Newburyport
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Newburyport
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Description, etc.
Submit details about the sailing/cruising in the area, etc.
Charts
Submit the chart details that are required for safe navigation.
- Chart No 13282 (best detail)
- Chart No 13274 (usable scale)
- Chart Source
- Paper "print-on-demand" charts (up-to-date within 2 weeks) - about $20 each
http://www.landfallnavigation.com/printondemand.html
- RNC Raster files of NOAA Navigation Charts (free - updated weekly)
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/index.htm
Radio Nets
Also see World Cruiser's Nets
Local Weather
Local weather conditions?
- Winds at Isles of Shoals Light (13nm NE of "MR"):
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=IOSN3
- Seas at Jeffrey's Ledge:
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=44098
Sources for Weather forecasts:
- NOAA National Weather Service "point forecast" for Newburyport. MA:
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=BOX&llon=-71.164583&rlon=-70.487083&tlat=42.987917&blat=42.307917&smap=1&mp=0&map.x=108&map.y=71
- VHF weather channel 5
The justifiably high-rated historic/tourist part of Newburyport has been situated 3nm up the Merrimac River since the mid-17th century, and to approach it one must cross the Merrimac River entrance bar.
There is a US Coast Guard station, which is rated as a "surf station" and equipped with a 47ft self-righting motor lifeboat. The Merrimac river bar - while nothing like the Columbia river bar in Oregon where USCG surfmen train with such boats - is considered the most dangerous bar on the East coast of the US. 4-6ft Easterly swells can become 8-10ft breakers against a strong ebb over the shallow bar. (USCG video of Merrimac "rough bar" training with 47ft MLB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLXsKeybUeA )
Having said all that, except in the event of Easterly swells against a strong ebb current, your impression crossing the bar will be "What's the problem? Seems like a non-event to me."
Monitor VHF channel 16 for notices of a "safety marine information broadcast concerning conditions on the Merrimac River bar" to be given on channel 22A. Unless you hear such warning (or see the 47-footer bobbing around in breakers near the entrance), conditions will be quite benign.
To be certain of (the usually very) benign conditions, timing your approach for a flood tide will also save you time going up to the town docks and marinas.
(The ebb combines with a surface river current that, in total, can sometimes reach 4-5kts in the deep channel next to the North jetty, and 2kts in the main body of the river. The flood will easily give you a 1-1.5kts boost in up-river speed-over-ground.)
The entrance lies between Plum Island to the South and Salisbury Beach to the North.
From the red-white striped seabuoy ("safe water buoy") at 42N48.55, 070W47.09 labeled "MR" (Merrimac River) the green cans and red nuns leading out from the ends of the stone jetties defining the entrance channel will be easily visible in most conditions.
(For European visitors: All buoyage follows the IALA-B "red-right-returning" rule, so keep red even-numbered "nuns" to starboard and green odd-numbered "cans" to port. US chart number 13282 is quite detailed. 13274 is usable, but at the limit of utility. Larger scale charts will be useful only for finding "MR." A MapTech "Embassy" Crusing Guide for New England - e.g. http://www.landfallnavigation.com/embassyguide.html - will be a good investment for any port between the Canadian border and Block Island, with navigational details and much about available facilities and attractions.)
You will have to handle strong river currents in the deep channel leading along the North jetty to green can "7," which can be almost under water in strong ebb conditions.
After a sharp turn to port around "7" you'll head for red nun "10." There you'll make a turn to starboard and head on 285M(agnetic) past can "11" to can "13". (Stay North of the line between "11" and "13," as the bottom 1-2 boatlengths South of it is Woodbridge Island, which becomes awash at half-tide and dry at low tide.)
At can "13" you'll turn to port aiming for the wind turbine behind all the houses and church steeples of Newburyport on C260M, until you reach can "15" and nun "16." Depths at "16" during extreme low tides can be under 10ft, but I've never seen less than 8.
There you'll turn to starboard on C280M to pass between red daymark tower "18" and can "17", each of which mark hazards close outside the channel. The rest of the channel up to the US Route 1 highway bascule bridge (as far as you'll probably be interested in going) is well marked, deep and very straighforward.
Newburyport will be on the South side of the river, to your port. You will pass the American Yacht Club with moorings in front and "AYC" on its roof, and then Newburyport Harbor Marina, which usually has transient slips and has a fuel dock. The walk from there to the central tourist area is less than 1/4 mile.
Farther up river are the Town Docks (floating, due to the 9-10ft tides) alongside the town boardwalk fronting a very nice park. Side-to docking and power is usually available and convenient for very short walks to most of the tourist area and restaurants. Finding an available mooring is difficult, and anchoring isn't allowed.
The marinas above the town docks are directly in front of some of the better restaurants, but seldom have transient slips or moorings available. (The strong oblique river currents can make slip-docking here tricky, anyway.) Windward Yacht Yard extends out from McKay's wharf - as in Donald McKay who built his early fast clipper ships here (for the Brazil-to-NY coffee trade), before moving to East Boston to build his (larger) round-the-horn California Gold Rush vessels.
The US Coast Guard was founded here (its first revenue cutter - built here after all the privateers of the Revolutionary War - being the US government's first contract cost/schedule overrun scandal.) The granite Custom House museum shows much about the USCG's early life-saving service, which grew out of the privately-funded Massachusetts life-saving service.
Check-in facilities
Submit details about facilities for checking in - where to dock, location of immigration & customs, etc.
Offshore Islands and Groups
List Islands
- Isles of Shoals (Southern Islands in NH, Northern Islands in ME)
Marinas & Yacht Clubs
- American Yacht Club (US oldest) http://www.americanyachtclub.org/index.php
- Newburyport Harbor Marinas: http://www.newburyportmarinas.com/
- Newburyport Town Docks: http://www.cityofnewburyport.com/HarborMaster.htm
Anchorages
List details of all safe anchorages in the area.
- NONE - anchoring is not permitted inside the bar
- (You don't want to try it outside. Plum Island is a notorious lee shore with many wrecks buried in its sands over 3 centuries.)
Yacht Repairs and Services
Marine Stores
Submit addresses and contact details of marine related businesses that are of interest to cruisers.
Repairs/Yards
Fuel, Water, & Electricity
- Fuel
- Newburyport Harbor Marina
- Bridge Marina (Salisbury side of river)
- fuel notes (diesel and gasoline)
- Water
- Newburyport Harbor Marina
- Newburyport Town Docks
- water notes (good potable water)
- Electricity
- Newburyport Harbor Marina
- Newburyport Town Docks
- electricity notes (30amp and 50amp 110V/60Hz AC)
Tourism and Things to do Ashore
Tourism
List places of interest, tours, etc.
Laundry
Grocery & Supply Stores
Eateries within walking distance of (or along) water
- Michael's Harborside Restaurant (seafood+)
- Black Cow
- Starboard Galley (seafood)
- Ten Center Street
- The Grog
- Whale's Tail
- Jewel in the Crown (Indian)
- Joseph's Winter Street Cafe
- Not Your Average Joe's
+++ others
Internet/WiFi
Available?
Motorbike & Car Rentals
Garbage Disposal
? at Marinas
- Free holding tank pump-out service (Harbormaster - VHF ch12)
Transportation
Transportation (local and/or international)
Routes/Passages To/From
Popular passages/routes, timing, etc.
Cruiser's Friends
Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.
Forum Discussions
List links to discussion threads on the Cruiser Log Forum
External Links
Links to relevant websites.
References & Publications
Publications, Guides, etc.
Last Visited & Details Checked (and updated here)
Date of member's visit to this Port/Stop & this page's details validated:
- I don't live in Newburyport, but my boat does (homeport). While I sail most of the coast between Penobscot Bay and Nantucket, I rent a slip at Windward Yacht Yard, and am storing my boat in their yard this winter. Boat pulled from water on Nov. 10, 2009 - after last daysail. (Al - s/v Persephone)
Personal Notes
Personal experiences?
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