Here we go again!! This will be another ongoing report due to severe wx - again.

08:00 - Had planned to leave at 06:30 but fog thick. Wx forecast big change with severe TSM warning starting about 08:00 for all morning; radar not very encouraging. And, it has started - dark as sin, winds 15-20mph, rain pelting down; we watched it approach the marina. Thunder ++. There will be a series of TSM with winds up to 60mph!

Two Fleming yachts pulled in yesterday [55' and 58'] and the latter left around 07:30 to take the offshore run to Manasquan. They will Loop next year, from Annapolis, but are heading to Rhode I. and back this season. We exchanged boat cards and Legacy [boats name] offered to send us a report on sea conditions. The Fleming is definitely a solid deep sea trawler which can handle the storms and these folks also have the experience. We await their next report because he texted he could see the storms coming upon them now.

09:00 - guess what? There is a tornado siren just activated! First a hurricane experience but now also a tornado potential! Even though we have enough tornado warnings in Alabama, I guess 'someone' feels we need some additional humility - i.e. don't plan too much. Siren didn't last long and now we have a 'teaser' patch of blue sky appearing in the West. Unfortunately, based on radar, it won't last long and we will continue to have recurring TSM until about 13:00/1pm, and Atlantic City remains clear after 12:00; so we will likely leave 1pm..ish. It is a 3-4 hr offshore run if we keep at 12mph, which we can easily do [especially with the reports from Legacy].

19:00/7pm - we left Utsch's at 10:30 in a 'window of opportunity' - the storms would not vent themselves upon Atlantic City after 12:00; the forecast still showed SE waves 1-2 feet and NE winds 4-8kts, within our parameters for travel - so we thought. Two other boats also left about then.

It seems the forecast was in error - it took us 4.7 hr to travel the offshore route 43 miles to Atlantic City, with a variation in speeds to try and find the most comfortable rpm/speed [initially 2200rpm was 13mph, ended at 1600rpm 10mph eventually] in worsening waves; the initial winds died down, but the waves were consistently NE/E, not SE, after the first half hour; they started at 1-2ft but developed into 3-4ft with short periods [little interval between them]. We had a bit of rockin/rollin/bouncin which became steadily worse after the half-way point. Lots of stuff fell off shelves, but nothing was broken. We should have put everything on the floor/couch. The sun tried to cheer us as we neared A.C. but we were quite fatigued - I had to hang on to the wheel the whole time, Marg could not go below for any reason - we just had to listen to the rattling of utensils, dishes, etc. This meant we also were unable to avail ourselves of the 'head', so didn't drink much water. As soon as the harbor was entered and the seas calmer, we were 'relieved' in more than one way.

Marina - Kammermans is smaller, only 19 slips, and we are on a fuel dock bulkhead [see photo], but have good diesel and pumpout and a restaurant; they have a 5-6ft tide, so at low tide we have a long ladder to climb to get off boat - Marg opted to stay aboard, while went to the restaurant to order a great pair of sandwiches which they delivered to the boat [see photo]. Nice folks and helpful - just like most of them we've visited. We filled both diesel tanks [270g] and pumped out. The marina is across the harbor from hotels and casinos; and a really big marina [640 slips!] - the main reason we didn't go to it - just too big.

Admirals Desk:

[Flemings, robs dream boat, drool , mainship with cd flag.]

The line above is to remind myself what I was going to comment on. I wasn't expecting Rob to publish so soon. Anyway, Flemings are Robs dream boat. And there were two that docked beside us yesterday. The first was an older 55' and very nice. All Flemings are nice. The second one caused the drooling. A new 58'!! Beautiful and much bigger than the 55. $$$$. Their boat card says hull #30. Also, a boat flying the Canadian flag arrived yesterday. Home port Ottawa. That's all for now.

What a gawdawful trip. No matter how often you update the weather is always one step ahead, therefore, not reliable. Although a very unpleasant trip, we were thankfully never in danger. The Canadian flag folks are here. They left Cape May about an hour before us and had the same miserable trip. Without a pilothouse, probably worse. We all masked up and they came for a quick visit and boat tour. We'll buddy boat with them tomorrow. Nice folks and the first non-mechanic people to come aboard since March. Had to tidy up a little.😁 Good night all.

Maintenance:

The boat ran fine all day. Everything worked well; all monitoring shows normal. Tomorrow - we will take the ICW to Manasquan, 65miles, as the offshore route is not going to improve until the weekend. We will travel with the Mainship above. We expect at least 7-8 hrs, even though there are no bridges to deal with. Stay safe.

Comments:

Ernie R - 6 Aug 2020: Think tornados and hurricanes normally go together! Hopefully the weather will improve and you can catchup with the Fleming’s! After all you all have been through I think you have more than enough justification to move up to 60 Fleming!

Terry - 7 Aug 2020: Flemingitis is a very serious malady requiring lots of TLC and large infusions of liquid (assets). The Admiral must give permission or the cost of a divorce may exceed the cost of curing problem.