Approaches
Looking at the chart, you might not believe that a keelboat of any size could make it in to Quissett. You might even think that whoever put the buoys here did so with a gleeful malevolence, like a modern-day mooncusser with a scheme to lure visiting boats onto the rocks that appear to sit right across the channel.
In reality, the entrance is quite a bit wider and less treacherous than the chart suggests. . .
It's hard to spot from out in the Bay, though, especially on a first visit. The water stays over 18 feet until quite close in, so the outermost buoy is near to shore and blends in even when visibility is good. Likewise the riprap-covered Knob doesn't distinguish itself from the rocks behind it as early as you might expect. More prominent are a windmill to the north and a standpipe to the south about equidistant from the harbor.
From flashing red "2", it's a question of following the nuns and cans around the corner. In a big southwester, the early part of the channel rolls with chop off the Bay, then flattens out as you get to nun "6". The shallowest spots in mid-channel are maybe a little better than 9 feet on an average low, near can "5" and again near "7". This is a channel where you intuit the curving track that the buoys suggest rather than simply connecting the dots.
After can "7" there is a fairway through the moorings in the outer basin; it's slightly deeper on the right-hand (east) side. The ledges making out to nun "8" at the throat of the inner basin are exposed through most of the tide, but there is 12 feet between red "8" and green "9" at low.
Anchorages
There is likely room to anchor in the outer basin, to the east of nun "6", and the area is well-enough protected in fair weather or an easterly. The anchorage is exposed to the west, though, and looking straight out to the width of Buzzards Bay will feel even more exposed than it is.
A sign declares that anchoring is prohibited in the inner basin, where the tightly spaced moorings leave no room to even really contemplate it.
Moorings
The Quissett Harbor Boat Yard maintains moorings -- labelled "QHBY" -- for visiting boats. The 16 feet charted for the inner basin holds more or less true for most of the mooring area. You're likely to see some disconcertingly small boats moored in double-digit depths.
The Quissett Yacht Club uses the private dock in the northwest corner of the harbor but their focus is junior sailing and one-design racing. As their website states, they "have no phone and no building."
Slips
There are no slips in Quissett. The QHBY wharf has 12 to 14 feet at low along the front face and the Yard has water and ice, but no fuel. When it's blowing out in the Bay, enough chop finds its way in to make this an awkward spot to lie for very long.
Fitting Out
- Water
- Ice
Water and ice but no fuel at the boat yard.
Contacts
- Quissett Harbor Boat Yard
- 508.548.0506
- VHF: 09
Fitting Out
- Water
- Ice
Water and ice but no fuel at the boat yard.
