Hampton Bays cruies

[pcthornton]

We returned to our home port of Barrington, RI on Monday afternoon from a cruise to Shinnecock Canal and surrounding ports, i.e., Shelter Island, Greenport, etc. This was a GREAT trip and the culmination of a great cruising season aboard our new '02 28 TE - "Patriot" (hull no. 608). Although we fairly routinely cruise to Block Island and do an annual trip to Martha's Vineyard, the NY trip was "big" and a first for us. We wouldn't previously have done this trip on the 26' Seaswirl walkaround that we traded in back in June. Incidentally, we had a slip at Jackson's Marine at the south end of the canal right next to an '03 28 TE named Cache 22 hailing from Virginia. No sign of anyone aboard, however.

The area is beautiful and we will definitely be going back. Our destination next year will be Sag Harbor and maybe Mystic on the way back.

My wife and I (and the kids) are loving the Patriot! We logged around 200 nm on this trip and around 15 engine hours between the 5 hours each way and side trips to Greenport and back and forth through the canal (interesting lock system) a few times to Meshut (sp?) beach. I think we burned approximately 90 - 100 gallons of diesel on the whole trip. This would work out to an average of 6 - 6.7 gph. Not bad at all!

I have some pictures I would like to post but I can't figure out how to do it without the website locking up. If someone could help out, I would be grateful.

[RobS]

Colin, You vacationed on my turf and it looks like we just missed each other as I just completed a similar trip with my wife and 2 daughters:

Mon Aug 11 - Thu Aug 14, Essex, CT, EIM
Thu Aug 14 - Sat Aug 16, Mystic, CT, Mystic SY West
Sat Aug 16 - Mon Aug 18, Shelter Is - Coecles Marina
Mon Aug 18 - Tue Aug 19, Greenport, NY - Mitchell Park

199NM, 96 Gallons, 21 Eng Hrs, 4.6Gal/HR

TOY-RIFIC is kept in Moriches so I ran Shinnecock Canal on Mon the 11th and then back on Tues the 19th. I do not go through the canal on weekends during boating season. Too many inexperienced boaters for those conditions. I know Jackson's well. My family had a 23 Penn Yan there in the 70's and we spent every weekeknd on it.

How was the canal - locks open or closed? You can call 631-852-8299 and get the times for when the locks are closed. I try to plan it when the locks are closed. I'd rather lose a few minutes than deal with the currents.

When I was into trailer boating we were at Meshut regularly - a great quiet little spot and often well sheltered in the summer months. If you're on the beach on the west side of the canal entrance the "American Indians" can be problematic over the past couple of years if you are too close to thier reservation which is behind where the bluffs are.

Where did you stay in Greenport & Shelter Isl?

I am sure you'd agree, the Peconic Bays are wonderful for cruising, deep water, well marked wide channels and scenic. Only draw back is the fishing is very meduim at best and in order to get offshore you have to deal with the canal and that can be a downright circus on the weekends.

As far as photos, I use a free account created on www.photobucket.com or you can use the "Add Attachment" button on the bottom of the "Post Reply" screen but you have to make sure to reduce the photos first. In photobucket there's an option to automatically resize them when they are uploaded from your computer. You'll want to resize to 640x480.

[RicM]

Karen & I are planning an 11 day cruise in the area, Block Island (for the fishing) 2 nights, Montauk Yacht Club (for the pampering), 2 nights in Greenport (for the restaurants), Essex, then home. Would like to hear where you stayed and ate, and what you thought.