Stone Harbor area
Cape May Harbor is definitely the best anchorage. I've got a Catalina 27, and can use the ICW between Stone Harbor and Cape May with no problem. All the bridges are drawbridges, except North Wildwood Blvd, which is fixed. (It was built several years ago, but the old drawbridge is still listed on the NOAA charts.) Clearance is 50 or 55 feet, I believe--can't remember since I only need 41 feet to clear my antenna. If you do make the trip up the ICW to see Stone Harbor's fireworks, follow all the channel markers closely. At low tide, there is not much depth on either side of the channel. Don't, under any circumstances, try to use Hereford Inlet unless you are intimately familiar with it. I have used it for years, and know it well, but this year, the inlet is particulary bad due to shoaling. Finding your way in from offshore would be impossible without knowing it. There are no buoys or channel markers in the inlet, since most of the time, there is no channel! If you do use the ICW, beware that the Avalon Blvd Bridge (one town above Stone Harbor) is a fixed bridge with 35 feet clearance, so you'll have to turn around and head back to Cape May. By the way, Cape May Harbor will likely offer views of fireworks displays from multiple towns. On clear nights, you can often see multiple towns launching fireworks at the same time. Randy
