Long Island Sound - Overnight Passage?

Hello,

Was wondering if an overnight passage from Cuttyhunk to Port Washington would be a good idea, not being very familiar with this area probably not.

I dont have to do it but was just gonna ask the gurus here.

It would of course depend primarily on the weather conditions.

Comments welcome.

My biggest concern would be lobster pots.

Not a lot of lobster gear out there any more. Stay outside if the fish trap area along the Mass / Rhode Island shore. Maybe stay a little further south of Point Judith (favor Block Island) to avoid any lobster pots. Pick your weather and it should be a nice cruise. Point Judith is pretty much always a washing machine weather day or night. Look at your tide charts (Eldridge) and do your best to time it for fair currents.

Cigatoo said:

Not a lot of lobster gear out there any more. Stay outside if the fish trap area along the Mass / Rhode Island shore. Maybe stay a little further south of Point Judith (favor Block Island) to avoid any lobster pots. Pick your weather and it should be a nice cruise. Point Judith is pretty much always a washing machine weather day or night. Look at your tide charts (Eldridge) and do your best to time it for fair currents.

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+1 on the pots but you still see some. Less once past Pt. Judith. Do try to time the current for a "downhill" ride. Eldridge is your friend.

Rob

Should be a relatively easy run. when in doubt favor the Long Island side. Less rocks. Free town moorings in Port Washington if you didn't already know.

A good backup plan might be to stop for the night in West Harbor of Fishers Island. Pirates cove has 5 moorings in the harbor and they won't be collecting this time of year. And they will most likely be empty.

You are probably already aware but there is plenty of commercial traffic between Newport and the race continuing into the sound. Keep a good lookout and monitor 13 / 16.

How fast can you cruise? That trip is about 150 NM so if you can go 15 kts, you could make it in daylight with a dawn departure.

I know that the single Yanmar MS 400 can't do 15 kt. Maybe the twin can.

David

DavidM said:

How fast can you cruise? That trip is about 150 NM so if you can go 15 kts, you could make it in daylight with a dawn departure.

I know that the single Yanmar MS 400 can't do 15 kt. Maybe the twin can.

David

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That's a good point. Even if you can't speed up enough to make the run in daylight, I'd be inclined to leave early in the morning (in the dark) and plan to speed up when the sun rises (arriving before dark). Much less running in the dark than an overnight run with a morning arrival (and typically easier on the crew if you're not used to overnight runs).

There is also Mattituck Inlet available if you can’t make Port Washington. Nice anchorage at the end of the long narrow inlet. Easy to navigate in daylight wouldn’t do it in the dark unless you’d been there before.
That’s on Long Island.

If you keep going pass the harbor there are expansive areas to anchor at Judith further in. They are fully protected and make for a quiet night. I need my beauty sleep. See nothing wrong in doing this in as many jumps as you want. Remember schedules kill. There’s multiple places to stop on both the NY and Connecticut sides if you get tired. As regards which side often will just stay on the side that’s in the lee side of the prevailing winds so least fetch to the seas. It isn’t a big deal to cross over to the other side if that’s where you want to end up. This is a nice trip in the fall. Don’t feel pushed to do the whole thing as one big jump. We’re lucky as both sides of LI Sound have so many harbors. As an aside Stonington is a lovely little town with good restaurants.

rslifkin said:

My biggest concern would be lobster pots.

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Hmmm, since 99% of the lobster industry died out due to warming water, ignore this comment.

You will have no issues doing this. I've done it dozens of times. There is commercial traffic but always well lit, good radar targets and no problem. The ferry from Port Jefferson to New Haven is equally well lit and may be part of your early morning sighting.

Port Washington has town moorings, yellow bouys, which are free for the first night and just $30 a night after that. Free pump out too. Jamie the pump out guy will take good care of you.

DavidM said:

How fast can you cruise? That trip is about 150 NM so if you can go 15 kts, you could make it in daylight with a dawn departure.

I know that the single Yanmar MS 400 can't do 15 kt. Maybe the twin can.

David

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Err, this is a trawler forum. Slow and long

Oh, one more thing..... you need to time the tide for 'the race' as it can run 5+ kts either way.

I'm guessing the massive decline in lobster pots is fairly recent? I remember them still being quite significant around 10 years ago.

2savage said:

Err, this is a trawler forum. Slow and long

Oh, one more thing..... you need to time the tide for 'the race' as it can run 5+ kts either way.

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There are a lot of boats here that can go faster than trawler speed.

rslifkin said:

I'm guessing the massive decline in lobster pots is fairly recent? I remember them still being quite significant around 10 years ago.

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They are still out there. But not nearly the numbers like in the past.

rslifkin said:

I'm guessing the massive decline in lobster pots is fairly recent? I remember them still being quite significant around 10 years ago.

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Since around 2015 - 6 there is a significant reduction. The water warmed up.

I never worried too much about the current at the Race even at my 6.5 knot cruising speed. It just takes an extra 15 minutes or so to go thru the worst of it. Just be wary of the fishing boats that are drifting with the current.

Agree with jleonard. If you’re worried about that personally think the entrance near RI/Conn border is easier. Similarly don’t worry about timing the LI Sound tides. 6h it’s with you but 6h against. Worry more about daylight this time of year and hitting places while they’re still open.

head for the dark part

Can't help but remember my first night trip down LI Sound. We had just taken delivery of a new sailboat off a freighter in Port Elizabeth...when we shot out of the East River and past City Island around midnight - heading for Stonington, CT (which would make a lovely stopover about midaway on your trip btw) I asked the broker accompanying us, a more experienced boater than I, what course we should steer....without hesitating he replied:


"How should I know, Just head for the dark part"

2savage said:

Hmmm, since 99% of the lobster industry died out due to warming water, ignore this comment.

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I do the majority of my boating in the Sound and would not ignore the warning about lobster pots. Sure, there are not as many as in the past, but it only takes one to ruin your day. I am on the lookout for them every trip and often have to avoid 1 or 2. I even added a line cutter on my shaft this year because even in daylight you can come up on one that's not well marked and partially submerged due to waves and current.

Not sure why you want to do this trip at night especially if you're unfamiliar. As others have said there are many dozens of great places to stop on both sides of the sound. A 2-3 day trip w/o pushing yourself would be a lot more fun and less risky.

Tidal current through ‘the Race’ (west end of Fishers Island) is definitely a factor at trawler speeds. Going against it you’ll be lucky to make 4 knots. I’ve traversed the sound three times (east to west) in the past year, will be doing it again in a couple weeks. I haven’t seen that much traffic, but do keep an eye out for the ferries - New London / Block Island, New London / Orient Point, and Bridgeport / Port Jefferson. Be extra careful going at night your first time out (I advise against it). Also, Navionics will take you close to the Middle Ground shoal. Steer clear!! (Between Bridgeport and Port Jeff.)

The tide will have a significant impact on your SOG - consult your Chapman’s

Buy this year's Eldridge for $18 - you'll save a load of fuel if you time your arrival at The Race to suit the tides. Timed correctly, you should be able to ride an ebb tide to the Race and then an incoming tide from the Race westwards.
If you stay in the middle of the Sound, you shouldn't encounter any pots, but bear in mind, although lobsters are no longer there, they do fish for conch using similar pots with associated floats.

Stonechamps said:

"How should I know, Just head for the dark part"

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Came up the Delaware overnight a couple months ago. The 'dark parts' were commercial ships running the channel. Surprising how difficult they were to see amongst all the shore lights. Very glad for radar and AIS.

Hippocampus said:

Similarly don’t worry about timing the LI Sound tides. 6h it’s with you but 6h against. Worry more about daylight this time of year and hitting places while they’re still open.

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Somewhat true, but only if you are running for 12 hours. Most like to take advantage of the tides during a 6-8 hour day. Also, there are some places, like the Race, where you really don't want to fight the tide, but other places as well could be a couple knots worth. Not critical, but worth looking at especially at slow speeds.

Been sailing LI Sound for over 60 years.
Lobster pots are not an issue as for the most part they are no existent.

Best to plan your trip to coincide with tide. You want to catch the flood either thru Watch Hill Passage or the "The Race". If unfamiliar with the passage, only take Watch Hill Passage in daylight. Lights at night can be confusing otherwise.
The "Race" is the clearest and easiest. You have 2 major lighthouses and a powerful RACON on G-11 which sits between the 2 lighthouses.
From there it is a clear shot down the sound with numerous 'MO-A' buoys to follow all the way to Strafford Shoals lighthouse. Plenty of water. If you suspect any weather, the CT shore offers more places to 'duck-in'. Prevailing wind is usually SW.

Guess you definition of slow changes with the boat. For over 3 decades had sail. Now have SD. It’s a total joy to be able to ignore tides to some extent. Still suck at docking so pay attention to currents then. But otherwise c/w sail not so much. During the fall there’s still junk in the water. Up here more floating debris. Also a lot of winter sticks in harbors. At low light angles the tied together empty plastic gallon containers people use to mark traps are less visible. Often discolored, faded or abandoned so even less visible. Find I’m more concerned about seeing stuff than in the summer. In the ocean I actually prefer night watches to day. But coastal very much prefer to avoid night.
Yes, you’re right in the sailboat timed the tides for the Race. In the current SD hull time the trip for daylight. Especially when there’s less daylight to work with.

I have cruised extensively at night. East river and the sound. Before night curing make sure you are familiarly with the area, buoy location, twists and turn. Good track marks make it easier. Its always better to have a feel for the area first, but sometimes it unavoidable.
The east river to the sound is not bad for visibility. There is enough ambient light from the city you can see well enough without anything special. The sound is another matter. Either way you go ( towards ny is worse) the flashing buoy lights get lost in the city landscape. I run with a night vision camera ( Nite Trak ) . I keep this on a dedicated screen. I can see the water in front of the boat and pick out the buoys. The camera is great for picking out running lights on other vessels long before you can see them by eye.



The camera is not a wide pan screen, kinds narrow field of view. But if its not on the screen I cant hit it. This makes it great when passing buoys or debris in the water.
The pictures don't do the camera justice.
In the fist pic you can clearly see the rippled water in front of the boat. Great for finding debris. In the second pic ( moonless night in the ocean 20 miles away from land ) you could still see the horizon , the water in front of the boat, and pick out any boat traffic lights long before i could see them by eye. This was great in conjunction with the full screen radar. I could visually confirm my radar targets since I know where to look in the dark.

In October of 2017, I sailed a Gulfstar 44 from Narragansett Bay to just south of Annapolis in Chesapeake Bay.

We left Wickford RI early afternoon, and heavy rains hit, so we found and "borrowed" an empty mooring in the inner waters at Point Judith for few hours.

We woke up around 2am and it was a beautiful night, so we picked up the hook and sailed west down the sound.

That evening we found a small cove on the north shore of Long Island off the town of Manhasset close to the Throgs Neck Bridge and stayed the night, and the following morning timed our passage through Hell's Gate - strong tides and currents - and NYC to Sandy Hook NJ. And then headed south outside the NJ coast.

I've since sold the sailboat and now have the Grand Banks.

Anyway... as others have mentioned... time the tides and currents around Block Island - they are strong.

Also... if cruising at night in Long Island Sound... watch the commercial traffic... especially the tugs towing barges. The tow cable is long - very long - and the visual connection between the tug and the barge is not always easily apparent. Obviously you don't want to get in between the two. There's plenty of room in the Sound to stay clear, just be watchful.

Good luck. Enjoy the trip.

Datenight said:

+1 on the pots but you still see some. Less once past Pt. Judith. Do try to time the current for a "downhill" ride. Eldridge is your friend.

Rob

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Agreed. Along the southern shore you could see a 4-6 Kt differential (2-3 knot current) depending on if you with with or against. Watch the eastern end of L.I. (The race) it can get sporty through there so timing is important.

Since buying current boat in the fall of last year have gone Groton Connecticut- east Greenwich RI, east Greenwich to Deltaville Va, Deltaville to Melville RI. Have gone Barrington RI to Norfolk Va 8x on prior sailboat in recent years prior. All trips fall or spring.
As said there’s only two places where timing tides is critical regardless of time of day. Hell gate/east river and the Race. But unlike getting through NYC the Race is a very short time and in a SD hull unlike the sailboat you can easily get through against the current. I don’t have FLIR. I’m willing to spent the money on fuel. If the seasons allow of course will time to avoid traveling against tides. But for me having a good weather window and maximizing time in daylight are also part of the equation. Of course given every SD micro includes tides and currents I do slow down or speed up to time things but no longer feel the need to hit things at slack. I used to buy Eldridge annually but haven’t in decades as it’s no longer necessary imho. Going against the maximal currents you will see at least in my boat you’ll be burning 4.4gph at 7kts SOG. 10gph at 9.8kts. We’ve done the Deltaville-Rhode island trip both ways. The Groton -RI goes past his destination. At 10k average 617g. At 7k 375g best I can tell looking at fuel receipts. Neither time except for NYC paid much attention to tides/currents. Think one of the greatest advantages of SD over FD is the freedom SD gives you. Now with fuel well under $6 have no reluctance to use it. Paid $4.50 with slip discount.