Barnegat Bay sailors

Hello, I'm now in a bigger boat, 1985 26' Oday, now I can explore Tyson Shoal more comfortably. Question, how does one anchor at Tyson and safely go ashore
without theft of ones dinghy? I've personally anchored, with my previous 22ft sailboat,
at Tyson but only to swim off and lounge around my boat. Please advise. Thank you

My season officially ended today. Sails are off, the motor and systems are winterized and the boat should be on jack stands by now. May 1 can't come fast enough!

John, I agree. Got out last Monday, Thursday and again yesterday after watching the high school regata. It was getting chilly by the end of the day (5pm) yesterday, but it was well worth getting a little chilly to enjoy a few beers on a beautiful fall afternoon!

patduffy - This past week has been a great argument for extending the season beyond your October 15th required haul-out. I sneaked out of work at 4:00 o'clock on a couple of days and enjoyed some great weather and sailing!

Got out for about 2 hrs this afternoon. What a beautiful day! Hope to be out this weekend to cheer TRHS South sailing at the TRYC for MASSA Fleet Racing Championships.

I hope that you had a nice free crab dinner that night!

I've been sailing the bay for a long time, but experienced a new first yesterday. Apparently, I hit a submerged crab trap marker near Waretown. All of a sudden, my steering stopped working with its normal sensitivity. I had to turn very hard to starboard to get any change of direction. What happened was the rope got lodged between the rudder and the pin... and when I looked behind me, I saw a huge crab trap half out of the water following me. Not really knowing what I was up against, and not knowing if there was any interference with the prop, I lowered sails and dropped anchor. There was no loosening the rope from above, so I had to put on my snorkel mask, and dive. I had a great knife that was useful in cutting the line to free the trap, and free me from that mess. Incidentally, the mask and stainless knife were only recent additions, but now will be mainstays onboard. Till that episode, it was just a beautiful sailing day. Since then, it was another great learning experience to reflect, and build on.

Wow! What a beautiful weekend! Blue skies and 8-10 kts all day Sunday.

John,
It was the first solo sail on Stardust. I had taken her out under power alone once before but had not tried sailing alone. It took a little bit to get into a groove while tacking and i ended up going incircles while dropping the main, otherwise it went pretty well. I was headin in around 430. I think I saw you off Island Heights as I was heading in. Hope to get out again tomorrow

Pat - I kept my boat in all last winter. I wanted to see how much extra use I would get. I got out about 10 times during December, January, and February, but beautiful winter sails never really materialized. The worry about freezing (I used a bilge heater) wasn't worth the extra time in the water. In retrospect, I would say that April 1 to Oct 31 is a good season. You might add part or all of March and November, but the weather can be a little dicey during those months.