We're planning on cruising our C380 up the East Coast this Spring and Summer from Georgia to New England. Any suggestions on cruising guides for the Chesapeake and New England? Matt S/V Comfortably Numb
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Charlie Cassidy
It depends on what you are looking for. Embassy Guides are good if you are planning to stay at marinas. There is one for the Atlantic Coast which has most of the popular destinations in it, then I've got one for RI, MA and NH which is more comprehensive. If you are more into gunkholing and anchoring out, there are other books for you. For the Chesapeake, I've been reading "Cruising the Chesapeake, a Gunkholer's Guide" by Shellenberger. Very comprehensive with a description of just about every little anchorage on the bay. Includes suggested itineraries for various parts of the bay, and also covers the Delaware shore, Jersey shore and NY Harbor. For New England, I'd recommend either "A Cruising Guide to the New England Coast" by Duncan and Ware or "A Cruising Guide to Narragansett Bay and the South Coast of Massachusetts" by Childress, Childress and Martin. The former was originally published in the 1930s and has been updated several times since - I have the tenth edition published in 1990. Comprehensive but somewhat dated. Amazon says they're upto the 12th edition. I like Childress better - mostly because they delve into the history of the area more. Other books I'd recommend reading that will enhance your enjoyment of the area are: "The Coast of Summer" by Anthony Bailey, "Logs of the Dead Pirates Society: A Schooner Adventure Around Buzzards Bay" and "Watermen", both by Randall S. Peffer. Enjoy
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Justin - O'day Owners' Web
Crusing Guides
If you're going to be up in Maine the Taft guide is the one to have. Lots of local color and detail. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
If you're going to be up in Maine the Taft guide is the one to have. Lots of local color and detail. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
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Mark
Agree with Charlie
Cruising the Chesapeake, A Gunkholer's Guide - is the guide most seem to use on the Chesapeake.
Cruising the Chesapeake, A Gunkholer's Guide - is the guide most seem to use on the Chesapeake.
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Paul Akers
Maine Coast
Last summer I used the book Justin recommends...Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast (Taft & Curtis Rinauld). Along with Embassy Guide, these were extremely detailed.
Last summer I used the book Justin recommends...Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast (Taft & Curtis Rinauld). Along with Embassy Guide, these were extremely detailed.
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Tom
Someone needs to write a comprehensive guide to
Cruising Long Island Sound. Yes I know there is one of those spiral cruising guides (I forgot the name). And it works fine But I think one written as more of a narrative and focused on "gunkholing" like the Chesapeake one would be nice. It is one of the top cruising locations (Obviously Maine, Chesapeake, etc are up there too). It has lots of excellent harbours, anchorages and islands etc, etc. (e.g. City Island, Oyster bay, Port Jeff, Port Washington, Greenwich and the islands, Stamford, Norwalk and Islands, Huntington, Fishers Island, Mystic, Conn River, Greenport & the whole Fork area of Long Island, Mattituck, etc, etc......sooooo many locations that are tremendous cruising locations)
Cruising Long Island Sound. Yes I know there is one of those spiral cruising guides (I forgot the name). And it works fine But I think one written as more of a narrative and focused on "gunkholing" like the Chesapeake one would be nice. It is one of the top cruising locations (Obviously Maine, Chesapeake, etc are up there too). It has lots of excellent harbours, anchorages and islands etc, etc. (e.g. City Island, Oyster bay, Port Jeff, Port Washington, Greenwich and the islands, Stamford, Norwalk and Islands, Huntington, Fishers Island, Mystic, Conn River, Greenport & the whole Fork area of Long Island, Mattituck, etc, etc......sooooo many locations that are tremendous cruising locations)
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Ron
All good recommendations, plus...
Don't forget the U.S. Coast Pilot, Books #1 & 2, for New England. And, I've found the AAA tour books and other land-side sources helpful supplements for finding restaurants, attractions, etc ashore. Marblehead & Salem, MA are interesting towns to visit. The waters of Salem Sound are bounded by a number of islands that make it an interesting stop along the way up from Boston (about 25 miles). Easier anchorages found in Salem Harbor, as old Mblhd harbor is pretty crowded in the summer. Gloucester is about 12 miles away to the east & is another good harbor. From there north, other than Newburyport, MA & Portsmouth, NH, there aren't too many great dirty weather harbors to get into until you get to Casco Bay. Most of the harbors along the southern Maine shore are small, with narrow entrances exposed to the weather on the Gulf of Maine. Local knowledge helps with negotiating them -- a call to the local harbormaster is advised. If you plan on visiting Casco Bay, I found Quahog Bay, tucked inside Sebascodegan Island at the north end of Casco, to be a truly great anchorage. It's listed in the Taft book. The city of Portland was interesting to visit -- lots of maritime activity and a nice restoration of the downtown area -- as was South Freeport (get your L.L.Bean "fix" in Freeport, a short taxi ride away; also, there's a nice general store in the village that serves breakfast). Penobscot Bay & the adjoining waters (Jericho Bay, etc. to the north) are truly the greatest cruising ground you'll find on the East Coast. Hundreds of islands, many historic towns, wildlife, windjammers, etc. We cruised Penobscot Bay for a whole week and barely made a dent in the must-see list. Obviously, this note can't do justice to all the spots along your route. --Ron
Don't forget the U.S. Coast Pilot, Books #1 & 2, for New England. And, I've found the AAA tour books and other land-side sources helpful supplements for finding restaurants, attractions, etc ashore. Marblehead & Salem, MA are interesting towns to visit. The waters of Salem Sound are bounded by a number of islands that make it an interesting stop along the way up from Boston (about 25 miles). Easier anchorages found in Salem Harbor, as old Mblhd harbor is pretty crowded in the summer. Gloucester is about 12 miles away to the east & is another good harbor. From there north, other than Newburyport, MA & Portsmouth, NH, there aren't too many great dirty weather harbors to get into until you get to Casco Bay. Most of the harbors along the southern Maine shore are small, with narrow entrances exposed to the weather on the Gulf of Maine. Local knowledge helps with negotiating them -- a call to the local harbormaster is advised. If you plan on visiting Casco Bay, I found Quahog Bay, tucked inside Sebascodegan Island at the north end of Casco, to be a truly great anchorage. It's listed in the Taft book. The city of Portland was interesting to visit -- lots of maritime activity and a nice restoration of the downtown area -- as was South Freeport (get your L.L.Bean "fix" in Freeport, a short taxi ride away; also, there's a nice general store in the village that serves breakfast). Penobscot Bay & the adjoining waters (Jericho Bay, etc. to the north) are truly the greatest cruising ground you'll find on the East Coast. Hundreds of islands, many historic towns, wildlife, windjammers, etc. We cruised Penobscot Bay for a whole week and barely made a dent in the must-see list. Obviously, this note can't do justice to all the spots along your route. --Ron
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Chuck Wayne
ditto!
The taft guide is probably the best guide for maine waters, and the embassy guides are also good in the boston-north area. Salem sound(marblehead,salem,glocester) is a great place to explore (watch the marked rocks) and is the last good harbor area before portsmouth-and then portland-where you can find an in season transient mooring for a stopover. Newburyport is the home of our local hunter dealer (Seacoast) but is a really tough river to navigate.
The taft guide is probably the best guide for maine waters, and the embassy guides are also good in the boston-north area. Salem sound(marblehead,salem,glocester) is a great place to explore (watch the marked rocks) and is the last good harbor area before portsmouth-and then portland-where you can find an in season transient mooring for a stopover. Newburyport is the home of our local hunter dealer (Seacoast) but is a really tough river to navigate.
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