Got Lucky

Got Lucky

The weatherman was mostly right about the weather today, but the seas didn’t pick up until much later than expected. Lucky for me.

I knew today was going to be tough as small craft advisories and gale wind warming went into effect today at noon. I wanted to make as many miles as I could before the weather turned.

I got underway in total darkness this morning at about 6:25am. Sometimes 30 minutes can mean a lot on bad weather days. Luckily, the bay was pretty good almost all day. I had a few instances where the waves picked up and it got uncomfortable, but otherwise it was a successful day on the water. Unfortunately, Bear does not have autopilot, so spending 10.5 hours by yourself, hand-steering in open water is a bit of a chore and rather tiring. I know it is better than shoveling snow, but I have no doubt I will sleep well tonight. I finished the day in Chesapeake City at the Town Docks after covering 195 miles today.

Tomorrow is weather payback! It has already started to rain here with winds picking up to 35kts sustained and gusting to 45kts tonight into tomorrow. There is a possibility of freezing rain as well and 5 foot seas on the Delaware Bay. No thank you!

Going to keep me and the boat in one piece and stay tied to the dock tomorrow. Sometimes you got to know when to fold’em.

I doubt there will be any update tomorrow, but you never know.

Bridge Surgery

Today was another gorgeous day on the water. It was sunny, warm with flat calm seas… just like we like it.

I stayed in Belhaven last night. A great little marina, but unfortunately, every restaurant in town was closed on Monday night. Fortunately, the marina owners took pity on me and loaned me their car to ride into town so I could get a sandwich at the local pizza place. It was the only place that was open. Anyway, food was okay and mission accomplished.

The other draw back to Belhaven is that the marina does not have any fuel. So I had to stop in route today to fill up the tanks. I stopped in Coinjock and topped off the tanks with 200 gallons of their finest. However, I had a timing issue to continue on to Norfolk. The last bridge I needed to get under which has a 12 foot clearance is on a restricted opening from 4:00 to 6:00pm. This meant that I would have to wait until 7:00pm to get under the bridge since this 31’ Albin has an air-draft of 12’6”. Fortunately, I knew the guys at Coinjock and they let me borrow a socket set. I had to remove the radar and the mast light to have clearance to get under the bridge. It was just a little bridge surgery to keep things moving.

Like a good NASCAR pit crew, we had that stuff off in 20 minutes and I was on my way. I had no problem clearing the bridge. As my luck would have it, after clearing the low bridge, one of the railroad bridges was down. I had to wait 35 minutes for that to open before continuing to Norfolk on my way to Hampton Roads, VA.

Tonight I sit at Bluewater Yachting Center. I had a nice salad for dinner with an amazing crab cake on top. The crab cakes are one very nice advantage of the Chesapeake Bay.

Weather is getting ready to turn really ugly. The wind is forecast to gust to 50kts on Thursday. I hope the weather man is wrong. The adventure continues…

Bear to NY (31-foot single screw Albin)

Alright, alright, alright...

A near perfect day on the water. Actually wore shorts and a t-shirt today with high temps making it to about 75 today. Should be the same tomorrow. It was a bit chilly this morning with temps about 40 F when pulled off the dock in the dark, but the sun quickly warmed things up.

Got stopped AGAIN on the ICW at Camp Lejeune due to live firing from Navy Warship 72. The ICW was closed until noon. This was the real deal as the entire boat shook every time a shell exploded. I did manage to make it to Belhaven, about 150 mile trip today. Boat is running well and averaging about 16.5 mph, but she cruises right around 18mph/16kts or so.

Just a few pictures. Thanks.

Another trip in the books

The boat and I arrived safely to our final destination of Pompano Beach, FL today around 2:15pm. Another 92 miles on the ICW, but it took 7 1/2 hours. There are lots of no wake, manatee zones and bridges on schedules between Stuart and Pompano.

When you are on a boat by yourself for 5 days you have a lot of time to think. He are 2 "revelations" from my trip: 1) Florida is where old money and old boats go to die. 2) Someone is always going to have a bigger house and a bigger boat than you.

Here are just a couple of snap-shots from the last couple of days:


Sunrise coming out of Charleston


Bride of Lions in St Augustine


Lighthouse at Ponce Inlet




I've seen a lot of things on the ICW, but this was unique. It was a catamaran being towed by an 18' bowrider. The bowrider was in between the hulls of the cat on the bow.


Pulling out of Ft Pierce City Marina this morning.


Another pretty sunrise this morning


A Meridian 381 up on a lift


Crazy big yacht at the Rybovich yard in West Palm Beach

Go, go, go...

A much more comfortable ride today.  I got off the dock at 6:45am and headed south on the ICW.  I certainly had my fill of "no wake" and "manatee zones" today.  The ICW had a good bit of boat traffic today as well, 99% of which were sail boats.  The boat really ran well today.  The owner removed all of his personal items last night which made the boat a good bit lighter.  As a result, the boat ran at 32mph today and was burning only 39 gallons per hour.  The day was full of bright sunshine with temps in the mid 60's.  A good day to be on a boat.

I pulled into the Ft Pierce City Marina tonight at 4:15pm.  Another 9 1/2 hour day and I covered 191 miles.  A long day on the ICW by yourself, but much easier than yesterday.  The ICW was smooth for the most part and it was an enjoyable ride.

Tomorrow I hope to make Pompano Beach, but it will take all day.  It is about 100 miles, but there are lots of no wake zones, bridges and slow areas.  I'll stay on the boat tomorrow night and fly home on Friday morning.

I'll try and take a few pictures tomorrow.

Lots of Water

I pulled out of Charleston this morning at 6:45am.  I was greeted by the woman's crew team from the College of Charleston as I headed toward the inlet.  It is odd to see a skull with a flashlight and 8 women that early in the morning.

The weatherman missed it again.  He was calling for winds 5 to 10 mph and seas 2 feet off-shore.  Seas were every bit of 4 feet and right on the nose.  It was a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride for the first 4 hours.  Finally around 11:00am the seas calmed down a bit and I was able to turn toward St Augustine and run the rest of the way without losing a filling.

No pictures today.  Just blue water and open ocean for 9 1/2 hours and 231 miles.

I'll try and make Stuart, FL tomorrow and Pompano Beach by mid-day on Thursday.  I'll have another update tomorrow.

Meridian 441 NC to FL - Where did all the water go??

A really good first day for this trip... Other than the dock being as slippery as snail snot this morning as I went to untie the lines.  I got off the dock this morning right at 7:00am.  The boat behind me was a 50 foot sport fish and did not have the luxury of an enclosed flybridge.  He was scrapping ice off the front of his boat this morning.

The boat is running really well and there was not very much traffic on the ICW.  However, once I got down past Georgetown, SC I got into some really skinny water in a couple of different places.  No issues, but the pucker factor was up there.

Rolled into Charleston today right at 3:00pm.  I put on 200 gallons of fuel, washed the boat and got to take a walk around the marina before it got dark.  I'll be heading out for dinner here in a few minutes, but wanted to get a few pictures up before I left. 

Another update tomorrow.

 Up at O'dark thrity.  Just waiting for enough light to get off the dock.

 Coming through Holden Beach.

 I had a better day than he did.

 "Boss, the shrimp are getting away."

 Coming into Myrtle Beach; the big casino boats.

 Little River Swing Bridge.

 Just a beautiful day on the Waccama River

 Where did the water go??

 I thought the markers where supposed to keep you in the deep water??

 A little hard to read, but the depth sounder says 3.8 feet.  Pucker factor was high at this point.

Safely tied up in Charleston.