In today’s episode, we explore the sailing destination of Sandy Hook NJ. Sandy Hook is just south of NY harbor and as the name suggests, it’s a hooked shaped spit of land that projects out into Raritan Harbor.  The spit stretches about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the northern end of the New Jersey shore toward New York Harbor. It’s covered with coastal woodlands, sand dunes, beaches, and salt marshes.

Sandy Hook has the oldest surviving lighthouse in what is now the United States. It was built-in 1764, and is still in use today. In 1895, the U.S. Army renamed the "Fortifications at Sandy Hook" as Fort Hancock. The installation would protect New York Harbor from invasion by sea. Its yellow brick buildings were constructed largely between 1898-1910, with the fort reaching its peak population in World War II. Concrete bunkers and rail-mounted guns were buried in the beach dunes so that they could disappear from sight after firing on enemy ships. In later years, Nike missiles stood ready to shoot down nuclear weapons.  Many of these structures are still visible today.

It’s a great place to anchor when you are heading South and need to wait for a weather window or if you are heading North via NYC and need to get the weather or tidal currents in your favor. There are also several ferries that run between Sandy Hook and NYC.  So, it’s actually a good place to use as a base of operation to get to NYC.

It is a nice anchorage and as the name implies, it’s a nice sandy bottom, so it is easy to set the anchor and the holding is good.  Guide books and Navionics charts list several anchoring spots.  We set our anchor near the Coast Guard Station.  Just be aware of the ferries, as they run into the night and can kick up a wake.  The anchorage is well protected from all directions except the West.  Since the fetch to the West is not that large, anything under 30 Knots should be fine. There are also a couple of marinas on the “main land” at the base of Sandy Hook if you need protection for a big blow.  Atlantic Highlands Marina is one where I have stayed, in addition to docks with power, water, etc, they also have several moorings behind a breakwater, so it is well protected.

Over all, it’s a great place to stop and visit and an excellent staging area for heading North or South.

Check out the links below.

National Park Service - Sandy Hook NJ

Atlantic Highlands Marina

Ferry to NYC

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].

Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

In today’s episode, we discuss why sailing on the East Coast of the United States ranked as one of the best and most diverse sailing, (and boating) destinations in the world.  It’s approximately 1,800 nm from Maine to Key West.  You can make the trip in 4-10 hour day hops or you can sail the whole thing non-stop.  You can see large cities, historic small towns, and enjoy very diverse cuisine.  So, listen in and set some time aside to explore this great sailing and boating region of the world.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].

Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

In today’s episode, we explore the passage from Port Washington NY to Sandy Hook NJ via the East River and NYC. It’s a spectacular trip of approximately 35 nautical miles with beautiful views of NYC, the Statue of Liberty, and NY Harbor.  We also discuss passage planning and dealing with tidal currents, commercial traffic, and daylight hours.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].

Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

In today’s episode, we discuss putting your boat on the hard for the Winter.  If you live where it gets below freezing during the year, you need to winterize your boat.

Winterizing day is always a sad day that sailors and boaters who live in colder climates face.  You either sail to warmer climates or you put the boat away for the winter. This Winter, with COVID in full swing and borders closing, I will not be sailing to warmer climates.  So, in this episode Mike and I discuss:

Hope you found this episode interesting.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].

Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

In today’s episode, we explore the destination of Port Washington NY.  Port Washington is in Manhasset Bay, on the north side of long island, it’s near NYC, so it is a great stopover when transiting the East River and heading South or North via NYC. Manhasset Bay is mostly private homes, or more accurately, private mansions.  It is well worth hoping in the dinghy and riding around.  What a beautiful bay with huge mansions all along the shore.  Some are old, classical looking mansions and others are newer, very modern looking.  Part of The Great Gatsby movie was filmed in some of these mansions.

There is a great mooring field run by the town of Port Washington.  You can get a mooring for $25/night and it includes the water taxi.

Check out the links below.

Port Washington Moorings

Manhasset Bay Marina

Great Gatsby Boat Tour

Narinatto - Korean Restaurant

DiMaggio's Trattoria

We also have another podcast, with over 100 episodes titled, The Unconventional Path: Entrepreneurship and Innovations Stories with Bela and Mike.  Feel free to check it out.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].

Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike

In today’s episode, Mike and I discuss an overnight passage from Marion, Massachusetts to Port Washington, NY.  That’s a distance of approximately 150 nautical miles.  Marion is located in Sippican Harbor which is off of Buzzards Bay and Port Washington is in Manhasset Bay, which is on the north side of long island, very close to NYC.  It makes Port Washington a great stopover when transiting through NYC via the East River.

We discuss the challenges of sailing at night and how to plan your passage so you arrive at your destination during daylight hours.

We also have another podcast, with over 100 episodes titled, The Unconventional Path: Entrepreneurship and Innovations Stories with Bela and Mike.  Feel free to check it out.

We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].

Wishing you fair winds, and calm seas.

Bela and Mike