Over a hundred seals basking on Skeleton Hill Island (aka Treasure Island) in Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey. (Those sailboats that you see in the background are at moored in Atlantic Highlands.)
For anyone visiting Raritan Bay, there's a nice anchorage off Skeleton Island -- or the remains of what used to be an island -- in the southern portion of the Bay known as Sandy Hook Bay at the mouth of the Shrewsbury River. It is now essentially a couple of sand bars which are awash at high tide. The Skeleton Island remains, which aren't named on the nautical charts, is what once provided protection to Spermaceti Cove on the western shore of Sandy Hook. Anchoring is not permitted in Spermaceti Cove. Click on the link below to view a video about the island.
https://vimeo.com/100734744
In the photo below you can see what's left of the island.
The anchorage is essentially SSE of the islands in 20 feet of water with good holding. The channel is unmarked but relatively to easy to negotiate with a chartplotter. The currents are strong, so make sure your anchor is well set. Tidal range is 6 feet. And as you can see from the video, you can explore the island at low tide. The guy in the video was in Spermaceti Cove which is shallow. You can explore with your dink, but don't try bringing your sailboat in there. Powerboaters will beach their boats on the islands then picnic, explore or sunbathe until the tide rolls back in.
The islands and Sandy Hook are part of Gateway National Recreation Area, so if you bring your dink to the Sandy Hook shore, you can visit the park as well. The Spermaceti Cove Lifesaving Station Museum was damage during Hurricane Sandy and remains closed to the public until it's repaired.
http://uslife-savingservice.org/station ... hlands-nj/
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay
