Boating Adventures

I just passed Barnegat Bay heading north along the New Jersey coastline.  Not much of a view.

It is however a nice day for the trip.  Calm.

I got underway Friday about 0930 from Norfolk and arrived in Atlantic City about 1000 on Saturday.  I had allowed 24-30 hours for the trip, with an estimated distance of 220 miles.i  I was very tired on arrival and slept almost continuously from 1100 until 0630 today.

The trip wasn’t entirely uneventful.  I started having cooling issues shortly after passing the causeway coming out of the Chesapeake.  The raw water flow was stopping suddenly, and engine coolant temperature would start to climb. 

My response to this was to put the engine in neutral and go to about 2000 rpm until the pumping started again, and all would be good, but I had it happen a few times in the space of an hour.

It was pretty choppy at that point with the current running out of the Chesapeake.  I stopped and checked the raw water strainer and did a quick inspection elsewhere, and all seemed to be in order.  Got tossed around enough while drifting to decide to carry on to calmer conditions to replace the impeller.

At about 1600 I stopped at an inlet along the Delaware shore.  It was a little nerve wracking heading in across the unmarked inlet bar, but I found shelter to drop anchor and enact repairs.  Pulled the water pump and replaced the impeller.  One vane had torn off, but the rest were largely intact.

The issue hasn’t been fully resolved.  I had it reoccur several times after getting underway again, but I pressed on keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge, and had to reprime the pump several times by going to high rpms in neutral briefly.

This morning I had full flow on startup, and after puzzling over it and looking at it running decided to get underway to hit the weather/daylight window.  Have had to reprime it twice today in 5 hours of travel.

My current diagnosis is that there is a restriction in the transmission cooler, which is on the supply side of the water pump.  I’ll disassemble and inspect when I get to NY.

My destination today in Great Kills Harbor.  I remember that as a good stopping point from my trip north five years ago.  I’m ready to stop for a bit.  Need to fix this issue and do some shore-based tasks like laundry. 

The only picture I took was of a sub and escorts inbound near the causeway.  I kept my distance as instructed.

I’m anchored here in Norfolk.  Today was a leisurely trip through the Dismal Swamp Canal.  I had a productive day in Elizabeth City getting supplies yesterday.  I like it there.

The trip up the AICW was uneventful and pleasant and generally familiar.  This is my fourth time through here. 

I’ve often thought that NC would be a nice winter cruising area.  Lots of remote anchorages and friendly towns and marinas. 

Now for my next destination.  I’d like to leave NYC to head up the Hudson River around May 13.  So I’m comfortably within schedule, as usual. 

The usual route between here and NYC is up the Chesapeake, through a canal to the Delaware, then down to NJ.  I’ve done that route a couple of times. 

I’m not a fan of this route.  There are countless destinations, but most are not close to the main channel.  So I’ve been thinking of places I’d like to stop.  Washington is high on my list.  It’s a couple of days up the Potomac, but I’ve got lots of time.  There is limited anchorage in a great location. It would be cool to visit by boat and I could happily roam the museums for a few days.  I’m ready to get off the boat.

But I’m tempted by an alternative – beeline it for NYC, then explore that area.  The weather looks great for a longish trip from here to Atlantic City tomorrow, then on to NYC Sunday after some sleep.

I really like that idea.  Maybe cruise around Long Island. 

Lots to think about.  But 14 hours to make the final decision.

I don’t normally write and drive at the same time, but today I’ll make an exception.  Here’s the scenery.

I’m chugging along in a straight line for the next hour or so.  Head current, making about 6 knots.  It’s a parade of slow cruising power boats.  Ahead of me is this boat, the Nancy Lakin.  My kind of boat.

There’s a Nordavn that’s been shadowing me all day and two Nordic Tugs, all going about the same speed.

All is good aboard.  I stopped in Moorehead City yesterday for fuel (5.75 mpg!) and a meal out.  The current gods have generally smiled on me the last few days and I’m making good time. 

I’m heading north to Montreal, and my goal has been to be in Troy NY by May 17 when the canal opens.  I have no idea how I’m tracking against that.  Will do some further planning before I get to Norfolk in a couple of days.  Next stop is Elizabeth City, then through the Dismal Swamp Canal.  I like this part of the ICW.

Pics from the last few days.

I’m anchored here at mile 536.  203 miles in 3 days.  Mile zero is Norfolk. 

All is good.  I stocked up with groceries at St Simons Island. Had some nasty weather last night as a front came through, with 2-3″ of rain.  I didn’t get underway today until 1000 when things moderated.  Weather looks great for the next few days. 

I’m anchored here just north of the river. 

Susan and Miles got off a couple of hours ago.  I’m now in solo travel mode, next major destination is the Hudson River.  I’ll lay out plans in another post.

It was nice having them aboard, and I got to explore the more interesting spots a bit more. 

I just got around to tallying fuel usage over the last couple of months.  These may be my worst numbers ever.  Still not bad by any reasonable standard. 

The numbers: from Destin FL through the Bahamas to Fort Pierce – about ten weeks of steady leisurely travel.

Distance: 1,508 miles / 2,425 km

Fuel: 444 gal / 1,680 l

That’s 3.3 mpg / 1.3 l/NM (nautical mile)

As I’ve mentioned before, my nominal goal has always been < 1.0 l/NM.  But on this segment a lot of it was in open waters, and I travel faster.  It’s the cost of speed.  I did a couple of hundred miles at 8-9 knots.

I’m making up for it by pledging to travel slow for the next 700 miles up the ICW.

In other fuel-related news, I got my generator fully operational with David’s help, and we used it regularly in the Bahamas.  I manage quite nicely without it when solo, but with guests and lots of cooking and Starlink and an ice maker it’s nice to have. 

We’ve been chugging north on the Indian River.  Last night we anchored here next to the Boston Whaler plant in Edgewater.  Today we’re stopping at New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach.

More of Susan’s pictures from the last two days.

Susan’s favourite photos from today.  Warm and breezy. 

Today I met Miles and Susan in West Palm Beach as planned.  They’re aboard for a week and fly out of Jacksonville. 

We’re reasonably well stocked.  Susan will take lots of photos. 

I don’t have much of a plan beyond chugging towards New York and the Hudson River.  Looking forward to it.

Tonight we’re anchored here in North Palm Beach.  Will be underway tomorrow by 0800 with plans for a mid day beach stop.

Below are a few of Laura’s photos.  They do most of the talking.

This is Cat Island and Eleuthera. 

The Abacos

Five weeks, and about 950 NM.  The only issue with the boat was a failing toilet pump that we replaced before leaving FL.  We discovered that the water tank is 463 litres, or about 125 gallons. 

The Exumas were undeniably beautiful.  I’ve never seen such vivid colours. My favourite area was Cat Island and Eleuthera.  It’s far less tourist driven, with no big resorts or cruise ship ports (yet – there’s a big Disney cruise ship port under construction on Eleuthera).  Groceries and good small restaurants were plentiful and reasonably priced.  I’d go back with the intention of spending more time ashore.