Happy Halloween

We had another good day running down to Atlantic City.  We pulled out of NYC around 8:30 this morning under cloudy skies and temps around 48F.  It was a bit brisk up on the flybridge so John turned on the heat this morning which took the chill right out of the air.

We got a few good pictures of the New York skyline as we were leaving along with a few shots of the Statue of Liberty.  Then it was open ocean running down the New Jersey coast for the next 100 miles or so.

The seas were around 2 feet to start the day, but by 10:30am, the waves were picking up and the swell was a good 4+ feet on the quartering stern.  We thought we were going to have a difficult run down, but when we reached Barnegat Light and made the slight turn to the west, the seas calmed down and the rest of the day was great.

We pulled into the Yacht Basin around 12:30pm and took on another 520 gallons of fuel at Kammerman’s Marina.  Once we were fueled up, we came across the basin and docked at Farley State Marina at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino.  We have a steak dinner planned tonight at the Homestead located in the Borgata Casino.  John and I will then test our luck at the blackjack table.

It looks like we are going to be held up here in Atlantic City for the next 2 days.  The forecast for Saturday and Sunday are seas 7 to 10 feet and winds 25 to 30kts with gusts to 40kts.  That is a recipe to stay tied up in your slip for sure.

Happy Halloween!








    

Welcome to NYC

A great day to start our trip. We pulled out of Montauk Yacht Club at 7:45 this morning under bright sunny skies. It was a bit windy, but otherwise a perfect start. We pulled into Star Island Marina to top off our fuel before we left. The pump was a bit slow as it took us about an hour to put 591 gallons on board. Finally at 8:45 we got off the fuel dock with tanks full, a nice hot cup of coffee and headed out onto Long Island Sound heading west to New York City.

It was just a touch bumpy for the first hour, but then the wind calmed down and it got really nice for the rest of the day. We had a nice run down the L.I. Sound and arrived at the Throgs Neck Bridge at 1:15 after 106 miles. The Throgs Neck Bridge is the end of Long Island Sound to me. We started down the East River, past the United Nations Building, around lower Manhatten and into North Cove Marina at 2:00. Total run today was 5.25 hours and 123 miles. A very low stress, fun day on the water.

John and Greg grabbed a beer and I did a quick wash down of the boat once we got in and tied up. John's dock neighbor at the Montauk Yacht Club, Sean, works only a block from the marina and took pictures of us coming in. He stopped by and joined John and Greg for beer. I have stayed at Liberty Landing across the river many times, but this is my first time staying in the City. It is very impressive. Enjoy the pictures below. We will run down to Atlantic City, NJ tomorrow to try our luck at the casinos.


Fuel dock this morning.


John and Greg enjoying the ride down the sound.


Happy Birthday Greg!


Coming under the Whitestone Bridge with NYC in the background.


The United Nations Building


Tied up in North Cove Marina with the New York Skyline behind us.


John, Greg and Sean enjoying a cold one on a beautiful fall day in New York.

About Time - NY to Charleston

Welcome aboard About Time, a 2005 Silverton 48-foot Convertible with 715hp Volvo D12's. I brought this boat to Montauk, NY from Wilmington, NC back in May with the new owner John. He and I had a great trip north in May and we are looking forward to another wonderful trip south to Charleston now. John will be keeping the boat in Charleston for the winter so he can enjoy the warmer weather and get some golf in during the colder months back in NY. We will be leaving tomorrow morning from the Montauk Yacht Club and heading down to New York City where we will stay at the North Cove Marina down near the new World Trade Center. John's good friend Greg will be joining us on the trip to Charleston, SC. Greg celebrates his birthday tomorrow so we are planning a bit of a celebration downtown tomorrow night. John will also be hosting a few friends on the boat from the City before he leaves for the winter. The weather is looking pretty good for tomorrow so we are anxious to get started. Below is a picture of About Time and John & Greg.

One for the Record Books

One for the books!

Another trip is done and in record time. I finished the trip up today from NY to NC in just 3 days. I covered 236 miles today in 11 hours. I pulled out of Coinjock at 6:30 this morning and had the boat tied up in her new slip at 5:30 tonight. It was a long day to say the least, but it feels good to be done.

I had a truly beautiful run across Albemarle Sound this morning and then down the Pamlico Sound as you can see from the pictures. Light wind and calm seas make for a great morning. I got back on the ICW around noon time and there was a bunch of boat traffic. I tried to go out the Beaufort Inlet and run off-shore down to Wrightsville Beach to avoid the ICW.

The forecast off-shore was 2 to 4 feet. Apparently the Beaufort Inlet didn’t read the forecast. It was so rough I couldn’t turn around until I got out past the breakers. Once out of the inlet I set the waypoint for Masonboro and wanted to see how the boat would run on the new course. That lasted all of 3 minutes. I quickly decided I didn’t want to have the fillings jarred out of my teeth and decided that the ICW, with all of its weekend traffic, was a much better solution that running off-shore. So I turned Blue October around and headed back in.

There were lots of boats on the ICW heading south in addition to the weekend fisherman. The fishing is really good in NC right now and in many places the boats were anchored in the channel so thick you could barely get by. I still made really good time even with the added traffic. The boat ran great and I enjoyed my time on board. However, it is always good to get home. Thanks for following along.


The boat tied up in Coinjock on Friday night.


A couple of sunrise shots from this morning.

Another Full Day

I'm pretty tired tonight. Got up early and out on the water before day break so I would make all the bridges south of Norfolk. Seas were a bit bigger than forecasted this morning. They were about 3 to 4 feet with some big rollers out there. Boat did fine, but it was more work than yesterday. Came off the ocean about 12:30 into the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

The Navy had a huge aircraft carrier in port today and the security zone was huge. I had to about drive the boat to Ohio to get around. The Coast Guard was not messing around either. There were multiple announcements on the VHF and when I got a little too close they had a small inflatable after me in a skinny minute. I quickly altered course to go further out and they called off the full assault.

Other than that, it was a great day. Sunny and almost hot around 80. I made all the bridges and pulled into Coinjock at 4:30 with plenty of fuel this time. I really got lucky yesterday. Lesson learned; on any delivery always top off the fuel before you leave no matter what the gauge says!

Will have one more long day tomorrow. Will go ahead and finish the trip by completing about 235 miles down to Wrightsville Beach. Hopefully the weather continues to be good and I will try and run down Pamlico Sound to save a few miles. Then I will just have to slog it out with the multitudes of sailboats and trawlers (snow birds) all moving south now on the ICW. A cold beer tomorrow night is going to taste really good!

Great Start to the Trip

What a great start to this trip. I got off the dock just before 7:00am. There was just enough light to get underway. The boat cruised at 2650 rpm's which was 81% load and throttle and she did between 23 and 24 mph all day. It was a bit sloppy coming out of New York Harbor this morning. I had a rising tide against a northwest wind which created a bit of sloppy confused seas for about 45 minutes from the Verrazano Bridge out to the point of Sandy Hook, NJ. After that, things smoothed out and I had a great ride south.

I had originally thought I would call it a day in Cape May, but the seas were too good and it was too early for me to quit. So about 11:00 once I came around Barnegate Light Sea Buoy, I set a new waypoint for Ocean City, MD. It was about 110 more miles and I went back and forth with this decision for over an hour. The biggest question was if I had enough fuel to make the trip. Unfortunately, there was really no bail out stop if the fuel ran low. I had to make Ocean City or else. Compounding the decision was the fuel itself. These is no "manual" fuel gage; only the smartcraft. So I had to take it at face value that the fuel was full when I left New Rochelle. The boat holds 185 gallons and I was burning 16 gallons an hour. I figured that I "should" be able to go 230 miles and still have a 10% reserve. I calculated the trip at 210 miles, so thought I was fine.

So on I went. Boat was running great and the seas were a calm 2 feet. I set the autopilot and let it do its thing. I came into the inlet at Ocean City at about 3:45. The smartcraft said I still had 45 gallon as I came in the inlet. Once I came off of plane, the smartcraft said I had only 25 gallons left. So not too bad. That is until I got to the fuel dock. No issues; I tied up and cut the motor off and started to fuel. The tank finally spit a little fuel out of the vent after I put 176.1 gallons in! Remember the tanks holds 185. I had 8.9 gallons left in the tank. Whew! That was close!

All's well that ends well. A close call for sure, but no harm; no foul. Seas are expected to be good again tomorrow so I will run down the VA/MD shore and come in the mouth of the Chesapeake at Cape Charles and then try to run on the ICW down to Coinjock. A lot of things have to go right tomorrow, but I think it is "doable". If all of this comes together, I will end up doing this trip in only 3 days instead of 4. It should be another fun day if the weather holds out. Saturday is not looking so good, so hence the retreat back to the ICW as getting caught out with rough seas and a single engine around Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout (the Graveyard of the Atlantic) is not a good idea.

Just a few pictures from early today as most of the day was off-shore.








Tied up at Sunset Marina in Ocean City, MD

Blue October - 33 foot Back Cove

The start of another trip...

Today I jumped aboard "Blue October", a 2007 33-foot Back Cove powered by a single 425hp Cummins diesel.  She is a beautiful boat that needs just a bit of TLC.  I flew in today from NC to the Castaway Yacht Club in New Rochelle, NY on Long Island Sound.  I will get an early start tomorrow morning as the boat will go all the way down to Wilmington, NC; a trip of approximately 750 miles.  Tomorrow I expect to run the boat to Cape May, NJ.  The seas off-shore have been a bit rough over the last 3 days and we actually delayed the trip due to poor sea conditions.  However, I think tomorrow is going to be a good day to run down the Jersey Shore with seas expected to be 2 to 3 feet with winds out of the west.

I spent a good bit of my time today going over the boat.  I had a bit of an issue with the chartplotter.  I couldn't get a GPS fix.  After an hour of messing with every setting and trying to get it obtain a fix with no luck, it was time to dive behind the console.  I checked connections, traced wires, etc.  Finally found a 10amp fuse that was blown.  I was able to replace the fuse and now she is working like a champ.  Sometimes it is the little victories that can mean the most.  I will sleep much better tonight with the chartplotter working like it is supposed to.