Fire Island Inlet advice?

[dgelber]

I plan to enter Fire Island Inlet next week, early morning, just before high tide, -I think. On a Tartan 33' with 4.56' draft, powered by 26hp diesel. I would really appreciate advice from anyone with recent local knowledge of this area of Long Island NY. Spoke with CG stationmaster yesterday who told me channel was recently dredged to 12 feet and he foresaw no difficulty.

p.s. just joined this message board and not sure if this is the right place to pose my question; please advise if there is a better place on the site. Thank you all in advance.

[mlydon]

While you COULD get in there, the whole damned area is dead shallow. Why would you want to? Never been in by boat myself, but fish and swim there. I think I’ve seen two small sailboats in the 25-30ft range in the past 10 years. Too many shoals and shallows to be enjoyable. If you HAD to stop in you could, but most folks just bomb past to Montauk headed east or NY going west.

Matt

[john61ct]

Didn't this just get asked recently?

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Awww.cruisersforum.com+"fire+island "

[Sparx]

We ran Fire Island inlet just last week. Your draft will be no problem. We saw maybe 12 feet minimum. There is some current. We moved in with the flood and out with the ebb, no problem.

The area was crowded on the weekend but everyone left before dinner time. Had the anchorage to our selves overnight. The water was clean and refreshing.

We will visit this place again.

[dgelber]

Thanks Brent, your reply was superhelpful and reassuring. We will do just as you say, enter about 1-2 hours before high tide and we are tying up in the Robert Moses Park Boat Basin just inside the entrance, before the bridge. Is this where you stayed? Or did you go past the bridge and anchor/moor elsewhere? We are staying Thursday night, so hopefully not crowded/noisy. Thanks again!

[Sparx]

We anchored at Sore Thumb. There are nice anchor places on both the north and south sides on the seaward side of the bridge. Docking at the state park dock seems a very reasonable choice. We did not go under the bridge as we had no need.

[neflier]

I’ve been going out of FI inlet for over 40 years. We went through there twice over the past few weeks (4’ draft). It was a non event. The dredging done this past winter has made it the best I’ve ever seen. An easy entry would be to proceed toward the FI head buoy and then follow the marked channel in. Once inside, stay within the marked channel. Those with local knowledge will take a shortcut towards the bridge, but too far north will be a problem. That area can get busy on the weekends, but should be fine on a Thursday.

Try to time the currents, as they can run up to 2.5 kts. Historically, wind against current could cause the inlet to kick up real bad, especially a strong south wind on the ebb. I don’t know how the recent dredging affects these situations.

After the dredging, the route has changed. I can confirm that the current Navionics charts shows the correct route. A month or so ago they did not. Attached shows the old and new routes.

The Sore Thumb is a good anchorage, and right near the entrance to the inlet. I don't know the what facilities the RM Boat Basin has, but I've heard it's $75/night.

Have a great trip!!

[dgelber]

Thanks Neflier! Another superhelpful reply to my post - I am so happy I joined this forum, and I hope I can be as helpful to others as you have been to me. I, too, read about the current vs. wind issue at the head of the inlet, so I will do my best to avoid this circumstance. Also, regarding the Sore Thumb anchorage vs. Park Boat Basin, we'll take a look and decide based on how crowded it is and how windy that 24 hour period is predicted. $75 is a hefty fee, worth it in foul weather, but not otherwise. Thanks again!

[neflier]

On a Thursday evening, I would expect the Sore Thumb to be almost empty. The bottom is known for good holding.

[dgelber]

Originally Posted by neflier

On a Thursday evening, I would expect the Sore Thumb to be almost empty. The bottom is known for good holding.

Excellent - thanks again, Neflier! We will certainly anchor at Sore Thumb if conditions permit.

BTW I found on the internet the "Cruising Guide of the South Bay Cruising Club," 2017 edition, which is a guide to all harbors, services, anchorages, and many other helpful data points useful to sailors from New York Harbor out to Block and Great South Bay and the Sound. I hope this is helpful to others. It described all the anchorages etc. on and around Fire Island, and then I just kept on reading. It appears well-researched and is put together semi-professionally.

[dgelber]

Here is the link to the Great South Bay Cruising Guide mentioned above:

http://sbccsail.org/Forms/Cruising_Guide_2017.pdf