To all those attending the NE Fleet Western Sound Activities,
I'm providing some information to help you get to West Harbor. Its pretty easy but there are some changes from what appears on our nautical charts. Make sure you look at the Footnotes at the bottom of this. I will provide GPS Lat and Long for appropriate buoys.
Approaching Oyster Bay from the West! (NYC, NJ, Croton)
Your initial mark for the Oyster Bay area should be the "G17" buoy off of Centre Island Reef. Make sure you leave "G17" to starboard even though its a long way off shore. There's alot of nastiness for your vessel's bottom between Centre Island and the buoy. Next, head for the Cold Spring Harbor Light. The safest procedure is to round CSH Light leaving it to starboard also. You may notice alot of sailors cutting inside that line. I will discuss that later. When you pass CSH Light, you have to turn about 90 degrees to starboard to head for Oyster Bay. If you don't turn, and go straight instead, you'll be heading for Cold Spring Harbor. After turning the 90 degrees from CSH Light head to between the "RN4" buoy at Plum Point and the "G5" buoy. Make sure you stay to the right of the "G5" buoy as it can get kind of shallow to the left of it. You should see Sewhanaka Corinthian Yacht Club to your right. You are now entering Oyster Bay. After passing "G5" look for the large oil tanks at the tank farm down in Oyster Bay. That will line you up until you get to your next buoy. Next buoy in "RN6" off of Moses Point. This is really the entrance to the buoyed channel that will take you south of Centre Island and over to the entrance to West Harbor. THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE FROM THE CHARTS. On the charts the well marked channel goes all the was up to "RN12" just off of Brickyard Point. When they put the buoys back in this year, they spread them out. It doesn't go up to the "12" buoy anymore. There is none! The last buoy in the channel is "RN8" which is now off of Brickyard Point. You'll be passing thru a large mooring field in that channel (home of SQN) but the channel is well marked. When you pass "RN8" do NOT immediately turn north along the west side of Centre Island. There are some bad shallow spots in there. Instead, when passing "RN8" continue to go straight, until you are about 1/2 way across to the other side (not very far) before turning north. Stay in the center between the 2 shores until you pass the point were Centre Island falls away to the east and you are looking into a large bay to the east which is West Harbor. There should be alot of boats anchored there and one of them should be me. If you stay away from the shoreline until you get into West Harbor proper, you'll have no trouble. The bottom is black mud and the anchors hold well!
Approaching from the east.
First buoy is the "G15" buoy off off Lloyd Point. Go around "G15" and leave it to port. There's lots of shallows between Lloyd Point and the buoy. You'll see the locals cutting inside but if you want to be safe go outside of the buoy. From the "G15" buoy turn Southwest and head for the "G1" buoy. Keep "G1" to port also. From "G1" turn towards Cold Spring Harbor Light and then follow directions as for approaching from the West.
I've got the Lats and Long from the GPS Waypoint Guide. They may not be totally exact but, as they say, they're close enough for government work. Actually, I've found them to be almost right on.
"D" in my notation means degrees. Lat first then Long.
"G15" Lloyd Pt. 40D57.691 073D29.227
"G17" Centre Island Reef 40D55.943 073D31.691
"G1" 40D55.550 073D30.235
Cold Spring Harbor Light 40D54.848 073D29.581
"RN4" Plum Pt. 40D54.117 073D30.386
"G5" 40D53.839 073D30.587
"RN6" Moses Pt. 40D53.137 073D31.084
Notes:
1) Cold Spring Harbor Light is really a round cement cassion sticking up out of the water with a metal frame structure on it. Don't be looking for a traditional lighthouse. There ain't none (anymore).
2) You will see many (actually most boats) cutting inside the CSH Light and you can do it especially if its not dead low tide. If you look at the chart you can do it. I just look for a much larger boat (plenty of them in this neighborhood) thats going my way and follow it. If he can make it, so can I. (so I'm a chicken).
3) Starting when you pass Sewhanaka Corinthian Yacht Club keep looking at the houses on all 3 sides of Centre Island. Fort Knox could borrow money from the people that live there. Its incredible and you are allowed to drool! I do. You may also notice some unbelievably large yachts. Real gold platers. Just something to keep an eye out for because they are really beautiful.
If you are confused about anything, I'm sure I am the source of it. Let me know and I'll try and clear it up.
Warren Kaplan
Sine Qua Non
CD27
Oyster Bay Harbor, NY
Setsail728@aol.com
Navigation to West Harbor, Oyster Bay
Moderator: Jim Walsh