Tidewater Yacht Marina for a daily dinghy fee.

 

Next: Newport to the Caribbean