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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Port Jefferson NY to Westbrook CT

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Brian Clancy
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/12/2010 : 09:44:15

I am the new owner of 85/Tall/Fin "Patience". Once I get her home, I will join and register in the directory. For now I need to get her home.

Home will be Westbrook, CT. She is now moored at Mt. Sinai harbor, next to Port Jefferson, NY. It is about 36 miles. Since the season is quickly ending, we want to get her over in 1 day as soon as possible. We attempted yesterday, but the combination of late start, insufficient wind, and insufficient fuel caused us to abort the mission. Northeast winds put us on a close hauled point the whole time, which died around 1PM.

My is to sleep on boat, leave around 6AM and start motoring until we find wind. We plan on having 8 gallons of fuel aboard.

Anyone familiar with this route and have any guidance?

Edited by - on

Peregrine
Admiral

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830 Posts

Response Posted - 09/12/2010 : 13:04:22

Check the tides.
You can use [url="http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=8782&engine=adwords!6456&keyword=eldridge+tidesEldridge"]Eldridge[/url]to set a course where you have the least tide against you.
It will show you where the tide has the least affect or if the tide is with you where it is the strongest.
Also use this link for Western Long Island Weather.
http://forecast.weather.gov/shmrn.php?mz=anz335&syn=anz300

On google earth I get 42 miles in a straight line so the trip may be farther. So I would only try it in one day with favorable tides and winds.
You might want to break the trip into two days.

Underlined words are HOT links.

Edited by - Peregrine on 09/12/2010 15:20:35

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 09/12/2010 : 15:11:02

My chart (Mapsource) shows about 36 miles entrance-to-entrance from Mt. Sinai. You definitely want to maximize the ebb tide by starting close to high. Then I'd use a GPS to establish your course--the tide will vary from several knots of help to slack to maybe a little hurt (or the the reverse) so the GPS will keep you on the shortest track assuming the wind lets you make it on one tack. 8 gallons is plenty for a 4-stroke, but maybe just a little marginal for motoring the whole way with a 2-stroke.

I might have aimed for The Thimbles or Guilford and then sailed a few miles off the CT shore inside of Faulkner Is., just to have the option of stopping if the need arose. It'd be a 2-3 miles longer, but maybe a little more "comfortable" in a new-to-you boat. With an ebb tide most of the way, you should make it inside of seven hours.

Will you be at Pilot's Point? I've stopped there several times.

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 09/12/2010 : 18:27:24

here's a site to help w/ wind predictions...

http://www.sailflow.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=192&regionProductID=30&timeoffset=0

fair winds!

Edited by - on

Brian Clancy
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 09/12/2010 : 18:31:01

Thanks for the suggestions. High tide next weekend at Pt. Jeff are at 8 and 9 AM. Looking back at yesterday, we had unfavorable tide right up until when the wind died.

I like the idea of pointing toward Guilford to increase options. Short of getting to Westbrook, the priority is to get it to CT. Safely. So I will be watching the weather carefully.

Dave, the boat will be at Pilot's Point, where our Flying Scot was docked last summer.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 09/12/2010 : 19:59:23

Nice spot. Safe voyage--short of a gale, you'll be fine! Our "delivery" of our "new" C-25 from Mystic to Darien (80+ miles) was in nightmare weather over three days in early May on a totally new-to-us vessel, but she took good care of us. I'd say she could take more than what Long Island Sound could dish out, although the same was not true for us! We did some hiding along the way in the face of a 60+ squall followed by two days of 35+ northwesterlies. It was a pounding.

If you take off a little before high (close to slack water), you'll be on the ebb for most of the trip--arriving just after slack in Westbrook. The timing sounds perfect if the weather is OK.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 09/12/2010 20:12:52

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5444 Posts

Response Posted - 09/14/2010 : 13:42:15

Welcome Brian,
Congratulations on the new (to you) Catalina 25.

I've sailed the run from Stratford to Westbrook several times and it is generally doable in a day. I did it starting at Milford point at 10:00 and arriving at Westbrook at 16:30.

I use NOAA's weather dot gov for weather (digital forecast):
http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sectors/northeast.php?element=Wx
You can focus on southern New England and LI Sound with this tool.
This Saturday's winds forecast is for drifter conditions, so I'd suggest you tank up on fuel.

You can check for tides and currents on NOAA's T&C site:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents10/cpred2.html#CT

I looked at Branford Reef which is about half-way for me and found:
Slack at 08:51
Peak ebb current at 11:16 -0.5 @ 068 degrees true (not a strong current)
Next slack at 15:09 (3:09 pm)
And the peak flood current at 1812 +0.6

I like the website GeoGarage for pre-trip planning, and programming my GPS, as it provide Lat/Long under the cursor.
http://marine.geogarage.com/routes/
Zoom in on Westbrook for a chart, and select "paper charts" on the MAP CONTENT menu.

On this trip, you should look out for a few things.
1. Falkner Island will be pretty busy this weekend, as it will be open to the public. So, there will be lots of boats
2. Long Sand Shoal starts right outside Duck Island roads and Westbrook Harbor and it's pretty shallow there. Watch RG "W", the western-most buoy. It's at N041 deg 13.6 x W072 deg 27.6. Like the name says, its sand, but nobody likes to ground out.
3. Hammonassett and Kelsey Point reefs stick well out into the Sound, so I don't follow the CT shore.
4. Once you are into the Duck Island Roads area outside Westbrook harbor, it will be low tide. Either stay between Kelsey Reef and west of Duck Island breakwater, or round easterly of Duck Island and head straight into the harbor.
5. The harbor is (a) very busy and (b) very shallow, so stick to the buoys and watch your drift. Carefully traverse R"2", GC"3", RN"4" and GC"5". I have been very close to touching bottom at GC"5".

Like Yogi Berra says, "When you get to the fork in the road, take it!" Bear right for the gas dock at Pilot's Point.

You ought to have a fun trip. You can contact me on my email if you need additional info, at bruce2sail at AOL dot com.
ciao

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 09/14/2010 : 18:06:57

Pssst--Bruce: He sailed out of Pilot's Point in Westbrook

--albeit not with a 4' deep fin keel.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5444 Posts

Response Posted - 09/14/2010 : 18:11:31

Yeah, you're right Dave, I did go a little (a lot) over the top!

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5444 Posts

Response Posted - 09/16/2010 : 14:15:19

Brian
Winds look to be between 6-8 on Saturday. Starting out from East and Southeast, then shifting to South, so I'd cross over to New Haven Red-White or Branford Reef on a close reach for my first leg, then make a reach from there on to Westbrook.
If you motored the whole way assuming 5.5 kts at 32 nm, that would be about 6 hours. Assuming 1 gallon per hour, you'd need six gallons plus an extra gallon or two (just in case) to get there. Gas, as you know, is plentiful in Branford, so you should be set.
Enjoy yourself and good luck on Saturday.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5444 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2010 : 18:52:33

Brian
How did you make out on Saturday? What route did you take?
Wind and weather was excellent, as far as I could tell.

Edited by - on

Brian Clancy
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2010 : 02:38:37

We made it to Westbrook on Sunday after spending Saturday niight in Branford. Saturday we motored directly across to Branford at about 5mph. We spent the night at Bruce & Johnson marina and 2 of us slept on the boat amongst the interesting sounds of a marina at night.

Sunday my crew came late and we did not leave Branford until 12, so we only had a few hours of favorable tide to Westbrook. We had the sails up the whole time and we also had the motor running since we were on a timetable. There was some wind, but not enough to get us there without some motor. A few times I throttled the motor down we were sailing at 2-3 and there were other times where we were just bobbing around. Weather was great on both days.

After 8-10 hours of motoring, I still have gas in the 6 gallon tank, so mileage is good. Thanks for the help. I will be active with other questions as I learn about the boat.

Brian

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5444 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2010 : 05:27:35

I was out both days that weekend on LI Sound around Stratford and Milford. Saturday was the windier of the two days. Sunday provided a very slight breeze, but I joined by a friend who's a newbie aboard Passage. He tried his hand at the tiller - conditions were perfect for him.

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