Boat delivery from New England to Virginia

Jul 6, 2017
158
Hunter H 41DS Hampton, VA
All:

We are taking possession of a Hunter 41DS next Spring. The boat is located on the hard in Rhode Island and I am moving it to Hampton Virginia next Spring.

I am a Chesapeake Bay sailor and am somewhat apprehensive about bringing the boat down to the mouth of the Chesapeake from Rhode Island.

I contacted a delivery captain service just to find out what would be involved in having them help bring the boat from Rhode Island to Virginia. His recommended plan was to essentially motor along the coast by staying in the Long Island sound, go down the East River in New York City, come down the Jersey coast, go up Delaware Bay across the canal and down the Chesapeake.

After realizing what a delivery captain's plan would be, I thought, heck, I would have no problem doing that with some sailing friends ourselves. (This instead of a straight shot from Newport Rhode Island to the mouth of the Chesapeake)

A part of me that says it's actually a lot safer to come down the coast including New Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula rather than coming down the bay. My concern stems mostly from sailing down the Bay at night (if we do so) because there are so many things like crab pots that you can run into.

Any comments on these options would be greatly appreciated?

If I do this myself I will eventually need some advice for navigating the Long Island sound, the East River and along the Jersey coast. Growing up we used to sail Hobie's in the Great South Bay and off of the beaches on the South Shore of Long Island. That was a lifetime ago.

Thanks all.
 

Jimm

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Jan 22, 2008
372
Hunter 33.5 Bodkin Creek - Bodkin YC
Easy trip. I've made that delivery...up Delaware, down Chrsapeake. other wise off shore...pick your weather carefully.
 
May 17, 2004
5,026
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Depending on the time you have to work with I would probably prefer the C&D canal route. In the spring, at least in the northern Chesapeake, and especially in the channels, crab pots shouldn’t be bad. There may be deadheads and drifting trees depending on the weather, but if you have the time to stop overnight there are plenty of places to do that along the way. Being in the bay certainly gives more options and protection in the case of marginal weather than being committed on the outside. It also gives closer access to repair and supplies if anything should go wrong with a new-to-you boat.
 

RitSim

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Jan 29, 2018
406
Beneteau 411 Branford
The trip breaks down in logical parts -My discussion is for Long Island Sound - Part 1 RI to the Race - others may have more detailed information here, but you should consider currents thru the race and tides in the Sound - currents can be found ( NOAA Current Predictions - Current Predictions ). Part 2 - Long Island Sound - Good sailing if you don't have strong winds from the west. Many opportunities to layover in CT - only a few on the North shore of Long Island. Plan your trip thru Hell's Gate by using the tides ( https://tides.mobilegeographics.com/locations/3226.html ) or similar. Wouldn't recommend going down the East River except WITH the tide. Others may comment on NY to Cape May and Cape May to Chesapeake.

Good Luck
 
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dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
3,370
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
Tim,

How much time will you have to do this trip? How many friends do you have that you have confidence in to do this trip?

My brother brought up a boat from Florida to the Chesapeake thinking he could do it with some help but ended up he did not have all the time needed.

Might not be a bad idea to get the delivery captain and go with him. Could be a good learning experience in the process.

dj
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
I have done that trip myself. I am short on time right now but I will give you more complete thoughts after the new year. One caution right now- Delaware Bay can be very nasty. Beware of an outgoing current and wind from the east. The bay is a funnel shape and as the bay narrows the waves build up very high and with a short period. I have gotten hammered in there. The rest of the trip is easy as long as you watch the currents in Hell's Gate.
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
A part of me that says it's actually a lot safer to come down the coast including New Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula rather than coming down the bay
This is how I’d do it if weather is favorable, unless you want to stop and smell the roses in the Chesapeak. Delaware Bay is nasty and boring and seems like forever.
 

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,048
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
First off I am assuming you are an able sailor.

Rhode Island through NYC is relatively easy.... get a tide book and travel with the flow..... many nice places to stop through Long Island Sound on both sides.

The rest of the trip I will defer to the advise of experienced sailors as I have never got that far south.

Good luck.... you can do this!
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
OK, I find a have a little time now.

Leaving Narragansett Bay you will go around Pt Judith. Expect the waves and wind to pick up at that location. Head toward Fisher Island on the south side Fisher Island Sound. You can pass into Fisher Island sound at Watch Hill or you can go south around Fisher Island and enter the Race and then continue toward NYC in Long Island Sound. If the current is fair in Fisher Island Sound, I would ride that current.
There are many lobster pots in Fisher Island Sound as well as Long Island Sound so my preference is to run just during the day and not at night. There are many spots on the Connecticut shore to spend the night at anchor- check your cruising guides.
It is critical to plan your passage through Hell's Gate in the East River. You have just 15 minutes on either side of slack. I recommend going with the tide because the current builds quickly. A good place to anchor and wait for the right time to leave for Hell's Gate is on the south end of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Little Neck Bay. You may have some traffic noise from the bridge, but otherwise it is a calm and quiet anchorage. I would motor entirely through the East River. That way you can plan the timing based upon your motoring speed.
After passing out of the East River, another anchoring spot is just north of Coney Island in Gravesend Bay. It's not real calm due to NYC harbor traffic, but depending upon your time thru Hell's Gate, it could be too late in the day to start down the coast of NJ.
There are only 3 inlets that I can recommend and have experience with on the coast of NJ. From north to south they are Manasquan Inlet, Brigantine Inlet (Atlantic City), and Cape May. Manasquan Inlet should be approached on a SW course and then turn NW into the inlet just after passing the north breakwater. Watch other boats make their approach if possible. Try to enter within 90 minutes of slack water. There are often breaking waves at this entrance.

The entrance at Atlantic City and Cape May are pretty easy. Both have anchorages inside. There is a 60 foot fixed bridge inside at Atlantic City, but there is an anchorage before the bridge and there is a marina there also. At Cape May there are several marinas and you can anchor off the CG station.

From Cape May you can transit the canal if you can pass the 55 foot fixed bridge and then head up Delaware Bay. Otherwise you will need to go around Cape May and that will mean going out about 5 miles to avoid the shoals or pick you way carefully close around Cape May.

Personally I have avoided going south on the outside of the DelMar Peninsula becasue it is about 130 miles from Cape May and there are no good inlets to get in if the weather turns to crap. 130 miles is about 20+ hours for me and with just my wife I did not think it was a good choice even in good weather.

If you go up Delaware Bay and the thru the C&D canal, there is a marina in the canal (Hole in the Wall) on the north side. Reasonable price with a restaurant right there. I think it is named Summit North Marina.

That is all I have to offer. Good luck on your trip. BTW, where are you leaving from in Rhode Island?
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
There is dockage at Chesapeake City on the south side of the C&D. You have to time your entry into the C&D for the tides. There is a nice marina in Ocean City Md, with restaurant and close busses into town. 2 couples did the DMV circle in 16 days, 520 miles IIRC. No problems, but then the weather was favorable. Yeah, crab pot floats are bad in season. You could go down the freighter channels.
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
At the south side of Delaware Bay entrance, don’t overlook Lewes (Pronounced like Lewis) Delaware as an overnight anchorage. Easy in-out (even after dark) and a nice little town to visit.
 
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Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
Where is your final destination? The Chesapeake is a big place. What is your draft. There are tons of places you can't get to in a 60' tall, 5' deep sailboat but very few in some places that you can fit. Jersey coast has little refuge and Delaware, on the outside has none. If your running down the east coast around Jersey, Liberty Landing or Harbor in the NY harbor is your last good choice before the ocean. Atlantic City is the next good choice and it's more than a day, "light time", depending upon the time of year. As others have mentioned timing Hell Gate is imperative. I think it's a long slog through the LIS and will waste a day at least. I would make a bee line on the outside, weather permitting, and save some time and avoid the race and hell gate which both require timing.
First get a weather router for the trip.
Second never use a delivery captain that is going to drive your sail boat like it's a power boat. IMHO
By the way, I've just brought my 41 down to the bottom of SC for the third time in five years. It's a nice trip, better if you're not on a time schedule. That's the part that always ruins a good sail boat trip, trying to keep to a schedule. Due to weather, two of the three trips required me to go ICW at Virginia and back out at Beaufort, NC. Adds two sleep over nights to the trip.
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
My concern stems mostly from sailing down the Bay at night (if we do so) because there are so many things like crab pots that you can run into
Station one of the crew at the bow with a flood light to look for crab traps and maintain radio communication with the cockpit.
 
Nov 3, 2018
82
Cape Dory, Albin 300ms Motorsailer, Vega Baltimore
I’ve done this trip solo a couple of times, heading north in late June / early July and south in late September / early October. You can do the trip with short daylight hops between anchorage’s in LIS with a single overnight down the NJ coast into Delaware bay, but weather patterns in Spring are going to dictate when and where you can go. Depending on how much time you have and what kind of cruise you want (relaxing or pedal to the metal bash) you might want to leave the boat in RI until the weather settles.

The last time I did this- several years ago- it took me about two weeks from Newport to Baltimore. Again, I was solo so took my time and didn’t push it hard. Most days were easy daysails from anchorage to anchorage with some sightseeing thrown in. The ride through Hells gate and down the east river is something not to miss. When I came through the gate I was doing 10 knots over the bottom with the engine just above idle. Since a big meeting was happening at the UN I even had the pleasure of a Coast Guard escort in an RIB with a mean looking 50 cal mounted in the bow!

Make sure you monitor 13 and give a security call before going through the gate!

Atlantic highlands just inside Sandy Hook is a good place to stage for the run down the coast. Good place to resupply if you need it and just a short trip out around sandy hook to the ocean. If the weather gods are gracing you with a nice NW then you can scoot down the coast in flat water in the lee of the coast. Last trip I made it into an overnight and reached Cape May just before sunup the next morning, even had to heave to for a bit till there was a bit more light to make it into the inlet.

Cape May has lots of marinas, but only a tight little anchorage by the CG station. I’ve never anchored at Lewes but have heard that is an option.

The Delaware bay can be a *itch! You need to get the tides and weather right for this one otherwise you’re in for a nasty pounding. The only anchorage that I know of between Cape May and the C&D canal is at Cohansey creek ( not sure I spelled that correctly).

Once through the canal you’re in the upper Chesapeake with lots of good anchorages so you can meander your way down.

I had the advantage of an open schedule when I did this- between jobs. If you constrained by vacation time or other obligations it gets a bit more problematic. However you could do the trip in stages leaving the boat in a marina and taking a plane/train/bus between home and the boat while moving it south in stages.

The ride through NY on the east river is well worth the price of admission.
 
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Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
Hmmm; nobody has mentioned running from Block Isl to Cape May. I look at the weather while sitting in Newport and if I see a good window coming, I wait for that to run offshore. Takes around 36 hours, maybe less. If no good window then down the sound it is. Point Judith Harbor of Refuge, inside Fishers Isl to Duck Isl roads, across to Port Jeff and then down to Port Washington where there are free moorings and excellent shore side restocking places. It's a hoot running down the East river, much much easier than I expected. You can stop at Sandy Hook or if the timing and weather are right then keep going down the jersey coast. its my least fav place on the east coast.

At Cape May/Cape Henlopen you can go up the Del or offshore. Going up the bay, if you are lucky, you can go from Cape May all the way to the upper Chesapeake! But tide has to be perfect and you need to haul @ss. Otherwise anchor in Ches City.

I have run the Chesapeake Bay at night several times. Crab pots are pretty well nonexistent in water 30' deep or more. The problem is with all the shore lights. It is very hard to pick out markers and boat lights against the well lit backgrounds. AIS is a must. The big ships prefer you to stay on the west side of the bay at night even tho it is shorter to cut across the dogleg.
 
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SG

.
Feb 11, 2017
1,670
J/Boat J/160 Annapolis
How is you Hunter 41DS equipped in terms of electronics, autopilot, etc. Do you have a life raft?

The trip down from Newport to Chesapeake Bay, then down the Bay to Hampton should be the way to go. In the Spring, you're more likely to get shifting weather with few bailouts from Cape May to Cape Henry (ONLY Ocean City is an all weather inlet, even then, in an onshore wind it's not much fun, with little to do inside.)

The trip down Long Island Sound is interesting but would add a lot of distance. More importantly, it adds a lot of navigational, tide, and weather variables. I wouldn't suggest that for a variety of reasons.

The New Jersey Coast has only Atlantic Beach and Cape May as entrances. Forget about getting close to the shore except in dependable offshore winds.

The key to the Delaware Bay entrance is NOT getting there at the wrong tide situation OR a wind against current. I've always come-in (and out) of the Bay at the main channel. I'd suggest strongly that as a course of action. I'd time your entrance to be just after the tide changed so you can run up the Bay with the current. If he wind is coming from the North at anything over 8-10 knots true, it can get pretty lumpy. Over 10 knots true, it can get pretty raw. (You'll be going 9 knots plus over the bottom with the current. The waves can get pretty "square mogul-like".

Once in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, all the way down the Chesapeake Bay, you should be fine. Plenty of places to see, lots of places to bail-out, etc.

Outside the Delmarva, you'd have to really pick your weather window in the Spring. It might be lovely -- or you might get beat-up. Anything with a south-ish wind would make the trip something to endure.

If you want to discuss it, send me a line. I have to go tend the Christmas coffee pot ;^)))
 
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Nov 26, 2008
1,966
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
There is a quite large fishing head boat that runs close to the Cape May point, inside of Prissy Wicks shoal. That saves about 15 miles. I've run it 3 or 4 times. I would NOT run it in a SE wind as seas will build up and there is an 8' section to cross. I received good advice from the local Sea Tow operator.
 
Jul 6, 2017
158
Hunter H 41DS Hampton, VA
How is you Hunter 41DS equipped in terms of electronics, autopilot, etc. Do you have a life raft?

The trip down from Newport to Chesapeake Bay, then down the Bay to Hampton should be the way to go. In the Spring, you're more likely to get shifting weather with few bailouts from Cape May to Cape Henry (ONLY Ocean City is an all weather inlet, even then, in an onshore wind it's not much fun, with little to do inside.)

The trip down Long Island Sound is interesting but would add a lot of distance. More importantly, it adds a lot of navigational, tide, and weather variables. I wouldn't suggest that for a variety of reasons.

The New Jersey Coast has only Atlantic Beach and Cape May as entrances. Forget about getting close to the shore except in dependable offshore winds.

The key to the Delaware Bay entrance is NOT getting there at the wrong tide situation OR a wind against current. I've always come-in (and out) of the Bay at the main channel. I'd suggest strongly that as a course of action. I'd time your entrance to be just after the tide changed so you can run up the Bay with the current. If he wind is coming from the North at anything over 8-10 knots true, it can get pretty lumpy. Over 10 knots true, it can get pretty raw. (You'll be going 9 knots plus over the bottom with the current. The waves can get pretty "square mogul-like".

Once in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, all the way down the Chesapeake Bay, you should be fine. Plenty of places to see, lots of places to bail-out, etc.

Outside the Delmarva, you'd have to really pick your weather window in the Spring. It might be lovely -- or you might get beat-up. Anything with a south-ish wind would make the trip something to endure.

If you want to discuss it, send me a line. I have to go tend the Christmas coffee pot ;^)))
Thanks for the advice.
I'm mostly familiar with the lower Chesapeake below Deltaville and Hampton Rhoads. The new Boat has autopilot a C80 chart plotter and radar. No AIS. I have AIS and an Axiom display on my current boat (for sale), and I love it. I'd like to add AIS but my dealer said to upgrade to AIS and an Axiom display I'd have to also upgrade to digital radar. So I'll stick with what the boat has now for the time being.
I was thinking about renting a life raft. I will install an EBIRB.
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,988
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Interesting thread. I generally don’t trust the idea of a taking a boat, new to an owner, on a long, potentially complicated, trip on what might be a time schedule w/o some prelims. So, I hope a few day’s worth are figured in b/f departing RI!! Intriguing alternative suggestions re: mostly running the NJ and Delmarva peninsula coasts outside, versus winding through the various combinations of canals, rivers, and protected waters inside. The LIS/East River and Delaware Bay legs of that latter route appear tedious to me. Atlantic City & Cape May/Lewes stops, with a final push outside along the peninsula sound fun with opportunity to work the new boat, etc.:). Have fun planning.
 
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