LI Rendezvous - 2011

What date do you guys prefer for our LI Rendezvous?


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Hey Dave,
Great Pics! I especially love this one. Here you have a room set in another time long ago............................................. except for the FLAT PANEL TV!!!


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A friend of mine staying at Star Island caught this 82 lb Wahoo on Saturday.
 

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A friend of mine staying at Star Island caught this 82 lb Wahoo on Saturday.

Very funny shot and comment. If you look carefully, over the shoulder of the guy in the blue shirt is my boat docked at Star Island. The boat that caught that fish is my dock neighbor. I was out on another boat and we got smoked by this fish. We boated a 50 pound wahoo and thought we had the day's best catch until Never Satisfied pulled in with this one. By the way, I reeled in the biggest Mahi at 16.5 pounds.
 
Hey guys,

This was another great event where everyone had wonderful time. We started off dreaming about the trip since beginning of the winter and with lots of discussions and planning we finally made it happen. I want to give lots of credit to those who made the commitment to take 5-6hrs for the first time. It’s unfortunately that some had rough trip back, but we all know that it only made you a better and more experienced boaters.

NANSEA and Inspiration left Toms River at about 6:30am on Friday morning, we stopped in Brielle, right before MI inlet, to make sure we have enough fuel for our 6hrs cruise from MI all the way to MYC. It was beautiful morning and we were having very nice ride. Here’s NANSEA leaving Manasquan Inlet.

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The visibility was great and we didn’t lose sight of land until about over 15NM out. We planned on heading straight to MYC, but in case if there was need for a fuel stop we would amend the course and jump in to Shinnecock Inlet. As we lost sight of land and entered deeper water the conditions were simply perfect making it a real pleasure to cruise.
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I set the MARPA to keep NANSEA on my radar all the time, autopilot was keeping the track and maintained the straight run to MYC.
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As we were getting closer to Shinneckok Inlet Rod told me that he had ¼ fuel left. We started doing quick calculations and figured that he should be fine to continue the run without stopping. I know that my 320 used to get 160NM on a single tank. This was 120NM run, so with 225gal fuel tank I had no doubts that 340 should make it with ease.
Passing area of SI:
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As we maintained our course, about 11NM before the Montauk Point Rod hailed me on the radio and said that the needles are now on “E”. With no option of going back we continued on closer to shore just in case if Rod has to drop a hook.

For a moment I thought that Rod called his military friends when I saw this plane flying at the stones throw distance.
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Then we had this beautiful yacht passing us by. By some reason she came so close to me that I had to amend my course to run away from her 4’-5’ wake.
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A little while later we started going around the Montauk Point toward the inlet to Montauk Lake.
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Finally, the long awaited fuel dock at Star Island Marina was just few hundred yards away.
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After 6 hours of ocean run we tied to the dock next to our CSR gang.

The lines are secured, the boat is washed, it’s time to meet our CSR friends and get things ready for group dinner.
Here are the pics of those who made it (please let me know if I missed anyone):
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Getting ready for group dinner:

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And the BOSS said "Let the party begin" :grin:

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A huge thanks and deserved credit to Greg (Lady TAZ) for volunteering and making very nice name tags for everyone.

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While enjoying our stay CSR Celebrities were destructed by some competition. Apparently, during our stay MYC had a special guest appearance Bethenny Frankel from Jersey house wifes. Looks like they were filming something over the weekend. To everyone’s surprise, Bethenny decided to take a ride on a 30’ Hunter( sailboat), which was docked only couple of slips away from us.

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Couple shots from the lighthouse:


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While enjoying our stay in Montauk the weather decided to throw a curve ball at us. The forecast called for heavy rain and wind. The day we planned to leave for Block we had Small Craft advisory in effect. So, we made the decision to wait it out at MYC in order to keep everyone comfortable. Tuesday morning, rise and shine the group of 4 of us (Inspiration, Last Dance, Nansea and Knot for Sail) finally headed to the Block Island. The ride wasn’t as smooth as we wished, but at this point winds 10-15kts and 2-4’ seas didn’t keep us at the dock any longer.
Last Dance and Knot For Sail headed few minutes earlier and waited for us at the mouth of the MI. Few minutes later Russ hailed me on VHF and said that he just lost all his navigation equipment...Bummer, he was our lead boat as well, b/c he knows this are as the back of his palm. This is where travelling with group approach paid off. We didn’t waste any time and I picked up the lead since I had all my routs plotted.
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Upon arrival, Russ had another bad news, he lost his port engine. I’ll let Russ provide details at his will, but at this point one thing we knew for sure is that he’s going home on a single screw. So, our task was to secure the port prop to prevent transmission and seals damages (his boat doesn’t have cross over shaft cooling). After we were able to successfully accomplish that, Russ was able to relax and get back to vacation spirit.



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All I can say about the Block is that I wish I was able to come here sooner. A truly boater’s paradise that offers anything you need. Great harbor with all services (anchoring area, mooring area, water taxi, pump-out, “andiamo” – boat delivery from small local restaurant, and much more), the views are stunning and there’re plenty of things to do. Restaurants are great and offer variety of choices for everyone. You’ll find some of the greatest beaches here with fine sand and easy access. This place is truly a destination that we’ll include for many years to come.
Some pics from Block:

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Despite all the enjoyment we had at the Block we still had to continue on to the next port of call, 3 Mile Harbor followed by the Sag Harbor. Due to extra day at MYC on real heavy rain day we had to cross the stop at Shelter Island (West Neck Harbor).

We delayed our departure as much as possible and left at around 1pm after filling the water tank at Champlins for $10 (not bad, just like in BVI). We had very nice ride from the Block, even though we had some nice rollers we could maintain 22kts cruise. As we passed Montauk Point the seas were much calmer and we picked up about 1.5kts.

Three Mile Harbor is very different from what we’ve experienced at the Block and MYC. This is very quite, peaceful l and protected harbor. It reminded me more of Shelter Island. Nature lovers will find themselves at home. The entrance and the channel are very well marked. There’s plenty of room to drop the hook and the holding is fine. East Hampton Point marina had number of cool boats (Steve’s 500DB is one of them) and nice restaurant. We landed there for few hours and took the cab to the town. My girls were glued to the stores for some time, but soon enough we had to go for dinner. We picked Citianuova Restaurant for dinner. It has very cool decor and good food.

Some pics from 3MH:
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The morning in 3MH was spectacular and we really didn’t want to leave, but the next port (Sag Harbor) was something we sure didn’t want to miss as well. Considering that these two ports are very close by we stretched our stay in 3MH until about 1pm and finally casted off. Ric (katricol) gave me few details on the best spot to drop the hook in Sag Harbor and also mentioned about the fixed bridge. When I asked him about the clearance he said not to worry about since much larger yachts go under it. This gave me good comfort level and I knew exactly where I’m going to spend the last night of our trip. We very nice ride and as we approached Sag you can see from a good distance that you’re in the right place.

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While enjoying the display of beautiful mega yachts we were making our way to the fixed bridge. As I got closer I’ve noticed that there are no vertical clearance markings anywhere and the bridge looked pretty low. For a moment I really thought we won’t make it. I asked admiral to go to the bow and guide me as I approach very slowly and carefully. According to my wife’s estimate we made it by only 6-8 inches. Nansea’s crew was right behind and captured the scene. All I can say that thank God it’s a no wake zone and people do go slow.

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While passing the bridge I also noticed that it was high tide, which means that there’s a good chance that I won’t have much more troubles on the way back. Few minutes later we passed another marina filled with more gorgeous yachts and I finally dropped the anchor in very nice and protected spot.

After spending few hours on the boat having retreats and swimming in clean and salty water it was time to explore the town. We packed our crew of 5 in our dinghy and proceeded to the dinghy dock. It’s not often we have to share tight pass with 60 something footer while cruising on our dinghy, so it was interesting passing it’s wake even though she was approaching slow.

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The streets of the town offer very contrast colors and unique designs of houses with boutique storefronts. Being that it was a weekend there were number of events going on there. We saw few restaurants closed for private parties with bodyguards at the doors. The roads filled with fancy cars and very well dressed crowd. My wife called it a local San Tropez. I guess it’s not unusual to meet celebrities while dining at fine restaurants. We happened to be sitting near Alec Baldwin.

My crew just loved the Sag and it was definitely good choice of the port to end our vacation in these beautiful waters of LI.

Couple more shots from the Sag:
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From Sag Harbor we planned to return home via Shinnecock Canal and then Shinnecock Inlet. However, my biggest concern was fixed railroad bridge (with about 19 1/2‘ vertical clearance and 2.7’ tide swing) right in the middle of Shinnecock Canal. As part of my do diligence I called the lock master in advance to find the best time to travel when the tide would be lower and milder current. I was advised that the best time would be when the locks are open, which means that the water level is lower and leveled. The closing of the locks was scheduled at around 9-9:30am, which was perfect timing for us. I was actually worried about this bridge more than the fixed bridge in Sag Harbor, because if I can’t make under it that would mean a huge change in our course which would add several extra hours and around 60-80NM to our trip home.

We casted off from Sag around 6:50am and arrived to Shinnecock Canal less than an hour later. I planned on fueling up at the Shell fuel dock right before the canal entrance (they have cheapest fuel), but it was closed until 8am. We didn’t want to waste any time waiting and just wanted to get through that bridge while the locks were still opened. Ron told us that there’s a fuel dock right by the entrance to the Shinnecock Inlet, which I also thought would be perfect for NANSEA for the long ocean run. As I approached the locks there was a green light in the middle gate. I went through other gates which are very wide, but this one was looking just like the width of my slip. From the distance I wasn’t even sure I would fit, but my common sense was that if this is the only gate that’s opened then it must be servicing even larger boats than mine. I tried contacting the lockmaster but got no response. I saw no reason to pause and just proceeded with caution. The current was pretty strong pushing the boat forward through the narrow gate, so I straightened the wheel and used throttles and bow thruster to keep the bow dead in the middle and was ready to hit the “breaks”. As we were passing through I could see much better that we had about 1-1.5’ on each side (still not a lot of room for error when you have 3-4kts current behind you). Just moments later we were under the fixed railroad bridge. I didn’t find vertical clearance markings, but it looked like we were going to fit under it (after the “practice” run under the Sag’s bridge). It was actually not too bad at all, I think we had about 2’ clearance. I was happy that we passed this milestone with no issue and we were proceeding to the Shinnecock Inlet with comfort. We had no problem finding the marina Ron suggested. It had gas and diesel, but it was actually .10c more for diesel (I don’t recall about gas) compare to prices in the Shell dock before the lock.

It appears that there’s always something about a return trips. With all the stories we herd from people running back from MYC, NANSEA and Inspiration were not an exception either. When I checked the forecast, we were expecting 10-15kts SW winds with 2-4’ seas and heavy T-storms approaching in the afternoon. So, leaving as early as possible was in our advantage.

After fueling up we jumped in the Shinnecock Inlet and were faced with 3-4’ chop. I could see right away that this will be long and bumpy ride that will require some tricks and course alteration to provide more comfort. My crew set the table to have breakfast, but after having few cups of coffee spilled all had to be taken away and stacked securely. My immediate thought was that we need to get to deeper water where we might have larger swells but hopefully with greater frequency. I hailed Rod to make sure that his crew is comfortable with the plan. As we moved from 50’-60’ to about 110’-120’ I could feel slight improvement, but it was still bumpy ride. After running for about an hour or two I could feel that the wind is picking up and the swells are closer and closer together. I told admiral that it would be really helpful if we had couple hundred feet under the boat, but that would mean heading out way beyond 7 mile shipping line off course. I didn’t feel comfortable putting Rod’s crew in such position considering how much fuel his boat burned on the way to MYC. So, instead I decided to pick the best angle to take the big and choppy waves and pick the best speed for the conditions. The first move to go out further in see worked out very well, because now we were able to keep the course at proper angle and keeping our course to NJ coast with only couple miles off the Manasquan Inlet. I figured that as we get close to NJ coast we might get some protection from the land, but if the wind would be more S than SW, then we only would be heading straight in to the wind and the waves for only couple of miles. Having this as my primary plan we maintained our course.

I have to tell you guys that I was in different conditions and took waves over the windshield many times on my 320DA, but this was different. About 3 hours in to the ride I had to close my port side panel on the bridge since the occasional spray was turning more of periodical spray, the wind picked up and waves got larger. The only problem was that the waves were very close together. For the last 1.5-2hrs my bridge was getting covered with spray on every 3rd - 4th wave. My daughter and I started looking for a winner (just for fun), the winner was 3 big waves in the row. For a while I literally didn’t see anything through any part of the front panels.

Knowing how the ocean can get at times I still think that it was just an uncomfortable but very manageable ride. I was glad that my 420DB with her somewhere around 34,000-35,000 pounds was clearing the path for NANSEA. If I was in my 320DA this would be a lot longer and very much bumpier ride. I have to say that my 420DB rode like a trooper. I was happy to see that admiral wasn’t nervous at all as she understood that this was really nothing for such vessel. So, besides taking some medicine from getting sick my crew was fine. After 5hrs and 40min the washing machine ride was over and we were in Manasquan Inlet.

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone who participated in our events. Having great company of friends really made this trip a blast. We had wonderful time and even couple rainy days and rough ride home didn’t spoil it a bit. I hope that everyone who made to MYC or Block has only great had only great memories and would do it again next time.

Cheers,
Alex.
 
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I KNEW I could count on Alex to photo-blog this trip in a way only he can. Glad you guys made it OK. Looks like a lot of fun! What happened to "Seacure?"

Keep those pics coming!
 
Robert (Seacure) had a last minute work conflict and was unable to make it. I kept him posted on the event with texts & Pics. He was bummed to miss it!
 
Alex, I just wanted to appoligize for not formerly saying goodbye, as i didnt want to disturb your family on sunday morning, but,Thank you for running a great get together we had alot offun as usual. Nice write up also.



P.s. Now the wife wants a bridge boat!! Yippie
 
Great thread and pics.

Alex. What kind of fuel economy did you get on the trip out? I also want to know how much fuel Rod/Nasea took when he finally fueled up.

Vince
 
Knowing Rod, if his boat holds 250 gallons, he took on 248 gallons!
 
I think he holds something like 225 gallons and took I believe 207 gallons. We did discuss it but it was post adult beverage time so I may be a little off!
 
I think he holds something like 225 gallons and took I believe 207 gallons. We did discuss it but it was post adult beverage time so I may be a little off!

Wow. That doesn't leave much room for error if the seas picked up. Good thing that the weather was calm and he was running with another boat. It is not fun being 10 miles off shore with the family on board and low fuel alarms going off.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks to all for kind words. With limited time and fairly slower internet access it's a bit harder to be very active on the site. My pics are 5-6MB large, so as you can imagine it takes a while to load a bunch. I'll try to upload few more, but I'll have to finish the write up when we get back home.

Keep an eye on my previous post. I'll be adding everything in there to keep the story in one post so it's easy to follow.

I took 210gal (my avg is .62MPG and on the ocean run to MYC it was about .54MPG. I think it's not too bad considering that the boat was fully loaded with all fuel, 1/2 water, gear and 5 people.) at MYC and Rod took 204g. His tank is 225g, so as you can see he came in on fumes. After some discussions I've learned that his bottom wasn't clean, so this is when I suggested to hire a diver at MYC. Rod took my advice and spent $200 for a diver. Apparently, there was a 8'x8' section full of marine growth. Rod said that on the way to Block he felt huge improvement.

Dave,
Who did I miss? or was it a joke?
 
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