JoLin
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Messages
- 5,146
<sigh>
Picked up the 'new' Carver 26 Command Bridge yesterday. The forecast wasn't the greatest but my super experienced friend Tom and I figured we had plenty of time between the early-morning fog, and the heavy rains predicted for late afternoon. Well, we were almost right.
Our wives came along, as well as another boating couple who's made the maiden voyage with us on our other boats. I had a good crew. I hired a car service to drive us all to the Bronx. We picked up the boat and left the fuel dock (80 gallons at $4.99- ouch) around 9:30. We had a fantastic trip down the East River, passing under the various bridges, seeing Rikers Island, the NYC skyline, the Statue of Liberty, etc. Commercial traffic was light and we only had to avoid a couple of tugs and barges on the way down. Easy. Through the Verrazano Narrows and out into the Ambrose Channel behind a couple of container ships.
Things got a little rough in the ocean off Long Island. A small craft advisory was on tap for the afternoon. We were running ahead of most of it, so things weren't too bad. Seas were running 3-5' but we were in 50 feet of water less than a mile offshore, so they were steep. The Carver's a solid boat but the hull doesn't have a lot of deadrise. We had to keep speed down to 12 mph to avoid being beaten up. That leg (20 miles) took us nearly 2 hours, and the seas were starting to build. Finally, at about 2:00 we made it through the Jones Inlet and into the protected state boat channel.
Mission accomplished (almost). 30 minutes and 10 miles from home yours truly, with my head firmly up my butt, completely misinterpreted a channel marker that I've navigated a half dozen times. This time I drove us into 2 feet of water at 20 mph. Bang! A couple of people got a little bruised, but thankfully nobody had any injuries requiring more than some ice. I was, shall we say, 'appropriately chagrined' (aka, embarrassed as hell and cursing a blue streak).
A call to Boat Tow and an hour later we were hauled into the channel and on our way. Of course, the skies had opened up in the meantime, and Tom and I were soaked to the skin. Luckily, no damage to the boat.
So, the trip was 90% fantastic, 10% something-to-laugh-about-later, nobody got hurt, the boat handled well and ran flawlessly, and we made it home safe and sound. This is a NICE boat. Of course, it is a boat, so I have a laundry list of details to attend to. But we could take it out again today if we had time.
One last note- my wife and I had been hemming and hawing about a name for this one. After yesterday's adventure, she insisted that we can't call it anything BUT 'Escapade'- so say hello to 'Escapade III'
Picked up the 'new' Carver 26 Command Bridge yesterday. The forecast wasn't the greatest but my super experienced friend Tom and I figured we had plenty of time between the early-morning fog, and the heavy rains predicted for late afternoon. Well, we were almost right.
Our wives came along, as well as another boating couple who's made the maiden voyage with us on our other boats. I had a good crew. I hired a car service to drive us all to the Bronx. We picked up the boat and left the fuel dock (80 gallons at $4.99- ouch) around 9:30. We had a fantastic trip down the East River, passing under the various bridges, seeing Rikers Island, the NYC skyline, the Statue of Liberty, etc. Commercial traffic was light and we only had to avoid a couple of tugs and barges on the way down. Easy. Through the Verrazano Narrows and out into the Ambrose Channel behind a couple of container ships.
Things got a little rough in the ocean off Long Island. A small craft advisory was on tap for the afternoon. We were running ahead of most of it, so things weren't too bad. Seas were running 3-5' but we were in 50 feet of water less than a mile offshore, so they were steep. The Carver's a solid boat but the hull doesn't have a lot of deadrise. We had to keep speed down to 12 mph to avoid being beaten up. That leg (20 miles) took us nearly 2 hours, and the seas were starting to build. Finally, at about 2:00 we made it through the Jones Inlet and into the protected state boat channel.
Mission accomplished (almost). 30 minutes and 10 miles from home yours truly, with my head firmly up my butt, completely misinterpreted a channel marker that I've navigated a half dozen times. This time I drove us into 2 feet of water at 20 mph. Bang! A couple of people got a little bruised, but thankfully nobody had any injuries requiring more than some ice. I was, shall we say, 'appropriately chagrined' (aka, embarrassed as hell and cursing a blue streak).
A call to Boat Tow and an hour later we were hauled into the channel and on our way. Of course, the skies had opened up in the meantime, and Tom and I were soaked to the skin. Luckily, no damage to the boat.
So, the trip was 90% fantastic, 10% something-to-laugh-about-later, nobody got hurt, the boat handled well and ran flawlessly, and we made it home safe and sound. This is a NICE boat. Of course, it is a boat, so I have a laundry list of details to attend to. But we could take it out again today if we had time.
One last note- my wife and I had been hemming and hawing about a name for this one. After yesterday's adventure, she insisted that we can't call it anything BUT 'Escapade'- so say hello to 'Escapade III'
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