Follow the 650FLY on Her Journey Back to Florida

[fwebster]

We had to drop a passenger off at Liberty Landing which gave us a great view of the Freedom tower and Lady Liberty:






Sales/marketing types would call t his one "the money shot":



Many thanks to Dave and Lisa Whitman for the photos of the 650FLY in the NY area.........and for loaning us a way cool teenager for the day.

 

[fwebster]

Next stop on the trip South was Atlantic City for the 2nd annual Dominic Annunziata Memorial Rendezvous at Farley State Marina at the Golden Nugget. Unfortunately we ran in fog and haze most of the way down the coast:







Here is the approach to Atlantic City:




And, the entrance to Farley State Marina:




We are here:

 

[fwebster]

Here is the 650FLY secured in Atlantic City:





The waterfront is a vastly interesting place if you keep your eyes and ears open. Here is a photo of the Westship yacht that belongs to the casino's owner:




We watched the owner's crew start up the engines and begin to move "Boardwalk" about 8AM. She backed out and moved about 100 yards to the fuel dock to take on fuel, that we later learned was for a trip to the Bahamas. After finishing up at the fuel dock, she pulled out of Atlantic City and headed South. It took 10 hours with high speed pumps to fill her tanks.


I chose to let more professional photographers take and post photos from the Dominic Annunziata Memorial Rendevous. I am sure they will, if they have not already posted photos documenting the event in the appropriate thread. I chose to spend the time in Atlantic City finally personally meeting friends I've known for years via email, phone, and internet forums........and of course reconnecting with old friends whom we've had the pleasure of spending time with on their visits to Tennessee and Florida in past years.

 

[fwebster]

The Atlantic City event was the last scheduled stop for the 650 on her introductory tour up the East coast. From here, our job was to get the boat back to the factory.....a fact that Rusty was reminded of on a daily (and sometimes more frequently than that) basis with phone calls from Sea Ray management. This particular boat needs to be checked by the designers and prepared for retail sale, but there was an equal need to get Rusty back to Florida because the first production models of the 650FLY and 650Express are finishing up and will soon be ready for him to deliver. I found it interesting that, while I could feel some "hurry up" in the part of the conversation I could hear, once Rusty explained the weather/seas we were encountering and that we weren't going to put ourselves at risk or beat the boat up just to race back to the factory, no pressure was applied.

Here we are at 7AM Sunday morning departing Atlantic City, NJ. ..............our goal today is Norfolk:








So here we are, rockin' along at 25 kts, in 2-3 ft seas............thinking this is a great start, easy relaxing ride, not hurting humans or the boat, navigation is easy:





Then all of a sudden we hear a VHF broadcast from the USCG hailing "Sportfisher headed south off XXX (some unprounceable spot in VA, this is the USCG on VHF-16". Rusty and I look at each other and say, "That ain't us -we not a sportfisher".......and we keep boogying south. Then we hear "Sportfisher headed south off XXX (some unprounceable spot in VA, this is the USCG. You are entering a danger zone, please respond". By now we see boat approaching from the East about 10 miles away with a white superstructure on a course that will likely intersect with ours. Being of the conservative persuasion, we respond with "USCG we are Sea Ray 650 on a southerly course, are you hailing us?" Well, it seems he was hailing us and we next hear "Stop where you are, turn 180 degrees and proceed North with all available speed to exit the missle danger zone". Again, being conservative and not stupid....hearing "all available speed" and "exit the missle zone" in the same sentence did not require any further discussion on our part. We ended up having to retreat 7+ miles to an assigned lat-long and had to hold there from 12:05 to 1:00. Just one of the interesting discoveries on this adventure.....who would think you would encounter a missle firing in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, 10+ miles off the coast of VA in an area not marked on the charts as restricted. Note: we were using only Navionics electronics charts on the Raymarine GS-15's at this point.

While we were idling around boring holes in the water at 35˚-55 min., the weather front we were approaching came nearer and the winds picked up. What was going to be a nice easy day, became a sloppy 2-3's with white caps and spray :

View attachment 36374


We made it into Norfolk and up to Hampton Roads at abut 5 pm. We were met at the dock by Mr. and Mrs. Four Suns and enjoyed dinner with them after showing the 650 to 3 groups of Sea Ray owners (480DB, 510DA, 52DB) who happened to see us enter the marina. "I've heard about that boat and it is way more than I expected" seems to be a regulator comment along the way south.

 

[BritLady]

Great pixs! So sorry we missed seeing her on the West Coast of FL :smt089. Safe travels home.

 

[Dancin Dave]

We had to drop a passenger off at Liberty Landing which gave us a great view of the Freedom tower and Lady Liberty:


View attachment 36352View attachment 36353



Sales/marketing types would call t his one "the money shot":

View attachment 36354

Many thanks to Dave and Lisa Whitman for the photos of the 650FLY in the NY area.........and for loaning us a way cool teenager for the day.

The pleasure was all ours Frank! And Aimee had a blast and learned from the best on piloting such a yacht at the same time!

Nice pictures and commentary as always.

Glad you enjoyed a bit of boating in our parts. We all enjoyed having you here!

 

[fwebster]

Here is the 650 refueled and ready for the evening at Hampton Roads Va:






We pushed off the dock at 7AM and headed for the ICW south of Norfolk. That required a passage through the Naval Shipyard at Norfolk. Thew folks on NCIS make it sound like the "Navy Yard" is like your local boat yard.......well, not quite. It is huge, literally miles from one side to the other:
















View attachment 36380

 

[fwebster]

Repainting is a huge operation..........here is one being sandblasted prior to repaint:




You see some of everything passing by the Naval Ship Yards.....even these guys:




I was wondering about security with all these exposed assets until I noticed this little blue tent:



That thing between the seamen is a pedestal mount machine gun. Then we probably saw 8 of these little guys from one side of the shipyard to the other.

 

[HUMPH]

Great shots and narratives Frank! Thanks for sharing these with us.

 

[fwebster]

Leaving the Norfolk Navy Yard area puts you immediately in the reaches of the AICW, Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway. Here we prepare to lock through into the Alligator River:





only to find a bridge with an 8ft clearance height in front of us:




Since the 650 requires a minimum of 28 ft, we request an opening. The courteous bridge tender advises that his bridge opens on the hour and half hour......and it is 8:05AM. We scan the chart while we are waiting, then uh-oh......what was going to be a pretty, relaxing day running down the ICW may turn into a boring day waiting on or racing to bridges since most do not open on-demand, but are scheduled on the hour or half-hour or both. Our luck (after being stopped and losing an hour in the middle of the ocean for a missile launch) continues.........we were 1/2 hour early or 5 minutes late for every bridge the rest of the day.




I am quite familiar with the Gulf ICW and was interested to see the differences. They pretty much look the same since both consist of rivers, creeks, land cuts and dredged channels Here is a screen shot of the long range plotter showing our position on the ICW:




The rest of the ICW pretty much all looks the same. Some narrow spots with local docks, moorings, business and no-wake zones that require you to manage your wake, then miles of let-her-rip open water:



In the ICW, you navigate not by the marker immediately in front of you, but by the those 2-3 on down range. To give you an appreciation for the fact that the ICW isn't a walk in the park but is, instead, a challenge requiring constant attention, can you locate the day markers in this photo......the one to the port side is a gimme, but where is the next one, what color is it and what is its shape?

 

[rondds]

Frank
Surprised they allowed you to photograph all that naval hardware.

 

[Gofirstclass]

It's too bad this trip is all work and no time for any fun along the way! Just kidding. You guys are having waaaay too much fun! Keep it up.

 

[mistercomputerman]

Frank
Surprised they allowed you to photograph all that naval hardware.

You can generally take photos as long as you keep moving. If you stop, then one of their patrol boats is going to come out and ask questions. Heck, they even have a couple of "Naval Base" tour boats that will take you by the ships. There is an "exclusionary zone" around all US Naval assets these days which calls for the use of deadly force if you get too close.

Four Suns has a photo of a ship that he took one time and when he got to looking at it closely, there were guys with guns watching him.

 

[mistercomputerman]

In the ICW, you navigate not by the marker immediately in front of you, but by the those 2-3 on down range. To give you an appreciation for the fact that the ICW isn't a walk in the park but is, instead, a challenge requiring constant attention, can you locate the day markers in this photo......the one to the port side is a gimme, but where is the next one, what color is it and what is its shape?

 

[fwebster]

Most everyone I know who travels the AICW, prefers to overnight at Coinjock, NC...........something about a restaurant and steaks. We ended up passing there at 1:30PM, way too early for supper and stopping for the night would probably cost us another day in getting the 650 back to Sykes Creek, Rusty to Cocoa Beach and Frank to Tennessee. We continued on to Belhaven, NC and enjoyed one of the best nights of the trip. Belhaven is a sleepy little town on the west side of the ICW, is protected from a long reach of open water by a breakwater and we discovered a small privately owned marina, The Belhaven Waterway Marina. It is owned and managed by Les and Brenda Porter. We had called early in the afternoon to reserve space, which is something you have to do when you need 65+ft of dock. We requested a portside tie and a lay along berth to which we got a non-committal reply, of "I have 75 ft available." When we approached, Les had already rigged 8 fenders along the dock and he and Brenda were waiting to help us with our lines and power. The facilities were spotless, the yard manicured, the docks well maintained and they even had wifi for transients. We got a bonus as well.....the town of Behlaven was one block away from the marina. We were able to get water, Diet Coke, etc at the local hardware store...........uuuuh, another first for me: When was the last time you saw lipstick, bread and chainsaws sold in the same establishment? Next door was a restaurant owned by a husband/wife culinary arts graduate, the menus were hand written and changed daily, the food was excellent and the service was superb (our server was a collegiate level softball pitcher who throws fast pitch at 70mph). When we left the restaurant to walk back to the boat, we noticed that there were only 4 cars/trucks in town and all were at the restaurant.

The next morning we awoke to fog and rain but not a lot of wind:






Then I see this sign:




I'm scrambling to find which page in the chartbook we are on to see just what my friend Rusty has gotten us into this time (remember the missile?), when Rusty says, "Oh, this is just Camp Lejeune..they do live fire exercises across the ICW here". We motor on and eventually come to an area that looks more like a controlled airfield than a marine base. Camp Lejeune will alert boaters and close the ICW here during exercises when they are firing across the waterway. These are targets.....its hard to see in the photos but these old personnel carriers are riddled with bullet holes:






When the marine weather forecast calls for 15 to 20 kt winds with numerous thunderstorms, this is what the 15 kts part means:




This is what thew 20 kt part looks like:



And, this is what the thunderstorm part means:






Up until now, I found the Gulf ICW and the Atlantic ICW to be very similar. However, in the areas from Camp Lejeune southward, it seems the waterway depth and markers aren't very well maintained. You have to be on your toes all the time since there are numerous inlets that permit the flow of sea water to change the bottom formation and cause shoaling. The day markers may indicate a straight path, but you will find numerous temporary nun bouys placed in what appears to be a random zig-zag pattern, and many other places where the shoaling is not marked at all. When you draw more than 5 ft and the depth indicator shows 3.9ft (here's how that works....the 650 draws 5 ft, the props stick down about 18" below the hull, there is a 5 ft offset input into the depth meter, so at 4 ft of water there is about 2.5 ft of water under the props.) AND IT IS NOT YOUR $3.0+mil BOAT! it becomes a very stressful adventure.

 

[Bugsy24]

Looks like the ICW North of New River! Real Skinny Water... did Navy Boat Training there a few years Back!

 

[fwebster]

From Wrightsville Beach, our path takes us a little further down the ICW and down the Cape Fear River to save running ±50 miles offshore to avoid the shoals.


Oh $#@%, here we go again:







Don't ask.......I got no idea what the bus is doing in their back yard:



We eventually make it outside into the Atlantic and, thankfully, away from skinny water and draw bridges. Here is the Oak Island Light where we enter the ocean:




From here, we load up a waypoint just off shore of Sand Island Point on the primary plotter and turn the autopilot loose. Mr. Raymarine calculates 4.5 hours on a SE course that takes us approximately 45 miles off shore. We sit back and hang on. We are on the back side of the weather front that passed last night so the wind is on our nose and, while the seas appear to be just 3-4's, it turns into our roughest day so far. We don't want o beat the boat up, so we pull back the throttles to 75 % power and the big Cats just keep on chuggin'. at Sand Island, we put a waypoint on the Charleston sea bouy, recalculate our course and turn the autopilot loose again.

There isn't much to see when you are 40 miles out so the photography on the offshore runs is limited. It is now 4:30PM (we left the dock at Wrightsville Beach at 6:50AM), and we have turned inbound at the Charleston sea bouy and pick up the Charleston range lights........for those of you who are inland boaters, the USCG provides range lights/markers for major channels into/out of major ports with commercial activity. The idea is to have one low light and one higher light positioned some distance apart inline with the channel. If you keep the lights vertically aligned, then you are in the center of the channel. Here are the Charleston lights when we pick them up:




Getting closer:




Note that we are getting off course:




Here is why:




This is a car carrier loaded with a lot of BMW's headed out of Charleston. We listened to this guy try to first coax a sailboat out of his way. He then finally ended a 3 or 4 transmission discussion about right of way, sailboat vs powerboat, with "You are blocking the channel....just get out of the way!". He didn't sound like he cared to discuss it further, so we moved over and gave him plenty of room.

 

[SeaRide]

Nice write ups, Frank. I really like the right of way discussion between the sailboat and car carrier. Nice pictures, too.

 

[spikedaddy99]

In your picture of the depth gauge, why is the Clarion remote full of condensation?
Mike

 

[fwebster]

Charleston is also a city with a rich history. Being in a boat, in town from 6PM to 6:30AM means we were limited in our ability to explore for much more than our dinner. We did see Ft. Sumpter on the way into the harbor:




Excursion boats take visitors out to the fort during the day. This is the back side of the island:







This isn't very historical, but was a surprise when we looked to STBD:




View attachment 36425


Our little cruise down the eastern seaboard brought with it some "ah-haaa"...... this is why you pay attention" moments. Like, almost every party fishing boat we saw somehow ended up on a collision course with the 650. They are also called 'head' boats because they charge passengers by the head for a day's fishing - usually steel hulled & 50-80 ft. And it wan't just head boats:

We diverted to pass to the stern of this tug/tow.......20 miles offshore:



Look at the wake:




See the little yellow bouy just to the right of our course? What is a bouy located 50 miles offshore in 100 ft of water marking? Doesn't really matter. You need to know it is there, find it and then avoid running over it....this is also why we don't do this stuff at night:




This is a weather station 40 miles off shore in the middle of nowhere and will ruin your day or night if you don't see it in time.




So then, we are 50 miles offshore, listening to the Caterpillars purr, when we see this. At first it looked like a couple of container ships pretty fay away:






but, the radar painted them a lot closer to us and in a line. "Uh-oh.....what is going on here?" Then as we near, we see what it is...........A FREAKING MISSILE SUB!





We figured they were on the surface until they reached "the drop off". Note the depths on the chart..........we are in 130 ft of water; 25 miles to our port, the depths drop to 1600 ft.





Sorry about the photo detail. This is as close as we chose to get. I've had experience with subs near the Naval Coastal Systems Center in NW Florida and don't care to talk to any more SEALS armed to the teeth running around the mother-ship in inflatables......besides, we already lost enough time waiting on the missile firing earlier in the week.