The missus and I (the one in the middle) had a lovely daysail on Raritan Bay with our friends Terry (the salty chap at the helm) and his wife Claude. 12kts of breeze, clear skies and low humidity. Poifekt!
Terry and Claude sail Mistral, a 20 year old Feeling 38 with carbon fiber sails that sails fast. Beautifully balanced, it hardly needed steering. Terry and Claude keep her at Keyport Yacht Club, a great little family-oriented club.
Raritan Bay separates Staten Island from the North Shore of the Jersey coast, sheltered by Sandy Hook to the East with Perth Amboy at its Western end. You get great views of lower Manhattan in the far distance.
New Jersey gets a bad rap. Most people associate the opening scene of the Sopranos with the Garden State but it’s actually a beautiful state (well mostly). The great thing about Raritan Bay is that in addition to being a nice bay for day sailing you can get out into the Atlantic easily. You have the choice of heading south down the Jersey shore, North into New York harbor or East along the south coast of Long Island. Block Island is 100 miles away and you can make it in 24 hours.