Adventure - NYC to RI

AusCan said:

"5 foot waves, no sea tow. and no other boats in sight".

Sounds like a normal day boating.
Check your fuel, get to know your boat's systems, bring tools and spares, and have fun!

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"Sounds like a normal day boating."
At what air and water temperatures?

Long Island sound water temps are about 42F today and the air is about 10F.

bridaus said:

Polishing will happen (either me, or a mechanic). Tank was treated, so that's good news.

Forecast? Good only for a short time, no one is going out right now, least of all me and this boat. Stated many times that I will wait for a weather window no matter how long.

How much will it cost? NYC is expensive, that's all I'll say. Safety is more important, but at some point after getting to know the boat and with a good weather window, it will be worth it. I'm hiring captain either way, so that does not factor. Feb to May on hard? I have soooo many projects... it's the biggest reason.

Great stuff, appreciate the input.

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I do not think you would need a Captain if there was a reasonable way to truck the boat.

smitty477 said:

"Sounds like a normal day boating."
At what air and water temperatures?

Long Island sound water temps are about 42F today and the air is about 10F.

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Wind gusting 50mph+

Temp with windchill was -25 at one point

NWS issued a water spout warning: “Very cold air moving out over the waters around eastern Long Island has already produced isolated waterspouts. More waterspouts may be possible into early this afternoon"

The weather is clearly not suitable right now, and may not be for many weeks. Not worth talking about current conditions until they improve. In the meantime I'm hoofing it to get my work done. 8 hours round-trip.

smitty477 said:

I do not think you would need a Captain if there was a reasonable way to truck the boat.

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What it comes down to based on estimates: I'd rather put the money into the boat and wait, than truck it.

bridaus: You've got a lot of good counsel here, I don't need to add mine - it's already been said. All I can add is "fair winds, following seas" and please keep us posted! Good luck and........when you get to RI, please close your flight plan.

Bon Voyage!!

Depending on where you are in New York Harbor catch the Slack Water First Of the Flood at the Battery East River. Don't be a Deep Draft sail boat and don't hog the middle of the channel at the He'll Gate. The big tug barges go through the gate the same time. After passing X Rocks during the winter the wind comes from the NW so it is best to precede the north side of the Sound. A good place to anchor is New Haven or New London. Plan your eastbound trip the Race for the ebb. Once again for a winter trip it is NW but between the Race/Valiant Rock to Point Judith. There might be a southern swell from the ocean. This is just my opinion from many years towing oil barges on that route but as always use your best judgment.

My husband and I drove our new to us 2007 Mainship 400 up from New Bern on first leg and Annapolis on second leg to Narragansett Bay this past April.
Even though we did have a sea trial, and she performed beautifully the entire trip until we got to around Fisher's Island; even though we had changed the fuel filter, the boat had sat for a year before we got her and inevitably clogged and slowed us down considerably.
So be sure to take extra filters because you will likely need them

Also we were boarded by the Coast Guard just outside of Bridgeport and had to scramble because since the boat was new to us, we had forgotten where everything that they asked for was!! Just nerves, I am sure, but maybe a take away might be to look over your CG rules and study just in case!! Naturally, that also depends on the government shutdown going away soon!
Did I miss where in New York you would be coming from? It's a simple trip, especially if you don't have to go through Hell's Gate!

Enjoy the trip! Congratulations on a new baby!

Vickie aka Gouchergirl

Best suggestion: pay attention to seawater temperature, put survival time in the water and disaster plan ahead of all else. Expecting a worst case scenario, how good is your survival plan?

If you want to buy a trawler with much better history than the one you indicated for probably about the same amount of money, let me know.

Insurance

Not an authority but it seems that I remember hearing severe Federal penalties for fuel spills due to unanticipated sinkings. Liability insurance might be a wise move irrespective of other risks

Tugalert said:

Depending on where you are in New York Harbor catch the Slack Water First Of the Flood at the Battery East River. Don't be a Deep Draft sail boat and don't hog the middle of the channel at the He'll Gate. The big tug barges go through the gate the same time. After passing X Rocks during the winter the wind comes from the NW so it is best to precede the north side of the Sound. A good place to anchor is New Haven or New London. Plan your eastbound trip the Race for the ebb. Once again for a winter trip it is NW but between the Race/Valiant Rock to Point Judith. There might be a southern swell from the ocean. This is just my opinion from many years towing oil barges on that route but as always use your best judgment.

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I agree with your ideas - but if he has to time the tides along with the limited daylight as well as the weather windows I do not think he has factored the results of all those 3 simultaneously.

rolomart3 said:

If you want to buy a trawler with much better history than the one you indicated for probably about the same amount of money, let me know.

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He bought the boat weeks ago.

skipperguy said:

Not an authority but it seems that I remember hearing severe Federal penalties for fuel spills due to unanticipated sinkings. Liability insurance might be a wise move irrespective of other risks

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He posted that both liability and hull insurance is already in place.

I retired several years from being a NY Harbor tugboat captain. I also had a 7 knot pleasure tug ( Crosby Tug) and as much as possible timed the tides and currents. Weather entering N.Y. Harbor Narrows , going North up the Hudson River, transiting the East River, heading up the Delaware River, the boater who has a slow boat ( like mine ) It is best to time the currents. Once my 7 knot boat caught the fair current and was going 12 knots heading westbound between Hallett Point and the 59 street bridge. As far as anchoring in New Haven try just inside the middle breakwater in New Haven . As always this is my opinion and only the boater can make the proper decision as to the vessels navigation.

My maritime knowledge ( or lack of it ) comes of 27 years on commercial tugs and 4 years in the regular Coast Guard along with 22 additional years in the Coast Guard Reserve based on Governors Island, NY. Just when you might think you learn everything you find there is more to learn.

smitty477 said:

I agree with your ideas - but if he has to time the tides along with the limited daylight as well as the weather windows I do not think he has factored the results of all those 3 simultaneously.

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Au contraire, mon frère, might be worth mentioning that I'm a private pilot and an engineer, I overthink and over-calculate everything (but can make just as many mistakes as the next person). This thread exists to dig up knowledge I don't have, and there's plenty.

As others have reconfirmed, I have all insurances, I plan on shaking down the boat, and I feel I have to continually remind people that the weather window will be considered, and that could push the trip out to March or April. My greatest curiosity about weather window is what should my limits be in terms of forecast and buffer time, and I've received some great answers to that in this thread.

Thanks to everyone who provides valuable data. Irrational fear and blind trust can both be corrected by data.

bridaus said:

Au contraire, mon frère, might be worth mentioning that I'm a private pilot and an engineer, I overthink and over-calculate everything (but can make just as many mistakes as the next person). This thread exists to dig up knowledge I don't have, and there's plenty.

As others have reconfirmed, I have all insurances, I plan on shaking down the boat, and I feel I have to continually remind people that the weather window will be considered, and that could push the trip out to March or April. My greatest curiosity about weather window is what should my limits be in terms of forecast and buffer time, and I've received some great answers to that in this thread.

Thanks to everyone who provides valuable data. Irrational fear and blind trust can both be corrected by data.

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Interesting read. I'm on the fence on whether I would make that trip this time of year. Obviously, you have worked it out thoroughly and I wish you the best.

Here's a data point to keep in mind regarding weather windows: They are much less predictable in the winter months than the rest of the year, mainly due to the jet stream moving around more unpredictably than the summer months. As a pilot, I imagine you have taken this into account. Taking a chance on weather conditions just to make a schedule has killed many pilots needlessly. In other words, check ALL your data points frequently underway.

If you haven't already done so, have a heart to heart with your Captain to make sure you are on the same page risk management-wise. You don't want to be arguing about changing the plan when conditions change. Also, sniff your Captain's coffee mug before you cast off. There may be more than coffee in there.

bridaus said:

Au contraire, mon frère, might be worth mentioning that I'm a private pilot and an engineer, I overthink and over-calculate everything

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then I expect to see a plot correlating wave height and period with wind speed and direction. MYSound - Central Long Island Sound Station - Wave Panel

(I am sure they have data going back a few years in usable format. A true engineer would go back at least 5 years )

SoWhat said:

then I expect to see a plot correlating wave height and period with wind speed and direction. MYSound - Central Long Island Sound Station - Wave Panel

(I am sure they have data going back a few years in usable format. A true engineer would go back at least 5 years )

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I was on this site a couple of days ago. Don't challenge me!!!

I am having conversations with my captain, and someone mentioned that I have it all figured out, that's definitely not true, that's why I'm learning here. You all have a lot to give and give a lot, thankful for it. For instance, sniff my captains mug, what a great idea. If it smells like cocoa only, then I'm not sure he truly knows what he's in for.... (kidding!)

So more advice..... I think you are just a little too cautious (!) From NY to RI is not a 3 day trip. It’s 3 one day trips. If you hug the CT coastline and wait for the predominate winter wind (NW), there is a spot to duck in every 5-10 miles. So if you wake up in the morning, and the wind is nil to moderate NW and the tide is headed out the sound, perhaps you only get 5 or 6 hours that day. So you go 5-6 hours.

Seems you just need a list of docks that have power and are not iced in ( I see the iced in factor as the biggest issue for the next 4 weeks or so.) Any harbor that has a commercial fleet will have this (Norwalk comes to mind as one of the first a few hours east of Throgs Neck.

Wanting 3 days together is probably the biggest problem. But that seems a constraint foe economically getting a Captain.

I feel for you as I has my boat in a yard for 3 years that was 4.5 hours away. It doesn’t work out.

Update: Trip planned for two weeks from now. Many arduous visits to boat (driving the beast truck five hours each way, some of it in NYC traffic.) I've driven more hours than I've put in labor on the boat. Local yard really good to work with, and have helped out greatly (for a price of course, but still...).

Reread entire thread, feel like we're ready. We'll see. Weather is last determining factor.

Good time to move her. As we noted previously we did the trip last April - LI to Scituate in two days during a good weather window. Looks like the water is 2+ degrees warmer this year than last.

Curious what types of things you have been able to do with your new boat.

Good luck on the trip!

CptnPete said:

Good time to move her. As we noted previously we did the trip last April - LI to Scituate in two days during a good weather window. Looks like the water is 2+ degrees warmer this year than last.

Curious what types of things you have been able to do with your new boat.

Good luck on the trip!

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Took her an hour down river at 5 knots. At 6 she wanted to overheat, found the freshwater heat exchanger 75% plugged, addressed that.

Fixed bilge pump (aft pump wasn't running at all), fixed depth finder, fixed random wiring, charged all batteries, fixed generator raw water pump, cleaned cleaned cleaned... probably a lot more...

What do you all use for maintenance logs? I'm going spreadsheet unless someone has something better...

Best of luck on your trip. Enjoy!

bridaus said:

What do you all use for maintenance logs? I'm going spreadsheet unless someone has something better...

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I keep the maintenance in my head. It's not that hard.

I try to keep a spiral notebook of to-do lists each season. And list engine and generator oil and filter change dates, hours, and materials in respective manuals. But no real maint log - e.g. when i change a choker valve that is something i try to forget...Plus i usually have pics of stuff that requires attention before doing anything so if i need to go back and reference what has been done there is a dated record.

bridaus said:

Took her an hour down river at 5 knots. At 6 she wanted to overheat, found the freshwater heat exchanger 75% plugged, addressed that.

Fixed bilge pump (aft pump wasn't running at all), fixed depth finder, fixed random wiring, charged all batteries, fixed generator raw water pump, cleaned cleaned cleaned... probably a lot more...

What do you all use for maintenance logs? I'm going spreadsheet unless someone has something better...

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I use a spreadsheet which covers both what I did and also the wish list of things "to do". I also write engine maint in a separate maintenance book.


Ken

Boat is safely in RI as of last night. Trip was an adventure, but the water couldn't have been smoother and other than some fog it was almost completely uneventful. I'm not sure I could qualify bad power in one marina an event, though it did cause 30 minutes of unnecessary troubleshooting. I learned a lot from this trip, hope I can document it for others here or elsewhere...

Love to hear about it. I delivered my FIL's sailboat from Huntington to Bristol a few years ago. Always an adventure with a new-used boat.

As far as documenting, I use a journal-type ships log. Especially when catching up deferred maintenence on an old boat. Record date and engine hours. I use the same log to record trips, fuel ups, and other use-events.

What is a "journal-type ships log"?