Best Itinerary: Cape May to Block Island cruise?

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Silver Lining

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After going south for the last several years, this year we are planning a cruise from the Chesapeake north thru Cape May into New York and up the Long Island Sound. Ideally, we would leave in mid to late July and return end of August, spending 3 weeks on the boat and leaving the boat somewhere for 3 weeks.

Our initial thoughts are to hit Cape May, maybe Atlantic City, New York City area for a night, then onto Montauk, Block Island, and Newport area (leave the boat for a few weeks) then return and go to Mystic and work our way back. What are your thoughts, are these the best stops and what are the best marinas for each stop over? We don't really like the idea of rafting up and would like to avoid $5-6.00 per ft.

We would have stopped at Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, but that adds a lot of cost with high dockage rates and additional mileage, especially with the limited travel time. Any thoughts on a reasonably priced marina to leave the boat for a month in the Newport or Long Island area would be welcome.
 
If you are trying to avoid $5-$6 a foot, you might think about staying south.

Any marina worth staying at charges are in that range plus electric. If you are looking for places with pools and decent facilities you are going to pay.

There are many opinions on where to stay,but we go to Champlain's when we are at Block Island, Montauk's 2 places where we would go are Star Island and the Montauk Yacht Club, NYC only has one viable place to stay and that is Liberty Landing in Jersey City. Cape May, depending on the dates has the Canyon Club which is very nice, you can cab into Cape May from there. Utsch's is the cheaper place in Cape May but no pool.

Others will chime in on their favorites.
 
You won't find a decent marina on long island or further east for under $5/foot. You can save 25% if you stay at Brewers marinas. The first stop, you pay full price, then they give you a card that gets you 25% off at any other Brewers.

We like Danfords in Port Jeff; Stirling Harbor or Mitchell Park in Greenport; Montauk Yacht Club; Champlins in Block; Saybrook Point Marina at the mouth of the CT river. In Newport, you can stay at any of the places in town (Newport Hotel & Marina) has an indoor pool, or on Goat Island, just across the harbor (you can dink or walk over to town).

I can't see how leaving a boat for 3 weeks is going to be anything but expensive. You might want to try to find an out of the way place for lower rates.
 
+1 on getting a Brewer card. Perhaps you might consider hopping from Atlantic City to Port Washington and staying at the Brewer yard there, hitting Liberty Landing across from lower Manhattan on your way back. There's not much at Brewer Port Washington but it's a sensational marina in a beautiful harbor with the opportunity to take the water taxi for dinner. There is also a good but expensive seafood shack on-site and plenty of good restaurants that deliver. After your time in AC it might be the perfect move for a one-night stopover before pressing on eastward with your Brewer card in hand.

If you're planning on three weeks on the boat before leaving it there are obviously lots of options for shorter days including grabbing a mooring in Northport and a slip at Danfords in Port Jefferson on the south shore of the Sound. Montauk (Montauk Yacht Club is my choice - Star is more geared towards the sportfish crowd) is only 90 nm from Manhasset Bay (Port Washington) so it's also an easy day if you wanted to get out east right away. A stop in Greenport is a great move before or after Montauk and you'll find lots of threads debating its marinas with a cursory search here. Shelter Island should be on your list of possibilities too. It obviously all depends how much time you want to cruise and what you look for at your stops. You can unearth the myriad threads here for the debate over where to stay at Block Island. I prefer to take a mooring but if it's going to be a slip I'm at the Boat Basin. Personal preference.

On the easily accessible Connecticut side Brewer Pilot's Point in Westbrook is a very nice marina and could be a place to consider leaving the boat. It's about an hour to the Hartford airport if you were planning to fly. Same for Brewer Bruce and Johnson's in Branford. I like them both but prefer the facilities in Westbrook. Brewer typically has their rates posted on their site to give you a feel of what you'll be paying before taking out the 25% discount.

Others will likely tell you that it would be a shame to go all that distance and not push on to Nantucket (Nantucket Boat Basin) or a stop on the Vineyard and at Cuttyhunk. Amazing cruising grounds. But your points are well-taken and it's hard to go wrong exploring the Long Island Sound and nearby bays.

Put Stonington, CT on your list as well as Essex to consider depending what you're looking for. All of these places are well-represented with info and reviews on Active Captain.
 
My home Marina is Harry's Marine Repair in Westbrook CT. Transient dockage is $1.50 / ft + $10 for electric. No pool, but very clean, floating docks, restaurants in walking distance.
 
A bit off the beaten path but worth it IMHO. http://easthamptonpoint.com/displaysection.php?section=marinas great sunset dining. Other places in the area as well and a shuttle to East Hampton if you are not happy here. It has been a WHILE since we were there but perhaps active captain will shed more recent information.
Also enjoyed Coecles Harbor marina, and there is good dining in that area as well. Like the Sunset Beach Grill and others on Shelter.

You can cruise the regular stops, or get off the path. :) Start in Greenport (maybe) and work your way around shelter, or hit Coecles then Three Mile Harbor on the way East.

http://www.chmb.net/marina.html

Montauk has never thrilled us for dining but this area has (in the past) check reviews and charts.
 
Great information guys, thanks for the input. I am going to go to the boat this weekend and get my charts and cruising guides so I can look at your suggestions in more detail.

Can I make Port Washington from AC in one day at 20 knts? Are there any bridges that need to open? I assume it is no wake all the way once I pass the verrazano narrows bridge or are we on plane until the east river.
 
It's 109 nm from AC to Manhasset Bay. I did it in exactly five hours on a smooth day. No speed restrictions or bridge openings along the way at all - you do not want to make that run on the inside.
 
Just stay out of the security zones by the statue, and the U.N.. Leave room for the ferries and tour boats. There are regs WRT how close you can get to ferries and tour boats.
I would look to avoid rush hour coming around lower Manhattan. It's not just the car carrying ferries but the NY Waterways ferries. They move and while they respect the ROR, they will cut it close.
 
The last thing you want to do from the VZ bridge to LI Sound is go "no wake". You need to be up on plane to avoid the rocking and rolling from ferry wakes and the current in the East River. Port Washington is about an hour from the tip of Manhattan.
 
I would do the majority of your run in New Jersey on the outside.
When leaving AC heading North be careful there is shoaling from Little Egg Inlet to almost 3 miles on the North side of LEI.
It's so bad you can see the waves breaking over the shoal even at 2 to 2.5 miles outside.
There is lots of shallow water on the Jersey ICW I would avoid it with your boat.
The Barnegate guys can tell you more about the submersed jetty at their inlet.
Depending on the tide I believe the one Jetty is almost completely submerged.
Bill
 
Do not run the ICW in New Jersey. You have a solid 50' boat, run the ocean. If you run inside you will be a nervous wreck and if will take you atleast 2 days to make that leg.

I hear the marina at the Golden Nugget in AC is in disrepair.

Anyone been there lately?
 
Definitely we will run the outside from Cape May to AC to NY. We have run this once before when we bought our current boat in LI, we went from Moriches Bay to Cape May. Are depths in the Long Island Sound good? I will of course do my due diligence with charts etc. before we actually go.

Baltimore to NY should be straight forward from a depth perspective, but we have never been in the LI Sound. On our trip up from FL last Sept, we ran the inside from Charleston north, and there are several spots now that really make you nervous if you dont hit them at a reasonable tide, just dont need that additional stress.
 
North cove mRina in lower manhattan is a fun spot to stop for a night or two although the wakes are a bit of a problem, but you are litterally within waking distance of everything. Better than the jersey side in my opinion

NY harbor is not a nwz and neither is the east river! but why rush thru. It is a very unique run you will want to enjoy.

Personally I find most of the jersey coast to be unattractive, cape may is nice but I don't get the point of Atlantic city. Atlantic highlands and sandy hook are a good place to anchor after the run from cape may and before heading into NYC. A detour up the Hudson side of manhattan makes for a nice sightseeing trip,

Long Island sound has some nice spots to explore like the Thimbles.

In Newport, my favorite is a mooring instead of docking at $6 a ft in a crowded marina. Better view. Same with Nantucket, moorings are the way to go, and block too if you want privacy.

Marth vineyard is ok... Not my favorite but again personal opinion.

From Newport I would recommend you go up the bay and then on to Bristol, very nice little town then come back the other side.

The Elizabeth islands are a gem... A day in Cuttyhunk is a must, as well as a stop at Hadley harbor off woods hole.

In fact I was just talking wth some repeat charter guests who are on the boat right now here in the exumas. Their first charter with us was out of Newport a few years ago and they were saying how they loved Cuttyhunk and Hadley. HDley is a little tight but I ve anchored there a few times with charmer which is 70 so you should be fine. Cuttyhunk btw is only $2 a ft, or it was last time I went... CHeck active captain.

I think if you look at the less known spots you could find reasonable dockage we leave the boat for a few weeks.
 
For cheaper long term docking check up some of the rivers in CT or RI. My guess is tThere must be some marinas and the further from the sound the cheaper they should get.
 
Pascal brought up a great point, I'd ignore often outdated cruising guides and recommend Active Captain.
Active Captain is really up to date.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by pdecat

For cheaper long term docking check up some of the rivers in CT or RI. My guess is tThere must be some marinas and the further from the sound the cheaper they should get.

Click to expand...


They are not cheaper at least as far up as Essex. If you're going that far up (about an hour), go to Hamburg cove and grab a mooring for $20/night.

Most of the sound has plenty of water, there are a couple of rocky spots jutting out from some of the shores. It is well marked, if you keep the green to your right, you'll be fine. Keep an eye out for lobster pots.
 
Especially if you leave early in the morning heading East. The pots used to be EVERYWHERE. We ran from the fly bridge so we could see the patterns but still, there were so many of them we could not use the autopilot.
 
We're out of Narragansett Bay, so going to Marthas Vinyard, Block Island and Cuttyhunk are about the same distance for us and I'd rank them Block first, Cuttyhunk second (but a really unique and relaxing little island) and MV a long way back in third, as it's just too crowded. Block Island is simply beautiful, and has plenty of things to do and it's an easy dinghy ride to a large and really nice beach. Agree on picking up a mooring at Newport - pretty and well protected harbor, vs. a crowded and potentially noisy dock assignment. I like to be in quieter places on the boat but I am perfectly happy at Champlins. Everyone's friendly and there's a nice atmosphere at the marina.
 
p.s. if you are looking to leave your boat at a transient marina in the Narragansett Bay-area, there are number of marinas which will have lower rates than the ones which attract large numbers of transients such as Newport - Pirate Cove Marina in Portsmouth, RI, is example - it's the marina we keep our boat at, and there are many others in the bay - activecaptain should be able to help. Narragansett Bay is not that far from TF Green (Providence) airport, if you're planning on flying home.
 
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