Chesapeake to Maine Cruising Notes
By Robin Roberts
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Chesapeake to Maine Cruising Notes
June 2008: We’re on our way up to Nova Scotia and Maine for the summer cruising season so we’re moving north pretty quickly, passing by a lot of beautiful and interesting places. We’re saving those for another cruise – this year we want to maximize the time we spend up north. Here are some cruising notes and observations about this area as we press on to Nova Scotia for the summer. This is our first time taking the boat up the north east coast, so these observations are first-time experiences – take them with a big grain of salt!
Active Captain (www.activecaptain.com – written by DeFever Cruisers members Jeff and Karen Siegel) has become our primary reference tool for marinas, anchorages, and local information. The amount and level of detail is excellent, and we’ve even been able to contribute a few notes ourselves. On the recommendation of friends from NY and New England, we’re also using the “Cruising Guide to the New England Coast”, 12th edition, by Duncan, Duncan, Fenn, & Fenn. This book is also referred to as “Duncan and Ware”. It’s a hard cover book in narrative form, rather than a photo and listing style of guide, but we’ve found it to be helpful. Maptech puts out a cruising guide to LI Sound that’s more of the photo-and-list style – we didn’t have that but we did use their guide to New England, which was helpful. We used the “A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast”, and found that to be very useful as well.
Northern Chesapeake –
- Recommend anchoring in the Sassafras River, just outside of the channel in one of the many indents and bights, depending on wind direction in order to stage up for the run through the C and D Canal.
- Recommend Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace as another good, relatively inexpensive place to stage up for the C and D Canal. Lots of good restaurants, and a short walk to a small local grocery store (where you can’t find “Coke” but you can find “Bubba Cola” – I am not making this up).
C and D Canal –
- Definitely time your transit with the tidal current, and keep a sharp eye out for fast-moving commercial traffic in both directions. Recommend that you keep a second radio tuned to VHF 13 to monitor “SECURITY” messages when transiting areas with heavy commercial traffic such as the Canal, Delaware River, NY harbor, etc.). We don’t like surprises, and it’s very useful to hear what the big guys are doing out there.
- We stopped at Chesapeake City – first time for us. There seems to be a shallow bar right at the entry to the basin. We didn’t touch bottom, but our depth gauge read just under five feet. Favor the east (Corps of Engineers) side of the entrance, and watch for some odd currents and eddies within the basin, particularly near the mouth and adjacent to the free dock. The free dock on the west side is pretty small, with room for maybe three 36’ boats or so. We anchored in the basin with good holding, but favor the Corps of Engineers (north) side. There is room for about 5-7 boats. There is a good free dink dock tucked into the corner of the harbor, south of the free dock next to the marine police boat. There is also marina in the basin – not sure what their rates are. Chesapeake City is a fun little town with lots of interesting shops, pretty homes, and restaurants. Don’t miss the ice cream shop in the park on the corner of the Canal and the basin. If the basin and free dock are both full, you should have a contingency plan at the ready. One option is the Summit North Marina about five miles further east on the canal. The other option is to backtrack to the Sassafras or Bohemia Rivers. Others with more experience in the Canal may have additional ideas – these are just our first impressions.
Delaware River –
- Straightforward to navigate, and easiest if you use the tidal current to your advantage. I believe the Skipper Bob book (“Anchorages along the ICW”) gives the correct advice for timing the passage – (for a slow boat) depart Chesapeake City one hour before high tide at Reedy Point. (Skipper Bob’s book is useful up into the Hudson River.) There is deep water just outside of the shipping channel, and we found it safest to cruise just outside the marks to avoid the big ships. It’s a long day down the Delaware into the Cape May Canal.
Cape May –
- The Cape May Canal is very handy, but it’s relatively narrow and the current can move quickly. Be mindful of the Cape May ferries which dock and depart westward at the western mouth of the canal; otherwise there isn’t any other traffic to be concerned with through the Canal. There are a few (tall) bridges and a very narrow railroad bridge in the canal, and the current can swirl a bit – disconcerting with our large-keeled, slow boats. You may be pushed around by strong eddies as you approach these bridge constrictions, but the current will carry you smartly through the span if it is with your direction of travel.
- The anchorage in Cape May is on the east shore, just north of the CG station. Draw an imaginary line between the green marks so you can visualize the channel and anchor to the east of it. There is a good bit of commercial fishing traffic, local traffic, and a rather nasty whale watching boat that likes to wake the boats in the anchorage. This is not to discourage anchoring in Cape May – just to set expectations. White wine is easier to clean up than red. ;-)
- If you decide to stay at a marina, be prepared to see an empty wallet. We ended up finding the anchorage much too full at 1900 – it was full of sailboats congregating since a good weather window was about to open up. We had to punt and go into a marina, and the only one that answered the phone at that hour was the Canyon Club. $3/foot for a quick overnight… ouch.
NJ Coast –
- Atlantic City is the next logical stopping point for deeper-draft boats, and it was a real treat! We anchored in an anchorage labeled “Brigantine” in Active Captain. Enter Absecon Inlet and turn hard right into the little creek at Rum Point. Again, be aware of eddies at the creek mouth if the current is running. The creek may look very tight, but the water depth is 9’-11’ at low tide. Favor the green side if the tide is high. Anchor in 7-9’ in the open part of the basin. It’s a very pretty spot – quiet, lots of birds and marshes, and the pretty lights of Atlantic City across the inlet. Unfortunately we just spent an overnight, so we can’t comment on touring town. We’d enjoy spending more time in Atlantic City, and were surprised by the proximity of nature and quiet in a town with a more frisky reputation.
- Our 5’ draft is too deep to even consider the NJICW, so our next stopping point is Sandy Hook – Atlantic Highlands. Anchor just outside of the mooring field behind the breakwater in Atlantic Highlands – good holding and good wind protection with the high bluffs. The AHYC runs a launch service for their moorings, and we saw them picking up people in the anchorage several times. Fuel was $4.66 for >200 gallons at Atlantic Highlands on 7 June 08. Very pretty spot, worth exploration if you have the time.
New York Harbor –
- New York harbor is fun and had less traffic on a Sunday than Annapolis on a regatta-filled weekend day. Enjoy the Statue of Liberty and the southern tip of Manhattan. The radio will be extremely busy with constant “SECURITY” messages from the many commercial tugs and ships in the entire harbor area. Just watch for the Staten Island ferries – they are fast and they keep to their regular course. It’s hard to miss those big orange beasties!
- Plan your transit of Hell Gate for the short period of slack tide. The biggest issue with Hell Gate is when the current is running and there is large commercial traffic to contend with. It’s no big deal, but keep a sharp watch on radar for the big guys so you can stay out of their way and you’re not surprised in narrow passes.
- We HIGHLY recommend stopping at City Island in the NYC area. It’s a wonderful little place that feels like it’s from another time - with friendly people, old neighborhoods and local shops, and great seafood and Italian restaurants – safe and easy for walking. It’s a perfect jumping-off point for Long Island Sound. There are several yacht clubs on the Eastchester Bay side (west side of the island) that may have a guest mooring even for non-yacht-club members. Yacht club reciprocity makes this very easy, but the public is also welcome in many places, including the City Island Yacht Club. The adjacent Harlem Yacht Club (where I belong) has just a few guest moorings (approx. $35/night with free launch service), but you can call them on VHF 72 to inquire, or check their web site (www.hyc.org) for a phone number. The restaurant is closed Monday -Tuesday, but is otherwise open to the public and is casual and friendly. The food is reasonably priced and good. The east side of the island has one main marina – Minneford Marina – not sure what their availability is. The Eastchester Bay side is all moorings, but launch service from the various clubs is typically available from 0800-midnight and 24 hours on weekends. You can also anchor just on the edge of the mooring fields.
Long Island Sound –
- Sadly we had to blast through Long Island Sound, but we found a nice anchorage in Milford, CT behind Charles Island. Friends also anchored there a week earlier and they dinked into town and reported that it was pretty and nice. Good holding, lots of birds.
Newport, RI –
- Expensive, not tremendously friendly, but very pretty and worth a visit. The entrance to Narragansett Bay is dramatic with tall rocky bluffs and gorgeous old homes. This is truly a sailing Mecca, and the shops and crammed waterfront are a sight to behold. Oldport Marine runs the mooring field and they are not very friendly or helpful, but the cost beats marinas at many dollars/foot. $45/night for a mooring, $60/night for a 1000 lb. mooring. Launch service is $3/person per trip. There was a dink dock rumored to be somewhere, but there was a charge for that too. Take a cab up to Castle Hill (on the bluff at the Bay entrance) for an elegant, fancy lunch in wonderful surroundings – about $15 for the cab ride each way. We didn’t eat there but we did go to watch the start of the Newport-Bermuda race from their sweeping lawn – fabulous. If you belong to a recognized yacht club, Newport Yacht Club is very welcoming. Not sure what the slip fees would be – they didn’t have space available due to the big race, but said that they normally would be able to accommodate us.
Massachusetts –
- We stopped just short of the Cape Cod Canal in the little town of Onset. We planned to anchor and we called the harbormaster to ask about the anchorage (by cell phone), and he was very helpful – pointing out the anchorage and also some town moorings for $20/night. All the Massachusetts harbormasters we spoke to were very friendly and most helpful. Onset is a sweet little town, with a dink dock on the beach side of the floating pier. It was a perfect spot to visit, and to time our entrance into the Cape Cod Canal.
- Transit the Cape Cod Canal towards the end of high tide into slack. The current in the Canal can be ferocious, and there are eddies even in the wide open areas of the Canal. I would not want to meet large commercial traffic when I didn’t have good control of the boat. Keep a radio tuned to VHF 13 for safety.
- Plymouth is a nice stop. Much of New England is full of moorings, and Plymouth is no exception. The Plymouth Yacht Club (open to the public) has nice moorings, but nothing big enough for a 50’ boat – don’t ask me how I know! The PYC moorings are $45/night with free launch service, and they are located right in the harbor. The town has five large and heavy moorings in the outer harbor, where an anchorage used to be. Call the harbormaster for assistance – they are very helpful and they will come out and lead you to a mooring – take this assistance since there is a shoal between the channel and the moorings. $1/foot/night with NO launch service. Plan to launch your dink since the water taxi is $25 to come to the outer moorings. There are several free dink docks in town, there is a convenient one right behind the Mayflower. The town is very fun to tour around. Be prepared for fog.
- We made another short overnight stopover in Gloucester. We planned to anchor near Ten Pound Island, but the shallow water was FULL of lobster pots and it was quite unusable. We found this to be a common situation in New England. We called the harbormaster for suggestions, and he offered us a town mooring in the inner harbor for $25/night – plenty big for us. He came out so we didn’t have to launch a dink to pay, and was very friendly, welcoming, and helpful.
Maine –
- Kennebunkport is VERY expensive ($4-5/foot), so we decided to get a slip in York a bit to the south. Both York River and the Kennebunk River are much smaller than they look on the charts – it’s tight with ripping currents when the tide is moving. We found a “marina” in York for $1.75/foot, though Donnell’s Marina is really a 60’ floating dock at a gentleman’s house. We rafted two DF 49’s to the dock, and were each charged $1.75/foot. There was ample power, and we were both able to plug in 50A cables. Lovely small resort town, and Mr. Donnell graciously offered to give us a ride to the local grocery store (large, well-stocked Maine chain) and a short tour by car.
- Casco Bay – Harpswell Neck, Potts Cove. Tiny town with marina and some moorings, but anchoring is reasonable a little further into the harbor in 22’ at low tide. Tidal range is 10’. The trouble with anchoring in Maine is finding areas shallow enough and areas free from lobster pots. In Maine, they are EVERYWHERE without rhyme or reason, packed tightly together. We encountered several places where we planned to anchor but found the anchorage area to be completely unusable. It’s important to have a contingency plan in mind if you plan to anchor out.
- Casco Bay - Handy Boat has good moorings – per Jeff Siegel.
- Casco Bay – New Meadows River – anchor in The Basin. This is a gorgeous protected mini-bay that’s completely surrounded by tall trees and rocky hills and lovely vacation homes, with a narrow entrance channel (just dodge the lobster pots – they are thick). The water is reasonably shallow for anchoring (16’ at MLW with a 10’ tide) with no pots nearby, and the setting is just beautiful. Kayak and enjoy; take the dink to nearby Sebasco and Cundy’s Harbor if you want a nice walk or a very local restaurant in small fishing villages. Friendly people. Gasoline is available in Cundy’s Harbor.
- Castine (up Penobscot Bay) is a gem of a little Maine town, and is the home of fellow DeFever members Jeff and Karen Siegel. Smith Cove is a natural hurricane hole and is very beautiful. You can anchor adjacent to the moorings behind Sheep Island, but mind the underwater rocks marked on the chart as you enter the cove. The town runs a face dock where you can stop for water, and a dink dock. Bah’s Bakehouse (1/2 block from the town pier) has the best pastries! Check out the State of Maine training ship and the Maine Maritime Academy, the lighthouse, and the Historical Society. Castine is just the most lovely little town!
- Fuel options near Castine: Belfast harbor - the fuel is provided by a municipal marina, and they generally have some of the better prices in the area. Their number is 207-338-1142. Be careful with current there (don't try to dock at mid-tide). Seal Ledge - up the river from Castine about two miles. The Siegels have made major fuel purchases there for the last two years. They don't sell much and the fuel they have was purchased at a much lower price. All of their equipment is brand new. The phone number is 207-326-9800 - best to leave a message. Rockland - Maine Coast Petroleum. This is a "different" type of fuel place - they provide fuel to different islands and have very good prices. Their phone number is 207-372-6962. Call Terry in the office to arrange a time at the dock. The tanker delivers fuel to other islands, so they are not always there at the fuel dock. Motor down the channel toward Ocean Pursuits. Right in front of the large tugboat at Prock Marine and where Isaac Evans and American Eagle are moored you will see a tanker (Anne). Pull up alongside the tanker at the dock (looks like an old lobster shack) and they will take your lines, tie you up, come aboard and fill your tanks. Very nice people, and they take credit cards.
- Southwest Harbor is on Mount Desert Island, where Acadia National Park is located. We’ll tour there on the southbound leg, so we just stopped there for one night before our crossing to Nova Scotia. We got fuel at Dysart’s Marina – straight to the back of the harbor, past most of the marina on the right, behind the docks. The “fuel dock” is a 40’ floating dock and a fuel truck on the main dock. We paid $4.50 plus tax on 5 July 08. Water is not available at the fuel dock, but we pulled in to an empty bit of face dock in the marina for a brief water stop. We arranged for a mooring with the town of Manset, but the promised “big enough for a 50’ boat” yellow town moorings were all too short. The gent from Manset came out in a dink to help us, and he suggested taking a large Hinckley mooring (adjacent) that was not marked “reserved”. He told us that they are often closed on weekends and didn’t know what Hinckley charges for the moorings. The Manset moorings are $15/night.
- Lobster pots – there are two types of lobster pot configurations in Maine. One is a line directly from the pot up to the float, and you will find pots in water from 30’ to 200+’ deep. The other style is a “toggle”, where there is a float on the line directly from the pot, and another float on a short line just off the first float – to make it easier for the lobstermen to pick up the line. Do not go between floats that are close together in case it’s the toggle style, and try to go down wind or down current of the floats to avoid catching the line on a stabilizer or running gear. Watch carefully for floats that have been dragged underwater. Float lines can vary with the depth – some are too long and some are too short!
- Fog is a fact of life in Maine and Nova Scotia. Fishing boats and commercial traffic function just the same as in clear weather. If you’re comfortable with your radar and you’re careful, there’s no reason you can’t do the same. The toughest part is avoiding the pots in low visibility, but you’ll be dodging them regardless! We run an automated fog signal from our hailer, and we have the hailer turned up so we can hear what’s going on outside the boat (or we drive outside so we can hear in tight areas). We have radar and AIS – the AIS allows us to see large commercial traffic so we can tune the radar in to see smaller targets closer to us.
