Fire Island Inlet - Is is tricky?

[Greg]

We were thinking of going to Fire Island this weekend. In researching it a bit, I have heard some scary things about the inlet.

Called Seatow for some local knowledge, they say go at slack high tide, when there is a south wind there can be 8-10' swells. :wow:

I don't think I'll be able to make it right at High tide. It is 4:19am on Saturday morning. Low is at 10:45am. Maybe I should stay somewhere in Rockaway inlet Friday night, and head to Fire Island early Saturday morning? :huh:

Any sugesstions would be greatly appreciated.

How is it getting into (and out of) the Fire Island Inlet?

 

[gnealon]

We were thinking of going to Fire Island this weekend. In researching it a bit, I have heard some scary things about the inlet.

Called Seatow for some local knowledge, they say go at slack high tide, when there is a south wind there can be 8-10' swells. :wow:

I don't think I'll be able to make it right at High tide. It is 4:19am on Saturday morning. Low is at 10:45am. Maybe I should stay somewhere in Rockaway inlet Friday night, and head to Fire Island early Saturday morning? :huh:

Any sugesstions would be greatly appreciated.

How is it getting into (and out of) the Fire Island Inlet?

Hey Gregg... I sometimes go to Democrat Point which is right at the tip of Fire Island (aka Fire Island Inlet). The currents there can be very strong and so can the wind. I've never seen 8 to 10 ft swells but don't take my word for it. Pulling up to shore can be pretty challenging w/ wind/current. Accross from Democrat is Sore Thumb. There is a small cove in there that is protected pretty well. If for any reason you get there and you are not comfortable, there is a place for shelter... somewhat :thumbsup:

Good Luck!

 

[Greg]

Thanks, how is the water depth and is it marked pretty well?

 

[PMC]

The tide can flow real well through there, so stay alert. Lots of fishing boats (Commercial and pleasure) drifting about. :smt013 sort of frustrating.


The channel markers are good - and you need to follow them especially at low tide. You'll know if you're in the wrong spot when you start seeing seagulls standing on the water...:smt043


Once you're in and under the Captree bridge follow those markers. That entire area runs from 65 to 2 feet in a hurry.
Where about on FI are you headed? Lots of great spots!!:thumbsup:

 

[Greg]

The plan was to stop at Robert Moses Park first, then head over to Ocean Beach somewhere for the night. Then maybe dinghy over to the sunken forest.

But Since I have never been there, I am open to suggestions.

I was trying to find a slip somewhere with electric, but have been unsucessful so far. Any ideas?

 

[Alex F]

Greg,

Did you make the trip? I'm looking for ideas to explore the area next season.

Thanks,
Alex.

 

[topgun1185]

Ran the inlet during the day followed someone in. I layed down a track (thank god) to follow home. Ran the inlet that night and had big waves and low tide. Knowing not to turn around in the middle of the inlet I honkered down stay with the track and found the ocean to be flat once clear. I then ran south to Jersey City for one of my best night cruises ever. It was no fun for 10 minutes but I trusted my track that was ok in daylight. The inlet seems to be very narrow, like I said it was low tide on the way out and I saw shallows on both sides. I haven't check the charts but I swore the inlet was only 50 yards wide at most and rough till I got outside. Good Luck!

 

[Alex F]

Thanks for heads up. Wow, 50 yards wide, no wonder it's rough.......admiral will love it... LOL

Come to think of it, Manasquan inlet is very narrow as well and I never had a problem with it. I'm guessing the biggest contributor to the turbulence is the shallow depths in FII. Another contributor could be the South winds.

 

[Greg]

Alex,

Yes we did make that trip it was fun. Going into the inlet was pretty wild, we rode the breakers all the way in and then you make a right turn once you are close to shore. I also hit it at about dead low tide so the water depths were scary. Something like 5 feet I think. Which doesn't sound so bad, but when you are riding up and down what seemed like 4 foot swells it was pretty nerve racking.

Once inside though it was great, the water inside can be shallow in spots, but we watched the charts and stayed in the channel and had no problem.

Our first stop was Robert Moses State Park. That was nice there was a little spot to dock the boat, It was practically empty. I forget the name of it but if you look at the charts you’ll see two marina looking areas just west of the Robert Moses State Pkwy bridge. A short walk and we were on the beach.

We then went over to Ocean Beach. We called about a week ahead and found a restaurant where supposedly we could stay the night if we ate dinner there, but when we got there they 'lost' our reservation and we couldn't spend the night. We ate dinner there and walked around the town, it was nice. We got back out on the water and had a heck of a time finding a place to tie up.

We finally went to Flynn's. That was an interesting place. We wanted to go to the Sunken Forest the next day but the weather started to turn so we headed home.

Heading out of the inlet was fun too, crashing through the breakers. I seem to recall reading something recently though about shoaling in the inlet, so you may want to check on that, they are supposed to be dredging soon I think.

If you have any other questions just let me know, I'll try to remember.

 

[Alex F]

I'm starting to do some preliminary planning for next season and was tossing some ideas about exploring LI areas and/or go all the way to Block Island. I’ve heard that Fire Island is a fun place. Based on the chart it would be logical stop either way. I always wanted to go to Block Island, but it appears that there’re lots of very nice spots worth spending time just in LI. I think it’ll be better to start the new thread on this, but in the meantime I’m reading few threads that came back in the search.

P.S.
It sounds like you've used your new 480DB quite a bit after you got it last season (AC, 1000 Slands, Fire Island...I'm sure the list goes on). Very nice, that's the way to do it. I'm happy for you.