Marinas and "goto places" on Long Island Sound

[stupe]

Looking for some advice. This summer 3 families (in separate boats) will be taking a trip from Albany to Block Island for two weeks. Last year the same 3 families went from Lake George, NY via Champlain to Kinston, Ontario (incredible trip!) so we are familiar with the whole transient boater process. I'm looking for some suggestions on where to stay. We are considering anything from Mystic, to Newport, to Peconic Bay, to anything in between. Looking for nice marinas with all the amenities. Hopefully some locals to the area can tell me where to definitely go and what places to stay away from. We are not necessarily looking for the touristy places (we have plenty of that in Lake George) but if its a "must see" place we are fine with that. None of us have a dingy so we need slips for each boat (36ft, 32ft, and 29ft). Also looking for suggestions on where to hangout on the hook near someplace sandy where the kids can swim. We tend to "wing it" but we would like to make reservations at a few key places.

We have the crusing guide to the LIS so we have some idea where to go but I like to hear from a local's perspective...

Thanks!

 

[Ididntdoit]

Nice trip...Check out the Brewer's family of marinas - Through their cruisers club (nothing to pay for or join, just stay 1 night at any location) you get a 25% discount on transient dockage and 10 cents a gallon fuel discount - Their Pilots Point and Mystic locations would both be great stops (nice pools, Mystic used to be a little dirty, but I was just there and its much improved) just outside PP there is duck island, a nice day anchorage. Very close to Mystic there is napatree beach - a great place to spend a night or two - but why bother? - Its really close to block with the best beach in new england! For Newport, stay at the newport harbor hotel - great people - indoor pool - and right in the middle of everything.

 

[Alex F]

Check out these threads:

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/42038-Connecticut-–-Points-of-Interest

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/26021-The-Long-Island-Loop-–-Points-of-Interest

I would recommend places like:

- Mystic
- Watch Hill
- Shelter Island (one of best anchorages around).
- Sag Harbor ("San Trope" of the North). High end place full of mega yachts and celebrities in town.
- Montauk (5 star resort and marina), excellent destination for a weekend or more.
- Northport and Port Jeff have cute towns, which makes them nice weekend getaways.
- Block
- Newport

This should be plenty for 2 weeks trip. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[stupe]

Wow, lots to read here! This should keep me busy for a while. Thanks for the help. I'm sure I'll have some questions as I get into it.

 

[craigswardmtb]

I keep my boat in Old Saybrook this year but prior was in Mystic. So many great places on the CT side on your journey out to Block. My knowledge west of Westbrook is limited. It may be ideal to stop at Brewers Pilots Point in Westbrook. Its their largest yard and really nice. Good onsite restaurant, The Boom, they have a pool, playgrounds, picnic areas, ship store, fuel dock, and all floating docks. Westbrook is a nice town as well. Check out Lenny and Joes Fish Tale, or Bill's seafood. There is also a nice town beach you can walk to from Pilots point, on Seaside ave. The other option is travel another 5 miles and enter the CT River and stay in Old Saybrook. I stay at Brewers Ferry Point, which is nice but a bit further up the river, although still in Old Saybrook. Probably the nicest marina, although most expensive, is Saybrook Point. Very nice hotel, restaurant, spa, pool, floating docks and right at the mouth of the river. A little further, and my next choice, would be Between the Bridges marina. Nice docks, pool, fuel dock, and a good casual reastaurant (the Back Porch), which usually has decent local bands playing. The cheapest fuel around is across the river from between the bridges in East Lyme. The next spot worth a stop is Mystic. Its about 25 nautical miles from Old Saybrook. I think Mystic is one of the prettiest harbors around, and if you stay at the Seaport you get that old world feel with all the classic wooden ships around. Lots of marina options, but if you really want to stay in town than stay at either the Seaport, or Noank Shipyards north yard called Seaport Marine. We like S&P Oyster House for seafood, although the Oyster Club is nice too and now has seating that overlooks the Mystic River. Or go casual and stop at the famed Mystic Pizza. If I were to pick one I would prefer to stay in Mystic over Old Saybrook or Westbrook, and then just head out the next day for the 27nm trip over to New Harbor Block. If you have time to spend in CT/RI than make a trip from Mystic to Napatree. Perhaps one of the nicest anchorages around and georgeous beach. Just be careful going around Sandy Point, its narrow and VERY shallow outside the channel. Ask me how I know.... YOu can then beach anchor the boat on the backside of Napatree and walk over to the ocean side beach. There is a very cool war time fort you can walk to and check out at the point of Napatree. Lastly and my favorite place to be is Block Island. We have done 3 trips this year already. We usually try to get out mid week and find a mooring. You could do this and use the launch service if you want a cheaper alternative, OR you could grab a slip at Champlins, Paynes, or Block Island Boat Basin. We prefer Block Island Boat Basin as they are the only New Harbor marina that doesn't raft you up and you are right at the Oar restaurant. From there enjoy the awesome restaurants and shops of Block Island. If you don't mind a longer trip and you want to be in the center of town, than cruise around Block to the east side and stay in Old Harbor. Not as many marinas but if you call in advance you could get a slip, or use the town slips (I don't believe they take reservations). Lastly go enjoy the awesome beaches of Block. They are a bit tattered this year, more rocks than ever, due to Sandy. However they are still sandy and getting sandier by the day as they are dredging out Old Harbor and dumping all the sand by Town beach and Scotch beach. The best condition beach currently is Mansion Beach, followed by Scotch/town beach. Our favorite restaurants are the Oar, and The National Hotel. Enjoy your trip and feel free to ask questions.

 

[stupe]

Thanks for the suggestions! Right now we plan on staying in Port Washington, NY (have cousins there), Branford, CT (good halfway point to Mystic), Seaport Marina in Mystic for two days, then Block Island for two days, then Port Jefferson on the way back. We would like to stay someplace near NYC or NJ for a night before we head back up the Hudson (suggestions welcome). We will definitely checkout some of your suggested anchorages. The only place we didn't get reservations was Block Island (because the marinas there have a crazy cancelation policy and with the weather changes you never know if you can make your destination) but they suggested we call ahead the day before we leave to make sure they have something. We will be there on a Monday and Tuedsay so they said it shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for the help.

 

[Ididntdoit]

Try liberty landing on the NJ side

 

[stupe]

Thanks again for everyone's advice. We all made it back in one piece. We pretty much stuck with the plan above with the only change being we stayed in Greenport, NY one night. Half way between Block and Montauk I had an engine quit. There's nothing like the feeling of your boat coming off plane for no apparent reason. Gauges all ok and no alarms... Turned out to be a $9 fuel pump relay that just decided to go bad. My mechanic back home quickly figured out the problem with me on the phone in the engine compartment. I figured out the fuel pump wasn't working and he figured out why. I limped it into Montauk. After calling every place on Long Island, I think I found the only relay within a 200 mile radius! It was close to Greenport and we were heading that way anyway so off we went. The Sound was dead calm and the sun was shining so it was a nice 2 1/2 hour cruise on one engine. Once in Greenport (which was nice by the way) the guy we parked next to had a car there and drove me 20 minutes to the place that had the relay. Boaters are great people. I popped in the new relay and it fired right up. No other issues the whole trip.

Time to start planning next years trip...