Dont forget Eldridges
As others have said your toughest part will be from RI to Cape May so the earlier in November the better for good weather and be sure to study tide and current for passing through Hell Gate and the Battery before heading to New Jersey or do you plan on going outside around Long Island?
Eldridge
Tide & Pilot Book
2010 or 2011
A must for going from RI to Cape May. My father and I took my 27' Oday from North Kingston, RI to the Barnegat Bay, NJ over Memorial day this year. We would not have been able to do it were it not for this guide book to the tides and currents. As was mentioned above you dont want to do Hell's gate & the Battery or even "The Race" at the other end of the LI sound for that matter without it.
Lots of marina's in Ct and also City Island, NY before the Throgs neck and the East River so that you can time the run down along Manhattan.
After that there is Atlantic Highlands and assoc marinas before heading out and around Sandy Hook and down. Shark River inlet, NJ is a good hidey hole if things get really rough before you could get to the Barnegat Bay.
I would go in at Manasquan inlet or Barnegat inlet and run the ICW inside until AC if it was Nov. unless you hit glorious weather. Just watch your depth as the ICW can get pretty narrow through parts of the Barnegat Bay. The weather will dictate alot of your progress.
If you're going offshore and avoiding all of the LI sound and NYC stuff then all of the above is, obviously, meaningless. But you miss the thrill of sailing down the east river, the statue of liberty in NY harbor and a view of the city that most will never see. I will always cherish the memory of this trip with my dad. AS the commercial says "PRICELESS".
This is as far as I can help you but I'm sure others will guide you the rest of the way. That's the wonderful thing about this site.
Good luck and please keep us posted so we who are on the hard can sail vicariously with you.
