Sailing LI (Huntington) to Catskill. NEED ADVICE! Zero experience.

[danm1]

I disagree, respectfully, with aiming for slack tide at midday at Hell Gate. I have made this trip several times and have always tried to ride a fair current as suggested by the offshoreblue rule of thumb I linked above. That means leaving Port Washington friday around 5 a.m. and passing under the Throgs Neck Bridge around 5:30.
Also, as others mentioned, bring a chart or have one on a tablet and be sure to pass west of Roosevelt Island.

 

[martensonpassingwind]

Okay, we are actually going to be travelling Saturday morning instead of Friday to give us an extra day. Everyone! We have a call scheduled tonight with someone that has been sailing for many years who is going to help us create our navigation plan. Will let yall know what we come up with!

 

[dLj]

Alright! So we 100 percent have to go in when ebb is coming in after slack. THANK YOU!

Terminology can gets us stuck sometimes.

There is slack high tide and slack low tide. These are the inflection points of the tide where the currents are at close to 0 as possible. It's where the tide turns from coming in, flood, and going out, ebb.

You go through Hells Gate as close to slack high tide as possible. I would not go through on a boat your size at much more than about 15 minutes of either side of slack high tide.

Forget going through Hells gate at slack low tide. You hit the tide coming in going down the East River. Your boat probably won't even make it down the East river all the way before you will be SOG = 0 or maybe even in negative numbers - meaning being pushed back up te river towards Hells Gate.

Hitting Hells gate at slack high tide means after going through (and yes stay to the right - the tip of Roosevelt Island is right after going through) you will then get the tide going out and you will shoot down the East River - it's actually really fun! Watch for water taxis and all sorts of boats, it's a busy river. But it will be fine.

dj

 

[shemandr]

I hope I don’t have to say this to this group but make sure you are looking at current tables and not tide tables. They can differ significantly. Eldridge is the Bible on this.

 

[dlochner]

@shemandr is correct. Current changes lag tide changes by anywhere from a few minutes to nearly an hour. Eldridge has a good explanation on why this happens. Eldridge is a great publication, its only about $20 at a marine store.

When I've done the East River from East to West, I try to hit the Throggs Neck Bridge at tide change (not current). There would be a brief period of low adverse current and slack water, before the fun kicked, 6 knots through the water 11-12 knots over ground. Yahoo!

 

[PaulK]

NOAA puts high tide at the Throggs Neck Bridge at 06h07 on 05JUL. Tide Predictions - NOAA Tides & Currents Following @dlochner's advice that means it will be light enough to see when you leave Port Washington. That is a good thing because there will likely be a number of tugs, barges and tows waiting there for the tide change. Stay clear of them. They may not see you. They will probably not be eager to chat on the radio. They will be going a lot faster than you (eight knots to your four) and have great difficulty maneuvering. Sometimes they lose control and the barges destroy the piers they hit. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/06/...r-shattered-in-east-river-hitandrun-case.html

 

[dlochner]

NOAA puts high tide at the Throggs Neck Bridge at 06h07 on 05JUL. Tide Predictions - NOAA Tides & Currents Following @dlochner's advice that means it will be light enough to see when you leave Port Washington. That is a good thing because there will likely be a number of tugs, barges and tows waiting there for the tide change. Stay clear of them. They may not see you. They will probably not be eager to chat on the radio. They will be going a lot faster than you (eight knots to your four) and have great difficulty maneuvering. Sometimes they lose control and the barges destroy the piers they hit. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/06/...r-shattered-in-east-river-hitandrun-case.html

When going through NYC Harbor, I've noticed commercial vessels don't respond on channel 16 and use horns to signal their intentions. It would be wise to know what those signals mean.

Actually, I've found commercial vessels anywhere don't respond on channel 16.

 

[danm1]

Saturday you will want to pass under the Throgs Neck Bridge around 6:25 a.m.

 

[TimFromLI]

East River - Planning Your Passage for a Fair Current or Slack Water

East River - Timing your passage. Choosing the right time for your transit. Are you looking for slack water at Hell Gate or a fair current push thru the river?

www.offshoreblue.com

This has always worked for me, and I did it once in a Hunter 25.5 with a 9.9 HP motor.

I've done this trip several times. Offshoreblue is the best guide- I still use it. .

 

[martensonpassingwind]

Yep, thats what i used to take a look at the time I need to be at throggs neck. Now that we have our plan in place I'm feeling a lot more confident about this. I appreciate everyone's input, its been so so so helpful!

 

[PaulK]

When going through NYC Harbor, I've noticed commercial vessels don't respond on channel 16 and use horns to signal their intentions. It would be wise to know what those signals mean.

Actually, I've found commercial vessels anywhere don't respond on channel 16.

They use Channel 14 a lot : https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/us-vhf-channel-information

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I'd hire a captain. There's a lot that someone without experience won't know. Mistakes can be costly both to your wallet and overall sailing experience. You don't know what you don't know

 

[BarryL]

Hello,

I suggest you buy the Navionics app for your IOS or Android device (make sure the device has a GPS). That will show you the tide and currents including speed and direction for many many locations. You can select the date and time and see how it changes.

IMHO you should try and time your departure so you end up at the Battery at low tide. If you do that correctly you will ride down the east river with a favorable current and then up the hudson river with a favorably current. It will not help you to head down the east river at max ebb only to run into the hudson river with a very foul current.

I've made the trip from the Long Island sound to NY harbor more times than I can remember. Note that the area by the south st. seaport is just crazy. Ferries, helicopters, tour boats, commercial vessels, bridges, etc. It's really something!

good luck on your trip.

Barry

 

[martensonpassingwind]

Project_Mayhem, we are prepared and have all the apps we need, along with our float plan, contingency plans, and really, the trip is super long for a sailboat, but by vehicle we are only a few hours from home and have friends on standby to help if needed. I have confidence in what we are capable of, and will not be hiring a captain

Barry L, that is our EXACT plan. To get to the Battery by low tide. Super excited! Was scared and nervous before we had all the logistics in place, but now I'm feeling really great about the expedition.

 

[jssailem]

Put the plan together. Execute the plan. Have an outlet plan in case circumstances change.

Go for it.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

I disagree, respectfully, with aiming for slack tide at midday at Hell Gate. I have made this trip several times and have always tried to ride a fair current as suggested by the offshoreblue rule of thumb I linked above. That means leaving Port Washington friday around 5 a.m. and passing under the Throgs Neck Bridge around 5:30.
Also, as others mentioned, bring a chart or have one on a tablet and be sure to pass west of Roosevelt Island.

Chiming in too late for OP, but this is correct. All the advice in this thread stating to time for slack at Hell Gate was not the best. Hell Gate is navigable even at peak current and it‘s a fun ride if you try to avoid the swirls and largest standing waves. You need to keep up your speed through the water to maintain steerage and time it to avoid going through next to large ships, whether slack or not.
OP should have timed for a high slack at The Battery which would put them in Hell Gate about an hour or 2 before that (at City Island about 2-3 hours before) at the waning end of favorable flow. They would ride a southbound ebb current through Hell Gate and the East River, round the southern tip of Manhattan and ride the northbound flood up the Hudson as far as possible. (It‘s better to reach The Battery before the current turns than after, so err on the side of early, which is why I gave a range of time rather than being specific).
Monitor VHF 13 and 16 (set your VHF to dual-watch) and call any approaching ships/tugs or ferries (on 13 first) if concerned to ask how to stay out of their way or announce your intentions.
Hope all went well for OP. I’m sure it was an exciting trip.

 

[martensonpassingwind]

Hello everyone!! We made it down east river and onto the Hudson without a single problem! Got an awesome current that put us at about 7 knots the whole way, and it took us about 2.5 hrs to reach the battery from throg neck. Nowwwww we need to find a mooring on the Hudson for the night which is proving more difficult than I thought. But the scary part is over! Also, it was actually super easy because there was hardly anyone out on the water.

 

[PaulK]

Glad to hear it was smooth sailing and you made it safely. Did you not research options for where to stop en route? 79th street boat basin is closed. Riverdale Yacht Club might be worth a call. (718-543-0792 ?) While it looks like they focus heavily on dining, tennis and the pool, they may have a mooring. To get in being a member of another yacht club might be helpful.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Hello everyone!! We made it down east river and onto the Hudson without a single problem! Got an awesome current that put us at about 7 knots the whole way, and it took us about 2.5 hrs to reach the battery from throg neck. Nowwwww we need to find a mooring on the Hudson for the night which is proving more difficult than I thought. But the scary part is over! Also, it was actually super easy because there was hardly anyone out on the water.

Try Nyack boat club for a guest mooring or you can anchor outside the mooring fields. You can also anchor off historic Philipse Manor in Tarrytown. Leave plenty of scope and swing room for the strong reversing currents in the river.

 

[PaulK]

If you anchor watch out for the reversing currents. We got the anchor rode wrapped around the keel and the current was too strong, pushing the boat against it, for us to unwrap it alone. A passing RIB managed to nudge our stern around to clear it, but it was not amusing.