Hi all, I am planning to sail TOTALed MAYHEM up to CT over the 3 day Memorial Day Weekend to race in the North Americans the first week of June. I estimate it will be about 50 hours of sailing/motoring. I'll research tides etc. It would be great to have a group of us go together if possible. If you are interested, let me know. On the return, I will most likely trailer the boat back, or sail it to NJ and then trailer home to Annapolis. We already have 7 J30s registered.

Blitz is registered. I've got tentative crew commitment but nothing has been finalized. A Memorial Day weekend delivery could work for us.

Similarly, I'll be doing a delivery from Newport in my J/109 and plan to leave Newport on Weds 30 May, stop at Pilot's Point Marina in Westbrook, CT, then arrive Cedar Point on Friday.

I've attached some route planning I did when I brought my J/109 from Annapolis to Newport. The pdf takes you outside Long Island but the Excel file has a route through New York City. This may help those delivering to Cedar Point from Annapolis.

Excel Spreadsheet - see various tabs for legs in route - http://j109.org/docs/Annapolis-Newport.xls
PDF - print this for annotated charts - http://j109.org/docs/Annapolis-Newport-Route-Plan.pdf
GPX files for GPS are in the attached Zip file

I will have just finished up my graduate finals at that point, so I don't think I will have time to deliver Mondial or round up a crew. I would be happy to help deliver and/or race if anyone needs a mast-man or jib trim.

Wow Bill, That was one comprehensive float plan! Thank you. Well, worked on getting the running lights all working as well as the autohelm last weekend. Confirmed crew for the delivery as well. Will leave, based on looking at tides, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. We plan to sail through, unless advantageous to stop based on tides or a convenient food stop. (C&D, Cape May, City Island). I'm very familiar with the trip up NY Harbor and east river as we lived in NJ and would bring our old boat to LIS twice a year for racing.

I'm still trying to get crew for NA 's confirmed. I don't suspect I'll know for sure if Blitz is racing until sometime in March. I've done the C&D route down the Delaware a couple of times. It is pretty straightforward but the tides/currents make a big difference. On our delivery from Rhode Island we hit the East River right on time and rode the "bobsled" all the way down the river. It was a FAST ride! We hit the mouth of the Delaware on similar circumstances and got a nice push all the way up and into the C&D.

I will keep you posted on my crew situation. It would be nice to travel with another boat.

J

Considering taking Bebop, but would be more likely to trailer if we go. If I were to sail, I'd want to leave at least two weeks ahead in case of foul weather and to give myself a chance to recover from the trip. Not everyone has that kind of flexibility. In all but calm weather the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic can be hard on the boat and taxing for the crew.

You probably won't have the crew weight on the rail you have while racing, so upwind and reaching plan on using an old Dacron #3 or #2 Genoa if you have one and have the main ready to reef. Send your racing sails up by car. Be sure your engine is in tip-top condition, bring spares, start with a clean fuel tank and a fresh filter. You are likely to motor even when sailing particularly in Delaware Bay and the East River/Hell Gate. Timing the tides for these two locations is critical as the current really rips.

We did two round trip deliveries Annapolis to Long Island and Annapolis to Newport back in the days of Loran. Cappy, my dad, did not like to sail all night or get too far offshore, so our route was intended to allow us to sail during the day and anchor or tie up night at whenever possible. Annapolis to Chesapeake City on the C&D, then time the tide to Cape May. Through Cape May Canal which cuts distance and is a good place fuel up and wait for a weather window for the leg to New York City. Have also stopped at Atlantic City inlet. I have been in an out of Mansaquan a few times, but not in a J/30. It might be dicey in rough weather. Once when I still lived in NYC we stopped overnight at South Street Seaport. Likewise for City Island which is not fair off the rhumb line about 30 NM from Cedar Point.

As always Bill K is a great resource and a meticulous planner. As a Navy grad Bill may know it by another name but I've always thought it was Greenbury not Gooseberry Point in the Severn River off Annapolis.

Bob - you are correct - it is Greenberry Pt, not Gooseberry Pt. Must have been a brain lapse during the planning!