The Chesapeake Bay is an exceptional cruising ground with so many different towns to explore and so many secluded anchorages that many of us spend years here and never need to go any farther. The Bay’s weather is benign; the tides and currents are limited and predictable. It is said that 98 percent of cruisers never go further than 100 miles from home. Chesapeake cruisers certainly fit that demographic. But every now and then, we get to wondering what is over the horizon. What else is there to see? A cruise to New England is a great way to go a little farther and see a little more. When you are ready to extend your horizon, there are three components for planning an extended cruise: research, organize, and rehearse, before you finally depart. [gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="7632,7633,7634,7635,7636,7637" orderby="rand"] Research The research phase of cruising is a great winter project. The most important factor will be your time available; you really can’t do this trip with less than a month to cruise. For most of us getting a whole month off from work is an exception. If you can get a month free, how far can you go? Will you leave your boat in New England or return to the Chesapeake? A month would get you to Cape Cod and back, but a month would also get you to Maine. Quite a few cruisers head to New England planning to make a round trip in one season, but once they start exploring New England, they decide to leave the boat there and return next year to go farther before bringing the boat home. Don’t rule out that option. Set up a budget and a time frame, but keep the schedule open. The first cruise to New England will be a challenge for a Bay cruiser. No doubt you’ve talked to cruisers who have been to New York, Mystic, Greenport, Newport, the Cape, and the islands. There is so much to see and do. How do you decide where to go? Start with a cruising guide. The “Skipper Bob Book of Anchorages” or “Waterway Guide Northern Edition” are two popular resources, and the Eldridge “Tide and Pilot Book” is a cruising necessity for New England waters. Plan 30- to 40-mile day trips. The weather is less predictable than here at home, so always have a fallback harbor in mind in case the wind pipes up and you have to stop short for a day. The whole purpose of this cruise is to see new places. So don’t overbook yourself; leave plenty of layover days to explore. To get to New England you will first have to transit Delaware Bay, which takes a day. You must be sure to plan so that you have a favorable current which at peak is over three knots. That being said, you can have a very rough time on the Delaware if you have a fair tide carrying you into a southerly breeze. Skipper Bob has the best explanation on how to work the tides to your advantage. He recommends that you depart Chesapeake City one hour before high water at Reedy Point to get the best advantage of the current. Working the tide in the Delaware to your advantage will set the tone for the first week of your cruise. It will take two or three days to clear New Jersey if you plan to anchor each night. Four days after leaving the Bay, you will be in New York and at the door step of New England. Waterway Guide has suggestions of how to make the best use of the currents when passing through Hell Gate on the East River where the peak current is fully four knots. Cruising in New England waters will be cooler and wetter than the Chesapeake. You will certainly want to have an enclosure around your steering station. On the Chesapeake the only essential piece of navigation electronics is a depth finder. Most of us also have a chart plotter. For a long trip like this, a chart plotter is essential, but what about Radar or AIS? Perhaps surprisingly, given the reputation for fog in New England, most seasoned New England cruisers would go without radar rather than go without AIS. AIS is such a powerful tool in daylight, night, fair weather and foul, that most experienced cruisers would consider AIS to be essential on the cruise and of critical necessity while transiting Delaware Bay and New York Harbor. Radar would also be nice. Internet connection is also important. You can get a WiFi signal booster; however, the availability of open WiFi is extremely limited. You are unlikely to find an unprotected signal anywhere along this route, and a WiFi amplifier will not be very useful except when you are in a marina. The other option for internet connectivity is a cell phone air card. Again, you can get a cell signal amplifier. However, there are few of these amplifiers which have proven themselves to work. What anchor will work best in New England? The anchor you use on the Chesapeake is the best one for New England, too, but be sure to have a second anchor of a different style. Two anchors and rodes are important. Do you need all chain or can you use rope and chain? The choice is yours. As a guide, having at least 30 feet of chain is preferred. If you are switching to all chain or rope with a lot of chain, you will need a reliable windlass. If you already have one, take some time to clean and tighten all electrical connections. If you do not have a windlass, consider installing one. In New England you will often anchor in much deeper water than we are used to here on the Bay. The anchorages may be less protected, so you will want an even greater scope ratio. Having a windlass will turn out to be mighty important for the enjoyment of your New England Cruising. If you are buying new chain, be certain that it matches the chain gypsy (5/16” in galvanized chain is a common size for 35-40 foot boats). But there are three different link lengths, and the chain has to match the gypsy or it will not work. The dinghy you have on the Chesapeake will work for you anywhere. The important factor that will change while in New England is that you will be travelling at times with little protection from the open Atlantic and in rougher weather than we see on the Bay. There will be days where towing it is just not an option. It has to be easy to deploy and retrieve your dinghy. Organize All of your New England cruise research should be completed by March, so in the course of spring commissioning you can organize your boat for an extended cruise and install any new systems and equipment for your trip. Now would be a good time to take a basic diesel engine course. In a typical year cruising on the Bay, you may run your engine 100 hours. A trip to New England can double the engine hours. If your boat has been cruising on the Bay for 10 years or more, fuel polishing might be a good idea before you go. You should learn diesel engine basics. Learn how to change fuel filters (carry spares), bleed the fuel system, and change the water pump impeller on our own. Now is the time to mark your anchor rodes. There is no need for a complicated marking system. If you mark your rode in three places, it will be adequate for your needs. First mark the rode at 100 feet that will be a 7:1 ratio in 10 feet of water (assuming the bow roller is five feet off the water). Another mark at 150 feet will give you 7:1 in about 15 feet of water. A mark at 200 feet will give you 7:1 ratio in 23 feet of water. Thus a simple marking system is all you need, and it is much easier to remember what each set of mark means rather than a complicated system where the rode is marked every 20 feet. Practice Before you depart for New England and parts east, you really should do a four- to five-day cruise here on the Chesapeake. Run the boat for a couple of long days to be sure the systems are running well. Run the engine for a couple of long spells at speed to make sure the filters remain clean. Anchor somewhere in strong current to be confident of your equipment and skills: Chestertown is a great place for this. Use your enclosure. Is the visibility restricted? Can you enter and exit the enclosure quickly and easily? Deploy and retrieve your dinghy to ensure you can do it efficiently when conditions require it. Departure Before you know it, it will be time for your departure. If you have researched, organized, and rehearsed, the departure will be exciting but almost anticlimactic as you head out toward the Delaware Bay and the far horizon. One last thing to check: be sure you have plenty of boat cards. You are going to meet a lot of cruisers, and your paths will cross time and again. Norman and Betsy Mason of Norfolk, VA, recently returned from a summer in New England aboard their Monk 36 Peggy Sue. They contributed to this article.