Richie...

After you come down the Hudson, Atlantic Highlands NJ is a good safe place to stop and popular with snow birds. You'll see a lot of your country's flags in the harbor from Sept on as people head south. After that however, your safe harbors are limited until you get down to Atlantic City, which is a good 12 hours under motor. You can tuck into the Manasquan inlet in an emergency but there are not as lot of convenient places to stay or places to anchor or moor, and the seas can be really rolling depending on the wx as you come in through the breakwater. I wouldn't plan on using it but in an emergency it's your best option once your out to sea.

I have not been in Barnegat Bay itself in years, which starts after Manasquan, but the general consensus is it was shallow before Sandy and even worse now so most people go outside down the coast.

After that, you have Barnegat Inlet but that is a bad, shifting inlet and requires local knowledge; don't recommend it at all. After Atlantic City, Cape May is next. You can cut thru the Cape May Canal depending on your mast height... check the bridge height.

There are a couple of places to stay in the C&D canal once you get into the canal.

These are my opinions.. others may have different impressions and I don't go south very often, but hope this helps.

I haven't made the trip from the Chesapeake to Cape May and back in awhile, but it takes planning due to the tidal currents. If you time the tides correctly, you can ride a fair tide most of the trip, otherwise, it will add hours as you make only a mile or two against the current.
Then there's the chop. I was on the beach at Cape May Point a couple weeks ago, when the tide was coming in and a strong wind was blowing against it. Steep, breaking chop. I watched 2 sailboats sailing downwind, one a Valiant 40; I never saw a boat yaw that much, as the steep, short chop would push the bow off way faster than the helmsman could correct. Broach after broach. So go through the canal if your mast will fit under the bridges.
Our family has a house in Cape May Point and I was a lifeguard there in the 70's. Almost all of our rescues were due to people getting swept out by those tidal currents.

Richie,
You know I have to ask....where is your family from?

Richie. We left Lake Mi 4 years ago and did the trip your asking about. If you email me i will give you my cell number and we can talk if you wish. Like the others sat the Jersey coast was the hardest for us. We went in both inlets that were mentioned in tbe dark trying to find refuge from nasty weather which noaa sure missed. The canal is very cool and tell you where to unstep your mast and restep. Where are you headed BTW? If you have not heard of Active Captain Google it and use it. A ton of very useful info. I live by it when cruising.

Ritchie,

I echo the comments about NJ, having just passed there twice last year on our big cruise.

I recommend that you buy the Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book for the year you will be traveling (it is accurate only for that year). It has important tidal current info that you will want for NY harbor, Delaware Bay, and even the Chesapeake.

Sounds like a great cruise. Hope you blog it and share the URL with us.

Duane, I don't recall you having to unstep your mast if you went thru the Cape May Canal? The ActiveCaptain website chart shows two or three bridges at 56 feet, plus the low railroad bridge which appears to open. I don't know what your mast height is, either, Richard. From everything I've read, the Delaware River can be tricky or doable, depending on current direction and wind. Time it early in the day before the wind comes up or avoid a weather front and the Delaware could be a nice trip. I remember reading an old book called "Princess" about a fellow who sailed an old wood Friendship 25 from Long Island Sound down to Florida after WWII. Great book that I've read a few times. I don't even know if the Cape May Canal had been invented yet back then! But IIRC he did the river - fun part of the story. Then his adventures on the Chesapeake were vivid, too.

Happy planning.:D

Stu, I think they were referring to the Erie Barge Canal portion of the trip for mast unstepping.

You are correct that we never had to for our East Coast cruise.

A reality moment. :eek: Doh! Thanks.

I didn't mean to scare you off. If you plan your departure from Cape May to the C&D canal, the tide won't be an issue and will in fact speed your trip. As to the chop and broaches, they're only an issue if you go around Cape May Point when the tide is at full flood or ebb and the wind is blowing the wrong way. If you go through the Cape May canal, you'll miss that entirely.
I made the trip in my prior boat a C30, didn't even have a Loran :o I used an old "Guide to Cruising the Chesapeake Bay" which had great advice on planning the trip up from Cape May. If it would help, I'll see if I can find it and scan the relevant pages. A Coast Pilot contained the tidal current charts.
It's not a great trip, but not that bad either, especially if you plan for the tide; and don't do it in 4 hours of fog without electronic navigation aids like I did (I ordered a Loran within an hour of arriving home.!)

We cruised down and back to Florida last winter and can say that night passages offshore in New Jersey are optional. You can be at anchor every night if you wish. Starting from Atlantic Highlands or somewhere around Sandy Hook, the first step is to Manasquan. As others have noted, the inlet can be lumpy at times. There are no good anchorages in the inlet proper, just busy and $$ marinas, but reached by way of Crabtown Creek, off the inlet to the north, is the Glimmer Glass, a very calm tidal pool. We draw about 5' and can enter it during most of the tide cycle. Next jump is to Atlantic City, where you can choose from various marinas, anchor in front of the hotels in the inlet near the first bridge or find your way into the Brigantine anchorage across the Absecon inlet. The tidal creeks to these anchorages are marked by NJ spring through fall. Next step is Cape May, where you have both anchorage areas and plentiful marina options. For detailed info on approaches to and conditions in the various anchorages, check the cruising guide section of ActiveCaptain.com (an invaluable resource), or perhaps Skipper Bob's ICW Anchorage guide. With a standard rig (tall rig might be tight) you can take the Cape May canal starting at slack water, low tide and ride the flood all the way up Delaware Bay to the C&D canal, then ride the ebb down to the Chesapeake. The NOAA website tide and tidal current pages are an excellent source of info for this passage. ( see tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov) Coming north (SE down the Delaware) is not a problem if you time the tides right, but you will likely have a bit of adverse tide. Contact us if you would like to discuss the passage.
Neil & Susan
Undine
'88 std. rig, wing keel #863

Ritchie,

Unless you're on a tight schedule where your safety and comfort are secondary to your time, it will be fine. You only have moderate legs to run so you just wait for decent conditions. I don't recall the time of year you plan to be in the NJ area, but I would not sweat it.

BTW, we pulled into Manasquan Inlet twice and it is not a problem. There are a few marinas with transient access. We went from Sandy Hook (anchorage) to Manasquan, then to Atlantic City, then to Cape May.

You don't want to be too cavalier, but over-caution keeps you home in the rocking chair.

Richie. The 2nd inlet which was Barnegat that we went into from the Jersey coat we did go the back way from there to Atlantic City. We are a wing keel and had no issue. But it may have all changed after Sandy went they. Like they say. Learn the tides and currents they can be your friend. Or foe.

Rich, we had planned to do that trip in 2011, we were going to do it in 1 jump overnight, but also have fallback plans for bailouts due to weather. We had done overnight sails on Lake Ontario to get a better handle on that, it was a great learning experience and some of the most enjoyable sailing I've ever done. Totally a different world of sailing.

I have the Waterway Guide for everything from New York down to the Bahamas, there's 3 big volumes, good reading. I believe they are 2011 and so won't have most recent info but still have a lot in them. If you want them let me know, you can have them for the price of shipping. We just moved but pretty sure I can find them. PM me if you're interested.

You should blog. Enjoyed travelling with Diva Di and Hilbre and others on Sailblogs on their last several trips.

Yeah, Bud 'came along' on our cruise but didn't have to wash a single dirty dish or lift a wrench. Pretty good deal, I'd say. :)

Duane, he wouldn't have minded doing the dishes, but working on your engine would have gotten his hands dirty! :eek: You almost made that engine work a full time effort! :):):)

True about the engine, Stu, but I am sure you know, too, that the challenges and 'bad' memories fade and the good ones remain.

When we came back after 6.5 months and 4,600 miles, we said it was a great 'once in a lifetime' trip. Now, we are already thinking about a repeat in 2015, but this time going 'outside' more in the southern stretches and enjoying the Chesapeake, Long Island, and New England cruising grounds longer, AND finally making it to Maine for August.

Coming back later in the season means we won't come south until the temps cool a bit. Guess that will be an 8 month cruise. We haven't told our cat, Clyde, yet. Shssh!

Absolutely. It contains far less shipping than the Chesapeake, NY Harbor, or even Delaware Bay.

If it is foggy, you don't have to leave your last anchorage or marina.