Northbound 2018: Playing the Weather to Hingham

As noted in the previous article, we arrived the Morehead City Yacht Basin fuel dock at 0815 hours on Wednesday morning. Our goal was to take on fuel, top off our water tank, offload garbage and, since the forecasts looked favorable for following seas all the way to Hingham, wash off the salt. Most important, we wanted to accomplish this in less than two hours. The log shows our departure from the dock at 1005 hours - for a record one hour and fifty minute turn-around - with a wash down. WE DID IT!

Explanatory Note: Why the rush you ask? My philosophy is why sit at a dock when the weather is favorable, as was the case on Wednesday morning. NOAA was indicating continued favorable conditions with a "possible" window all the way to Buzzards Bay. While days down the road, the forecast called high winds and seas for hundreds of miles south of Block Island. This bared monitoring and had the potential to interfere with a direct shot to Buzzards Bay.

We exited the Beaufort / Morehead City Inlet at 1038 hours and headed for Cape Lookout, which we reached at 1240. Then we set a direct course for Diamond Shoal, reaching it at 2020 hours.

This chart includes the Beaufort Inlet, Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras

The run from Cape Lookout to Cape Hatteras is without a doubt the trickiest stretch of water on our journey as it forces the mariner to go out to sea to avoid Cape Lookout Shoal and Diamond Shoal at Hatteras.  The problem in situations with high winds (and in this area they do not have to be that strong) is that waves get bigger when winds blow over unrestricted distance (fetch) for long periods of time.  So in rough weather one has to hug the coast and then go around the shoals, which in both cases are not cross-able due to a continual shifting bottom caused by storms. This increases the distance to be traveled and the time spent in turbulent seas. In favorable conditions, which represented our situation on Wednesday morning, steering a course directly from Beaufort to the end of Cape Lookout Shoal and from there direct to the Cape Hatteras is my preferred strategy.

Diamond Shoal and the fetch resulting from the Outer Banks being to the east of Pamilco Sound

Explanatory Note: The fetch at Cape Hatteras as measured from the eastern shore of Pamlico Sound  to R2 at the south east end of Diamond Shoal is approximately 35 NM. While not entirely open water, the narrow Outer Banks with a maximum elevation of 55 feet provide little protection from the wind.  Now add the fact that the Gulf Stream's warm water and the Labrador Current's cold water converge at Hatteras and you have a formula for an area that creates its own weather simply by a change in wind and pressure. And then there's the fact that most fronts cross Cape Hatteras. In November of 2014, we experienced a frontal passage in the middle of the night and it was not pretty (i.e., winds to 45 knots and seas 5 to 7 feet). In 2015 owing to Tropical Storm Anna we saw 10 to 12 foot seas as we approached R2.

Our Cape Hatteras log entry at 2020 hours showed winds west southwest at 15 knots with a following seas of 2 to 4 feet. It also showed our distance traveled from Morehead City as 92 NM to R2 at Diamond Shoal. By going direct we had shaved at least 5 hours off the trip.

Rounding Diamond Shoal we set a course for the waters off of Atlantic City some 257 NM north of Cape Hatteras. Weather conditions remained favorable with winds out of the southwest and a following 2 to 3 ft sea, which continued throughout the Thursday night and well into Friday, although seas built to 3 to 5. That said, a following sea for the 63 of less than 8 feet results in a smooth ride.

During the early morning hours of Thursday, while I was on the 1 AM to 4 AM watch, we encountered several cargo ships running north and south on a our course. This does not pose a problem as the 63 is equipped with AIS, radar and night vision.

For example at 0228 hours AIS indicated a Cargo Ship, the Sealand Illinois, 6.9 NM on a bearing of 18 degrees magnetic and the potential of a collision course. AIS allows us to see not only the ship's name but its course, speed, distance from our position and bearing. I called the ship, confirmed that they had us on AIS, and agreed to a port side to port side passing. The Sealand altered course slightly to starboard, which I thought was very sporting of them. I had also identified the Sealand earlier on radar and then visually sited her a 6 NM and finally saw her pass port side to port side on night vision. See photos below.

Cargo Ship Sealand Illinois passing port side to port side

The Sealand Illinois sited on night vision

Cruising on relatively calm seas is a pleasure. At 0700 hours on Thursday morning we were 50 NM southeast of Cape Henry (Virginia Beach) and the Chesapeake Bay in a 3 foot following sea.

Then at 1435 hours we had a little excitement. Two whales off the starboard beam at about 100 yards were cavorting (actually breaching). Truly a Kodak moment, although at 100 yards it was difficult to get a good photo. This was do to the randomness of the breaching and my rather unsophisticated camera. The photo below is the best I could do. This was the first time I had seen a whale in all of my 13,000 nautical miles on cruising on the east coast.

Lower left side - One of two breaching whales spotted on Thursday afternoon

By 1600 hours on Thursday we were offshore 28 NM east of Chincoteague Light, which is on the eastern shore of Virginia some 120 NM north of Virginia Beach. Chincoteague Island is home to National Wildlife Refuge and famous for a breed of horses.

As mentioned earlier, we had been monitoring a vast area of turbulence that encompassed an area hundreds of miles south of Long Island to east passed Cape Cod and well out into the Atlantic Ocean. That area of weather had influenced our decision to head toward Atlantic City from Cape Hatteras rather than head directly to Buzzards Bay.  The forecasted southwest winds would have given us a following sea but with 8 foot waves.

At 1730 hours on Thursday we rechecked the weather for the area in question. As shown in the photo below, the conditions for Friday night called for southwest winds 20 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 and seas 7 to 10 feet. The forecast indicated slightly improved conditions (i.e., seas 5 to 8 feet) on Saturday morning and beyond.  Our course to Buzzards Bay would have put us squarely in the high seas for most of our trip.

The forecast, however, for the near shore waters along the New Jersey coast was favorable for a run close to shore. We then checked the forecast for Long Island Sound for Friday night. While calling for winds to 20 knots, the seas were forecasted at 2 to 3 feet owing to the protection created by Long Island (or stated another way, not a lot of fetch). Bottom line: Long Island created a barrier making the Sound a lee shore.

Running nearshore to New York and then heading north past the Statue of Liberty and up the East River to Long Island Sound posed a viable and scenically attractive alternative to the forecasted turbulence on the open waters. This route added 35 NM and at least 4 hours to the trip.

One last consideration. All good things come to an end and this would be the case with the Long Island Sound route once we reached Block Island. From Block Island to entrance to Buzzards Bay is open water and subject to the turbulence we were trying to avoid. The forecast (photo below) for Rhode Island Sound shows the same high winds and seas (5 to 8) That said, the time in the open seas would be limited to about 4 hours and we would be heading into improving rather than worsening conditions.

With this in mind we made the decision to head for Sandy Hook (NJ) and either take the Long Island Sound Route or swing due east and run along the southern shore of Long Island if conditions offshore improved.

Now to our progress as we headed north on a straight route to Sandy Hook:

• Thursday, 2124 hours. South east of Delaware Bay. Winds SW at 20 seas 3 to 5 following. Smooth ride
• Friday, 0258 hours. Abreast of Atlantic City. Winds SW to 20 seas 4 to 5 following. Smooth ride.

Our log entry at 0258 hours on Friday noted that the forecast showed the possibility of decreased winds and seas along the south coast of Long Island.but with no clear-cut decision to "duck-in" to New York or traverse the south coast.

On Friday morning at 1037 hours we were 5 NM southeast of Sandy Hook (see photo below). The weather for the next 12 hours along the south coast of long Island indicated 4 to 6 foot swells and a frontal passage at 2200 hours with winds 20 to 25 knots and gusts to 30 with seas 6 to 8 feet from the (favorable) southwest. We reasoned that the favorable conditions would get us to Montauk Point where we could turn north into Long Island Sound and use Block Island to shelter briefly from the winds. Worst case, we would be exposed to 6 hours of wind driven seas from the west. NOAA indicated a Small Craft Advisory in effect through Saturday noon.

Sirius Sea Conditions show favorable conditions to Montauk Point
We are approaching Sandy Hook New Jersey

Sea Conditions appear to worsen at the 24 hour mark reflecting the frontal passage

The Sea Conditions forecast shows an improving trend at the 36 hour mark

Let's go for it!. At 1049 hours we turned east toward Montauk Point. This resulted in a 3 foot swell off the starboard beam and a very comfortable ride.

We alter course due east for Montauk Point

At 1900 hours on Friday night we were 2.6 NM abreast of Shinnecock Light. We noted winds out of the southwest at 10 to 13 knots with a 3 to 5 foot swell off the starboard aft quarter with an occasional 7 footer. Still a smooth ride.

At 2254 hours we were abreast of Montauk light with southwest winds of 22 knots and 5 to 6 foot seas. From here on the weather behaved as forecasted. As we passed south of Block Island after midnight the winds increased to 25 with gusts to 30 and seas built to the promised 5 to 8 feet with an occasional 10 footer thrown in to hold our attention. We noted that the wind was directly astern with seas off the starboard aft quarter and that the ride was smooth 98% of the time.

You can see the narrow nearshore corridor that allowed us to reach Buzzards Bay favorable sea

A dry cold front approaches as we reach Buzzards Bay

As we approached Buzzards Bay in the early morning hours of Saturday we saw winds and seas begin to diminish recording 4 to 6s at Buzzard Bay Light. Most of the ride up Buzzards Bay was in 2 to 3 foot seas.

Around 0700 hours on Saturday we arrived at the west (south) entrance of Cape Cod Canal and immediately experienced a drop in speed due to a 2.0 knot current from the north. Further slowing our transit of the canal was the movement of a large barge. Canal control asked us to wait to allow the barge to pass.

We wait as the barge maneuvers into the center of the canal 

We exited the canal at 0826 hours and headed north into Cape Cod Bay in 2 foot seas reaching Boston Light at 1318 hours.

Boston Light at the entrance to Nantasket Roads

48 minutes later at 1406 hours we were docked at our berth on the face dock of I-dock. The 9th "snowbird" transition was successfully completed. Further, this marked the third trip in a row with extremely favorable weather.

MOREHEAD CITY to HINGHAM

• Departure: Wednesday May 2 at 1005 hours (From Morehead City)
• Arrival Hingham: Saturday May 5 at 1406 hours
• Total Distance Morehead City to Hingham: 642 NM
• Distance since Sarasota: 1,529 NM
• Average Speed 8.5 knots
• Total Engine Hours: 76
• Engine Fuel Used: 688 gallons
• Generator Fuel Used: 79 gallons
• Total Fuel Used: 767 gallons
• Fuel Added: None
• Estimated Fuel Cost: $2,301.00 (based on $3.00 per gallon)

TOTAL TRIP - SARASOTA to HINGHAM

• Departure from Marina Jack: April 27 at 1221 hours
• Arrival at Hingham: May 5 at 1406 hours
• Total Time Enroute: 9 days and 2 hours
• Total Engine Hours: 163
• Total Distance: 1,503 Nautical Miles
• Engine Fuel Used: 1,651 gallons
• Efficiency: .91 NMPG
• Generator Fuel Used: 192 gallons
• Total Fuel Used: 1,743 gallons
• Total Overall Cost: $7,395.94