St Lawrence River Locks and New Jersey Inlets

[Cosmic C]

This fall we are planning to take the Cosmic C, which is normally docked in Blind Bay on the St Lawrence Rriver, back south to the Chesapeake for the winter. We brought it north in the spring of 2003 via the Hudson river, the Erie and Oswego canals, and Lake Ontario. This time we are going down the St Lawrence past Montreal to the Richlieu River, thence into lake Champlain, the Hudson, and so on.

Our first question is: Have any of you Brats used the big locks on the St Lawrence between Lake Ontario and Montreal? (I think El and Bill may have done this trip some time ago?) We'd really appreciate any advice (how to contact the lock keeper, how to find out aboput their opening schedules, etc.) that any of you may have on how best to transit these locks.

Our second question concerns the New Jersey inlets. On our way up we went out through the Manasquam (sp?) Inlet on a reasonably calm day. There was a 6' standing wave in the inlet which the Cosmic C, of course, took in stride. But we understand that coming in can be quite another matter. Are there any Brats who have knowledge of the NJ inlets? We would greatly appreciate any information on the best approach to take. Should we come in the Manasquam or go further south to one of the other inlets? Is there a good source of information on inlet conditions we can check before we leave the Hudson? etc. etc.

Any help whatsoever on both these issues would be greatly appreciated!

Patrick Fowles

[Minnow]

I traverse the Manasquan inlet every Wednesday as crew on a scuba dive boat. It is easily passable except when you have a strong tidal flow opposing the wind. Just time your arival to the tide, as it's a pussycat at slack tide. If I were you, I would stay inside for as much of the trip as possible and enjoy the scenery.

[El and Bill]

Pat --
When we came down the St Lawrence a few years ago, the locks had no schedule. They took boats in order of arrival -- first any gov't boats, then any commercial boats, and lastly any private boats.
If I recall right, the El called the locktenders on ch 13.
Have a great trip -- and get to Quebec City, if possible -- the marina is right at the foot of the town, and a great spot! El and Bill

[Cosmic C]

Many thanks for your responses Minnow and El and Bill.

Minnow, I just got through reading a cruising guide which says that all cruisers should make the Hudson River to the Manasquam Inlet trip before September 10 because the weather deteriorates rapidly thereafter. Says that this date is not etched in stone, but those who ignore it can get into a lot of trouble. And this guide is written for people who cruise in 40ft trawlers and the like! We were thinking about early October. Do you still go out in October? What's your advice?

[KenMcC]

Hi, Patrick,

I grew up on the Jersey Coast (Ocean City), and can offer two pieces of advice worth considering.

First, the September 10 date is certainly not written in stone. That date supposedly marks the end of the hurricane season, based on a long history.

I wouldn't trust that date at all.

Watch the hurricane activity on the Weather Channel. You'll get reports of stuff that is starting to develop within two weeks or so, and the stuff that develops in the mid-Atlantic and starts to move westward and then starts up the coast can cause havoc, especially in the shallower inlets. The tropical depressions can cause some dicey stuff. Much of this chooses the Caribbean, and moves north.

New Jersey inlets are famous for being treacherous, but the nice thing is that most stuff doesn't come up suddenly, especially that time of year.

Secondly, those tropical storms can veer out to sea, so that you don't see much mention of storm activity right on the coast.

But what happens is that the storm activity 50 - 150 miles out to the East can set up a ground swell. On the Jersey coast, that sets up some pretty steep rollers in the relatively shallow waters, especially in the area of the inlets.

An outgoing tide and an incoming ground swell from an offshore blow can cause you some problems. Not a big problem if you plan to stay outside, but if you need to run an inlet, make sure you do it at a relatively high incoming tide.

Don't know what the moon might be doing when you plan on making your trip, but that is really worth watching. Your best bet is to go for the full-moon and high tides when navigating Jersey inlets if there is any weather to the East.

Probably one of the worst situations to avoid is a full-moon, low outgoing tide, with an insidious ground swell from an offshore storm that you can't see or feel. An offshore breeze (feeding the storm) adds to the problem, because it increases the steepness of the swells.

Bring your Bluefishing gear with you - that time of year can produce some real nice runs.

Ken