Boat move to Philly or Jersey Shore

[crieders]

Now that we have a kid and an apt in Phila area, I am thinking of moving the boat from LI Sound (where mother and family live) to Delaware R or Jersey Shore both for winter and next spring/summer. Any comparisons, suggestions for new locations and cost difference in winter and summer? I know that Winter Marine in the Delaware near Phila is a Catalina dealer. Now I keep the boat in Great Neck, LI Sound. Thanks for suggestions, ideas etc.

[Ken Juul]

another option is Havre de Grace in the upper Chesapeake, depending where you live it's not much farther.  Tons of great locations in the upper bay to visit.  Not much of a winter sailing season, but it usually opens up again in early April.

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Cliff, I grew up in the Roxborough/Manayunk area of Philly, now living in Phoenix since '81, sailing in San Diego and the boating I did back then was on my dads sportfishing boat in Wildwood and Cape May NJ (yes he was a stinkpotter but just didn't know any better). Cape May is closer to the ocean than Wildwood but I must say my sailing experience at that time was limited to a sunfish and a comet.
There is an area near the Tacony Palmyra bridge on the Delaware that some friends have boats at but I am not familiar with how the sailing is there.
Kens suggestion is also a good one in the upper Cheesesteak I mean Chesapeake(sorry about that but really miss those Philly cheesesteaks)
If you decide to move the boat, I just may concider flying back to crew for you with the offer of a cheesesteak from Delesandro's in Roxborough.
Good luck, I hope I haven't confused you too much.     

[BillG]

In my opinion, the Delaware is pretty sparse when it comes to marinas and places to go, unlike the Chesapeake which has plenty to explore. 

[crieders]

You can come sailing with me anytime. Actually, my son's dream is college in California which sounds great to me. I'll move the boat and he can Dorm on the boat as well. our apt is in Wayne Pa. I have sailed the shallow chesapeake and to me it does not compare favorably to LI sound but I am looking to be closer to the boat than Williamsport Pa currently is !  Time from Wmspt to Great Neck is 3 -3/12 hrs on a good day!

[WTunnessen]

There are certainly more interesting cruising options on the Chesapeake than on the Delaware, something to consider as well, if that's the kind of sailing your looking to do.

The Georgetown MD / Sassafras River area is just over an hour from Phily is worth looking into if your considering the Bay. Plus, you get off 95 at Newark Del. which can be key since 95 can be a parking lot.

While the Bay may be shallow, its forgiving and the sailing season is basically April to Nov.!

[Mike Denest]

The Sassafras is a loooooooong motor out to the bay, plan on at least 30 to 40 minutes.  There are some marinas on the Delaware but the river gets narrow the farther north you go above Philly.  There's a marina just below the Philly airport but you have to content with airplanes as you are sitting about 1/2 mile from the runway.  There is a marina in the C & D canal, I think it's called Summit Marina.   

Cape May has some good marinas but most are for the sport fisherman and not much in sailboats.  Plus, at the height of the summer season, it gets clogged with tourists.

We keep Whisper at Haven Harbour in Rock Hall, MD.  It's a sailors haven, lots of masts around the town.

[BillG]

We keep our boat at Summitt Marina on the C&D during the winter only, it's close and the people are great.  Not recommended in the summer because it's about halfway down the canal and its a 2 hour motor either way and the currents can be tough.  We like Rock Hall, it's 20 -30 minutes farther drive than Harve de
grace or someplace on the Sassafras, but once on the boat, you are in the middle of everything.  You have to balance out driving a little farther  in the car versus not having to motor 2 hours in the boat before you can put up some sails

[crieders]

Surprised that no one mentioned the Jersey Shore since that was originally what I had in mind.

[Stu Jackson]

Cliff, do mean Barnegat Bay?  There's a gropup of 34s there, had a fleet there for a while, now part of the ACA.  Understand something asbout "thin water" but those of us with full keels don't quite know what that means...

[paule]

Cliff,
I have been sailing the Barnegat Bay for some 20+ years there is plenty of water just have to have a good GPS and watch your depths.
With the bay there are only a couple of anchorages. I sail all the time maybe anchor for lunch and then mostly sail and eat. We always have wind all summer it depends on what you want Sail or Cruise. I have considered moving the boat to MD but I only live 3 miles from boat. Also my wife and I are both teachers and sail after school when we can and that is when it  is great sailing maybe a handful of boats.

Paul
Yachta Yachta Yachta

[lazybone]

We live just west of Philly and have kept boats in many parts of the Jersey shore, the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay.
We loved the Jersey shore but found their were very few destinations to sail too, so even though we had a great time, outings often didn't involve the boat and sailing.  The Delaware River was ok only because at the time, we were limited to very short outings at night, but there was seldom any wind. 
The northern Chesapeake Bay is excellent but you might be better off driving an extra half to one hour further south on either the eastern or western shore which opens up many more locals which offer more open/deeper waters for anchoring and cruising with many more destinations.

A few years back we decided to buy a second home which would make boating more convenient during the summer, after a bunch of searching/research we settled on the Middle river of the Chesapeake Bay. 1-3/4 hrs drive from Philly and enough stuff within a weekend sail to keep us busy for a long, long time.

[mervdog]

Cliff,
I had a boat on the Delaware, south of Philly. It was convenient and easy to get to, but I got tired of fighting the current, tides and the combination. As well as dodging large commercial vessels on the river. The scenery after a while was not great and there are not many place to visit on the river. I moved the boat to Northeast on the upper end of the bay. It was an hour drive from my house just north of Philadelphia in Plymouth Meeting. I then moved the boat to the inner harbor. It was a trade off for my wife. She like the night life of the city, but it does add major time to get to the bay to go anywhere. If I just want to sail for the day, it is a great place. It takes 1 3/4 hours to get to the boat. I think you really need to decide what type of sailing you want to do and that will send you in the right direction.

[Ken Juul]

If you or a friend are going to the Annapolis boat show, pick up a copy of the Spinsheet magazine and Chesapeake Bay.   Both give an excellent representation of sailing on the Bay.