New Jersey ICW

For those who migrate from New England to the Chesapeake and points South, how do you handle the NJ ICW?

Do you go from Sandy Hook clear to Cape May outside or do you venture into the NJ Inlets?

Do you stop at Atlantic City to gamble?

Do you ever travel up the ICW thru Barnegat Bay and the Pt Pleasant Canal?

If you skip the entire distance, is it due to disinterest, time constraints, or fear of shallows and difficult inlets.*

If you need local knowledge for this area, let me know, we would like to*meet some of you guys and*could have dockage for your stop.

John and Miri P

I have been thru 3 times on my to and from the Chesapeake. *The only leg I haven't done is Atlantic City to Cape may on the inside.

Mostly time constraints and disinterest has kept me moving thru NJ, although I have stopped for an overnight at Tices Shoal once, and a couple of nights at Captain's Inn/Forked River. Once at Sunset Lake, that was a trip slithering out of there. Once on the hook in from of the CG staion Cape May...stern facing the rocks in a stiff wind. Not my cup of tea. I liked Utch's much better. A couple of times inside Barnegat, the anchorage hole on the south side whatever it's called. That was "ok".

All trip were with my old Mainship 34 and a 3 ft draft so I never really worried about water. But you have to pay attention for sure.

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jleonard wrote:
**The only leg I haven't done is Atlantic City to Cape may on the inside.

Good choice, this leg is awful,* bridges, tides, shallows.* Outside is the way to go.

If you draw more than 4'-6" the NJ icw is tough-- 4' is better.

A guy keeps his Fleming55 at his home dock in Toms River, so I guess where there is a will there is a way.

JohnP

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Hi,
I'm thinking of taking my boat south this summer, and was wondering whether to go outside NJ non-stop from Sandy Hook to Cape May (24 hour run), or to duck in half way (Atlantic City maybe?) or do part of it inside. I have a Marine Trader 43', which draws 4'2" - but I would be nervous going anywhere with less than about 6' of water... any thoughts or advice?

We came down from RI to Chesapeake last summer. After hauling out for a couple of days to let Irene pass we left Horseshoe Cove in Sandy Hook about 6AM and got into Atlantic City by 6PM. That's cruising at about 7 knots and we fought a 2-3 knot incoming tide the first couple of hours after rounding Sandy Hook. The next day was relatively short from Atlantic City to Cape May (about 6 hours), but it gave us a few hours to sight-see. The following day was another long one, going through the Cape May Canal, up the Delaware River, through the C-D Canal then anchoring in Bohemia River -- about 12-13 hours with a favorable tide pushing us up the Delaware.

We draw a little under 4', but all the advice I had received was to go outside unless you really wanted to "gunk hole" your way down for a week or so. We weren't in a big hurry, but did have some time constraints. That, in combination with all the fresh shoaling following Irene prompted us to go outside, which I think was the right decision. Even waiting a day or two for a good weather window, you'll get south quicker outside - you'll just miss waiting for bridges and going aground a couple of times* .

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dvd


-- Edited by dvd on Saturday 14th of January 2012 09:01:07 AM

running inside in* NJ is a nightmare,unless you have plenty of time, and a lot of local knowledge as thing change a lot,pick a nice day and run out side,put on the auto pilot and enjoy the ride.

Hi Guys,
thanks for the good advice.
What are the best one or two inlets to get into in NJ if I decide to split the trip in two days? Some of the inlets on the chart look quite dicey, with very bad shoaling.

Phillip

manasquan is the best of the three.i am located on toms river,and quite familiar with the area.barnegat does not always live up to its reputation,but best to enter on slack tide.all three inlets have rock jettys on the entrance,so best to go to the outer marker,then line up with the entrance. many real good anchorages inside barnegat,after you get to the main channel.east side(seaward) of barnegat bay is very shallow,best to stay closer to the mainland. good luck with whatever you chose!

I haven't been on the left coast for a while but the usual path is outside NYC to Manasquan Inlet and inside to Barnegat inlet or continue further down inside to Atlantic City. AC to Cape May is usually done outside. Cape May canal to Delaware Bay. Barnegat Bay is shallow so stick to the channels and use current charts. They move and re-number the buoys.

I live right on Barnegat Inlet and if anyone should want to pop into our anchorage for the night I would be happy to send them a local knowledge chart I have marked up with seaward approaches from both the north and south. It also includes a track to the anchorage and the fuel marina and a yacht club. I watched a 60 foot trawler today completely miss the turn in the channel and end up on the the sand flats. Luckily the wind and tide were right to get him free. We draw 5 1/2 feet so we stay off-shore.

Dave

Heading north now, should exit the C and D this Friday. New Jersey is giving me a headache planning. My Boat is a 37' trawler I might be sole to Atlantic City..... Any advice. Thank you

Cape May to Ocean City, NJ has 2 spots that are less than 3 feet at low tide across the whole channel. Near marker 395 and marker 419. I just towed a 34 marine Trader who was mid channel at near low tide near 419 on Saturday morning. I was able to wiggle him to deep water so he could be on his way...luckily the tide was incoming and was up a notch by the time I got to him.

I have no problems with 4 feet of draft when I travel the last 3 of the incoming and the last 3 of the outgoing.

Be very careful between Great Bay and Little Egg, Little Egg has shoaling across the entire inlet at low tide. On the north side the shoaling runs all the way out to the LEI bell buoy. You can see all the North side breakers so my advice if you don't have to come into Little Egg stay 3 plus miles off shore or you'll end up in ankle deep water. Your cue would be the jet skiers partying 2 to 3 miles out on the shoal.
So I'll repeat stay at least 3 plus miles from the LEI buoy unless you want your boat trashed in the surf.
Bill

We just finished a delivery from Boston to Palm Beach, FL. We spent a night in a marina in Manhasset Bay, NY. We left at daybreak and made our way down the East River and through NY harbor in heavy fog. We popped out at Sandy Hook and ran down the whole coast (outside) in calm seas. We passed Cape May late that evening. It got pretty rough crossing Delaware Bay so we ducked into Cape Henlopen harbor and anchored for the night. We ran down the DelMarVa Peninsula the next day in calm seas again. We averaged 12/13 knots.

I might take some time to explore the NJ coast on my boat, probably on a trip up to Maine. When I was a kid I used to surf up and down the NJ coast, so I’m pretty familiar with it. KJ

The ICW channel at Marker 452 behind North Wildwood is only about 50 -75 ft wide, 10-12 ft deep, with shallow sand bottom on both sides. Best done on an incoming tide. Boats churn a lot of sand here every day.
R452 sits in 9 ft of water. A boat length to the SE, water is only about 3 ft deep. Go dead slow and try to stay in 10 ft depths. Stay close to R452 and G449. R450 and R448 sit in the exposed sand at low tide so leave them about 25-50 ft off. It widens back to normal above R446.

now I know who out bid me on that delivery from Boston to palm Beach, too bad I had a delivery to cape may and I could have shot right up there and ran back down here, I live in Jupiter, oh well?