1452 Feb 1, 2002
I have delivered to NY from the Annapolis area countless times. My logs and old charts are in storage but I suspect that if you need the entire trip I can help with a bit of reconstruction.
Let me know if it is only sections or the entire trip.
What�s your departure lat lon. The rest should be fairly easy.
Paul
1459 Feb 3, 2002
Actually, I was asking for sailing directions to the new waterfront property with deep water.
I haven�t begun to think about the trip yet but this is as good a time as any. I�ve only been north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge a few times.
I�m thinking that the first two problems will be the C&D Canal and the Delaware Bay. I don�t foresee too much of a problem except to make sure that the tide is going in the right direction. After that, I have no idea. As soon as I clean off a ton a paperwork from my ping-pong table, I�ll see if I have the charts in my collection. I�ll probably buy the appropriate Chart Packs, Pilot Books and Tide Tables to make sure I�m more current. This is going to be my first real trip so I�m somewhat nervous.
I�ll be leaving from the West River (approx. 38 50.40N 76 30.80W).
1461 Feb 3, 2002
I found a good synopsis of a trip from the Chesapeake to Narragansett Bay covering either an inshore or offshore passage. It was written by Ralph Naranjo for Cruising World Magazine�s FEB. �98 issue. You can go to the Cruising World website and check the archives. I�ll try to send you my saved copy. I�m planning to use it for my trip (from Norfolk) if I get the boat ready in time. I�ll see you there one way or the other...
Bill S. "CITY BIRD"
February 3, 2002
The trip has only one disconcerting place and it is very easily overcome by predicting your log for the C&D Canal.
My plan usually involved a nap at Chesapeake City, dead center in the Canal. I would be tied up for lunch, dinner or a brief night stop about the last two and a half hours of the southbound flow. Cast off on the top of the northbound and ride the ebb tide out of the Delaware for about 4 - 5 hours.
I would be certain that you have your light list and rhythms for the various commercial ranges at the north end of the Delaware Bay so that you can identify them after dark. The ranges are tough to read at night as the vast number of lights can be confusing. Once past (south) of the Nuke plant the rest is Cake! If you exit the Canal during the day, cross all the channels ASAP to put the East Shore of the Delaware close on your port and you'll be well clear of the commercial traffic for quite a while.
There is actually a shallow water route (12 - 25 feet) that works its way down the east shore of the bay and can be set up as a route in the GPS with about an hours work at the charts. I found it a lot less nerve wracking than the commercial channel. There is a current effect to your set and drift but is always easily compensated. Now that I can interphase my GPS and the auto-pilot I suspect all the fun of navigating the "old way" will give way to my advancing age with a certain amount of grace.
I did manage to have a breakdown in the Delaware once about 1985 and found the Cohancy River to contain a bunch of very protected, shallow nooks along its serpentine length and a very helpful marina near its northern end, way up in the barrens. Maybe another suggestion for a rest stop along the way.
Take the Cape May Canal route to the Atlantic. It provides another great rest stop.
Barnegat Bay inlet has three great restaurants just inside the breakwaters and usually dock space or use one of the two small anchorages (fast moving tidal waters). Manasquan and Shark River both easy in and out spots with anchorages, as well. Stay out of Absecon (expensive) and Townsend (shallow & rough)! The prevailing SW carries you up the NJ coast, usually on one beautiful reach. 120 nm from Cape May to NY Harbor. Try to stay inland of the NY - Barnegat Shipping channel at night. Go well offshore if it is foggy, to avoid the Five Fathom Bank fishing fleet in southern NJ waters. Then set a rhumb almost direct to NY.
1463 Feb 3, 2002
Hi All,
I�ll try this again, maybe I�ll get it right this time...
From Cruising World, February 1998
Shakedown: Chesapeake to Narragansett Bay
Ready for your first offshore passage? Beginning this month, we�ll help you transition from cruising close to home to crossing oceans with this series on building skills for bluewater sailing. Here, we examine a classic East Coast route. In future issues, we�ll offer the same treatment of other passages around the country.
by Ralph Naranjo
The print version of this article contains illustrations of fully annotated charts that can�t be reproduced here. If you�re considering a Chesapeake to Narragansett Bay run, get the February �98 issue of Cruising World. Another great resource for your preparation and the run itself�charting software from Maptech
No one starts out as an expert. We develop sailing competency along the way, mostly by trial and error. Start with what you know: your home waters. Then stretch your legs from there and get a taste of what open-ocean sailing is all about. This month, we take a close look at the run from the Chesapeake to Narragansett Bay.
East Coast estuaries, protected bays, sounds and harbors along this route can isolate you from ocean swells for a lifetime. Those whose sailing universe remains the protected waters of Long Island Sound, the Chesapeake, or other inshore havens, may find themselves in for a surprise when they decide to sail offshore.
This article offers such inshore sailors advice on how to navigate beyond sight of land, how to test your self-steering gear while under the influence of ocean waves, and a sample of what it�s like to be underway all night. Mother Nature must also be reckoned with; the best way to see her good side is by carefully tracking the weather and using forecasts (rather than a calendar!) to pick the day to go to sea.
Ambitious Or Conservative? You Choose The Route
Annapolis and Newport are two of the most active sailing centers on the East Coast. The trip between the two can be a performance-oriented, non-stop speed run (Route 3), or a month-long meander stopping in little anchorages along the way (Routes 1 and 2). Check the accompanying charts, and Michael Carr�s sailing notes, for information relevant to the three options. We have suggested a south-to-north itinerary, but the basic tenets can easily be reversed if you are setting out from a northern location.
Passage Prerequisites
Any sailboat heading to sea should be structurally sound and meet the guidelines of ORC category II or III regulations and the safety standards of the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition, be sure to have a 406 EPIRB and, if there�s no liferaft on board, an inflatable dinghy should be lashed down but accessible.
Basic Boat Standards
Any vessel venturing into the ocean should be structurally sound and built with appropriate attention to ABYC standards and equipped according to USCG regulations. If you have any doubts about your boat, consult a skilled marine surveyor.
While this summer cruise is far from being a lengthy ocean crossing, the conditions encountered will be more demanding than those found on Long Island Sound or the Chesapeake Bay. Be prepared for more rigorous sailing. Start by looking over the ORC regulations. (To order from US Sailing call the Publications Department at 800-877-2451.) Pay special heed to sections that deal with the following points:
Check windows, lockers, hatches and companionway slides, all of which seal the vessel from water during heavy weather
Check sails. Make sure you have a storm jib and well-reinforced reef points on the mainsail, as well as appropriate hardware and rigging to use them effectively
Double-check lifelines, gates, jacklines and harnesses for every crew member
Test bilge pumps (manual and electric)
Inspect the rigging. Look for missing cotter pins as well as signs of wear, where necessary. Replace rather than gamble
Lash down loose gear and prepare for bouncing around in ocean swells
Check the engine, charging system, battery banks, navigation lights and safety gear
Be sure the radar reflector has a means for hoisting or a more permanent mast attachment
Inspect ground tackle that you may have to count on to weather a gale
Hose down the decks and look for potential leak points at sea
R.N.
Ocean sailing necessitates a new look at how gear should be stowed. Towed dinghies and those carried in davits can create problems for those headed offshore. Loose gear on deck and down below can come adrift in rather modest conditions, threatening the well-being of crew and boat. Aboard Wind Shadow we have two modes of stowage, one for inshore sailing and one for offshore. The longer we are away from ocean conditions, the more forgetful we become about the motion of the sea and what it does to loose gear. Be careful.
Keep A Weather Eye
Summer tends to be tranquil in the Northeast and is the best time for offshore travel. Still, it�s important to keep track of weather conditions. With the Annapolis-to-Newport itinerary, use the clear, concise NOAA broadcasts received via VHF transceiver. Before departure, spend some time listening to the forecasts and watching The Weather Channel to get a feel for the three- to five-day, long-range forecast. Though the season is statistically placid, there can be pitfalls. While infrequent, thunderstorm activity can be vigorous, even when a cold front is not a factor in the equation. In late summer, hot, humid conditions may spawn individual cells that have strong gust fronts and exert short-lived ferocity. Accompanying seas usually are not too intimidating. Dropping all sail and lying ahull until the cell has passed can save you a trip to the sailmaker. When confronting a strong squall line aboard Wind Shadow, I like to douse the main and jib and continue on under staysail alone.
Fog is a by-product of the cooler waters off New England meeting warm, moist continental air. Navigating in fog has gotten easier with reliable electronics. GPS, Loran C and radar provide information about where you are and who�s out there with you. These are no substitutes for a good deck watch, but are valuable complements to traditional navigation.
Finally, by monitoring regular weather updates that depict tropical storm activity in the Atlantic Basin, you can steer clear of that potential danger. The Annapolis-to-Newport run can be staged as either a coastal or an offshore passage, allowing you to hedge your bets if there�s any doubt about the long-range forecast. It�s important to know how many miles a day your boat can travel (under sail and power). This means knowing your speed potential in calms and heavy head winds.
Here�s Some Local Knowledge
Along this stretch of the East Coast, west winds herald fair weather and relatively smooth seas, while easterlies mean brooding gray skies, building wind and waves, and the approach of a low or a cold front. Sail with the former; seek shelter, when possible, from the latter. For example, on a return trip to the Chesapeake, use an easterly to charge down Long Island Sound rather than tackle the offshore route. Then, instead of continuing on and immediately sailing out of Manhattan�s lower bay into a growing gale off New Jersey�s shoal-ridden lee shore, tuck into protected Atlantic Highlands and wait a day or so while the weather blows through. The west winds that follow provide splendid sailing for the next leg south. Strive to cruise in sync with the weather.
Currents play a key role. Consult Reeds or Eldridge before deciding on departures and courses. If you leave Newport to return to the Chesapeake, for example, use an ebb tide for a convenient lift out of Narragansett Bay; time it to rendezvous with a current change in Block Island Sound to ensure a favorable flood into Long Island Sound. This is as close to a free lunch as you get.
Fortunately our ancestors were accurate when they named key coastal landmarks. Hell Gate, The Race and Plum Gut all connote the tidal influence that exists in their respective areas. If you plan to transit these spots you need to know the current. Side-setting flows can move your boat well off its steered course, especially during full- and new-moon spring tides. Current diagrams generally show spring-tide velocities, but they also include a table to compensate for lesser drifts closer to times of neap tides. Now, let�s take a look at some more specific local info, going from south to north, in case you decide to gunkhole your way north, or in case you need to tuck into any of these landfalls on your offshore passage north. For the first-time offshore cruiser, I recommend either Route 1 or 2, which I�ll explain in detail here. The more aggressive choice, Route 3, is not described in the text, but we include detailed advice on on this route directly on the charts, by Michael Carr.
Route #1: Do Some Gunkholing To Get The Passage Started
Chesapeake Bay: Leave Annapolis around the first week in July to escape the Chesapeake heat and allow the waters off Newport to warm up a bit. Those headed up the Bay can stop in the bucolic shelter of the Sassafras River for a quiet night�s sleep. The northern end of the Chesapeake is a shallow estuary, like the narrow neck of a funnel, leading traffic to and from the C&D Canal. At times the approach to the canal can be quite busy, so it�s a good idea to scan VHF Channels 13 and 16 when transiting these restricted waters. Large commercial vessels are constrained by draft, so steer clear.
When possible, I prefer to stay just out of the channel and well clear of the tugs, barges and ships. When steaming or sailing toward the C&D Canal, watch the marks closely; shoal waters pinch in near the head of the bay. Prepare to hug the side of the channel when large commercial vessels march through the cut. Sailing through the cut is prohibited, but motor sailing with the main set is an allowable alternative. Try to time your progress through the canal to coincide with the start of an ebb as you enter the Delaware.
C&D Canal: Time your passage through the canal to coincide with a favorable current. Faster speed over the ground means less time spent in the ditch where, during the height of summer, the heat can be intense. Chesapeake City is a safe-shelter pit stop. Located near the middle of the canal, it�s a good layover if you got a late start or faced headwinds sailing up the bay. The Delaware can be nasty when it blows over 20 knots; if that is what is forecast, consider spending the day here rather than slogging it out. In Chesapeake City, lay over at the dock at Schaefer�s Restaurant. Or, if you can get into the snug harbor behind the Army Corps facility directly across the cut, there often is room to anchor. I have used this anchorage after several exhausting trips up the Delaware Bay, a passage that can be grueling when the wind and current are against you. In such situations it may be best to lay over in Cape May or, if planning a trip down the bay, tuck into a quiet anchorage in the Sassafras River until conditions improve.
Delaware Bay: At the mouth of the Delaware lies Cape May, an open, shallow bay with marinas, anchorages and provisions. It�s another fail-safe opportunity for the coastwise sailor facing failing weather. Commercial traffic in the Delaware can be quite active; know your rules of the road cold before heading up or down the bay. Again, steer clear of the channel when depth permits; use 7x50 binoculars to identify running lights early; and don�t hesitate to use bridge-to-bridge communications on Channel 13 if things look dicey.
Though the bay is well lit, first-time transit-makers are best off rising at dawn and doing the run in daylight. If you must go at night, have both a helmsperson and a navigator working together. Watch keeping, steering and navigating are demanding when traffic is heavy, and significantly more difficult at night. (If you are headed offshore from the Delaware Bay, Block Island is a favorite landfall. For most 35- to 45-footers, the passage takes two or three days depending upon the breeze and your willingness to motor sail. Be prepared for fog. Those with radar and/or GPS will certainly put the gear to good use.)
Cape May: The cape�s wide, shallow harbor is handy for those sailing up or down the Delaware. If you want to spend a day or two, carefully anchor, keeping in mind that a breezy afternoon thunderstorm can whip across the shallows (it�s not a spot to linger on a lunch hook). If your ground tackle is on the light side, spring for a marina slip. If your boat�s draft and masthead height qualify them for the Cape May Canal, you can cut the corner and avoid the current-ridden run around Cape May when entering or exiting the Delaware. Overfalls Shoals or the main ship channel get pretty lumpy in heavy weather. Due to shoal waters, entering New Jersey�s better harbors (Cape May, Atlantic City and Manasquan Inlet) can be dicey in strong easterlies. If you attempt to enter in such conditions, consider yourself forewarned. Avoid the experience by carefully monitoring weather broadcasts. If you are constrained by a tight timetable be especially wary about your deadline causing you to sail into trouble off the Jersey coast.
Cautious Sailors Should Stay On The Coastal Route
For those who are taking their first steps offshore, take your time here. I recommend a three-day, harbor-hopping itinerary which goes from Cape May to Atlantic City on the first day, a run to Manasquan on the second day, and a sail into New York Harbor on day three.
Manhattan: Sailing past Manhattan is an amazing experience, with lots of current and navigational demands. For this leg, don�t skimp on large-scale detailed charts. Here you must navigate a maze-like channel that you�ll share with all sorts of commercial and recreational traffic.
Long Island Sound: The farther east you sail, the more sailboats you�ll see. In just a few short hours, you�ll leave astern the frantic powerboaters and roiled waters of western Long Island Sound. The transit east is an easy one in all but strong easterly winds. The prevailing light summer southerlies often can make this leg a lovely flat-water reach. If time allows, check the current in Plum Gut; lay a course for Shelter Island and the harbors that dot the north and south forks of Gardiners Bay.
Route #2: More Ambitious Sailors, It�s Time To Head Offshore
When a slow-moving, slack-gradient high-pressure system falls into place, basking the mid- Atlantic states in sunshine and a 15-knot southerly breeze, cruising sailors anchored in Cape May, New Jersey, should feel comfortable about heading offshore. From here, the two-day passage around Montauk Point, New York, and on to New England�s cruising grounds, is a comfortable reach, the right scenario for a first sojourn into offshore cruising.
Keep in mind that these coastal waters are busy day and night. At some point during the transit you will be crossing the inbound and outbound shipping lanes that connect the open sea and the Port of New York. There is no cause for alarm. Keep a vigilant watch and have a clear understanding of the rules of the road. I prefer to cross charted shipping lanes and traffic separation zones on a course as close to a right angle as possible.
If you are a shorthanded crew, you�ll learn quickly why reliable self-steering gear is a cruising sailor�s best friend, freeing the helmsperson to trim sails and tend to other aspects of the shorthanded shipboard routine. Vanes and autopilots are not an alternative to maintaining a lookout. Keep a good watch on this leg. Darkness affects visual perception. Keep a pair of 7x50 binoculars handy to sort out confusing navigation lights and marks lit by what may at first seem to be dim candles.
Reefing and sail changing will eventually become second nature, but even before you set off on this, your first ocean passage, the process should be quite familiar. Whether you reef the main at the mast or from the cockpit, make sure you can reach for the right line or cleat with your eyes closed. Wrestling with an overpowered mainsail at 0300 and wondering which line hauls in the first reef will make you too anxious. Reef early and reef deep. It is much easier to shake out a reef when the wind goes light than it is to tuck one in when the rail is submerged.
Are you prone toward mal de mer? Bring simple precooked meals that are quick to heat. Dine in the cockpit when underway. Drink ginger ale rather than water for the first few days at sea.
The more you can simplify the routine, the less demanding the passage will become. This goes for navigation as well as other more physical aspects of the passage. Take, for example, the simple act of laying out a route prior to departure with a 5-knot speed of advance (SOA). The small-scale chart on which you place your proposed track actually becomes the basic strategy of your passage. By drawing out a track and placing waypoints in your GPS or Loran, you front-load some of the navigation requirements. As you begin to fix your position during the actual passage, you will be able to compare your course to the track you laid out and easily determine what alterations may be needed. This process familiarizes you with what lies ahead well before you start laying fixes on the chart.
As you approach Montauk Point, the effect of tidal currents will become quite noticeable. A quick look at Reeds or Eldridge will let you know what set and drift to expect and how it will change in the hours that follow. I usually stop at Block Island for a day or so before heading on to Newport. The approach is well marked and the anchorage in the Great Salt Pond is an appropriate place to celebrate the success of your first offshore landfall.
Skills You�ll Need For An Annapolis-Newport Run
Boat handling, including steering, maneuvering and sail trim
Ability to change sails and reef in varied wind velocities & on different points of sail
Accurate navigation using electronic fixes as well as conventional dead reckoning
Ability to deploy and retrieve ground tackle to securely anchor your boat in normal conditions and in heavy weather
An understanding of onboard systems and the know-how to troubleshoot problems and/or substitute manual backups for failures in automated systems
Dinghy handling (with & without power)
Man-overboard recovery, regardless of which crew member is in the water
Thorough familiarity with communication equipment, distress calling situations & inter-vessel and ship-to-shore procedures
Ability to handle watch-keeping
Landfall: Narragansett Bay!
Block Island Sound: (If you are gunkholing here from Long Island Sound�s flat water, be sure to re-stow loose gear as you venture into the open waters of Block Island Sound.) Block Island�s protected Great Salt Pond is a little too large to be a safe hurricane hole and can be pretty rough in a gale, but in light-to-moderate weather it�s a great stopover. The pond has a straightforward, well-marked entrance, but one which is fairly narrow and impacted by both ebb and flood tides. Inside lies a nearly circular bay with abundant moorings and anchoring opportunities, much of which lies in a deep grassy bottom � good ground tackle is a must. Also, consider a side trip to Martha�s Vineyard and Nantucket. The currents in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound should not be dismissed; the diagrams in Reeds and Eldridge can be merged with tidal data to set the scene on any given day.
Narragansett Bay and Newport: See our Lynda Morris Childress� full feature on Newport and Narragansett Bay in our October �97 issue. Newport�s historic deep-water port near the mouth of Narragansett Bay is a must. Also, for a quieter alternative, try one of the many quiet coves that dot the rest of the bay. Dutch Island Harbor is a favorite. Beware: Throughout Narragansett Bay harbors, granite outcroppings and reefs replace the sandbars and shoals of more southern waters. If you view running aground as a mere nuisance, think again. Good, consistent navigation will be your best friend here. If you sail New England waters in summer, be ready to cope with occasional bouts of fog that can turn a clear day into one with zero visibility.
The Return Voyage Home: Many cruisers hop-scotch back to Block Island and sail the next day to Gardiners Bay headed for scenic Shelter Island. If you have extra days, poke around Coecles Harbor, Dering Harbor and West Neck Harbor (a great hurricane hole). Additional spots worth visiting include Watch Hill, Fishers Island, Port Jefferson and Oyster Bay.
Plan to pick up an ebb tide in the East River. This means that you will carry a fair flood down the last few miles of Long Island Sound and meet slack water at Hell Gate, an apt name when a spring tide and a strong northwest wind do their dance. To visit the "Big Apple" sail around the lower tip of Manhattan and make your way up to the 79th Street Marina, where slips and moorings are usually available.
If you are headed home, slip beneath the Verrazano Bridge and duck into the Atlantic Highlands Marina to avoid adverse weather or get a good night�s sleep before tackling the coastal route to Cape May. Strong easterlies can make this a wicked lee shore; entrances to Manasquan and Atlantic City, as well as Cape May, can get nasty. Manage your time to do this leg in fair weather. It can also be a wonderful overnight sail in fair weather. The return trip up the Delaware and down the Chesapeake Bay mirrors your departure.
The game plan I�ve sketched out provides a chance to stretch your cruising legs and sample some interesting landfalls along the way. Such a voyage offers a good combination of overnight sailing and coastal hops, allowing you to control your exposure as you sample coastal and distance cruising. Like any "training wheels" cruise, these first small steps can lead to giant leaps offshore. If you decide to do this cruise this summer, please drop us a postcard to let us know how you made out. We�d love to hear from you.
Ralph Naranjo is Cruising World�s technical editor.
1466 Feb 3, 2002
Thanks Bill
The text came through ok but the images are lost in cyberspace. Photopaint didn�t like their format.
Howard
1467 Feb 4, 2002 8:08am
Howard,
I�ve done this trip many times from Annapolis and from Baltimore. With crew I go straight through nonstop to Cape May or the ocean, which is less than 24 hrs from Baltimore.
When alone, I generally go to the Bohemia River, just south of the C&D, and anchor for the night. Then it�s an easy motor (you�re not allowed to sail) through the C&D, which is about 17 miles long. The canal is about 300 feet wide, easy, well marked, piece of cake day or night. You will see tugs and ships so stay alert and stay off to the starboard side. Wait for the current; if you go against it you�ll be in it all day. I use Reeds which is quite good for the whole East Coast.
Then it�s the Delaware Bay, a 12 hour really boring trip. The Bay is shallow, it�s not at all like the Chesapeake. You�ll pretty much stay in or near the channel because it�s so shoal. It�s not hard to do the C&D and Delaware Bay in one very long day.
Cape May is a nice stop. Go through the Cape May canal. No problem getting our masts under the 50 ft fixed bridge there. The canal entrance is not obvious from the Del Bay channel so navigate carefully; once you�re close you can�t miss it. The ferries run out of there so at night there are a lot of lights. I�d recommend hitting the C&D early, early AM (in the dark) so you hit the canal during daylight, if this is your first time there. Or, just run into the ocean and head to NY w/o stopping (much easier though sometimes the crew wants a break in Cape May).
Pretty good anchorage, though shallow, in Cape May, and a good place to fuel, get dinner, rest, etc. There�s no water taxi or anything so bring a dingy or tie up (for $$$) somewhere. In the summer there�s a lot of power boat traffic in and out of the marina area.
Run out the inlet (a very easy one) to the ocean, and about 24 hrs later you�ll be pulling into NY harbor, quite an awesome experience. It�s huge, and takes rather a while to go from Sandy Hook to Manhattan. (There are stops so you can do the ocean run in hops, but it�ll take a much longer time if you do so. If this is your first ocean sail, relax, it�s a piece of cake. Do keep a watch, especially near NY as there�s a ton of traffic there.)
Also, there are few marinas in the NY area till you hit LI Sound; and the ones that exist are quite pricey. If you�re tired when you exit the ocean anchor at Sandy Hook, as it�s a full day from there to the Sound. For a first time trip I�d recommend doing the Sandy Hook to the Sound run during the day. And what a trip - under the Verazanno, past the Statue of Liberty, past the Seaport Museum, under the Brooklyn Bridge, up the East River!
Hell Gate, near the northern part of the East River has a well-deserved rep for strong currents. Go through this only with the tide behind you. The current can exceed 5 knots.
From there the LI Sound is quite a nice sail, easy, with lots of places to stop and explore. I�ve never been to Rye so am looking forward to this.
See you there!
Jack
1839 May 7, 2002.
Cruise plan....1st night Thurs Annapolis, Bohemia River then Delaware City or Chesapeake City, Cape May, Atlantic City, Manasquan, Sandy Hook then as far as we can go. All are weather permitting as we are allowing ourselves plenty of time to get there. Scary isn�t it! We�ll sail up in the sound, head for Block Island since we are up that far before heading back to enjoy the Chesapeake for the season. We�ve had our problems as well. I lost my memory battery in my GPS & lost all the waypoints , Delaware River to Norfolk then our water pumped leaked, sail ripped as we were putting it on but everything is back from the repair shops & we ready. We have enough food for probably the summer & looking forward to the trip.
John & Fran Morrison "chautauqua"
1840 May 8, 2002
Safe, northbound passage through the East River and the very turbulent Hell Gate depends upon arriving at the Lower New York Harbor, Verazanno Bridge (The Narrows) leaving about two hours minimum to passage through the hazard and a total of about 3 � hours to be approaching Rye.
Current in the East River and Hell Gate can be expected to often run more than 5 knots. Its a great ride with it and very slow against it.