CD at Block Island

[Mike Wainfeld]

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We sailed to Block Island over the weekend and saw this CD36 (I think). They were leaving Sunday morning just as we were pulling in. I didn't get the boats's name.

[Oswego John]

Hi Mike,

Out of curiosity, I have to ask what route you took to get to Block I.?

Did you sail eastward from Bayshore, along the south shore of Long Island until you reached Montauk Point, and then swung north?

Or did you pass through the Shinnecock Canal, eastward on the Peconic to Orient and then swing north to B.I.?

Either route, it's a great trip. I'm a little envious.

Enjoy,
O J

[Mike Wainfeld]

Hi OJ-I didn't take the TY, I crewed on a friends Cheoy Lee 36-full keel Bill Luders design, somewht CD-like. We left out of Freeport, thru Jones Inlet, then all along the South Shore, overnight, with an almost full moon. We were able to sail till about midnight, when the wind died, and we motored. We pulled into Block in a thick fog at about 10 AM. Maybe one day I will do it in the TY

[boom2it]

I too am planning to sail to Block Island within the next two years, hopefully next year. I sailed from City Island to Martha's Vineyard many many moon's agon in a 23' Bristol, myself and a buddy. That took 5 days each way, the Bristol was more like a large tub with a full keel plus not much wind. One of the more memorable moments was almost rolling over as we made our way through the Race, we were literally past the point of no return when he was able to spill the main while reaching out with is big toe....yes big toe....it was that close. Block Island was great, but I really want to get back to Cutty Hunk.

[Emil Maurer]

I understand that there are low bridges, only 22' of vertical clearance which do not open at the Shinnecock Canal. You would have to take your mast down to get under and then put it back up.
Otherwise, it is either Long Island Sound or the Atlantic to get to Block Island.

[Oswego John]

Hi Emil,

That's a very interesting point that you brought up concerning low bridges in the area of the Shinnecock cut.

I've been through the canal literally a dozen or two times, but always on power boats. It never occured to me to pay attention to mast clearance. The canal is affected by tides, which can produce some strong currents.

Thinking back in my mind, I believe that the newer Sunrise H'way (Rte 27) bridge allowed for decent clearance, but I really don't remember that well. I think that the old Montauk H'way bridge was pretty low in comparison.

It goes without saying that a sailor should check the clearance out before using the Shinnecock passage as a short cut. It never hurts to be well informed.

Thanks for the heads up.
O J

[Emil Maurer]

Some years, a former brother-in-law, a psychiatrist, bought a sailboat and while bringing the vessel home on its maiden voyage, he took it under a bridge-too-small and so ended his sailing career along with the boat. (And it was much the same with his marriage.)

Well, it was a lesson I remembered. When I found my CD 25D on the web in Rochester NY, I considered briefly bringing it home via the Erie Canal and then Tom Sawyering it down the Hudson, out the Narrows and around to the South Shore of Long Island. This would have required taking down the mast for the canal trip and putting it back up at Albany.

With a vessel I didn't know, I decided that a horizontal 32' mast on a 25' boat which needed to be maneuvered through numerous canal locks and other traffic was not a good idea. I found a trucking company. Take 2 made it safely from the Great Lake to the Atlantic.

But you can see where my fixation on low bridges began as well as thinking about sailing through the Shinnecock Canal to get to Block Island.

[Brian A.]

The clearance at Shinnecock Canal requires de-stepping. There are free do-it yourself stepping stations on both sides with very heavy duty manually operated equipment. I know several frugal North Fork sailors who use the station on the north side to drop/raise their masts. In transiting the canal with a sailing vessel, it is strongly advised to do so only when the gates are closed as the current is very swift when they are open and there is little room to maneuver. Going through when the gates are closed is very quick and easy.

The most pleasant passage to BI from the Peconics is to pop out through Plum Gut and then continue to Fishers Island where you can either drop the hook or tie-up at the YC. From Fishers, its an easy reach to Block with the prevailing southwesterlies. Getting home to the North Fork from BI is usually a slog to weather with the wind directly on the nose. By the way, BI is a much more rewarding destination in June or September before and after the peak tourist season. Cheers, BA

[henry hey]

I plan to be in block island on the 30th of August.

I am planning to take my boat out to montauk in the couple days preceding.

8/27 - sail City Island to Mattituck Inlet - this is the ambitious day, but if I have southwesterlies it should be pretty easy.

8/28 - sail Mattituck through plum gut and out to montauk -- anchor in the lake.

8/29 - Montauk.

8/30 - Block. We'll see how it is out there on the 30th to determine how many nights I stay.

hh

[Oswego John]

Hi henry,

I'm sure that you and others are aware of the tremendous currents that run in Plum Gut. This is another area where timing is essential. It can be downright dangerous if the vessel is underpowered and is trying to buck the current.

Just a point of interesting information, don't anyone anchor off Plum Island and row in with the dink. Possibly it has changed in recent years, but Plum Island has always been top secret US government property. No one is welcome.

In the early 1950s, the federal government developed a laboratory for animal disease control. I was last there in autumn, 1952. They did extensive study of hoof and mouth disease.

But I have been led to believe that H&M disease is the least of what the experiments consist of. Better to give that place a wide berth.

FWIW,
O J

[henry hey]

Hey John,

Thanks very much for the advice. I am certainly aware of the strong currents at plum gut. It has quite the reputation. will be timing my trip so that I pass through plum gut in the first third of the ebb tide cycle. I will therefore have current going with me. Of course I will not try this passage if I have opposing wind but if I have the common southwesterlies that we get in the sound it should be fine. It would put me on a beam reach as I pass thru the gut and aside from some chop I should pass thru without much problem. Of course I could proceed farther north on the western side of plum island and go thru the race but that has it's own issues and takes me out of my way enroute to Montauk.

My friend Peter Schorr and Carter B have both weighed in on this trip and I am taking notes.

I'll take photos of the water as I go through and if I still have 'CD25 Homeward Bound' listed after my name in early September you will all know that I made it javascript:emoticon(':D') - and I'll post photos.

h

[Brian A.]

Hi Henry: OJ is quite right about the Gut and Plum Island. Timing is everything with respect to passing through the Gut. It can be a bear or a lamb. I try to ignore the plumes of smoke emanating from Plum Island, but can't help but wonder what it is that I'm inhaling. The security is said to be very tight, but a fisherman washed ashore there a few years ago and lived to tell about it.

A gentle suggestion regarding your proposed passage from Mattituck to Montauk: Its doable, but it would be much nicer to break it up with an overnight at Shelter Island or Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton. I would particularly recommend Coecles Harbor on Shelter Is. while cruising a smallish boat like our CD25's. You can pick-up a mooring at the very laid-back Coecles Harbor Marina for about $40/night (no launch service, so you must have a dink). You can ogle the beautiful spit and polish yachts moored nearby, (and receive compliments on your pretty little boat), rent a bike, rent a kayak (some of the best kayaking areas on the East End are right there), there is a free shuttle to local restaurants and they have a pool and excellent showers. I hope this doesn't sound like I have a financial stake in the place, unfortunately I do not. BA

[henry hey]

I love that sailors are such a helpful type. I knew that when I posted my trip details there would be a number of folks offering good sound advice about the trip. It's so comforting and it's one of the reasons that I love being part of the sailing community.

Brian, I would love to stop over at Shelter but I am on a bit of a schedule. Actually, my repositioning to Montauk has to do with the fact that my mother is coming out to NYC to visit and I want to take her to Block right away on the 30th. I have to get my boat to Montauk on the 28th.

Actually, I am more concerned about the 60NM trip from City Island to Mattituck in that it may be after dark when I reach Mattituck inlet. Oh well. . that is what adventure is all about.

Is the general consensus that I will be ok if I have current with me (ebb tide) when I pass through the gut?

Also. . Brian, I'm curious how you do with your 25 in peconic bay. I know that the CD25 is not a particularly deep draft vessel, but I understand peconic to be quite shallow in spots.

-hh

[Warren Kaplan]

Henry,

After Mt. Sinai Harbor (just east of Port Jefferson) the only anchorage on the south side (LI side) of the Sound before Plum Gut is Mattituck. Which means that if conditions don't favor you going from City Island to Mattituck you could be stuck for a place to anchor for the night.

Might I suggest you consider taking the route more along the North side of the Sound along the Connecticut Shore. There are lots of places to spend the night should your progress be less than what you planned. Also, I believe that the distance from a great port like Westbrook to Plum Gut is only 16nm. Which means you can make it pretty easily. Lot's of other places to pull in west of Westbrook should you have to. On the south side, once you've passed Port Jeff, there's no place to go until Mattituck.

Just something to consider.

[Carter Brey]

Although I think Henry will make short work of the run from the Gut to Montauk, I will second the praise of Shelter Island and Coecles Harbor. Dering Harbor is also lovely, although not as near at hand as Coecles and not as convenient to points East as Coecles.

I've found Plum Gut to be an interesting diversion from from the longeurs of passagemaking. Both times I've run it, I ran with the current, although the first time the wind was dead on my nose, against the current, kicking up the most bizarre kind of chop, which was nevertheless shortlived and easy to get through. It's a bit like suddenly finding yourself inside a washing machine. A minute or so later it's over. Henry naturally is doing the sensible thing in timing his southbound passage to coincide with the ebb.

Gardiners Bay can be much more unpleasant than Plum Gut, in my opinion. You can have an easy passage in from the Sound only to find yourself being pummeled by that nasty and unpredictable body of water.

Here's a snapshot I took a few years ago looking East toward Plum Island as I transited Plum Gut, heading North with the flood but against the wind:

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