New Bedford, Massachusetts · Buzzards Bay · 41°37.9′N 70°55.0′W · VHF Ch 09
Holding at New Bedford & Fairhaven Harbor is rated good, over a mud bottom. Set well and check your swing before you trust it.
New Bedford & Fairhaven Harbor is well sheltered from north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest winds. Check the wind-protection rose above for every direction.
New Bedford & Fairhaven Harbor is primarily a mooring or dockage harbor — ~$45 / night (Pope's Island Marina), with little or no room to anchor free.
Hail on VHF Ch 09 (New Bedford Launch Ch 09).
Reserve or hail — Pope's Island Marina moorings/slips (Ch 09 / Dockwa); Fairhaven Shipyard. It fills on summer weekends.
New Bedford is the highest-value fishing port in America, and behind its great Hurricane Barrier lies one of the best storm refuges on the coast — a working harbor with the Whaling Museum and a restored cobblestone downtown a walk up from the water.
Recreational transients center on the city-run Pope's Island Marina (moorings and slips) and Fairhaven Shipyard across the Acushnet River — hail "New Bedford Launch" on Ch 09. Once you're through the barrier gate the shelter is total, holding is good in mud, and you can leave the boat and explore the museum and the restaurants ashore. Mind the gate current and traffic on the way in.
Hazards & cautions. The only way in or out is the Hurricane Barrier's single 150-foot navigation gate, where the current runs over a knot and two 440-ton sector gates can close during a surge (announced on VHF 16/22). This is a working fishing port — expect heavy commercial, ferry and whale-watch traffic day and night.
The New Bedford Hurricane Barrier protects the harbor through a 150-foot navigation opening closable by two 59-foot steel sector gates; recreational berthing centers on the city's Pope's Island Marina and Fairhaven Shipyard.
No cruiser reports yet. If you've anchored here, be the first — your note helps the next boat in.
Augusto ratings and editorial are our own synthesis of public-domain sources and cruiser reports. Always verify against current charts and local knowledge before you rely on them.