Fire Island - Great South Bay NY

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Jun 4, 2004
287
Beneteau Oceanis 352 NYC
Anyone sail in Great South Bay/Fire Island? A friend of mine rented a house out there and I was wondering if I could bring my Oceanis 352/5.5 ft draft? Any local knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
 
Oct 2, 2006
1,517
Jboat J24 commack
I use to live on the Patchouge River and keep my J24 there and there is NOT a whole lot of water towards the Fire Island side and you have to be pretty carefull everyplace

On the plus side the wind is great about 99% of the time

The Patchouge river area is one of the most open and deep parts with about 8' of draft
 

RAD

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Jun 3, 2004
2,330
Catalina 30 Bay Shore, N.Y.
Don't do it......where on Fire Island?
I have a 3'6" draft and using 4 ft as a minimum I encountered some pretty skinny water over there, I ask where cause there are a few places you might want to anchor out but also where are you coming from?
Fire Island Inlet shoaling is no picnic these days even for my boat and coming in Jone's would work but you'd have to deal with the draw bridges and some local knowledge to get you safely to the Great South Bay
 

RAD

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Jun 3, 2004
2,330
Catalina 30 Bay Shore, N.Y.
I use to live on the Patchouge River and keep my J24 there and there is NOT a whole lot of water towards the Fire Island side and you have to be pretty carefull everyplace

On the plus side the wind is great about 99% of the time

The Patchouge river area is one of the most open and deep parts with about 8' of draft
There are 2 kinds of wind.......enough and too much
From Patchough west to Bay Shore is 8 to 12 ft of water in the middle and it gets skinny south toward Fire Island
 
Dec 19, 2006
5,832
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
No Way

I have 2 friends with 2 houses at watch hill and always tried to get me to keep my boat there,no water for any kind of good sailing before you will be bored and yes pretty good wind but no real water.
When I sailed my Hobie Cat yes great fun and plenty of wind and great place to sail all over with a smaller boat like sunfish or Hobie cat,bayshore area I new people with sailboats but they were not always very happy and had to be very careful of all the shallow water,just look at all the power boats running up on sand bars and sucking up sand into the engine.
I stayed in the peconic and than moved my boat to Greenport.
LI is a great place with so many great places for boating and do miss it some times.
Nick
 
May 21, 2006
321
catalina 25, 30 montauk / manhattan
Re: No Way

hey rob, where do you keep the boat in ny harbor?
 

Ted

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Jan 26, 2005
1,272
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
Great South Bay NY

I sail on the Great South Bay. My home port is Bay Shore. My boat draws 5'-3" which is just about the limit. I have Boat US Towing insurance and in 12 years with this boat have never needed their services. Knock on wood! The Fire Island Inlet is going to be your biggest challenge because of shoaling. I haven't been out the inlet this season so I don' have any recent personal local knowledge. I have heard from others that it is passable as long as you stay within the buoys. Best bet is to approach in daylight, slightly before slack tide as the current runs about 3.5 knots. The buoys are constantly being relocated so there are no charts that indicate their current position. The channels are well marked and deep once you're inside. The Great South Bay proper to the north is 8-15 feet deep with a soft bottom of sand and mud. It's easy to free yourself if you do run aground and it's almost impossible to damage your boat. Were are you planning on staying once inside?
 

RAD

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Jun 3, 2004
2,330
Catalina 30 Bay Shore, N.Y.
Ted, just did the inlet going out and at high tide in one spot I saw 8 ft but it was in the morning and pretty calm, when I came back the seas were building so I ducked in at Jone's cause the last buoy coming in is pretty far west along the beach so you would have breakers hitting your starboard side of the boat before you got to the next channel marker past Sore Thumb
 
Jun 4, 2004
287
Beneteau Oceanis 352 NYC
@RAD, I would be heading from NY Harbor and I noticed the inlet at Fire Island I thought, hell no!
@dlewis812 I keep my boat in Liberty Harbor - not the best but very easy to get back to the city, even on the weekends.
@TED Ocean Beach
 
May 21, 2006
321
catalina 25, 30 montauk / manhattan
liberty is nice; how late though can you get back on the ferry?

wondering if you were at pier 40; wanted to find out what the deal was. he was supposed to move down to pier 23 however just has the sticks in without mooring balls (and no boats). have been at 79th for past 2 years; bit of dinghy ride but avoid all the harbor traffic.
 
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