Cruising Shelter Island Area

[Marc14857]

We are planning on a 4 day cruise from Noank Ct, to Shelter Island area. First stop will be Greenport with an overnight stay at Claudios Marina. The boss wants a slip the first night. We then are planning on heading West toward Mattituck area and want to visit some of the area wineries. Anyone have any suggestions as to where to pick up a mooring and how to get out to the vineyards? The next stop we will be headed back east to either Three Mile Harbor or Coecles returning the next morning to Noank.We have never cruised this area before and are wide open to suggestions as to where to anchor and what to see.Thanks

 

[Paul Akers]

Have a Taste for Me.

I have sailed to the Peconic Bays a couple of times. We usually hit Greenport. The wineries are accessible from there, but you will need a car. You will need one from anywhere because they are spread out along the North Fork. In Greenport you can get a car from Rent-a-Wreck at a reasonable price. And they are quite decent, late-model cars. We didn't find any other rental companies and you do not want to take a cab (expensive). We rented a mini van on two occasions and picked a designated driver because all the wineries offer free tasting. We would hit about 9 or 10 a day and end up buying about a case at the various places. The best known is Pindar Wineries and they have a great selection. Some even offer tours of the winery process that are quite interesting. Have fun. I'm sure you will enjoy it.Finding mooring there can be difficult, although there are a few in Three Mile Harbor. Coechles is primarily anchoring on the port side when entering the harbor through the cut. Be sure to stay in the channel entering Coechles and follow all of the markers entering/leaving. It is shallow outside the channel. Don't go too deep into the harbour because it does shallow out at points. A nice trip is to circumnaigate Shelter Island with a stop in West Neck Harbour (on Shelter) on the west side of Shelter. The are markers all the way around.

 

[Russell10327]

Gewwnport Town Moorings

There are a few town mooring in Greenport near Brewers. We stayed at Brewers one night and spent 2 or 3 on the moorings. First come first serve, they were empty the week we were there, ok, it rained all week so that may be why. We rented a car from enterprise and it was rasonable, and as their ads say, they picked us up. Best part of greenport, besides Prestons (I think that is the right name) was the carosel and the movie theater. Saw "Perfect Storm" them spent the night on board during a wicked storm. Awsome.Russell

 

[Paul McGhee]

Alternatives

Instead of staying in Greenport, where marina slips can be hard to come by, you could try anchoring in one of the Shelter Island harbors, then making your way to Greenport.You can rent bikes at the Coecles Harbor Marina, pedal over to Deering Harbor, and take your bike on the ferry over to Greenport. That way you'll get to visit Shelter Island as well. The north fork wineries are a little far for a bike, but biking clubs routinely tour the wine region after coming over on the ferry to Orient Point. It's about 10 miles to the first winery west of Greenport, I think.I never knew about Enterprise, I'll give them a call next time. We were pretty unsatisfied with our rent-a-wreck experience two summers ago. A 20-year-old Plymouth Duster with a 50 mile limit for $60/day? Ouch.We have also taken fishing charters out of Orient Point, which will typically take you out to Plum Gut and drift along the tremendous rip. Be sure to time your passage through the gut to have a favorable tide. 4-5 kt currents are typical on the ebb.Paulsv Escape Artisth336

 

[Tom Chastain]

planning same trip

Hi Marc,I am planning a similar trip to the Shelter Island and Sag Harbor. However, I am finding little information about marinas that have docks or moorings available. Did you find such information and if so, can you share your source.

 

[Marc14857]

Shelter Island

In addition to the info folks have responded to in this posting some of the people in our marina said that when in Greenport You can get a slip at Claudios or up the small channel to Townsend Marina. Claudios is apt to be a little loud and bumby but I understand it is a neat place to stay. We are probably going to arrive there on a Monday afternoon and stay thru Tuesday. Will rent a car and go to the wineries. Tuesday afternoon we sail to either Sag Harbor or Three Mile Harbor not sure which and sail home Thursday Morning. Don't have a marina at either of these places yet.Did get some useful info from the link below

 

[Tom Chastain]

Great link

Thanks Marc, that was exactly what I needed. I hope to do my trip at the end of July.