Life in the Fast Lane: Yellow Flag on the Hudson

A yellow flag, or caution flag in NASCAR racing, requires the driver to slow down (due to an accident or hazards of the track).  We got a yellow flag in the form of a yellow engine alarm late in the day that slowed us down and required a pit stop.  Read on.

The forecasted weather for Sunday was nothing short of perfect for a long distance run on the ocean. Northwest winds 10 to 15 with seas 2 to 3 feet close to shore, 4 to 6 near shore along with a residual swell from the southeast with a 10 second period.  That provided an opportunity to cover 400 nautical miles from Norfolk to Troy New York with a mid way fuel stop.

Explanatory Note: The words "close" and "near" are key to understanding the forecast and what we experienced.  The weather people at NOAA were taking into consideration the fact that a northwest wind coming off the land would mute the wave heights close to shore.  Waves form and grow as wind blows over open water (known as fetch) and increase in size with wind velocity. Hence the forecast for smaller seas "close" to shore and 4 to 6 near shore in the "Near Shore Forecast."  Seas were even higher in the "Offshore Forecast."  Wave "period" refers to the distance between the wave crests.  The longer the period the calmer the seas.  A period of 4 seconds suggests wind driven waves and rough seas.

We departed Norfolk at 6:33 AM (despite protests from the captain and the co-first mate) and headed north past the container ports and naval ships (either in mothballs or being repaired).  At 7:25 we we passed Old Point Comfort and headed northeast across the shipping lanes by shortcutting through Thimble Shoals to the open water over the tunnel portion of the Chesapeake Bridge and Tunnel.  We were running on flat water at 2000 RPM which yielded 36 knots (41 MPH) and a 102 GPH fuel burn.

We encountered a warship as we crossed over the tunnel under the Chesapeake

At 8:02 AM we turned northeast on our planned route.  It took us 3 to 4 miles off shore.  By 8:30 we were seeing white caps.  The northwest winds appeared to be more to the northeast creating a head sea and a bumpy ride.  The seas were also building quickly to 2 to 3s.  Not a problem except in a head sea for a boat traveling at 40 MPH.

Explanatory Note: Despite the 64's 80,000 pound displacement she is still a planning hull.  Planning hulls by definition rise up and "skim" over the water.  The result is pounding that can be both annoying and hard on the boat's equipment.  Imagine subjecting your TV or refrigerator to massive pounding forces.

At 9:00 AM we altered course to run "close" to shore to take advantage of the shelter provided by the shore (which mutes the velocity of the wind).  How close you ask?  We were easily, at times, less than 1/4 mile off shore.  It worked, we were able to run the shoreline in relatively flat water (1 foot head sea).  The "captain" and crew had to work extra hard to avoid shallow water and crab trap buoys.

At 10:36, we passed Ocean City Maryland flying along at 43.4 MPH in one foot seas.  The closeness to shore muted the effect of fetch and wind velocity.

Up close and personal with Ocean City Amusement Park

We continued north along the Maryland Shore to Cape Henry and then crossed the Delaware Bay.  As we crossed the bay we lost the shelter of the lee shore and seas began to build to 2 to 3 with waves going in different direction (a confused sea).  We reduced speed.  As we approached Cape May we regained the shelter of land and our speed increased as the waves quickly diminished.  Off Cape May inlet we were running at 1950 RPM and 42 MPH.  We had used 600 gallons.

While enroute I consulted Waterways Guide's fuel price website.   Beach Haven was charging $3.60 per gallon while Belmar was at $3.66.  We flirted with running an additional 55 miles north to Belmar but quickly abandoned that idea when we found it cut into our fuel reserve.  We also abandoned Beach Haven, which was 8 miles into the New Jersey ICW, when Sea Tow provided local knowledge on how to enter a very tricky inlet.   At 1:14 we pulled into Atlantic City's Frank Farley State Marina and took on 750 gallons (at $4.29 gallon including a 20 cent discount).

This confirmed that we made the right decision not to proceed north to Belmar.  The extra 55 miles to get there used another 165 gallons for a total 915, which clearly eliminated our entire reserve.

Leaving Atlantic City

Fueling took 45 minutes and at 1:59 PM we were on our way.  Running at 2000 RPM we were traveling at 36.8 knots (42.6 MPH) on 1 foot head seas (easy bump bump bump).  At 4:15 we passed Sandy Hook leaving New Jersey behind.  We had made 73 nautical miles.  Now we had a magnificent view of the Staten Island Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.

Staten Island Bridge

Manhattan skyline 

At 4:43 PM we passed the Statue of Liberty and slowed for a Kodak Moment.  Then back to speed quickly leaving Manhattan in our wake.  We passed under the George Washington Bridge at 5:11 PM still making 38 MPH against a 3 to 4 knot current.

Manhattan disappears in Estremo's wake

45 minutes later at 5:46 we passed Croton-on-Hudson running at 42 MPH.  I recorded TTG (Time To Go) as 2 hours which gave us an ETA of 7:46 for Troy New York.  Time to call ahead for marina reservations. Small glitch. The Troy City Dock had no fuel or power.  No problem, we called Albany Yacht Club and arranged dockage and fuel.  They also had two 50 AMPS, which was fine as Estremo carries a 50 to 100 AMP "Y" connector.

The farther we traveled up river the more debris (floating sticks, logs and deadheads) we encountered. Running at 40 plus MPH we now ran the risk of a propeller strike, which if severe could put an end to our adventure - just like that!  We all kept a sharp lookout.

Side Note: Diana and I stopped at Croton-on-Hudson for four days on July 7, 2012.  We were 7 days out of Branford Connecticut in the second "phase" of the Great loop (i.e., after Diana had recovered from the accident in Mystic with the Wolfie, the 95 lb doberman - Kodi's friend and room mate for a month).  We enjoyed the four days we spent at Half Moon Bay (except for the part where Steve, the owner, tried to nickel and dime us to death).  While at Half Moon Bay we visited Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park, the Rockefeller estate and West Point.  Click on the link below to see what we missed by running fast to Chicago.

West Point

www.mvguideddiscovery.com/2012/07/croton-on-hudson-adventures.html

Wrecked Ferry along the Hudson - Portending problems?

At 6:35 PM, we experienced an engine alarm ("Combined Failure Yellow Alarm")  The alarm is extremely loud.   There is an alarm override button on the control panel.  We slowed down.  A quick call to Justine at Pershing got us in contact with an engineer who advised us to continue with no restrictions on speed.  We resumed cruising at 6:51 PM.  However, we had to put up with an alarm that could only be silenced for a few seconds.

The scenery is spectacular on the northern part of the Hudon

At 7:02 PM we passed Roger's Boat Club.  With the alarm driving us "crazy" we decided it might be advantageous to stop.  Roger's also had diesel.  Problem was they wanted $4.49 per gallon and had only 30 AMP power.  The "good old boys" hoped we stay but we got back on the river.  Note: one of the guys had a scotch in one hand as he reached for our lines.

At 7:38 PM I recorded 162 NM made with 49 remaining.  That yielded an ETA to Albany of 8:56 PM.  Oops! Sunset was 8:13 PM.  No problem.  We had about 20 minutes of nautical twilight.  With a clear sky we had good visibility on the river for that period.

Nightfall (around 9:00 PM and very dark)!  We ran on the river for another 30 minutes navigating with the buoys and the route I had programmed on the chart plotter (at 1:00 AM the night before in Norfolk).  The Hudson as it is heavily used for commercial traffic is well marked with lighted buoy's marking the channel. We ran the buoys at 10 MPH using a combination of the route on the chart plotter and spotting and confirming the lighted and non-lighted buoys.  Except for the ever present annoying and very loud alarm, the process was fun and challenging.

Explanatory Note: I've avoided running at night in unfamiliar waters and can count the number of approaches to harbors on one hand.  The trickiest was the approach to Branford Harbor the night of Diana's accident (October 10, 2011), which involved negotiating a twisting route into the harbor with buoys marking ROCKS.

Explanatory Note: Running the buoys on the Hudson helped me understand the different lighting patterns (CF - quick flash, 2.5 seconds, etc.)  By picking up the light patterns you are able to confirm a buoy's location in relation to others and therefore the channel.

At 9:30 with the alarm continually blasting and 7 miles to go (close to an hour at 8 knots) and with the Castleton-on-Hudson Marina to starboard we decided to call it quits.   We had covered 409.5 NM (471 SM) in 13.5 hours.  There was no power on the dock (at least for us) so we ran the generator all night.

There were no restaurants open at that hour so we ate on board.  I had bagels with cream cheese and nova with our wine, a bottle of Berringer Reserve 1990.  It is rare to have a 24 year old California Cabernet Sauvignon (and with bagels and nova - oh well.)

Estremo at Castleton -on-Hudson Monday Morning

Debris.  Hitting a submerged could bend a propeller

At 8:44 we departed Castleton-on-Hudson and 56 minutes later running slow due to fisherman and no wake zones, we arrived at the Albany Yacht Club (little did we know it wuld be home sweet home for UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.  Total distance since Atlantic City was 215 NM.  Fuel burn was 715 gallons.  We added 53 gallons for 21 hours of generator use (at 2.5 GPH) and predicted 768 gallons.  We took on 774 gallons.  Our prediction was accurate to 6 gallons or .001%.  WOW!

Total distance covered in 14.5 hours of running:  416 NM (478 SM)

Final numbers for five days of running:

Runs:

• Wednesday: Fort Lauderdale to Fernandina Beach: 300 NM (345 SM)
• Thursday: Fernandina to Charleston: 212 NM (243 SM)
• Friday: Charleston to Wrightsville Beach: 162 NM (186 SM)
• Saturday: Wrightsville Beach to Norfolk: 251 NM (288 SM)
• Sunday AM: Norfolk to Atlantic City: 201 NM (216 SM)
• Sunday PM (and Monday AM) Atlantic City to Albany: 215 NM (247)

Data:

• Total Distance Traveled: 1,341 NM (1,541 SM)
• Total Fuel Used: 4,414 gallons
• Total Time on the Water: 56.5 hours
• Miles To Chicago: 1,119 NM (1,288 SM)

The next article is entitle Pit Stop at Albany.  I plan to keep this one rather short to cover the two long days we spent down for maintenance.

Written by Les.