Hingham to Sarasota: On the Way to Cape Henry

READER NOTE: I'm publishing this article on Sunday, November 9 with our position just north of St. Augustine Florida.  As of this moment we have covered 1,060 total miles and have been cruising non-stop for 5.5 days.  We are scheduled to arrive in Stuart at around 5:00 PM on Monday.  Our goal of cruising non-stop for 6 days to Stuart is within sight given the favorable weather conditions.  I had expected to publish articles as the journey progressed but as you can see I am, as usual, behind. Cruising 24 hours a day is actually an active process especially when one is the person responsible for the safety of the endeavor.

NOW THE STORY:

The extremely strong northeaster that arrived on Friday afternoon (10/31) with high winds and torrential rains began to move northeast late Sunday with clearing skies and continued high 25 to 30 knot winds.  The weather on Monday was as forecast, clear skies with blustery winds for most of the day.   Tuesday called for calm winds and flat seas.  Those who follow this blog will recall that the weather folks were showing a weather window starting on Tuesday morning and that proved to be the case (at least on Tuesday)

Diana and Kodi departed on Monday morning for their 4 day car trip to Sarasota.  They were off by 9:20AM. 

The crew arrived late Monday afternoon.  Dick flew in from Sarasota and was picked up by his sister, Betsey, who drove him to the marina.   Phil flew in from Philadelphia and arrived by ferry.  They arrived at the same moment.  I took this as a good omen. 

We spent the afternoon on Guided Discovery chatting about our May Norfolk to Hingham adventure over Mount Veeder 2010 Cabernet Savingnon with cheese and crackers and then adjourned to a lovely dinner at Alma Nove, the 3 star restaurant at the Hingham Shipyard. This was followed by a briefing on the ships equipment, electronics and emergency procedures.

Explanatory Note: We have outfitted Guided Discovery with safety gear to deal with a wide range of emergencies.  In addition to all required Coast Guard gear, we carry a 6-man emergency life raft, an EPIRB, a defibrillator. oxygen, an advanced medical kit and extra high capacity fire extinguishers strategically located throughout the boat  My thought process is it’s better to have it and not need than need it and not have it.  That said, if the crew is not familiar with the equipment, where it’s located and how to use it then the reality is it is not worth having.  Hence the pre-departure briefing.

TUESDAY:

Sunrise over Hull Mass as we deaprt

Perfect weather with an on-time 5:58 AM departure.  I love it! The cruise from Hingham to the Cape Cod Canal was picture perfect.  We arrived at the canal at 11:32 PM noting an average speed from the dock of 8.3 knots to cover the first 45 nautical miles.  Our passage through the canal was with the current and took about 50 minutes.  Pure luck.  We hit a top speed of 12.1 knots and boosted our average speed to 8.5 knots.  We gave some of the gain back as we transited Buzzards Bay in southwest winds and an unfavorable change in the current.  However, unlike the canal where currents run at 2 to 4 knots, the current in Buzzard Bay is measured in tenths of a knot.

Plymouth Light

Houses and fall color on the Cape Cod Canal

Passing commercial traffic as we approach the Bourne Bridge at the west end of the canal 

The evening was a different story.  As we crossed into Block Island Sound the winds continue to build from the southwest reaching 18 to 20 by 9:00 PM as we passed Block Island Light.  Now we were in a head sea with 3 to 5 foot waves.  This continued as we ran southwest along the Long Island coast.  We passed Shinnecock Light at 12:30 AM and Fire Island Light at 4:25 AM. The overnight passage saw seas build to 4 to 5 feet.  By sunrise (6:33AM) we were 16 NM southeast of JFK and entering the New York City shipping lanes.  Our average speed for the first 24.5 hours since departure was 8.3 knots and we had covered 203 nautical miles, which is right in line with our predication of 100 NMs every 12 hours.  Fuel consumption was 193 gallons.  Note at 1400 RPM we cruise at 8.4 knots on a clean bottom.  To compensate for the head seas and current we upped the RPM to 1480, which had a noticeable effect on the fuel burn.

We approach the NYC shipping lanes

WEDNESDAY:

We were off Massapequa at Sunrise (6:33 AM) still in a 4 to 5 foot quartering head seas and entering the New York City Shipping Lanes.  There were lots of targets of the radar and several ships in sight.  We elected to take a short cut at 7:15 AM and turned southwest to bypass the traffic in the shipping lanes and intersect with our course along the Jersey Shore.  Winds started to diminish at sunrise and by mid morning we were enjoying diminishing seas.  This continued throughout the day.  By the time we reached Cape May and crossed the Delaware Bay seas were 1 to 2 feet.  Unfortunately, visibility reduced due to haze.  Oh well.  You can’t have it all.

Off Cape May New Jersey

On Wednesday evening we refined our after dark watch policy and agreed that each of us would take a two hour watch between the hours of 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM.  That gives each person 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep and a total of 8 hours each night. We followed our plan and everyone got a good night’s rest while still maintaining an active watch.  Two hours on proves the perfect watch period as it’s over quickly thus reducing the chance that the watch person falls asleep.

Crossing the Delaware Bay means crossing another major shipping lane.  As we crossed the lanes we encountered two ships one heading inbound and the other outbound.  We had both on radar and the question was could we continue to make way at our current speed or did we need to take evasive action (e.g., reduce speed and/or turn) to avoid a potential collision.  Using radar in combination with our new Raymarine (FLIR) night vision device and a visual collision avoidance technique where you compare the target’s movement to a stanchion rail we determined that we could hold both course and speed. By 11:49 we were off Ocean City Maryland after an easy crossing of the Delaware Bay.

Garmin MFS set for night cruising
Port Screen: Chartplotter with AIS.  Starboard Screen: Radar and FLIR Thermal Imaging

NIGHT CRUISING:

Knowing that we were anticipating a 6 day nonstop cruise I gave a lot of thought to night vision.  Night vision for us has both a systems and a human component.  System wise we are well equipped with AIS, radar and, most recently, thermal imaging night vision.   However, that equipment plus all of the other “stuff” on our panel put out a lot of light and that light effects the eye’s ability to see in the dark.  Essentially, the more light on the control panel the less human night vision. 

Sitting at the dock on Sunday night with the lights out and all of the electronics and equipment operating I considered a strategy for dimming or eliminating every light source.   The first part of the solution involved  determining the low light setting for each instrument that could be dimmed.  The second involved blue painters tape and thin black cardboard sheets.  The tape alone worked well for dimming certain lights without eliminating their utility.  See photo below.

Note pretty but very effective

Note the blue tape on the Glendenning Engine Control

During my second watch on Wednesday evening I gave a lot of thought to what goes into night cruising and as a result found myself using the electronics capabilities to an even greater extent than ever before.  Necessity is the mother of invention.

THURSDAY AM:

We continued through the night along the Maryland shoreline in relatively calm seas (2 to 3).  I took the 10 to 12 and 4 to 6 watches.  Around 5;00 AM I encountered an AIS target dead ahead.  AIS identified it as US Navy 841 and I also saw it on radar.  When we got within a mile and a half I was able to the see ship on the night vision device.  The photo below shows the target on all three systems and also shows how we use our system at night,

Port Screen: Chartplotter with AIS.  Starboard Screen: Left: Radar, Right: Night Vision

As the morning progressed the head seas we had been confronting since entering Block Island Sound began to build slightly as the winds continued out of the south southwest at 15 to 20 MPH. The ride was still pleasant despite taking lots of spray.

At 9:00 AM I performed an engine room inspection and following that proceeded to transfer approximately 300 gallons from the auxiliary tanks in the lazarette.  The process took about 50 minutes per tank.  This was my first en-route fuel transfer.  It went very well thanks to Outer Reef's incredibly thorough orientation by Captain Randy.

Explanatory Note: I wear sound deadening ear muffs made by Remington that almost totally deaden the diesel engine noise. The process involves a visual inspection of all equipment along with temperature verification with a pyrometer.

At 11:00 AM we were off Cape Charles Maryland preparing to cross the Chesapeake Bay shipping channels.  Winds were still out of the southwest around 15 knots with 1 to 2 foot seas on our nose.

Stay tuned for the next article which I've titled "Crossing Cape Hatteras in a Raging Storm."  It's exciting.

Written by Les.