A dredged anchorage area with depths of 10 to 18 feet is north of the breakwaters and just westward of the line of the range lights, about 0.1 mile eastward of Highwater Rock. Small craft can anchor off the yacht club and southward or southeastward of Rhode Island Rocks in depths of 5 to 7 feet. All anchorages in the outer harbor are exposed to southerly and southwesterly winds.
There are excellent facilities for small craft in both East and West Branches.
Dolphin Cove, 0.6 mile west of the entrance channel to Stamford Harbor, is a privately owned Lagoon and marine facility. No anchoring is allowed.
The harbormaster at Stamford can be contacted through the Stamford Police Department. A police boat makes routine patrols of the harbor during the boating season. A 6 mph speed limit is enforced in the harbor.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Stamford Harbor, on the north side of Long Island Sound about 33 miles east of New York, comprises the bay north of a line from Shippan Point on the east through Stamford Harbor Ledge Obstruction Light to the west shore north of Greenwich Point. The harbor is shoal, and the approach is obstructed to a large extent by ledges and rocks. Shippan Point, the eastern point at the entrance, is surrounded by rocks which show at low water.
Stamford Harbor Ledge Obstruction Light (41°00’49″N., 73°32’34″W.), 80 feet above the water, shown from a white conical tower on a red cylindrical pier, is a private light visible from a considerable distance offshore. Also prominent are a microwave tower westward of the city and the large brown office buildings locally known as Harbor Plaza on Ware Island. Stamford Harbor West Breakwater Light 3 (41°00’54″N., 73°32’17″W.), 37 feet above the water, is shown from a tower with a square green dayboard at the east end of the west breakwater. Stamford Harbor East Breakwater Light 4 (41°00’54″N., 73°32’06″W.), 21 feet above the water, is shown from a skeleton tower with a triangular red dayboard at the west end of the east breakwater.
Stamford Harbor is entered through a dredged entrance channel that leads northward from Long Island Sound between two detached breakwaters to a point about 1 mile above the entrance to a junction with the dredged channels leading into East Branch and West Branch. A Federal project provides for depths of 18 feet to a point about 0.5 mile below the junction of the branches, thence 15 feet to the junction, thence in the West Branch 15 feet to and in the turning basin; thence in the East Branch, 15 feet to Light 1, thence 12 feet to the head of the project about 0.6 mile above the hurricane barrier. The 100-foot-wide channel in East Branch is constricted to 90 feet by a hurricane barrier that crosses the channel about 300 yards northward of Ware Island. The 90-foot gated opening in the barrier will be kept in the open position during fair weather, but will be closed on the approach of a storm or unusually high tides. A red light marks the channel end of each breakwater. A lighted sign on either side of the barrier is used to indicate whether the barrier is in the open or closed position. A flashing red light is shown from the control tower when the gate is about to be closed. The channels are well marked by navigational aids, and, in addition, the entrance channel is marked by a 358° lighted range.
