On 27 Dec 2004 09:56:20 -0800, wrote:

In the process of planning a possible spring and/or summer cruise in
Long Island Sound and nearby, after shipping "Gambier," a Eastbay 43,
drawing four feet, by truck from Ft. Lauderdale to probably northern NJ
for offloading and pick-up, I am asking for suggestions and comments
about:

How early ought one to begin a cruise on the Sound?

I like to be off-season, so I don't have to make prior arrangements.
That said, the Sound can be nasty or nice any time. If you don't mind
staying in port or thrashing around when it gets wooly, start in late
April or early May.


Crowdedness in general on the Sound?

Off season, I have usually been able to get a berth. Twice in the last
few years I have had dificulty in late SEP or Oct at Dodson's in
Stonington CT because a big regatta was coming.

Eatons Neck I have always been able to anchor.

Port Jeff has lots of room to anchor out from the mooring fields.

Crowdedness in ??? ports, marinas, anchorages?
Better and best anchorages and marinas?
Better and best villages, towns and cities to visit, and why?
The Mystic Seaport Museum has enough exhibits to take a full day.

Stonington is better than most for restaurants.

Best fuel (deisel) sources?

That kind of info is usually up to date in the Northern Waterways
guide..

Your best comments and advise re cruising Long Island Sound?
Thanks much.

Ed Wagner
m/v Gambier


Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Wanting to meet a writer because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate."
Margaret Atwood

Definitely get one of the Long Island Sound Guide Books, also a copy of
Eldridge would be a good idea. There are a number of fine ports on both sides
of the sound and at both ends. While the sound is not very big, less than a 20
hour run from on end to the other for even a slow boat, I suggest you carry a
cell phone as well as the usual VHF and call ahead for marina reservations
regardless of were you are. There are few good anchorages anywhere in LIS.

If you are secure in your navigation consider a run through the Thimbles.
Essex, a few miles up the Connecticut River, is a must. If you have the time,
you might want to spend a night anchored in Hamburg Cove.

After Essex, you can consider crossing over into the "forks" of Long Island. A
trip from Greenport around Shelter Island with stops at 3 mile, Sag Harbor, and
maybe one or another would be a great way to spend a few days. You might want
to end up at Montauk. By the way, most of this area is called Gardner's Bay,
not LIS.

You need to time your passage from Essex to Greenport to hit slack at Plum Gut,
and you should have reasonable favorable weather.

After this "circumnavigation" I would leave Montauk and cross over to Block
Island.
You will definitely note that you are not in the sound now, but in the ocean,
with ocean swells, etc. So wait for good weather. Go for the inlet at Great
Salt Pond. Moorings there are first come first serve. Dock space is by
reservation, and anchoring is limited. If you anchor, have good heavy gear,
and make sure it is well "stuck." If you want dockside, call now for a
reservation!

After Block, I would take a run across Block Island Sound, through Watch Hill
Passage into Fisher Island Sound. ( If I had the time, I might consider east
and spending a few days in Newport, etc., but you said LIS.)

Once in Fisher Island Sound go up the Mystic River. If you have reservations,
or can get dockside at Mystic Seaport Museum, fine; otherwise, there are two or
three fine marinas NORTH of the RR bridge right in downtown Mystic. Not a bad
walk to the museum or the restaurants.

Heading back west from Mystic, you can go back into LIS from Fisher Sound and
stop at all the places you missed on the way east.

LIS is always crowed, usually cold early in the season, then hot and muggy with
possible afternoon thunderstorms in July and August. It can get foggy as you
go east. To me the best cruising is just after Labor Day until early October.
Navigation is easy: East & West go up and down sound, North and South bump into
land! :-)