N55 Bravo

Early Sunday morning departure set for 6:30AM.   Uggh!   Welcome to New England.   Solid fog in Newport harbor.   Oh well.   No time like the present to learn how to run in New England "pea soup".   James helps us set up the boat to see and be seen in the fog.   Two radar systems, AIS, fog horn all set to go.   Route entered in the chart plotter. James Knight and Nora working through the fog. This trip will be Newport, Rhode Island to Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts and then on to Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard.   Except for about 45 minutes of clear sky in Cuttyhunk, the entire 4+ hour trip is in thick fog.   It is a full immersion lesson in playing very close attention to two radar screens (set to different distances) and the chart plotter displaying Bravo’s route as well as other boats with AIS, allowing us to see their position and route relative to Bravo .   Very helpful when you are motoring along at 8 knots, the high-speed ferry is crossing your path at 30

A boat like Bravo is meant to move.   To travel and carry her owners and passengers to many destinations.   Our first trip together on Bravo had a bit of a rough beginning.   The plan was to leave Atlantic Yacht Basin early on August 8 to begin the journey to Maine.   The summer cruising would cover the northeast/New England Coast until the cold weather chased us south again.   The 500+ mile journey seemed like a really big step to undertake on our own and the weather was forecasted to be rainy and stormy. However, we got a break and James Knight (Yacht Tech extraordinaire!) needed to go to Newport, Rhode Island and offered to hook up with the Bravo team for the trip north.   Win-win…   James gets to Newport, and Nora and Karl get more on-board coaching and 24/7 practice running at night.   Sounds like a plan! Departure day, August 8, dawns grey and cloudy with a steady downpour.   All systems are checked, and Bravo is headed toward Great Bridge and the canal locks.   Ted Dixo