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