Fire Island inlet to the Chesapeake.. Help!

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capedory

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Jun 27, 2007
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I have a Cape dory Flybridge (single gas) and I am relocating it to the Chesapeake from Long Island. I have been putting it off and now I have to make the trip. I cruise at about 12-13 knots and I am hoping to get to AC in 1 long day possibly stopping in the Manasquan inlet for gas and stuff. If the weather looks good I will stay on the outside and chug along. The second day (another long day) I will take it to the Sasafrass River. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Don't think I could make Cape may in my boat in 1 day...Thanks.
 
We just made pretty much the same trip over Memorial Day Weekend. We left out of Jones Inlet. The water was a bit choppy, so our speed was only about 13-14 mph. We made Cape May in about 10 hours, staying outside, including a stop at Manasquan inlet to top off the fuel tanks. We stayed at Utsch's Marina in Cape May, where they treated us very well, and had a great meal at the restaurant next door. Second day, we traveled through the Cape May canal, into the Delaware Bay, where the water was thankfully pretty flat. We made 14-16 mph, and took about 6 hours to reach the Bohemia. I posted a similar thread under this forum before my trip. You can check that out.
Long Island to Chesapeake over holiday weekend http://www.boatered.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=99730
When are you making the trip? We are in Bohemia Vista marina on the Bohemia River, not so far from the Sasafrass.
 
We are going on Sunday (this Sunday) and Monday. My boat is a little slow and a single screw which makes me a little nervous.
 
I made the trip from Fall River Mass.to South Jersey in 2 days. 1st day I ran to Stanford Conn. and the 2nd day to Avalon N.J. [12-13 knots] You can make it to the Chesapeake from South Jersey in 1 day at 12/13 knots. Good Luck

Lou R. 36 Mainship D/C.
 
I did it two seasons ago. First stop was Brielle Yacht Basin (Manasquan River for fuel and repairs... long story and a long stop). Next was South Jersey Marina in Cape May for a dinner at the Lobster House, a night's sleep and fill the tanks. Final leg was Cape May to the Sassafras River. Boat was a Silverton with twins running about 16-18 knots. Its an easy trip if the weather holds but the Delaware Bay can get testy. Where on the Sassy are you moving to? You should also check out the Chesapeake Bay Forum because there are a lot of us on the Upper Bay and we are planning a little get-together.
 
Skip Jack Cove. We relocated to Doylestown PA from Long Island(our boat a 2 minute walk from our house). The relocation was a tough decision as boating had become a part of our family's life (2 boys 9 and 6). We visited Skip jack twice and the Sasafrass is certainly scenic and the Chesapeake beautiful boating. Hoping we can keep it in our lives...
 
As an alternative plan, you can stop at Summit North Marina on the C&D (or Chesapeake City) if you come up a little short of time. Between the current and the thunderstorms (which can happen usually in the late afternoon), you may want to make it easy on yourself.
 
Capedory...
Small world. I'm you're neighbor at both places... real home is Chalfont (we're getting ready to build on Still Pond) and our boat was at Skipjack for 7 years before we sold it last season. We bought that boat at the Long Island Yacht Club and brought it down, running outside the whole way along NJ. I'll email you a phone number so you can give me a call if you wish.
 
capedory, welcome! Nice to see another Cape Dory. I'm in Herring Bay, south of Annapolis, so we probably won't cross paths often (except here on this board). I have a 1986 flybridge model, hull #47.

Good luck with your trip. The boat will handle it fine, just watch the weather. Please report back when you settle in!
 
I have a 1986 Cape dory Flybridge-Hull # 52. It still has the original Chrysler 360, but runs and sounds good. (Fingers crossed). I have taken it from Bay Shore to Shelter Island for vacation for the last 2 years. How is the traffic from Chalfont? I was spoiled on LI by walking to the boat. I hope the Sassafrass and the Chesapeake can fill the void.
 
Cape,
Depending on when you go and what route you take, the drive from Central Bucks to SJC could be as short a 1:45 and as long as 2:30. Once you get past Christiana in Delaware it's not a bad drive. You'll enjoy the Chesapeake Bay... great boating and destinations.
 
Thanks for everyone's help. We left Bay Shore, Long Island at 5:45 AM on Sunday and went out the Fire Island Inlet. It got a little messy out off NYC as we tried to cut the angle as much as we were comfortable. Once we got past Sandy hook things relaxed (a little). Sunny day but wind was blowing up some waves. Manasquan inlet for gas (15 minutes) and right back out towards Atlantic City. We got off AC about 4:30 and made the decision to push on to Cape May. (A painful couple of hours). My intention was to find an open gas dock to fill up for an early morning (it was about 7:45 PM). No body was around so we waited at the Hutches gas dock (all night.zz.zz.zz) for them to open at 7:00 AM. Very nice fellow there. Didn't even ask when we arrived. We bought a lot of gas from him and went out the Cape May Canal. A heavy North West wind and we could see the rollers from 1/2 through the inlet. We pushed on as we had to head right into it anyway and hoped as we got across things would be more "protected". A few anxious moments but by the middle things were only nerve0-racking, not scary. We saw basically no boats of ship in the C&D canal. FYI - the only gas place in Chesapeake city has closed. We went into the elk and there is a marina about 1 mile down (Haven North I think). We made it there and finished our trip to Skip Jack in the Sassafrass...As it should be the last hour of the trip was the most beautiful. We pulled up the the gas docks and everyone there took great care of us.

Thanks again for the help!
 
I think you missed Summit North marina on the C&D. They are tucked into a small cove on the north side just west of the Conrail bridge. It's easy to miss westbound.
http://www.summitnorthmarina.com/location.html

Glad you made the trip safely and without incident. You're gonna love the Chesapeake!

Rob
 
Hey, after your phone call I was wondering about you! I'm in a house on te beach in Sea Isle this week and wondered if one of the boats we saw headed south was you. Your trip up the Delaware Bay sounds like ours... 5-7' when we made the trip. Glad you made it OK. Call me next week and we can talk again. BTW, where did Skipjack put you?
 
We saw Summit North Marina but passed it thinking there was more to offer in Chesapeake city. When we got there and found no gas the last thing we wanted to do was back track as it seemed to be a way. The Haven North marina proved to be closer. We are in slip k10 at Skip Jack..I had choices but my mind was fried from the trip and took what made sense..
 
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