Cruised Sonic 30SS to Nantucket!
 

Yep, after ten days and seas up to 7 feet, I'm back home.

Cruised from Great South Bay on Long Island to Shelter island in two hours, next day to Block Island. Could not get 92 octane fuel there so we had to detour to Point Judith, cruise WAY north in a no wake zone to get 92, and back. By then the seas were building to seven footers around the R.I. points, hence detoured to Newport. Stayed there for two days, fog and strong winds. Finally shot across the ocean, up the Vineyard Sound to get fuel at Edgartown, then onto Nantucket. Stayed at Natucket for four days and then two days to get home. Awesome trip, and the Sonic weathered some truly awful seas. A cat would have sunk or flipped for sure I think......after this trip, I'll never think of buying a cat again.

theres not many fast boats i nantucket, when I was there in july I didnt see one deep vee race style boat or cat... pretty dipressing.

I did see tons of mega bucks yachts though...

we were in nantuket for work, we played at "the box" in nantucket.

wer are thunder road, a bruce springsteen tribute band...

You are 100% correct about the absence of offshore performance boats in Nantucket. Moored at the town dock three slips in, I must have answered about 200 questions concerning the "coolest boat in the harbour". I did see a Donzi 16 footer on the deck of a 130 Foot plus yacht, but that was it. I think you would have to be mad to try to take a cat hull boat there as conditions were bad enough in our V hull.

Sounds like a he!! of a trip.
 

Do you take your better half with you? If so, did it all go OK? I'm planning 10 days/500 miles throughout the Chesapeake Bay in my 38' in a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure we'll still be talking to each other afterwards (she loves the boat), but you can never tell after a rough day or two...

Anybody want to go along or meet up with us?

PS - Did you see the "Detroit Eagle" there? It's a 156' Feadship that belongs to my boss, and probably would have had a shine on it that made the other yachts look dull.

Yes, CSpray we saw your boss boat as it was moored at the same marina we were at. Awesome superyacht!!!

I am sure he saw our boat as he had to walk right past it. Ask him what he thought of the Hyperfishing.com boat at the main dock. I'd be interested to know the reaction of superyacht owners, as everyone else loved the custom modifications.

Good question about the wife's reaction....in the horrific seas she had some REAL choice words for me!!! But after shopping for several days in Nantucket and loving it, and having a wonderful e trip back home, with stops at historic restaurants etc., she is looking forward to doing an even longer trip on the boat. We spent ten days on it so you will have no problems with eight extra feet. Just be sure to constantly compliment her on how well she handled the radio, lines, navigation etc.

Major tip: Find out about where you can get 92 octane fuel BEFORE you plan your stops. It is a major hassle!!!

Good luck and have fun!

CBR...how long did it take to go from Pt. Judith to Martha's to Nantucket? I'm assuming you did it in one shot? How fast was your cruise?

CBR - Thanks for the feedback. The good news for me is that we've already been through a couple of "bumpy" :eek: passages, and she was fine as soon as the rough stuff was over. The other good news is that not only is the Chesapeake Bay FULL of marinas, my boat uses 89 octane. :p Gotta love Innovation's engines....

Nantuckett is getting so out of control with the amount that they charge. The launch will cost you 4 bucks each way for each person!!!!!! Take four people in and that is 32 bucks!!!!! Plus tip!!!! OUCH. Stull a fun place to visit and the only place that has a better display of Mega yachts is Ft. Lauderdale when the boat show is in town. The ladies are SOOOOOOO good looking as well :D:D:D:D

Jon

Hi Jon:

I did meet Chris M as he walked past the boat. Nice guy, and many thanks for the recommendation.

The moorings were full, but we were lucky and got a dock spot, expensive, but worth it. Interesting about the launch trips...ouch! A few of those back and forths and it is better to have a dock spot.

Everywhere we docked, Shelter, Block, Newport, people raved about the Sonic and the custom modifications I did to it. That is what I like to see. <gg> Boat shows next?

Indy:

We had to port in Newport for a couple of days due to the bad wind/waves, so left from there at around 11AM.

Then we spent some time trying and failing to get gas, calling out on channel 16 "any go fasts in the Newport area, where do we get 92 octane?". Someone was listening and told us we had to travel about twenty/thirty miles north to Warwick, RI to get it.

Passed an Outer Limits hanging out there, wonder if it was him who gave us the tip. Thanks!!!! Anyway, we had to zip back past Newport, across open water, and up the Sound to Edgartown in Martha's Vineyard. There we waited in line for about 40 minutes to get more 92 grade gas. There were many no wake zones into and out of the gas areas, so we did not get to Nantucket until about 6:30 PM! We cruised between 40 and 55 miles an hour.

Be extremely careful of rocks along the way, don't even try it unless you have a good chart plotter and paper charts. I narrowly missed wrecking on the "middle ground" in the middle of Martha's Vineyard Sound because I was spending too much time looking at the impressive cliffs way off the in distance, until I noticed white water and then the rocks on the chart plotter after the screen on the plotter refreshed. I often run off the screen on my plotter and for a few moments have no information in front of me.

I definately plan to get radar mounted this winter as it was scary heading out in light fog, that mercifully lifted outside Newport.

Right CSpray, 89 Octane is better!

CBR - great trip! You have a lot of courage. That New england weather changes in a heartbeat. Currents, fog and rocks make the channel islands difficult. I take a summer vacation every year in Falmouth and always take a relaxing trip to the islands on my 160 footer. The Ferry has a great bar!

C Spray - Chesapeak Bay should be fine for you. When the wind blows out of the south east, the southern part of the bay can get pretty nasty. I am assuming you will be in the northern part. More to see & do. Bad conditions there are 3' to 5', spaced about 2' to 3' apart. That should be no problem for your 38" Formula. Let me know when you are coming through Annapolis - the Spring water is on me!

Paul

Thanks Miami. I was extremely careful about conditions before setting out, and quizzing other boaters...sailors mostly, about what lay ahead. A nice doctor in his 40 foot hunter told me the Newport harbour fog would likely be gone once we were out in the ocean. Based on this, we set out, and he was right.

I am gaining greater and greater respect for sailboters, who are subject to currents and winds that we performance boaters just mash the throttles and power through. I simply cannot imagine having to contend with the elements the way sailboters must. We have a lot to learn from them.

Doin' the WHOLE bay....
 

Miami - Call me crazy, but we're leaving Havre de Grace mid-day Friday the 30th, stopping in Tangier that night, Then on to Va Beach Saturday AM. Tuesday after Labor Day, we're starting our way back up (at a slower pace) arriving back home on Sunday the 8th. SInce we boat out of the North all the time, we hope to spend as much time as possible in the southern waters. I have done some boating around Norfolk/Hampton Roads before, and have seen what it can dish out. We'll just take every day as it comes.

BTW - Made it to Watermans in Rock Hall on August 10th - pretty cool place. Later, we went to the CBPBA raftup in Langford Creek. That's as far south as I've been in the Bay so far.

CBR - Spent a week in Maine in late July, stopping at Newport on the way up (to give the better half a tour of the Detroit Eagle). You're 100% right - I wouldn't want to spend any time on that water without LOTS of navigational goodies at my disposal. Never saw any sandy beaches - just lots and lots of rocks. Your trip took huevos, and hopefully some advance planning (except for gas stops. :D )

C-Spray, what engines are you running in your boat? Are they custom built innovation motors?

Also, has anyone used octane booster when they can't find 92+ octane fuel?

CBR - Mine are the ones Volvo Penta sold for the last few years (but no more), but they are pretty much a "standard" Innovation product. 540 ci, 600 hp, Holley injection (no blowers), good "hot rod" parts and closed cooling. The military buys lots of 'em.

Chris,

I wish I knew you were heading to Shelter Island. We have a house on the North Fork that overlooks the Island. You would have been a welcomed guest. Glad to hear you had a good trip.

I was in Natucket over 4th of July. I love that place! If you want to party you have to go to the Box. "life is good"

C Spray - sounds like a great trip. If you care to pause in the Annapolis area on your return, call my mobil 240-888-5959. We are always on the water on the weekends. It would be nice to meet and hear about your adventure.

May the sun shine upon you and the waters be calm. Have a safe trip,

Paul

%$^#%%! weather!!!
 

Well - It might not be all that smooth, the sunshine part's not lookin' too good, and that dang rain hurts at 70 mph!

What the heck - we're puttin' on the helmets and we're GOIN"!!!

C Spray - for this weekend, partly cloudy also means partly sunny! Thunderstorms on the Chesapeak usually occur in the late afternoon and early evening. The weather builds from the South / South West. Keep an eye on those horizons after 3:00 pm. Once past Deale MD, there are not many places to put in quickly. Have emergency locations mapped out. The Bay can get horrible during these houtbursts. Helmets are great for the rain but get off the Bay during a T Storm.

Enjoy the adventure!

Paul

Sounds like a great trip ! I do my boating in that area you went in up the bay from Newport. I did see recently the Detroit Eagle docked in Newport along with some other big boy"s and cruise ship"s. Was the Cunnard ship parked there also ? Actually the Outerlimits factory is right up there also in Bristol R.I.. I get to see some of them tooling around sometimes. I hope you enjoyed your NE. stay. KEN

C_Spray, thanks for the info on the motors. They sound like the next ones that should be in the boat. Good luck on your cruise!

Ken, thanks for the invite. I may cruise back to Shelter island this fall as it is such a nice area and I'd like to do some cycling/hiking on it. Perhaps we can toss a few drinks then.

Donzi, yep, a big cruise ship was parked just outside Newport. I have to confess I hate those things. Do you know they can dump raw sewage if just outside the three mile limit? We did see an outerlimits in Warwick R.I. I did not know the factory was there, but it makes sense as that is a nice huge bay to run 100+ on!

.

It's been interesting so far.....
 

Wound up running all the way to Va. Beach from Havre de Grace (205 miles) on Friday. The first 160 weren't bad, but, oh those last 45!!:eek: We've stayed put at the dock at our friends for the last three days (rain), but hope to go for a quick cruise this afternoon when the winds shift to the south and the Bay lays down. In the meantime, I've got the new 10" color chartplotter mounted. :cool: Forecast looks good for the run to the Rappahanock tomorrow (60 miles).

This is great - what an adventure! 400 miles and 6 days to go....

Glad you are having a super trip C_Spray!

I wish I had a color chartplotter. I have made the mistake of running along a lat/long line instead of my track line. They all look pretty much the same on small scale. Only the X's of waypoints or turns look different to distinguish your plot lines, and only on large scale view.

Have a safe and fun conclusion to your journey!