Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

Hi there. I have some questions.....Hoping for LOTS of feedback.

My husband and I are relatively new to boating. We have a 232 Baja Islander with a 454, open bow. Friends of ours have a 32Ft Baja outlaw, with a cuddy, and have been boating for many years now. They have asked us to join them next weekend for a boating trip. Their plan (at this point) is to drive to Newburgh and put our boats in there......and travel down the Hudson to see NYC...the statue of liberty, other area sites, and then head back. This is meant to be a day trip.

I have many questions.....

I hate to admit it but I am a bit of a baby on the water. I prefer lakes and fresh water boating. We have mostly enjoyed Raystown Lake and a SMALL lake near our home called Blue Marsh. We have been to North East MD on the bay....a lil choppy there at times though.

How choppy of a ride is this? Is it safe for us as new boaters to do this trip? How long is the ride? Are we crazy to do this as a day trip? I am not sure what to expect....I know the other couple has been looking into this a bit but I perfer to get my own info too....lol. Is there another spot that would be better than Newburgh to launch?
Is our boat too small at 23 ft to do this round? Am I in for a long high speed, rough ride or is this a relaxing cruising kind of a day?? If this does sound like a good idea....what tips do you have?? Restaurants things to see????

Any other things you could add would be great!!! Oh ya we will have our 8 and 10 year old sons with us.

Thanks alot,
Chrissy

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

Why don't you see if your friends with the 32 footer will take you along as passengers. It could be a very long rough ride for a 23 footer open bow.

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

By the way I just noticed this was your very first post so....
Welcome to the iboats.com boating forum!!

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

rndn said:

By the way I just noticed this was your very first post so....
Welcome to the iboats.com boating forum!!

Click to expand...

Thank u!!! Unfortunately we can't ride with them....not enough room. They are taking another family with them and we are a family of 4.

Have you done this trip???

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

No, but a 23 foot bowrider is in no way made to do the kind of trip you're planning. There are some on here that don't suggest taking a bowrider on any water that may get rough because of getting the boat swamped over the bow. If you do end up doing this, make sure you have your bow cover installed.

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

You can do what I do.... Follow in your friends wake. My wifes Uncle has a 23 Outlaw and when we get in rough water, I just drop in behind him and its a lot smoother.

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

Oh... I forgot to add that you might want to post this question on http://www.teambajamarine.com there are a few New Yorkers on the site that might have some suggestions.

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

If you have been to Blue Marsh on a crowded summer day when the wakes and waves are high, you can easily run the Hudson--unless bad weather rolls in. You probably know how Newburgh bay gets when the wind is running against the tide and that would probably be the worst you will see. I used to live in Beacon and launched around Peekskill. That was back when the liberty ships were still anchored there. I am in the 610 phone area and go to Blue Marsh several times a season. Send me a private message with your phone number and I will call you and tell you exactly what to expect. Hell, I ran the Hudson from New York to Lake Champlain in a 15 footer. Scared me a couple of times but i was wet behind the ears then. It will be good for you and your confidence to get a nice trip like this under your belt. Especially if you are running with another skipper.

BTW talk to your friends about circumnavigating Manhattan Island. It's a trip well worth doing.

Re: Newburgh south on Hudson ....can my boat do this safely????

Hi I did that trip a in June, great trip, I run a 22 ft aft cabin cuddy, no problem, but I think you are pushing the limit on the distance. newburgh to liberty is a haul, which if you get into some wind in the open areas around the tapanzee, it can be rough, Fuel is hard to come by on the Hudson also. I fueled at stony point which was my turn around to go back to liberty launch, If your trailering in you may want to trailer to liberty park and launch and go north , find a lunch spot,we had a picnic at stony point, or west point. and then head back down.