Cruising Guide N J Waters [Paperback]

Donald Launer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1997

Captain Launer brings many years of experience as a skipper of small boats to this engaging nautical and historical guide to New Jersey's tidal waters. Cruise with him from the New Jersey/New York state line near the mouth of the Hudson River, past Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook, and into the Manasquan Inlet. From there, he gives you a choice of voyages: the inside route through the Intracoastal Waterway to Toms River, Barnegat Bay, Atlantic City, and Cape May, or taking the offshore passage. Then you explore the Delaware Bay and its tributaries and cruise up the Delaware River to Trenton.

This revised edition contains updated information about on-shore facilities, marinas, restaurants, stores, sites of interest, docking fees, bridge heights, maritime service stations, weather, navigation, and safety, as well as post-September 11 regulations in the waters around New York city. The book also includes a wealth of photographs and sea charts.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Launer, a licensed captain for 17 years, has extensively cruised New Jersey waters in his two-masted schooner, Delphinus. New Jersey is surrounded by 300 miles of navigable waters subject to tidal flow. Beginning at the northeastern corner of the state on the Hudson River, Launer sails down the Hudson River around Sandy Hook, down the Atlantic Coast via the Intercoastal Waterway past Atlantic City, round Cape May into Delaware Bay, and on to Philadelphia and finally Trenton. Along the way he describes weather, prevailing winds and currents, bridges, safe anchorages, yacht clubs, restaurants, parks, game preserves, marinas, and even local boating stores and repair facilities. He primarily stays within sheltered waters but also discusses in detail the ocean passage with good solid advice for the offshore skipper. Launer is also a keen environmentalist and updates not only the boating conditions but the encouraging wildlife resurgence. A good, solid addition for public libraries along the Atlantic seaboard.
John Kenny, San Francisco, P.L.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Fills a big void in the East Coast boating world. -- Home News Tribune

Launer blends maritime history with nuts-and-bolts cruising facts. -- Cruising World

You will delight in Captain Launer’s blend of local history and sea lore. -- Barnegat Bay Banner --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813523869
• ISBN-13: 978-0813523866
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,773,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well presented; accurate; organized;useful, September 6, 1999

By 

John Sly ([e-mail]) (Forked River, NJ 08731) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cruising Guide To N J Waters (Hardcover)

Captain Donald Launer is one of the more knowlegeable sailors along the New Jersey shore. He lives there and is devoted to marine arts and sciences as they effect boaters.

His book is scrupulously accurate, unusually readable, and more than interesting for sailor, motorboater or just an interested reader.

Although the book is sequential in form, in that it presents a travalogue from New Jersey's dramatic Palisades to rather scruffy Trenton Falls, it is equally useful as a reference book; the organiztion is outstanding.

Captain Launer has also kindly provided a fairly complete reference section.

This is a "must book" for any skipper who wishes to cruise New Jersey Waters. A great gift for any Garden State boater.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get off the beaten track - read this book!, July 23, 1999

By 

DJ Rix (NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cruising Guide To N J Waters (Hardcover)

"A Cruising Guide to New Jersey Waters" is a delightful sail up all the little tidal rivers, through the marshes, backbays & canals - a waterway tour around peninsula New Jersey. I went to several of the lovelier locations described in this book by car. If you want to really go off the beaten track, forget the popular tourist guides & check out books like this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable appetizer to a Jersey cruise, October 9, 2007

By 

R. WHITBY (Baltimore MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: A Cruising Guide to New Jersey Waters: Revised Edition (Paperback)

Captain Launer is an articulate, informative, and entertaining guide. His information is current and detailed. I have enjoyed reading this book straight through from the Introduction. I look forward to extending my next Baltimore-to-Cape May cruise up the ICW to Atlantic City with Captain Launer's guide at hand.