Long Island Sound North Shore

[RyFitz13]

Hey folks. My wife and I are doing some research for our first boat. Over the weekend, we went to the Clinton Harbor boat show, where one salesman in particular insisted we'd be able to cruise a 20' Stingray Cuddy Cabin from the CT shore out to Block Island. I've since learned that this is most likely not only dishonest, but possibly quite dangerous to attempt! (If you know otherwise, please fill me in!)<br /><br />So - we're left with a bit of a quandry. We like the idea of something with a cabin. Most important (to the wife at least) is the presence of a head, while I like the idea of a sleeping berth so we could take weekend (maybe longer) trips in the boat. But we're also not in the right position financially to maintain and run a small to mid-sized cruiser, so I'm thinking that limits our destinations.<br /><br />So, where are some good destinations that are safely reachable from the south shore of CT in a 18-22ft Cuddy? I'm still very interested in this class of boat, but if the destinations are limited I'm beginning to think we're better off just going with a smaller runabout for the time being.<br /><br />Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[tommays]

Re: Long Island Sound North Shore

<br /><br />well i go there with no problem on pretty much the same boat<br /><br />BUT i was boating a LONG LONG time and recived a lot of training on large sailboats in realy bad weather on the sound and ocean before i ever tryed on a boat that small<br /><br />picking the weather is the single most inportant thing there are plenty of times when i have been out there and a 40 ft boat was on the small side<br /><br />and theres plenty of times when its like a big lake<br /><br />i would spend a lot of time takeing boating corses and learning how to REALLY navagate before even thinging about going that far as new boater<br /><br />tommays

 

[RyFitz13]

Re: Long Island Sound North Shore

tommays - Thanks for the answer. So, what other destinations on the sound would be good for a beginning boater?<br /><br />This will help us to decide if we continue on course to pick out a cuddy/small cruiser to start, or if instead we go with a smaller runabout while we're learning.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Long Island Sound North Shore

I could do it in my boat if the weather is nice. And that is the key, being able to handle it if the weather turns bad. A 20' should handle that with no problems.<br /><br />For a beginner, I suggest you pick up a Waterproof Charts brand chart of the area. Available at most marine supply stores or online. The Peconic bay is a great place to practice boating skills because the waters are protected and the charts clearly mark hazzards. And after taking a boating safety course you will easly breeze your way around Shelter Island and know what all those channel markers are for and what the colors mean. <br /><br />There are lots of places to drop anchor and hang out. This is a view of the Peconic Bay. The North Fork (Great Hogs Neck) is across the water. The beach is Jessup Neck. <br /><br /><br />

<br /><br /><br />I cannot stress enough the importance of the Boating Safety course. You will have more confidence in what your doing, and that means having more fun!

 

[tommays]

Re: Long Island Sound North Shore

well depending on were you keep the boat on the north shore there lots of short trips between places<br /><br /><br />but thats were the charts and learing comes in there are lot of ROCKS on the north shore that hide at high tide like icebergs and are not marked<br /><br />i dont want to make it sound bad but it does require takeing the time to learn or you will learn the hard way <br /><br /><br />tommays

 

[milkyway]

Re: Long Island Sound North Shore

Have the boat surveyed and buy the boat! There are many places you can go and do with it. LI sound has very calm waters and places to moore. There's nothing like being on the water. Learn how use a boat, navigation, then worry about where to go. Tow it to south shore and spend a whole day on the beach, have picnics, go fishing, have lunches at marinas. I was advised to buy the biggest boat I could afford cause you can do more with it than a small one.

 

[handball]

Re: Long Island Sound North Shore

Dear Boater,<br />The north shore of long island has many many harbors that can be great places to visit. One place is port jefferson which has a large marina called danfords, also you can anchor your boat at the north end of the harbor. With a small boat you can pull it up almost on the beach and spend the day there.If you look at the charts such as #12354 long island sound eastern part you will see there is also mattituck which is about 25 miles east of port jeff. This harbor has a small anchorage at the very end of the creek, and from there you can walk to town and get something to eat. If you do get to the shelter island area you might want to try coecles harbor it is one of our favorite places to anchor and relax. All these places are with in the reach of a small boat, but plan to make the trip in settled weather when there is no strong fronts coming thru.<br />Do not let people scare you about rocks in the sound they are usually very near shore and only people who are careless will have a problem with them. We have been boating here for about 40 years and have enjoyed all of them.<br />Bill

 

[bosavy]

Re: Long Island Sound North Shore

I have a 20.5 cuddy . There's many places to moore and anchor in the sound. There also duck island were many boaters just hang out. By a gps unit and explore.