Planning a trip next summer and looking at passing through Muskeget Channel and then to Nantucket Harbor. Muskeget Channel looks well marked, but passing over Tuckernuck Shoals...looks like a lot of shallow spots. Anyone out there with some local knowledge? Should I avoid Tuckernuck Shoals and go around them? Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. I have a 59 ft with 5 ft of draft.
I'm sure others will chime in but I posed the same question before my first trip from the LI Sound to Nantucket for the same reasons you are. I was told to not cut between the islands and instead take Vineyard Sound, which I did. Some wonderful cruising grounds all around there. Happy planning!
Muskegat is doable, but going up Vineyard Sound is the prefered route. Muskegat channel is a moving target sometimes with the shoaling. Definitely avoid Tuckernuck shoals, stick to the buoys on the way to ACK.
I have always used the sound. Tuckernute shoals have some charted depth as low as 5'... not worth taking a chance. With southerly winds, I would sometimes run buzzard bay, along the Elizabeth islands where it can be smoother than the southern end of th sound and then cross at woods hole. Same distance, very scenic route