Boating Destinations - Some Feedback
May 16, 2013 Some feedback we received on the boating destination piece, “The Beer Garden @ Harbor Point” was: “Where in the area can I take my boat and dock for an hour or two, grab lunch, ice cream, coffee, sandwich (eat in), and how do these places operate when arriving by boat ? Do I need to call ahead to make a reservation for a slip? Can I just show up ? What are the costs? Where are these places located ? Do they monitor any radio channels ? “ Whew, we can’t answer all of that in one article, but we can pass along the tips and tools you will need to plan trips like this. We can also cover some popular local places that might fit the bill to get you started. Let’s start with the list of locations. Last summer we created a list of Restaurants around the Sound – Accessible by Boat which can also be found on the Norwalk Cove “Archive” page along with all of our articles from the past year or so. This list is a good place to start, as it contains web sites and phone numbers, sorted by town. Once you have chosen a place to visit, go to the Active Captain website https://activecaptain.com/ and click on the “Interactive Cruising Guidebook”. You can also haul out a traditional printed cruising guide (available in the Cove or Rex ship’s stores) and see where the venue might be located, how to get there and contact information.
Let’s say we wanted to go to Northport Long Island to have lunch.
If you go to Active Captain and find Northport, you are given a few destinations with two close to down town Northport. One, the town dock is a fixed dock, first come, first serve with fuel (see the details on the Active Captain tabs – including reviews and notes from visitors). The other, Seymour’s is a boatyard with plenty of moorings and a launch service.
If you call ahead you can reserve a mooring for the afternoon and take the launch in. It’s a short walk to town, and you don’t have to worry about docking (just pick up the mooring stick and pop the pennant onto a cleat). It’s about as simple (and as nice) as it gets. Want to spend the night on the mooring ? No problem.
We’ll review some other nearby venues and day trips next week.
Capt. Rick Delfosse rick@rdelfosse.com 203-216-7800
Watch for Capt. Rick's Coastal Cruising Seminars to learn how to Plan and Navigate to fun places.
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