New Jersey Coast
To understand the history of boatbuilding in New Jersey requires that we understand boating off the New Jersey coast. Let's take a look at the environment for boating in this area.
A look at any large scale map or chart will easily show that the New Jersey coast is a fairly straight piece of coast on the Atlantic Ocean running generally North and South. It is about 125 statute miles long extending from New York Harbor in the North, to the Delaware Bay at the southern tip of New Jersey.
Further south, across the entrance to the Delaware Bay is the Eastern Shore region of Maryland and Delaware. This coast too, is about 125 (statute) miles in length. Geographically, that area is similar, although historically having a much smaller permanent population that grows in the summer.
To the north of New Jersey is the entrance to New York harbor and its Hudson River, which is navigable by even ocean vessels more than 100 miles upriver to Albany, the state capital. Large pleasure craft can continue further north or west, through a system of rivers and canals, all the way to the Great Lakes and Canada.
Of more interest is New York's Long Island, which continues the Atlantic Ocean coast, which now turns east from New York Harbor, again about 125 miles, to Montauk Point at the eastern end of Long Island. Beyond are the New Enland coasts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. Other popular destinations beyond Montauk Point include Cape Code, Martha's Vinyard and Nantucket - all reachable in relatively small craft.
There are many destinations for cruising but the boats of New Jersey were designed for fishing, and the fishing in all of this area is great. Marlin, tuna, bass, sharks and other migrating fish, plus more local species year round including flounder, fluke, blackfish, sea trout, and cod in the winter.
The ocean currents flow north along the coast from Florida and the Carribbean in what is known as the Gulf Stream. It brings warmer water and large southern fish north. The Gulf Stream runs somewhat offshore, along the New Jersey coast to New York, then turns east along the Long Island coast to and past Montauk Point at the eastern tip of Long Island, before turning across "The Pond". In the Gulf Stream, are many of the most sought after species of fish.
Along the New Jersey coast, the Gulf Stream can be 50 to 100 miles offshore, in the deep waters beyond the continental shelf, an area referred to as "The Canyon". This has resulted in the phrase "Canyon Runner" for the fishing boats that are used to get to the "Canyon" and back.
The weather in this area is generally good during the summer fishing season. But it is a large area with great variance. The trip offshore covers colder northern waters and the warm tropical waters of the Gulf Stream. Local thunderstorms are not uncommon and both wind and tidal currents can and do change direction. Still, wave action is mild, and it can be almost flat even well out in the ocean. But rough seas are not unusual either. Certainly weather and sea state information is much more available than it was decades ago.
Ocean tidal flows produce about four feet of tide in most of the coastal areas. Because of the shape of most inlets, the waters of the inlets can get very rough on even calm days, during the tidal change. This can be complicated by moving sands at the inlets causing shifting sandbars and shallow areas just inside the inlets.
An interesting area indeed. It is in this environment that boat builders and designers have done their work.