Heading south and 50 miles a day????????

[sailaway78]

I read on a post somewhere that someone was heading south out of NY or NJ, and planning on making 50 miles a day. Just thought I would post up this little tidbit, instead of searching out a response to another post. Of course offshore is not a problem, but in the big ditch 50 miles a day may be somewhat optimistic. You are going to have to deal with bridges that only open on the hour, or half hour, locks that are on similar schedules and in places some pretty fierce currents. Also if your like me, there are places you want to stop and smell the roses some. After making this trip a year ago, 35 to 40 a day is a much more realistic number for me.Besides that, I don't much care for trying to keep a schedule.

 

[Terry Cox]

When we cruise 20 miles to the next anchorage...

is a long slog for us. Once we get to the next anchorage we may stay a day or several depending upon what points of interest it has to offer.Terry

 

[Doug Burton]

Dear Abby

I've never really been anywhere by boat, But even on weekend sails my girlfriend says I'm too focused on the destination and not enough on enjoying the journey. She's right I know, But I have someplace to be! A target! I'm trying to mature in my thinking. Yet I still lust for a Mac65 over a comfy Catalina 400. Is there hope for me.

 

[abe]

Stinkpots always in a hurry to get there...sailors

are already there.

 

[Benny]

Doug, Check this out.

They say when a power boat captain gets in his boat "he is going somewhere" but when a sailboat captain gets on his boat "he is there". Try going out on a daysail without setting any particular destination. Go where the wind best takes you. Sometimes we'll beat to weather after leaving port and come back on a nice run, other times we'll do the inverse. When lunch time runs around we'll heave to and stop the boat until ready to get underway again. Don't get me wrong when we take a trip and are going somewhere the destination comes into focus. For coastal trips we try not to be over ambitious with distance. We find 35 NM a day can be done at a leisurely pace. If we are on an overnight passage then it becomes business.

 

[tom h]

took two months do the math

We sailed from Cleveland OH to Miami two years ago and it took two months. I figure it was about 1400 miles by water, maybe a little more. That equates to 23 or 24 miles per day. However, there were some long streches, like 4 days to go through the Erie Canal, the trip from New York City to Cape May. Cape Fear (or where ever we were to Brunswick Ga. And Florida flew by.Some shorties. Dunkirk to Buffalo, Baltimore to Annapolis, Waterford to West Point.My advice would be to see the sites. Nothing like being tired, coming into Baltimore, passing Ft. McHenry at Dusk, or as I called it, Twilights Last Gleaming, to understand a point or two of this countries history. Or visiting the hole on Manhatten where the WTC use to be, or stopping at West Point...well you get the picture.Sailing isn't about speed, it's about free air (as if replacement sails are free too),a slow wake behind the boat, seeing stars for hours on end, seeing the rising sun from offshore, the lights of Atlantic City at night. The trip is really about everything we do in the summer at home. Good days of sailing , bad days of sailing, and of exploration.

 

[Rick I]

50 miles a day is about right

Done the trip, Toronto to South Florida and the Bahamas many times. Along the ICW at 5 1/2 to 6 knots we usually did 50 miles or so a day. On exceptional days we might do 65 miles. These are statute miles not nautical miles. Of course we didn't travel every day but on travel days we started at daylight and usually went to three or four in the afternoon. Leaving Toronto after Labour day we'd usually get to Miami by early December but we really take our time, stopping for a day or two at all our favourite spots. Many of the opening bridges have been replaced by hi-rises over the years. The worst section for bridges is south Florida. If you want to speed up the trip, go outside, weather permitting. The last few trips we have skipped Georgia, going from Charleston to St. Mary's River. The problem in winter is that the weather does not cooperate as much and, rather than wait for weather to go outside we'll chug along on the ICW.

 

[Doug Burton]

I was just being silly

But in reality it's true. Why do people work forever to finally get a chance to really cruise and then set it up like a work schedule. I guess old habbits are hard to break. Some of you have actually cruised the ICW, but off the top it sounded like pushing it. Apparently 50mpd isn't so bad. Learn something everyday.

 

[John Tesoriero]

Question for Clay

Question for Clay from Seaside, NJ.Have you taken your boat under the Toms River Bridge on Barnegat Bay? If so, how tall is your mast off the water? There is no good source of information on the actual clearance of the bridge.

 

[Terry Cox]

Hi John, every chart that I've worked with on the

left coast includes bridge clearances. These become a must around here because we have so many to navigate through.Terry

 

[John Tesoriero]

The bridge does not agree with the chart

Terry,The bridges at each end of Barnegat Bay NJ are charted at 60' above mean high water. When you get there, the tide boards say 57' at low water. I have been able to squeeze my 56+' under them four times so far but it has been scary.One of the bridges does not have tide boards at all and the bridge tender in the old Bascule bridge next to the new fixed bridge won't tell you the clearance. That's why I am looking for sailors who have gone under the Toms River, NJ bridge.