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Navigating the Race

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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5378 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/16/2009 : 22:53:33

Here's a piloting question for any who have sailed our little boats into or out of Long Island Sound's eastern end.

LIS, for the most part, is a "Fine Piece of Water", with lots of interesting and lovely places up and down its ~125 mile length. It is about 18 miles wide between Long Island NY and Connecticut and has two ends that flood and ebb rather ferociously:

<> In the western end it drains between the Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan Island in a place fittingly called <i>Hells Gate</i>. If you've ever driven over the Triboro (now the Robert F Kennedy Bridge) you've been right over this place.

<> In the east, there is The Race, Race Rock, Valiant Rock and the fiercest chop zone around between the north fork of Long Island and Fishers Island, NY.

A subdivision of LIS between Fishers Island and the Connecticut shore is Fishers Island Sound. There are several entrances called <i>Passages</i> like Watch Hill Passage, Lords Passage, Wicopesett Passage and Catumb Passage that are literal washing machines at times of peak flood or ebb.

Someplace I read that a total of 16 billion gallons per minute of seawater pass through these narrow openings at their peak. This is mind boggling.

My question is for local mariners:
1. Is it advisable for anyone to try and sail a C-25 through one of these passages, during a favorable current?
2. If so, which passage is least difficult or most charitable?
3. Should you try to wait for slack tide, or one hour before slack, or should you shoot it at full current?
4. Obviously we should avoid opposing winds and currents, but sometimes you have to just get through. Is timing slack tide even possible????

For those more seasoned, experienced or nuttier than I, what is your advice?

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2009 : 11:51:07

Ahhh... You're talking about my stomping grounds! Fishers Island Sound is in the middle of my signature pix below. Yup--The Race is really something--I've been out there by Race Rock Light during full ebb, when the current is dropping over a 200' cliff, the top of which is about 80' down... and water was actually flying into the air--like a giant washing machine!

You definitely need to plan your trip around the current tables in the Eldridge book (yellow paperback)--otherwise you can end up standing still under power out there. Inside Fisher's Island is generally the way to go--just about as much current but less potentially-violent seas. Watch Hill Passage or Wicopisset (sp?) Passage... Watch Hill is simpler, but if you're under sail headed toward Block Island, you may prefer Wicopisset on the return depending on where the wind is. Happily, neither is likely to be like Plum Gut (between Orient Point and Plum Island), which can be a wicked washing machine--worse than The Race.

Most sailors like to go with the tide both ways--it can add or subtract a good 4 knots. Stay clear of the buoys--the current can put you up against them faster than you expect! And pay attention to your chartplotter in F.I.Sound--watching especially for "The Clumps".

A very nice stop-over anchorage is inside Napatree Point, just outside of Watch Hill Harbor. You can anchor close to the beach and walk across to the ocean side. As long as the wind isn't out of the north or NW, it's a quiet anchorage (until the weekend when the stinkpots show up). You enter from just off Stonington around the end of Sandy Point and follow the channel markers, not from the outside.

The whole thing is not that tricky.

Let me know when you're coming through!

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 01/17/2009 14:56:44

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5378 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2009 : 22:28:35

Dave -
Somehow I knew you'd be able to advise on the area, being just down the road (your stomping ground).

I don't mind the currents and the chop, and have dodged plenty of buoys and clumps in my sailing ground, but I was a little bit worried by stories of those standing waves and the rapids out there in the middle of all that "open water". Sailing in a washing machine just ain't my idea of fun and relaxation.

I've paddled "Little Narragansett Sound" from Stonington Harbor and Barn Island launch to Watch Hill and Napatree Pt [which is downright idyllic in high summer], however the way in and out of Watch Hill Harbor is quite roundabout in a boat drafting 5 ft.

Most of the guys in my marina and on my dock are stinkpotters, so they just "gun it" when they have to getting through the Race. I'm hoping my experiences up & down the Housatonic in 4+ kts of current will likely go a long way when I get the gumption and opportunity to head out to Montauk & Block.

Many thanks

Edited by - on

redviking
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1771 Posts

Response Posted - 01/17/2009 : 23:57:07

Montauk is a quaint drinking village with fishing problem. Great place to visit. The anchorage is way back out of the way, bring the dink and follow the tiny markers closely, it gets real skinny back there. Long dinghy ride. If you pick up a dock, you will be one of the few sailboats ever to inhabit the area so be prepared for culture shock. Liars Saloon is a great hole in the wall bar with free dinghy tie up and a coldie while they call you a taxi for a run into town to the main store. Showers at the Montauk Yacht Club are excellent - just walk in there like you have a 50 foot Bayliner or something! Restaurants on the waterfront abound.

Block - get a ball if you can, anchor at your own risk... Services like Oldport Launch and the coffee/breakfast guys on a skiff abound...

The Race can be tricky, but as Dave pointed out Eldridge has it covered and you can even ride the edges while you wait for a favorable current - look at the flow diagrams. Current running out of the Great Salt Pond is strong enough at times to make life interesting too. My experience with my C25 has been that the only real issue in transiting this area is if the seas kick up while motoring and you are cavitating. But bailouts are plentiful and the worst thing that can happen is that you run back into the sound and find a bailout until you have favorable conditions.

sten

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2009 : 16:32:10

Ya, Bruce, I must admit in and out of Watch Hill is a bit roundabout... Now that I do it at 20+, I tend to forget.

(But you only draw 4'.)

Another quaint stopover along the way is Mattituck, L.I.--a quaint little town at the end of a meandering inlet, with a protected anchorage. On the L.I. side, it's the only refuge between Port Jeff and Orient Point. If you're headed to or from Montauk, you can take that route, cut through Plum Gut (watch the tide chart), stop at Shelter Island or anchor outside of Sag Harbor--a trendy little part of Easthampton, and continue on out to Montauk.

Another place to use your tide/current charts is Long Sand Shoal just W. of the CT River. Be aware of the current differences (flood and ebb) inside and outside the shoal in order to decide which to use.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 01/18/2009 17:15:52

Voyager
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USA
5378 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2009 : 20:36:11

Thanks Sten --
Always good to know where to quench your thirst.

My approach will be to traverse one of the passages an hour either side of slack, however once through then the opposite current will begin. It's a good thing that bailouts are plentiful.

Dave - Last summer I lived by Eldridge - I have noticed the differences between the inner and outer sides of the shoal, especially within an hour of slack on either side. Very handy to know.

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