Night Crossing of Albemarle Sound

We spent Thanksgiving at Top Rack Marian. Kelly used InstaCart grocery delivery service to order everything that she needed and whipped up an amazing turkey dinner. This woman has skills :-).

All the Fix’ins
Yumm
Pie at the helm while underway
Saloon cleaned up after T-Day dinner.

We left Top Rack Marina after sharing an amazing Thanksgiving aboard. However, the temps were dipping into the 30’s at night and we needed to go South as fast as possible.

Leaving Top Rack Marina

a mile or two South down the ICW is the Great Bridge Lock. The water level only drops 2-3 ft so it’s pretty gentle as far as river locks go. However, the ICW (InterCoastal Waterway) is a federal commerce waterway and that means that it’s there for commercial boats first and pleasure boaters second. We had a stand aside while the lock tender let this huge tug and barge in ahead of us.

They asked us if we felt comfortable trying to squeeze past the tug n barge to get ahead of it in the lock. Challenge accepted.

Soon the gates were swinging open.

https://youtu.be/uCdNnLo4Q-s

Great Bridge Lock, ICW in VA

We saw lots of Canadians looking for a warmer winter

We passed through the Centerville Turnpike Swing Bridge

https://youtu.be/8i8TA1ITDwA

Centerville Turnpike Swing Bridge

Then it was through the “normally open except for when a train is a coming” bridge.

If a train comes and it starts a lower.. push the throttle to the pins 😉

Not long after that we were passing Coinjock Marina in NC. This is normally our stopping point for the night but the winds were going to increase early in the AM so we decided to anchor just before our Albemarle Sound crossing. On our way to our anchorage we heard a sailboat on the VHF hailing TowBoatUS to come pull them out of the shallows. It was 1.5 hours before low tide so it was only going to get worse.

This boat had wandered outside of the narrow channel and run aground

Soon we were passing ICW mile markers 55 & 65 and approaching our anchorage for the night.

I did one last check to see if the weather forecast had changed and … it had.

The strong winds were going to come before sunrise so Kelly & I decided do a nighttime crossing of Albemarle sound and anchor in the Alligator River rather than have a lumpy crossing in the AM.

Just before the sun went down we snapped one more photo.

The full moon came up but we were not running into it but away from it. I always prefer to run down the moonstreak as it helps me spot crap pot floats before we run them over and wrap the line around our propeller.

The crossing was a bit lumpy but we picked a spot to anchor behind Durant Island that would give us a lee shore. Tonight we will sleep well and get plan for a sunrise departure before the wind starts to whip in the AM.

Anchored Behind Durant Island (red marker)

Today’s leg was 70 NM from Chesapeake, VA to Durant Island, NC. This year we agreed to throttle-back to somewhere in the 6 knot range and stay in the 3 NM / gallon diesel range. We conservatively plan to make 50 NM / day. That’s 10 hours of daylight x 6 kts minus time weighing / dropping anchor and waiting for bridges to open.

Apple Maps Screen Capture with Finger Drawn Route – A Close Approximation

Slipping into Venus

The sunset before we went to bed was beautiful in Godfrey Bay

We had woken up at 4AM and decided to get underway. It was pitch black but I wanted to arrive at Top Rack Marina before they closed without having to burn more than 2.5 gals/hour. So as we twisted and turned our way out of the Piankatank River we had to rely on the lighted buoys and cans. Recall that buoys or “nuns” are red, even numbered and have pointy “nun hat” tops, cans are green cylinders with odd numbers and flat tops.

MV Simple Life in the center passed Red lighted beacon #8 and approaching Green lighted beacon #7

Directly above the red beacon light you can see Venus. I think the halo effect making it look even bigger in the photo

As we headed East the planet Venus was brilliantly lit up and acting as a perfect aiming target to stay on course. We were slipping our way past shoals and straight into Venus.

At times I would run with the searchlight lit to attempt to view and steer around crab pots and unlit fish weirs. This is the hazard of running at night that you can wrap a crab pot line around your propeller or become ensnared in a fish weir.

I have a project to install LED lights under the bow to light crab pots without reflecting off the foredeck

Two hours passed and first light was upon us. Sunrise was a coming…

6:04AM – First Light
6:19AM
6:47AM
6:50AM Sun Peaking Above the Horizon
6:52AM
6:54AM

Danger Area… If you go to lower zoom levels to see what chart note is attached to the Danger Area you only get an annoying note that says to read NOAA’s US Coast Pilot Vol #3. That’s not very helpful as I used to keep all the Coast Pilot books printed and stored aboard but I found that I was using the online versions linked above.

Danger Area, Why? Have to look in the US Coast Pilot Vol #2

Coast Pilot is a FREE, online pdf, navigation book published by NOAA.

Coast PIlot 3
Chapters vs. Areas Covered

It’s a lot like the Maptech Embassy or Waterway Guide books that I used when I first started boating.

2018 $45
Also $45

The trip down to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay was easy smooth going.

However, as we approached the inlet to Norfolk, VA the current was quickly ebbing.

Green Marker being pushed over by current
Speed dropped from 6kts to only 4.2kts
It necks down going into Norfolk, VA

Soon we were surrounded by military gun boats and helicopters buzzing overhead. On the VHF you can hear Virginia Pilots calling ships preparing to enter the harbor. They are landing on a cargo ship via helicopter for inspection of the vessel. All hatches must be open except the one the helicopter is landing on. Specific instructions were given not to have crew approach the helicopter on landing.

Warships were everywhere to see in port but we let those boys do their work and stay clear of them.

If you click on any of the AIS targets they come up as “military” or “US Govt”

The shipyard has some amazing mega-sized structures.

it’s looks like it climbed onto the building

As you proceed further down the Elizabeth River you are reminded that much of what’s on the shore is off-limits to anyone other than the US Government and military.

Watch Tower
Keep Out
Floating Gate Barrier
Navy Police gave me a 2 whistle pass rather than a 1 whistle so as to keep us away from the shore

At one point in our journey down the channel I noticed that the gigantic MSC Silvana container ship had black diesel smoke coming out of it’s stack. OMG. it’s underway and blocking the entire channel!

Blocking our path down the channel
MSC Silvana AIS info
Tug on port and stern

https://youtu.be/f7xwTYWq-mA

We had to get out of the channel to get past her

Soon we were passing this lifeboat that looked like it had lost it’s ship. These fellows were just riding around in the life boat. Maybe they are on shore leave and wanted find a restaurant 😉

I just think these are the coolest. I’m jealous of this woman getting to launch one of these free-fall lifeboats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGuLXLTWiCA

How cool is she?

Soon we made our way to Top Rack Marina.

A Marina, Deli and Store all-in-one
She’s just happy we are going to eat at the Amber Lantern
Filet & Tips
Morning Fog @TopRackMarina
54′ Sabre Pretty but at about $1.8M a bit too pricey
I love a SP Cruiser Motorsailer
Kelly made me breakfast in the AM with the leftovers.

We love this stop for several reasons.

Amber Lantern Restaurant
Great fuel prices
1. $2.74/gal Diesel – we took on 306 gallons.
Great slip prices
1. $35/night any length boat (includes power)

People often ask us how cheap can you live aboard? It’s a great question and the answer is “it depends”. It depends on the life-style you want to live. Sometimes we hit marinas and restaurants every day and money seems to disappear. However, other times we spend cruising on anchor every night and spend nothing but diesel. We left Warwick, RI on Sunday, Nov 11th at around 3PM. It’s now 10 days later, Nov 21st we are at Top Rack Marina in Chesapeake, VA. Being a fan of science I believe people would rather see a data-driven answer where they can draw their own conclusion. If we “Do the Math”.

We have completed 9 legs of our journey over 10 days.
We put 89 Hours on the diesel
86 hours / 8 legs = 10.75 hours a leg. (skipping the first short 3 hour day)
10 hours on the genset (4 because I forgot to shut it off while underway)
$242 on 2 nights dinner & drinks (I don’t recall getting back to the boat on 1 of them)
306 Gallons of diesel (main engine, genset & forced-hot-air diesel heat)
$838 on diesel
$150 for 3 nights at marinas

I hope that sheds some light on budget.

Our 9th leg looked something like this…

Apple Maps screen capture with hand-drawn finger route

Godfrey Bay Before Sunset

We weighed anchor just before sunrise.

Put our running lights on.

Radar pings from the numerous boats lining the docks.

Soon we were making our way out into Chesapeake Bay.

We did not see many boats out in the bay but we did pass this sailboat under-tow. I’m thinking the rudder must be broken or they’d be using that sail.

Our leg today

Solomon’s Island

We awoke to realize the sun was already up and rising above the Navy bridge we anchored behind.

There was one other sailboat on a mooring ball in front of a home and some great foliage.

When we arrived in Annapolis we anchored right next to a brand new UUS Sioux City (LCS 11) Navy warship.

The future USS Sioux City (LCS 11), a Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship, will be commissioned a United States Ship (USS) on November 17, 2018 in Annapolis, Maryland. More than 5,000 people are expected to attend the commissioning ceremony at the United States Naval Academy….

The patrol boat was actively keeping any boats from getting close but we were able to snap this photo on our way past.

The trip down to Solomon’s Island was smooth and we came in and around the triangular island before finding a spot to drop anchor.

A nice view of a pink sky off to starboard.

Time to watch some football on the iPad.

Today’s leg looked like this.

Anchored in Annapolis

Well sadly Old Glory did not survive the strong winds we went through getting up Delaware Bay. I was thinking of retiring it before the storm made my decision for me.

We had to retire Old Glory after the storm tore it up

We enjoyed our two night stay at the Granary Marina in Fredericksburg, MD.

MV Simple Life was safely tied in her slip

The marina was empty as it was mid-November.

The sun was setting on the Sassafras River so that meant it was Happy Hour @ the Granary Restaurant.

It was a cold walk and Kelly was telling me to hurry it up. Restaurant has a great outer deck overlooking the marina & river.

I loved that someone bolted an old dead tree to the top of a marina piling and put an eagle’s nest on top.

Rather than getting underway before sunrise we slept in and took our time leaving.

Soon we were making our way down the sinuous 10 mile stretch of the Sassafras river to the Chesapeake Bay.

When we came in the river at night we had to dodge these fish weirs that extend out from the banks. Easy to spot this morning…

Heading down the Chesapeake we passed a huge car carrier called the Triton Leader.

The dogs were happy that today’s leg of our journey was calm and flat.

Soon we were passing under the famous Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Soon we were anchored behind the Navy Bridge. We had the whole anchorage to ourselves.

W02L006 (Leg 6 of our second winter living aboard) looked something like this.

Gale Warnings, Snow, Sleet and a Beam Sea

We anchored in Cape May at night and the wind was whipping. We tried to tuck in behind the Cape May canal Jetty to get some protection but alas the boat was a rocking.

I finally had to get out of bed, weigh the anchor and re-drop as close as I could get to the jetty. It worked. Well it worked a little. We did not sleep much.

Next morning we left before sunrise because I just was not sleeping anyway. The gale warning winds were nipping at our heels as we worked our way North up Delaware Bay.

The blue dot is MV Simple Life and the red-purple are 30-40 MPH winds

A quick check on the weather back in Warwick, RI showed it was even colder than what we were feeling in Delaware Bay.

The water in Delaware Bay was cold. Not something you want to fall overboard into.

Traffic was hard to find. This Chiquita banana container ship passed us as we slipped out of the channel to give her space. I think only 2 other boats passed us on this gusty, snowy, foggy day.

Container ship passing us in Delaware Bay

As we made our way up Delaware Bay the wind and waves were on our beam. The wind alone was giving us quite a list to port. A beam sea is never fun in a flybridge trawler with a 400lb dingy and two kayaks on the flydeck. eek.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRw_yIzbylM

Delaware Bay Early in the AM

Soon we could hear the sleet bouncing off the outside of the boat.

Then came the snow…

Why didn’t I bring a snow brush on this Bahamas trip?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbR-ClbBxLE

The snow brought with it FOG.

As the fog crept in on us it was time to turn on our Khalenberg automatic fog horn. If you are ever near MV Simple Life in the fog you’d think a giant tanker was bearing down on you. What made me laugh was… it stopped working in the freezing snow. With each blow of the horn it iced up more and more until it just stopped working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_y1weOEVUA

Wind on the beam, Fog closed in around the boat Fog Horn wasn’t frozen yet.

Once the Fog horn froze up and stopped working it was time to go to my backup fog horn. Yes, my VHF’s loud hailer fog horn played but in the wind and snow I’m sure nobody was hearing it. Heck, there wasn’t another boat out on this day anyway.

Function + 8 plays the ICOM VHF fog horn

The fog had closed in so tight to the boat that we could only see a single boat length in any direction. Thankfully, we have a 4′ open array Digital HD radar with overlay right on our chart plotter that helps us identify boats from buoys. We also rely heavily on AIS (Marine Automated Identification System) to make sure we show up on the chart plotters of other boats as well as us having all the details about the boats around us (boat name, course, speed, MMSI#, etc.

We soldiered on with the idea that once we made it into the C&D canal that the weather conditions would improve. They did!

The visibility returned and the winds and waves were held at bay by the high canal hill sides.

Soon we were passing marinas where the boats were covered in snow.

When we exited the C&D canal into the head of the Chesapeake Bay the wind was whipping up a following sea so we decided to anchor in the Bohemia River. Great plan until the depth alarms went wild when the depth dipped below 6 feet. This was not good concidering we were only minutes away from high tide. Not wanting to run aground or get stuck waiting for high-tide to return we decided to push on further to the Sassafras River.

The sun set and we watched as the last light disappeared as we entered the Sassafras River. It’s a long trip up the river to the Granary Marina but we decided with the strong winds and rain it would be nice to sleep tied to a dock. Neither of us wanted to spend another night trying to brace ourselves in the bunk.

The dockmaster left for the night and left us directions on how to find our assigned slip. That plan failed when we could not find our slip using our searchlight. The wind and the rain were coming down sideways and driving from the pilothouse in the dark is not a place you want to be poking down random fairways trying to find a slip. So we decided to grab any open slip and call it a night.

Docking alone in that wind was difficult enough but when I jumped out of the pilothouse to tie up I almost slipped on the snow and wound up going swimming.

Soon we were tied up and I was changing out of my work pajamas, kicking my snow filled crocs off my frozen feet and thawing my toes by the heater while enjoying a well-deserved IPA

After 13 hours at the helm, this IPA tastes great 😉

This leg of our trip is pictured below.

Delaware Bay – via Cape May, NJ

Well exited the Manasquan River right at slack tide which is good for reducing the currents when trying to squeeze through the narrow railroad bridge as well as the rip at the mouth of the inlet.

As we headed out the Manasquan River we looked back and saw Point Pleasant canal which is mile 0 or the start of the NJ ICW (InterCoastal Waterway).The NJ ICW ends in the Cape May entrance channel.

As you work your way out of the Manasquan River be careful. My charts don’t line up perfectly with the channel’s actual location so follow the daymarks and temporary buoys and cans that are in place.

There are two bridges on Rte. 35 and the other is an automated railway bridge.

The Rte 35 bridge gets shallow just as you are about to pass under it. So when your low water alarm goes off don’t break your focus and stay straight going through.

6.6′ depth just as I’m passing under it.

Normally open Railway Bridge. I heard the opening is only 48′

Soon we were at the inlet to the Manasquan River and we exited into the Atlantic.

There were not many boats out on the NJ coast. It is mid-November after all.

However this FV (Fishing Vessel) Webo looked like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. Soon I found him piloting real close up the back MV Simple Life and I swear he did it to infect us with his flock of sea birds. As he pulled away the flock split and half seemed to follow us. Kelly’s not a real fan of birds something about getting caught in her hair or something … so I just did not let her know that the birds were surrounding us.

Bird Boat
FV Webo is not 70′ long!
FV Wevo on our backup cam
Note the double black cones day shape to designate a vessel engaged in fishing

I could not help but notice that FV Wevo was using dayshapes to let other boaters know he was engaged in fishing. Two black cones, point to point in a vertical lines designates this.

We also passed a fish farm or tug towing a fish pen. You need to be careful of running into these at night.

We did see one other snowbird racing south. MV Scorpio passed us doing about 11 kts compared to our 8 kts.

AIS – Automatic Identification System info on MV Scorpio

This drum hazard snuck up on us and we had to adjust course to avoid hitting it. I don’t believe it was lit so keep a good helm watch at night.

Kelly is great about cooking while underway and delivered two hot bacon, egg & cheese muffin sandwiches to the helm.

Even the dogs were licking their chops

We passed Atlantic City on our way to Delaware Bay.

Soon the sun went down and the overcast sky made for a dark night on the water.

We could start to see Cape May on the horizon.

When you work your way into the Cape May inlet they provide a nice red range light that you can use to keep your boat positioned in the center of the channel.

You can see the split in the entrance channel and the range marker right at the split.

My heading line splits right through the range maker

Once in Cape May Harbor we worked our way straight through and out the Cape May canal to Delaware Bay. We anchored for the night just South of the Cape May Canal jetty. A bit of a lumpy anchorage in this wind and chop but we’ll be gone at sunrise as the stormy weather is nipping at our heals.

Tomorrow’s forecast has 30-40kt winds were we are anchored tonight.

Manasquan River Inlet – Jersey Shore

We left Port Jefferson, NY before sunrise.

It was dark pulling out of the anchorage but the only other boat in the anchorage was stationary when we left.

Along the way into the East River we passed several tugs pushing barges in the rain and fog.

Tug pushing a barge hailing us by name via AIS

Several hailed us using “MV Simple Life” due to our AIS. They say things like “We’ll meet you on the two” meaning a starboard to starboard pass.

The weather was not nice and I always smile when I see fishermen out in small skiff’s on crappy weather days. How much do you need your fishing fix?

Once you pass Execution light,

LI Sound really starts necking down.

Good thing LIS was necking down because the wind was whipping up a good beam sea

You enter the East River by going under the Throgs Neck Bridge and we always time our entrance with the current tables

Max Ebb, Flood and slack with current directions

Whenever we enter the East River we are looking for bodies like on Law and Order.

Law & Order starts most episodes with finding a body in the East River

Soon your going by LaGuardia airport, Riker’s Island and the floating Jail boat

LaGuardia Airport & Riker’s Island in the East River, NYC

Riker’s Island Jail – Can you say Law & Order?

Then it’s the city that is thrust upon you.

Traffic noise was really loud. Seemed odd to be on a boat surrounded by deafening city noise

I think the Staten Island Ferry docked here?

The sound of police sirens, helicopters, jets, traffic, everywhere.

The Brooklyn Bridge with the Stars N Stripes flying proud.

Apparently they even have boat bulletin boards.

Soon we were dodging water taxis and ferries like the Staten Island Ferry

Then it was by Lady Liberty

Under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and out to sea.

Here we found lots of large container ships surrounded by oversized tugs.

Container ship talking to the oversized tug who is delivering the harbor pilot

I want a tug boat.. I’m sure everybody does

Be careful of Romer shoal. You can’t miss the breaking surf on a lumpy day.

I also noticed that Sandy Hook kinda looks like the boot of Italy, no?

Soon we were heading due South and that’s where you find a winter beach.

180 Magnetic is the direction of our Winter beach

The wind was about 20 kts but it was an offshore wind.

That meant we could hug the lee shore and have a comfortable ride.

We were traveling only 1/4 mile off the beach and you could watch the waves break.

It was dark as we made our way down the Jersey shore.

There was a SCA (Small Craft Advisory) in effect

Waves were small but the swell was large.

This shows up in the depth sounder’s and looks like a lumpy bottom.

Soon we were making our way into Manasquan River Inlet in the dark.

The tough part is that the channel is very narrow and shallow.

We had to use our searchlight to light the unlit daymarks.

Twice we had to stop because of less than 5′ of water and poke around to find the channel.

Rather than anchor in the shallows we found a Brewer’s Crystal Point marina.

Tonight we are tied to the fuel dock and we’ll be gone before sunrise bound for Cape May.

Port Jefferson Long Island – in the Dark

We left Point Judith just before sunrise.

Along the way the sun came up in the East and since we were heading due West it was directly on our stern.

The boat was running great and it was time to drop the throttle to the pins and see what she’ll run at. I had hoped that she would reach WOT of 2800 but alas we only hit 2700. Proof that the boat is running a bit heavy and we may need to re-pitch the prop in the Spring. I almost did it this Fall but with the moving the ballast around I figured she may run a bit different at WoT (Wide Open Throttle).

2700 RPM ain’t 2800 and maybe re-pitching the prop will fix that.

Along the way we got a “low voltage” alarm at the helm and after troubleshooting it it turned out to be the VSR (Voltage Sensititive Relay) that was not working properly. When you have a boat with 3 battery banks and 2 charging methods (alternator on the diesel & shore power battery charger) you need a VSR that combine the battery banks when there is a charging source (above 13V) and something that disconects the battery bank from the others when it drops below 12V. By isolating the battery bank you prevent all the battery banks from being depleted while allowing a single or multiple sources to charge all the battery banks at once.

Cockpit lazarette power panel. Two VSRs and 3 battery banks.

Anyway.. long story short our VSR was not combining the battery banks and I could use a manual override to force the diesel alternator to charge not just the single 8D battery for the diesel but also the Qnty 3 8D AGM (Acid Gas Mat) house batteries.

By the way. I just replaced those batteries at 160lbs a piece. I needed to be a bit younger. I’m not as strong as I was….

W02L02 (Winter 02, Leg 002) looked something like this…

OK that does not include our nighttime arrival into Port Jefferson, NY (in Long Island).

Even funnier were the dogs. They get nervous when the sea starts to get rough. That said the sea state was smooth but they were just out of practice. Chief Martin Brody was a bit nervous so by sitting on his big sister makes him relax. I’m not sure Happy agrees with this …

That’s all for tonight… I’ve been following the weather and it’s forcing us to run 12 hours days into the night to stay ahead of the NorEasters that are bringing high winds and heavy seas. We just need to get South down the Jersey coast before the Gale Force Wind warnings that are so commonplace during a NE winter…

We are anchored until sunrise @6:38AM on Tuesday. Until then.. this is our view of Port Jefferson..

W02L002 – Leg #2 From Point Judith, RI to Port Jefferson, NY

Heading South in Point Judith

7AM this morning was cold. There was frozen water in the dock cart and frost on the car windshield.

Dock cart full of frozen water. It’s cold this morning!

The boatyard was full of friends boats on the hard.

Buddy & Renee’s SV Star Watch with the beautiful blue hull with a gold boot stripe

As we pulled away from the marina a look back shows just how many of the slips are empty as the boatyard crew is working overtime to get all the boats pulled and blocked on the hard for the winter.