Hi DDW,

...Maybe a bit less, but that's about what it was a few weeks ago, and it's been holding pretty steady through there lately... Once you get inside the jetties, you'll se considerably more... You want to try to hit it on the flood or close to slack water if possible, of course...

I presume you're only talking about going in to anchor and spend the night? Attempting to make your way back into Barnegat Bay through the Oyster Creek channel could be very difficult at anything other than high tide, I wouldn't advise it, no real point to it, anyway...

Approaching from the N or S, no need to go all the way out to the sea buoy, but you really don't want to cut the corner too much. Pick up the channel at about the first or second pair of buoys inshore of the sea buoy... There's an old submerged jetty on the N side as you get closer in, you definitely want to steer clear of that area, though you'll see numerous local small fishing boats hovering right on top of it...

The channel favors the N jetty side all the way into the beach, then makes a wide swing to port towards the lighthouse... the anchorage is beyond the junction of the channel that runs back into the bay, and the smaller privately marked channel that continues to the south (just visible to the left edge of the pic below), just beyond the CG station and commercial/fuel dock... be careful there, the buoyage can be a bit confusing at that point, it might help to watch where a larger boat is going if you have any doubts... Or, give the CG or High Bar Marina a call for instructions, they're usually pretty helpful to transients...

If at all possible, try to avoid hitting either Manasquan or Barnegat on a weekend... Both of them can be extremely busy, clogged with a lot of "boaters" who don't have a freakin' clue, it can get pretty crazy on a nice weekend... After Labor Day things will start to quiet down a bit, and a stop in there on a weeknight should be fairly peaceful...

It's a nice little spot, the town of Barnegat Light is a prototypical Jersey Shore summer resort community... The climb to the top of the lighthouse is fun, and affords a nice overview of the area, and the changeable nature of the waters there... If you decided to spend some time there, I'd suggest taking the dinghy over to the north side of the inlet, and going ashore at Island Beach State Park... Beautiful beach, near the inlet will be cluttered with surf fishermen, but a nice place to stretch your legs and explore a bit...

best regards,

Jon