Well....we actually departed on Tuesday night....make the midnight run over to Montauk (~20 NM) in order to top off the fuel first thing Wednesday morning....and have a couple bon voyage cocktails at Liars....of course We departed Montauk around 6:30 AM on Wednesday morning and was greeted promptly by 4'-6' breakers right outside the Montauk channel. We rounded Montauk light and everything laid down nicely.
Then the sh*t hit the fan. Within the next 20 NM, the seas built up to 6'-8' and breaking with a 20 kt wind ponding us right out of the east-southeast. We were taking them abeam ALL day long. Thank God the autopilot install was completed just the night before. It performed flawlessly.
The Maggie B performed flawlessly as well. Even with steady 4'-8' seas abeam, we still were able to maintain 20-22 kts. We pulled into AC about 3:30 PM Wednesday afternoon along with the Viking fleet from Mass.....three Vikings between 54' and 61'.
However, the forecast for Thursday was NOT good. There were Small Craft Advisory and Gale warnings up for Long Island down to Va Beach. She was expected to blow 20-25 kts with gusts up to 40 kts. Seas expected between 6'-8' upwards of 10'-12'. And it did every bit of that on Thursday.So we and the Vikings laid over on Thursday in AC. Not a bad spot to HAVE to lay over mind you.
The prediction for Friday was gale warnings through Friday morning and small craft advisory in the afternoon. However, the seas and winds were quickly diminishing further south of AC. We elected to depart AC mid-morning (~10 AM) on Friday to allow everything to lay down a little.
The 671's roared to life at 10:15 AM and we were idling out the Abescon Inlet when I got a high temp alarm on my port engine......which was just majored in March 2005. Capt Mike took the controls and I scurried down to the engine room to check everything out. The coolant was low in the heat exchanger which was very unusual because I had topped everything off when we departed Montauk and everything look OK based upon our post trip engine room inspection upon arrival in AC.
So I topped off the coolant and did a couple of sprints up and down the channel to see what she would do. The temps dropped down to ~170....BEAUTIFUL......that's text book for 671s. So we departed the Abescon inlet and brought the Maggie B up to cruise and then we noticed the port engine temp to rise again. This time she stopped rising at 195....which is not detrimental........but why???
Capt Mike and I discussed it and we decided that the smart thing was to go back to AC and check it out. I had the port engine rebuilt at J&T in Egg Harbor, NJ. So I gave them a call and they had a mechanic at the dock by the time we arrived back at Trump Marina. After a few short minutes, the problem was diagnosed. The port engine heat exchanger was shot and leaking fresh water into the raw water side while underway. Hence the explanation of the loss of coolant without any coolant inside the boat.
Unfortunately, J&T did not have a heat exchanger in stock at their shop or regional warehouse. They are flying a heat exchanger in this weekend and it will be installed on Monday or Tuesday of next week. We are currently planning to depart next week on Wednesday 11/16 or Thursday 11/17 from AC. With any luck, we'll be in the VA Beach area the following night and in Morehead by the weekend.
Just got off the phone with J&T. The new heat exchanger (which was manufactured over the weekend), will be at the J&T shop tomorrow morning. They will have it installed no later than Wednesday 11/16. The weather looks OK for a Thursday departure as well.
The way it looks now, we'll be in the VA Beach area on Thursday night.
OK, Glenn W and Tuna Taxi..........are you ready??!!
I'll be here JD, just let me know where/when you're planning to pull in. Hopefully all checks out well and you have a good trip. Call me when your phone gets in range. Do you have a mooring beer of choice?
JD
Glad to see that the trip is back on line for mid week. I spoke to Makowish last night and he is on his game to get down there for the big ones. Just give me a call if you need the DopplerTodd weather report. Fish em hard.
Just got into AC and there's 1 ft seas in the marina!! Suppose to blow 20-25 kts tomorrow with gusts to 30 kts.....seas 4-6 ft. It will be coming from the NW , so I think we'll at leat give it a shot.
J&T got the heat exchanger installed and the sea trial went well. Great guys over there at J&T. I highly recommend them for anyone that's in the AC area with Detroits....and believe it or not, they are NOT the MOST expensive wrench on the boardwalk either.
Tuna Taxi......my preference for beer is COLD.....with a lime!! I'll give you a call from the Sat phone with a midday update on our progress.
Glenn....... c'mon dude.....just one!!......I know you NOT going on a cruise on Thursday!!
Jesse.....wish it was that easy dude.........
Madchark...thanks for being the "eye in the sky" for us man. We may need some progressive weather updates tomorrow and for the decision to go outside or not. Right now, it's suppose to be kickin' pretty good between OI and MHC Friday and Saturday.
Will give you guys a report at the next port o' call........
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Wey layed in AC!!
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I'll give you a call from the Sat phone with a midday update on our progress.
