how far to go in one day? also, tips on staying in mystic?

I

INTO WISHIN

Member
Dec 7, 2010
43
Hudson River, NY
Boat Info
1990 310 Dancer
Engines
Twin 5.7 inboards , V Drives
hi, we're planning a trip to mystic, ct, next month. we'll be coming from peekskill, ny. i'm estimating at 25 mph, thats around a 6 hour ride. i was wondering what everyone was thinking on that and your own opinions on how far to go in one day. we'll stop and throw the hook once or twice. my wife and young kids like to take breaks. i would love to hear from those that have stayed in mystic before. i've heard good and bad on brewer mystic. thats where we are staying, mostly because of the pool and it looks kind of close to the museum and aquarium. any input would be greatly appreciated
 
Regarding Mystic, Brewers is nice but I don't think any of the pools on the river are any reason to stay at one or the other, not like hotel or resort pools. I guess I have never understood why people travel to a great place with great anchorages nearby for swimming and hang out at the pool. Unless you are staying for a month there is plenty to see and do to keep the whole family busy all day, to each his own. I would suggest you stay close to town, Mystic Seaport (good for kids), FT Rachel, Downtown Marina or Seaport marine. Unless you have a dinghy then it really doesn't matter much. Do a search on mystic you will find other threads and lots of info. I stay at Ft Rachel and spent 5 yrs at Seaport Marine if you have any specific questions let me know. Good luck, safe travels.
 
Since you're taking the time to ask, I'll assume this will be the first "long" trip for you. In that case, I'd probably cut down Scott's recommendation by a few hours. But, really, this is all guess work as ultimately you know yourself (and probably more important: the crew you're traveling with!) better than anyone else.

I've gone three days straight in a 29' sailboat (part of the trip from NY to ME), but that was with two other guys and during the night we took shifts (we wore a jacket and also tied in). I was NOT hallucinating when we finally did grab a mooring ball. I don't think I could do 28 hours straight... that's crazy, man!!!
 
I've done Atlantic City, NJ to Mystic, CT in one day... This summer I did Port Washington to Essex in one day and Stonyton to NYC in one day... Tell your wife to get off her can and help you drive... then split the trip up.
 
we've gone on many trips before even when my kids were infants. back then, i had a 268 sundancer. i took that boat to cape cod myself, in 4 legs- staying overnight at norwalk, then mystic, newport, then falmouth (destination). its not me i'm worried about on a long trip. we've had the 310 a few years now (its a 90, so i'm almost finished gettin all the kinks out) and just starting to branch away from trips to the jersey shore and up the hudson. we did the channel club in monmouth beach last year. we're trying a little further this year. we like to travel in one day as family, for now. i do it all on the boat and have a slight back problem, so we like to do the marina thing. my kids can't be on the run everyday all day. so its nice to relax at a pool for a few hours, not all day. we love the beach too. we'll do that one day also. trust me, we do not travel that far just to hang at the pool all week. its just nice to have the option, an easy option. even after a full day out on the town, its nice to come back to the marina and i'll take the kids to the pool before or after dinner and my wife gets a break. no dinghy, yet.
 
i tried teaching my wife to drive my 23 footer years ago. it didnt go to well. she didnt like to be yelled at.lol. that was the end of that. you guys are much better off with me driving my boat.
 
Four Suns said:
I've done Atlantic City, NJ to Mystic, CT in one day... This summer I did Port Washington to Essex in one day and Stonyton to NYC in one day... Tell your wife to get off her can and help you drive... then split the trip up.
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how long did your mystic trip take and did you go up the sound from city island or go around montauk? did your angry wife take the wheel?
 
When growing up on the Chesapeake, my parents had a rule to keep the running time limited to 6hrs with a start time of 6am. They called it 6 and 6. Most storms are fired up by 4pm. So, this gives time to make it to the final destination with some buffer time with daylight if something happens.
 
penguin said:
When growing up on the Chesapeake, my parents had a rule to keep the running time limited to 6hrs with a start time of 6am. They called it 6 and 6. Most storms are fired up by 4pm. So, this gives time to make it to the final destination with some buffer time with daylight if something happens.
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i was thinking about the same. thanks
 
sfergson727 said:
My personal record was 360 miles in one long, long day with no autopilot. By the time I hit my destination, I was hallucinating, and was fortunate to get the boat back in the slip with no mishaps...wouldn't do it again. (facts: 320 DA, from Mackinac Island to Michigan City with a fuel stops in Charlevoix and Ludington, 28 hours, only myself on the boat)

I made the same trip in my 340DA, cruise boat style going the whole distance at 7-8 mph with only one fuel stop. Our first leg was 18 hours, and then 26 hours, but we had an autopilot this time and 3 adults to take shifts on watch.

Unless you are nuts, like myself, I wouldn't recomend anything over 8 to 10 hours if you are the only one who is going to be behind the helm.
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360 miles in one day...amazing...was lake michigan calm? last year I made the in the water boat show at michigan city - fun event.
 
I did Key West to downtown St. Pete in one day. Water was calm but it was still a long day with no autopilot.
 
Brutal is one word for it. The picture for October in the Club Sea Ray calendar was taken on that day. Now that I think about it I did have an autopilot some of the time. The Wife!
 
Do you remember how far it is from Newport to Falmouth and the route that you took.
I am thinkinking of bringing my 260 sundacer from Fallriver marina to Falmouth Hieghts.
 
kevin27 said:
Brutal is one word for it. The picture for October in the Club Sea Ray calendar was taken on that day. Now that I think about it I did have an autopilot some of the time. The Wife!
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Lol! My wife holds a better course than I do. I tell her so which makes her more willing to drive. When I drive I'm still messing with the plotter or the stereo or just looking around, she's so focused for fear of hitting another boat...I love that one...or running over a crab pot, I appreciate that one...her course is pin-straight.

sferguson said:
I saw a lot of different conditions in that one day, calm to 4-6 foot waves and then some, sunshine, thunderstorms, light winds, gale force winds....definitely not for the faint of heart. It was an adventure, one that we rarely get to experience.
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Scott's story was a huge reason I bought the 340 with confidence. And sure enough the first three days we owned our boat experienced all of the conditions above. Fortunately the 4-6's only lasted about 10 minutes as we were leaving St. Lucie Inlet before turning south, but it was enough to show me the 340 could handle them. No we weren't comfortable and no I don't want to do that part again, but the boat was fine.
 
INTO WISHIN said:
hi, we're planning a trip to mystic, ct, next month. we'll be coming from peekskill, ny. i'm estimating at 25 mph, thats around a 6 hour ride. i was wondering what everyone was thinking on that and your own opinions on how far to go in one day. we'll stop and throw the hook once or twice. my wife and young kids like to take breaks. i would love to hear from those that have stayed in mystic before. i've heard good and bad on brewer mystic. thats where we are staying, mostly because of the pool and it looks kind of close to the museum and aquarium. any input would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...

We ( wife and I ) just did a Mystic trip and it was a blast. 1st trip for us, we are out of Milford CT which is about 55 NM from Mystic, took me just under 3 hrs, 3100rpms doing 22-24 kts going with the tide. We stayed at Fort Rachel and they were great. If you have a dink bring it cus you can get to anywhere with it and its' alot easier then walking. If you get a chance try to have dinner at Daniel Packards, their food is amazing, (eat down stairs in the pub)

If you don't want to do the whole 6 hours you can stop in Port Milford, we have a nice town dock, a great downtown , all in walking distance from the docks and that would be half way.

Hope you have a GOOD TIME

Studman
 
Into Wishin reporting in. sorry for the delay. we just came back from camping in the catskills. our trip was a total success! we left peekskill, ny, on 8-13 morning and at around 3400 rpm and 29-31 mph the whole way, we made it to the mystic river in 5 hours. conditions were awsome, so we pushed it a little. what a great ride. we stayed (as planned) at brewer mystic and were very pleased. nice staff, nice pool and very nice members- many asking us if we needed anything. we used the pool that afternoon to wind down from our 151 mile trip. tuesday we took a cab to the aquarium and mystic villiage. kids loved it. cab back to the marina in the afternoon and back in the pool. wednesday we took our boat to the seaport marine- no charge to dock if we pay for admission. another great day, rain in the morning and huge thunderstorms at dinnertime. still a great day. gassed up on the way back to brewer- 163 gallons used :wow:. thursday was looking like a nice beach day. our friends from home drove up to meet us at eastern point beach in groton for thursday. a beautiful day it was. nice views of the thames river and fischer island across from us. we had dinner at the s&p oyster company that night. great food and the kids had fun watching the drawbridge in action. for dessert, we hit the ice cream shop acrooss the bridge. friday morning- time to go home. we took it easy going home- around 2900-3000 rpm at 24-25 mph took around 6 hours from the mouth of the mystic river. we hit mostly flat water going home. some spots you could see choppy water coming up - strange, must be structure and current changes- and back to flat. hopefully i used less gas going home. i still haven't filled it back up yet. UPDATE- WE USED 136 GALLONS GOING HOME @ 1.1 MPG AND AROUND 20-22 GPH. the boat and crew performed well. the wife even took the wheel for an hour each way. thanks to all who chipped in on the info and tips.

norman- that last leg to falmouth was a short one. can't remember exactly, but 2-3 hours seems about right. i headed to the southern tip of cuttyhunk (stayed there once years ago- very nice, and very quiet spot by boat), then headed up vineyard sound to falmouth. buzzards bay gets choppy in the afternoon, so i stayed away from that. your 260 should handle it. just check the weather and wind before you go. i recommend stopping in cuttyhunk. its like time stands still there. they had a raw bar boat, back then, in the harbor. good luck.
 
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