With Halloween on the doorstep we decided to visit one of the more famous graveyards, the Graveyard of the Atlantic. We spent three days and two moonlight cruises through the Devil's Triangle heading south. With all the rain recently there were plenty rumors of problems on the ICW so with the right weather window we made our attempt.
Leaving Monday from Solomons, Md we had a nice cruise on the Chesapeake with a good tide along the way. At 20:30 the Chesapeake bridge/tunnel was a little difficult to figure out how to get under the bridge. It wasn't until we crept up to it that the lighting pattern made sense. Also the USCG was announcing that the lights were out on the bridge, hmmmm. By midnight we slipped by Cape Henry and started our way along the Virginia coast. It was easy going with 2-3 foot seas on the port quarter with 8 second interval. Nice, only 180 miles to go and the wind was dying.
At Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear there are shoals where we had to be at least 10 nm offshore. That's where the Gulf Stream likes to hang out. Our speed would drop from 7.5 kts. to 5 kts as we entered a ripple zone on the water. I would turn toward shore as soon as safely possible to get into the calmer waters. Doing this helped get some speed back.
We did find that as we got in about three miles offshore, we picked up the countercurrent and was doing 8-9 kts. This helped us keep a good average speed and distance so we could make a good anchorage along the coast (there are so few).
After having a quiet run over 48 hours we knew we had pushed the window limit. By the time we got to Cape Fear and the Frying Pan Shoals the wind and chop started from the NE and winds were 10-15kts. The swell of course was 2-3 from the SE. We spent 4 hours getting around the shoals running with the seas and then tacking North into them. It was when we hit the travel lane that they finally calmed down.
We're at the South Harbor Marina on the ICW after 55 hours at sea. All our planning paid off and we had a great cruise. The only scary part is knowing Chris Patterson is in these parts. Boo again.
All U Get
Leaving Monday from Solomons, Md we had a nice cruise on the Chesapeake with a good tide along the way. At 20:30 the Chesapeake bridge/tunnel was a little difficult to figure out how to get under the bridge. It wasn't until we crept up to it that the lighting pattern made sense. Also the USCG was announcing that the lights were out on the bridge, hmmmm. By midnight we slipped by Cape Henry and started our way along the Virginia coast. It was easy going with 2-3 foot seas on the port quarter with 8 second interval. Nice, only 180 miles to go and the wind was dying.
At Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear there are shoals where we had to be at least 10 nm offshore. That's where the Gulf Stream likes to hang out. Our speed would drop from 7.5 kts. to 5 kts as we entered a ripple zone on the water. I would turn toward shore as soon as safely possible to get into the calmer waters. Doing this helped get some speed back.
We did find that as we got in about three miles offshore, we picked up the countercurrent and was doing 8-9 kts. This helped us keep a good average speed and distance so we could make a good anchorage along the coast (there are so few).
After having a quiet run over 48 hours we knew we had pushed the window limit. By the time we got to Cape Fear and the Frying Pan Shoals the wind and chop started from the NE and winds were 10-15kts. The swell of course was 2-3 from the SE. We spent 4 hours getting around the shoals running with the seas and then tacking North into them. It was when we hit the travel lane that they finally calmed down.
We're at the South Harbor Marina on the ICW after 55 hours at sea. All our planning paid off and we had a great cruise. The only scary part is knowing Chris Patterson is in these parts. Boo again.
All U Get
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