The Map
| Hampton, VA to Newport, RI |
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A better title for this page could be "Otis Rules".
Although he is very much at home on the boat, and
appears to truly enjoy the adventure of it all, he treats
the boat as his home and therefore has refused after all
sorts of coaxing, training and encouragement to perform
any of his bodily functions on the boat. Therefore, since
this will be a three day offshore trip from the
Chesapeake to Newport, with no opportunities for potty
breaks, we have decided that it would be necessary for
Penny to drive Otis to Newport, while my brother Peter
and I sail the boat up.
So, Peter flew down from Boston on Friday night, helped
us install the new mainsail, then after some safety
checks and final inspections, we were off to the fuel
dock to top off the diesel tanks. Diesel tanks on a
sailboat you ask? Well, the wind does not always blow,
and in order to get where we want to go, sometimes it is
necessary to fire up the "Iron Sail".
Penny and Otis met us at the fuel dock where we had our
final goodbyes, then it was out to sea for us, and out to
battle traffic for them. We drew the better hand!
Although he is very much at home on the boat, and
appears to truly enjoy the adventure of it all, he treats
the boat as his home and therefore has refused after all
sorts of coaxing, training and encouragement to perform
any of his bodily functions on the boat. Therefore, since
this will be a three day offshore trip from the
Chesapeake to Newport, with no opportunities for potty
breaks, we have decided that it would be necessary for
Penny to drive Otis to Newport, while my brother Peter
and I sail the boat up.
So, Peter flew down from Boston on Friday night, helped
us install the new mainsail, then after some safety
checks and final inspections, we were off to the fuel
dock to top off the diesel tanks. Diesel tanks on a
sailboat you ask? Well, the wind does not always blow,
and in order to get where we want to go, sometimes it is
necessary to fire up the "Iron Sail".
Penny and Otis met us at the fuel dock where we had our
final goodbyes, then it was out to sea for us, and out to
battle traffic for them. We drew the better hand!
The trip to Newport is approximately 425 nautical miles
which is equivalent to 500 statute miles. Typically the
Viking Rose can make about 150 nautical miles a day, so
we calculated that by leaving Hampton by noon on
Saturday, we would arrive at Newport shortly after
sunrise on Tuesday. See our route on The Map. Our hope
is to sail the entire way, but the weather forecast is for
light winds from the Southwest, which is very
unfavorable for a fast passage.
We were off the fuel dock at 11 am and with little wind
we motored out the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay,
arriving at the mouth of the bay at 2:30 pm. We set sail,
but there was just not enough wind, so we gave up an
hour later and fired up Mr. Perkins (that would be our
Perkins diesel) and motorsailed until 6:30 pm. The wind
then piped up and we were able to sail most of the night.
We arrived off Cape May at sunrise, with little wind,
then turned on Big Blue (that would be Mr. Perkins, who
is painted blue) and motorsailed until mid afternoon when
we were about 50 miles off Atlantic City and the wind
came up again. Later that evening some violent
thunderstorms were evident North of us and NOAA was
warning all vessels to stay clear, so we hovered where
we were until close to midnight when the storms
appeared to dissipate, then headed North again.
Just as we resumed our course, I noticed two distress
flares off to our East at a position about 75 miles off
shore. I reported them to the Coast Guard, who then
broadcast repeated notices to mariners all night to be on
the lookout for the source of the flares. Unfortunately,
we were probably 15 miles from the source, and with no
moon and an overcast sky, the conditions were such that
we could be of no further help so we continued on. I hope
that they were just a couple of early 4th of July
revelers using poor judgement after a couple too many
rum punches.
which is equivalent to 500 statute miles. Typically the
Viking Rose can make about 150 nautical miles a day, so
we calculated that by leaving Hampton by noon on
Saturday, we would arrive at Newport shortly after
sunrise on Tuesday. See our route on The Map. Our hope
is to sail the entire way, but the weather forecast is for
light winds from the Southwest, which is very
unfavorable for a fast passage.
We were off the fuel dock at 11 am and with little wind
we motored out the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay,
arriving at the mouth of the bay at 2:30 pm. We set sail,
but there was just not enough wind, so we gave up an
hour later and fired up Mr. Perkins (that would be our
Perkins diesel) and motorsailed until 6:30 pm. The wind
then piped up and we were able to sail most of the night.
We arrived off Cape May at sunrise, with little wind,
then turned on Big Blue (that would be Mr. Perkins, who
is painted blue) and motorsailed until mid afternoon when
we were about 50 miles off Atlantic City and the wind
came up again. Later that evening some violent
thunderstorms were evident North of us and NOAA was
warning all vessels to stay clear, so we hovered where
we were until close to midnight when the storms
appeared to dissipate, then headed North again.
Just as we resumed our course, I noticed two distress
flares off to our East at a position about 75 miles off
shore. I reported them to the Coast Guard, who then
broadcast repeated notices to mariners all night to be on
the lookout for the source of the flares. Unfortunately,
we were probably 15 miles from the source, and with no
moon and an overcast sky, the conditions were such that
we could be of no further help so we continued on. I hope
that they were just a couple of early 4th of July
revelers using poor judgement after a couple too many
rum punches.
Dawn rose the next day as were still off the coast of
New Jersey. Due to the weather and forecasted low
visibility we opted not to cross from the Jersey shore to
the Long Island shore at night. To do so would have
meant crossing the busy shipping lanes approaching New
York City in less than desirable conditions. So, at dawn
we headed across, with New York City approximately 50
miles off our port beam. Thank God for our new radar, it
worked great as we dodged the ships on the way across,
although there was far less traffic than anticipated.
Probably due to the 4th of July weekend. We made
landfall midway up Long Island in mid afternoon, sailed up
the coast to Montauk Point which we reached at midnight.
Then the wind died and we ghosted past Block Island in
the foggy dark until the sun rose. With no wind, we fired
up Big Blue and entered Newport Harbor in mid morning.
All in all, a very benign trip. Open ocean voyages can be
white knuckle thrillers, or lazy, windless slogs. On this
trip we sailed some, motored more than we would like,
but arrived in port safe and sound, which is always a good
result.
New Jersey. Due to the weather and forecasted low
visibility we opted not to cross from the Jersey shore to
the Long Island shore at night. To do so would have
meant crossing the busy shipping lanes approaching New
York City in less than desirable conditions. So, at dawn
we headed across, with New York City approximately 50
miles off our port beam. Thank God for our new radar, it
worked great as we dodged the ships on the way across,
although there was far less traffic than anticipated.
Probably due to the 4th of July weekend. We made
landfall midway up Long Island in mid afternoon, sailed up
the coast to Montauk Point which we reached at midnight.
Then the wind died and we ghosted past Block Island in
the foggy dark until the sun rose. With no wind, we fired
up Big Blue and entered Newport Harbor in mid morning.
All in all, a very benign trip. Open ocean voyages can be
white knuckle thrillers, or lazy, windless slogs. On this
trip we sailed some, motored more than we would like,
but arrived in port safe and sound, which is always a good
result.
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thank them for their use.
free of charge. No material printed or copied from this site, electronically or in any other form, may be sold or included in any work to
be sold without explicit permission from the authors. Most maps and charts have been extracted from Google Earth and Maptech, and we
thank them for their use.
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Travels of the Viking Rose
Travels of the Viking Rose