Sailing A CD27 from the upper Chesapeake to NYC?

[RonE58]

I am looking to purchase a CD 27 In Pasadena, MD some time in the next week or two. How doable is it to sail up to NYC from the upper Chesapeake bay? I have little experience on the ocean but my two buddies have plenty. In general how long would the trip take?
Ron

[John D.]

Here is a description of sailing from Chesapeake Bay to Cape May, NJ.

http://www.cblights.com/cruising/Delmar ... gation.pdf

[Russell]

I am looking to purchase a CD 27 In Pasadena, MD some time in the next week or two. How doable is it to sail up to NYC from the upper Chesapeake bay? I have little experience on the ocean but my two buddies have plenty. In general how long would the trip take?
Ron

CD27 would have no problems doing this. Here is a break down of what to expect day by day:

Day 1: Chesapeake Bay to C&D Canal, stop overnight halfway through the canal (cant remember town name, someone help here).

Day 2: C&D to Deleware Bay and down to Cape May NJ. This I suspect would be a long day for a CD27, leave before sunup, the second half of the canal is easy to do in the dark, but you want light for the Deleware, with the traffic and numerous lit markers of all sorts it can get confusing at night, so time it to exit the canal into the river around sunup. There is another canal at the bottom of the deleware that takes you into cape may, anchor off the coast guard station. If you prefer to go into a marina and not mess with anchoring on a delivery, then Utsch's Marina is the place to go, most the other marinas in Cape May tend primarily to sport fishers and commercial vessels, Utsch's is sail friendly, cruiser friendly and very nice, you will get a welcome basket with the worst bottle of wine you have ever tasted (hey, its free!) and cheese and crackers and such. In walking distance there is a nice seafood restraunt, cant recall its name, but my preference is a little pizza/sub shop also in walking distance, very laid back(but if your from NYC it may not be up to your standards!). West Marine is also walking distance.

Day 3: Leave Cape May for the ocean portion of your trip. You can either go non stop overnight to NYC (my preference) or stop somewhere on the NJ coast. Atlantic City is an easy stop. Be careful of some NJ inlets though, the currents can be downright insane, especially for a slow moving sailboat.

Day 4: If you stayed in AC then leave Atlantic City for NYC. This is going to be a tough run in a CD27 to make NYC before dark (hence my preference for the overnight to NYC). I recommend leaving before daybreak. There may be other easy NJ inlets others here can recommend, but I have been into 2 northern NJ inlets and never plan to again.

Day 5: Not sure where your destination is in NYC, if you have to go through Hells Gate or any other tricky area, you may have to stop somewhere before hand and leave the next day for a favorable current. Someone else here I am sure will have better info on possible stops here depending on your direction.

So there you go, 3 to 5 days. So plan for 7 to 10 for weather(or more depending on time of year). The Chesapeake and Canal portion is easy, the deleware can get downright nasty in bad weather with very little refuge. The ocean portion of course your going to want good weather as well. Bring plenty of fuel and count on motoring at the very least the chesapeake, canals and deleware portion of the trip. But bring enough to motor the entire way (I am assuming your treating this as a delivery, not cruising or pleasure sailing, but trying to get from point A to B quickly).

Currents will affect your canal trips, the deleware and any NJ inlet you take. I highly recommend carrying a copy of the current Reeds East Coast Almanac for tide and current information, as well as great piloting information (should you have to duck in somewhere unexpected). Also, a copy of Northeast Waterway Guide is very handy, it covers from the C&D Canal through much of New England, good piloting info, local info (places to eat once you arrive for the night), marinas, fuel, etc.. though my memory may be failing me, I am pretty sure it begins with C&D, but it may begin wtih Cape May, perhaps someone with the book handy can double check this. For charts the Maptech chartkits #3 and #4. #3 is a given since once your boat is in NYC it will cover your local cruising area. #4 it would be nice for you to see if you can borrow a friends copy, unless you plan to return to the Chesapeake. But if you do have to buy it, the chartkit, while covering far more area then you need, will still be cheaper then the individual paper charts. Other then the #4 chartkit, dont hesitate to spend money on these items, as once your boat is home they will all serve your well sailing your home waters.

Hope that helps, I can clarify or give additional information if you want. You will have a great time, its a fun trip, and the chesapeake this time if year is really beautiful.

[RonE58]

I have a copy of 'Cruising the Chesapeake' and 'Eldridge'. Staying over nite in Chesapeake city makes sense as does staying over in Cape May. I also like the idea of holding up and waiting for a good day to do the jersey coast at Utsch's sail friendly marina in Cape May. Both of my experienced buddies suggested the same thing as you Russell, that is sailing straight thru to New York from Cape May, It is a 115 nautical miles to our Gateway Marina in Brooklyn.
I'll definitely pick up all the charts, and look into the guides mentioned. This trip like you stated is more like a delivery but I do intend on cruising the Chesapeake in the future.
Thanks
Ron

[Harry Green]

I've made this same trip 4 times in the last ten years (both ways). I agree with all of the advise that others have given you. I would give you several other bits of wisdom: 1) the harbor on the C&D canal is in Chesapeake City and is call (US Army Corps) Engineer's Harbor. It has a very soft bottom and shallows out quickly near the back. A CQR will hold better than a Danforth. 2) Plan your trip to go with the tide down the Delaware Bay. 3) Fuel up in Cape May at the marina. In the past they have been the best fuel prices on the trip. They are used to filling large fishing boats and have two sized fuel nozzels-you need to remind them that you need the small one. 4) The smaller your crew the shorter your passage legs will be. Consider stopping in Atlantic City. 5) I do not know what your coastal experiece is but remember that a your journey has an ultimate destination not time. The weather (not to mention fog this time of year) will determine when you leave and arrive not a time table.

[Domenic]

What NYC Marina will you be keeping your boat?

[jerryaxler]

All the advice given is pretty much what I would advise after making that transit for the last 18 years. The only additions would be to use the anchorage behind Reedy dike and to not go down the Delaware Bay when the wind is in opposition to the tide. The chop is horrendous in those conditions. If you must go , go against the tide if the wind is coming out of the south.
Use of the Cohansey is a tempting anchorage when slugging it out in the chop, but I would only enter with local knowledge since it has shoaled.

[bill2]

The only addition I can think of is that if you do decide to spend a nite off the NJ coast ( weather wind mechanical whatever ) by using the inlets referred to in the prior posts it would "best" to navigate them during daylight since there can be some very thin water going into the back bays should you stray from the channel(s).

Have a great voyage . . .

[RonE58]

What NYC Marina will you be keeping your boat?

Hello Domenic, I am over in the Gateway Marina, just across from Floyd Bennett Field. We have a couple of CD 25's.
Ron