On a recent sail trip from Chesapeake Bay to NYC and the Long Island Sound we ran on the inside, the ICW, from Atlantic City to Manasquan. The boat was an h34 with a draft of 4'3" and a mast height of 53'. We had come in from Cape May the previous day under deteriorating conditions. The admirals were flying in to Atlanic City and we had to be there to pick them up. We were now faced with taking the ladies out into 20-25 knot winds and 5-7 feet seas or loosing Broadway theatre tickets. We had a boat pull in next to us and after talking with its skipper he said he had entered Barnegat Inlet because of the weather and motored all the way down to Atlantic City. He indicated that his draft was 4 1/2' and that he had touched bottom a couple of times but that it could be done. He advised us that if we were to try it to stay away from the Barnegat Inlet as it was treacherous and required local knowledge. After checking the charts and seeing just a couple of 60' bridges we decided to go for it. After leaving the fly infested marshlands around Atlantic City the channel opened up some and life was good. The depth sounder seemed to be pegged at 5' and went up and down a few inches but we never hit bottom. Secured a marina near the Forked River and after spending the night continued on through Manasquan and on to Sandy Hook. It was a very interesting trip to see the Jersey Shore from the inside. We went into Sandy Hook under a storm with repeated notices for mariners to seek safe harbor, but that is another story.