First Fishing Trip - November 9, 2008

Ok so I awake early Sunday morning. The skies are grey and foreboding, the winds deliberate and steady. I treated myself to a hot breakfast (no sausage today!!!yeah!!) but hot oatmeal, toast and coffee was enough to get me started. I did tend to linger around on the boat for what seemed to be hours, waiting for the weather to either blowout or get worse. By 8am I had decided to go outside the Inlet to where the other locals were seen yesterday. I still had leftover bait from yesterday when I tried to go fishing with Jesse the green-gilled teenager. I was going to try again today, even if I was alone on the boat.

I threw off the lines and cables, and I brought Vintage Viking out of her slip. As I headed across the Bay to the Inlet I noticed that it was taking a little longer, since the winds were coming from the northeast. Once I cleared the jetties at the end of the Inlet, I no longer had any landfall between me and the wind. The waves kept rolling in and got larger and more frequent. I headed about 2 miles out, to where I could see the rest of the 'fleet'.

At first I tried drifting clams across a sandbar, right at the edge of the fleet. I must have found a school of dogfish, because every time that I dropped a line I had a sluggish hit from one of these sand shark species. In less than an hour I ran through all of the bait that I had on board, and the morning was still young. I hadn't even seen another boat pull in a striper, and the chatter on the radio talked about bluefish, but not stripers.

I hadn't been able to rig Vintage Viking out for trolling yet, but I did have a pair or wire-line trolling rods on the boat. These are stout yet flexible rods with special guides and reel to handle the stainless steel wire that is used. The principle behind the outfit is that the strong yet small diameter wire line 'cuts' through the water, getting it down in depth to where the fish are. It's small diameter contrasts to its high tensile strength, with virtually zero stretch. At the business end you have a streamlined barrel swivel followed by a short (3-8 feet) piece of 45# test monofiliment with the lure on the end. This piece of monofiliment creates a shock absorber for the initial strike, as well as it breaks the visibility of the steel line. The heartiness of the rig allows you to set it in a custom-designed rod holder that keeps it near parallel to the water. You put you lure out in the water, allow an ample amount of line out and then set the rod in the holder. I use a nylon dog lease attached to the rod and boat to prevent the lose of the rig, should a strike take place with a near-lateral pull that could yank the rod out of the holder.

I set up both rods, one on each side, with different offerings. One rig had a Stretch25, which is an 8" lure with a diving lip. As the lure is drawn through the water, the lip helps drive it down; the correct combination of line out, speed and lure lip angle will put the lure at a certain depth. If you locate fish on the sonar at a certain depth, you present the lure at a slightly higher depth, since fish look up, not down. On the other rod, I had an outfit called an umbrella rig. It is designed to replicate a school of swimming bait fish; shad in the case of the rig I had on. I set up a troll with the prevailing winds approaching from astern. In this manner, should I hook up with a fish, the wind would keep the boat going strait in a line, windward. I was on the boat alone, and the only place to drive the boat from was the flybridge. Should I get a hit while trolling, I would need to leave the bridge, climb down the ladder to the cockpit and remove the rod to fight the fish. That will take a lot of time once a confirmed hit is on. But I didn't think I would have that problem, since so far I wasn't very lucky catching fish on Vintage Viking.

I kept to the fringes of the rest of the boats on the ocean this day. I didn't want to crowd anyone, and I wanted to boat to have plenty of room for be wind-driven should I need to work a rod. After about fifteen minutes of trolling the area, I came across a school of bait fish. But a quick glance at the rods showed no alterations in the rod behavior. But another ten minutes revealed a dancing rod tip, so I placed the engines in neutral, allowing the wind to drive the boat, and scurried down the ladder. As I pulled the port rod from its holder, I felt a solid strike and hookup on the rod. But as I settled into the ensuing fight, I noticed the starboard rod pulsating now. A Jersey Double-Header!! But I was alone on the boat. So I tweaked up the drag on the starboard rod, in the hopes that the rod and the wind-driven boat would keep enough pressure on the fish so that I could fight the one on the port rod without losing the one on the starboard rod.

This fish was big....he brought me around the cockpit twice, and then headed toward the front of the boat. I followed him around the superstructure, onto the bow and back again. After a thirty minute fight, I had him near the rear of the boat, by the swim platform. But I was alone on the boat!! Who was going to net this fish? Having fished alone on Pipedreams for years, it becomes a well choreographed dance to keep pressure on the rod and still get the net under the fish. I use one of those big salmon nets with the telescoping handle; its easier to extend it out, get under the fish, and then drop the rod and use two hands to bring in the fish. It was a nice 35" striper. In the cockpit now, I dropped the net handle and paid attention to the starboard rod, still bouncing. A short 5 minute fight, and another 35" striper was in the boat. This fight didn't take as long, since he was tired out from the wind-ride. I put both fish in the box, and took 5 minutes for myself. What a rush!

The current limit in NJ is two stripers per person, greater than 28" in length. I had two such fish, so I was keepered-out. But I reset the rigs, and trolled again. Two more similar hits got me one more striper, a 31", and a 28" bluefish. released the striper; kept the blue fish. Reset the rods and trolled again. Another pair of hits; another striper/bluefish combination. Another released striper/kept bluefish. I kept trolling in toward the Inlet, but after another 30 minutes of no hits, I pulled in the rigs and headed home.

Back at the marina, I was pretty happy. A fantastic fishing trip, even though the weather wasn't the best. The wind kept up all day, but I didn't care. I had a bounty in the box, and a smile on my face. a few pictures to capture the moment, cleaned the fish, gear and the boat. I packed everything up and headed home. I am going to enjoy doing this again on the 'man-cave', but right now I missed my wife and son. An hours driveand I was back at home, retelling the story, with pictures to prove it.

Guys Night on the 'ManCave'-November 7-8, 2008

My love with the Jersey Shore began as a young boy, coming each year to spend two weeks with my family at some rented bungalow. When I was in my early teens, my parents bought such a bungalow, on the shores of the Metedeconk River near the Barnegat Bay. We would spend weekends in the spring and then again in the fall at the shore house, in addition to all summer long. My dad would stay back home and work, then travel down the Garden State Parkway Friday afternoon to spend weekends with us, then drive back north Monday morning.



One of the benefits of growing up in Central New Jersey was being exposed to the weather changes from the Four Seasons; cold and snowy Winter, balmy and rainy Spring, hot and sometimes humid Summer and the cool and at times brisk Fall. But being in a more 'temperate' zone, most times one season's weather would run into the next. When this happens at the end of Summer/beginning of Fall, it is said to be an Indian Summer. Often times a warm day with slight breezes would only be accentuated by the colors of leaves on the deciduous trees changing color. Nowhere is this transition more beautiful than along the Jersey Shore. New Jersey has 1,792 miles of shoreline along 127 miles of Atlantic-facing coast and 83 miles of bay front on Raritan and Delaware Bays. Plenty of beaches to walk and water to boat.


Vacationing and seasonal visitors to the Shore generally leave by Labor Day weekend, traveling back 'home' to start a school year anew. The crowds and traffic of summer at the Jersey Shore is replaced with an almost ghost-town appearance; the locals going about their lives and several die hard 'visitors' returning on weekends to enjoy one last trip to the Shore. One of the reasons I chose the style of boat that Vintage Viking is, a Convertible, was to allow us to use it as a weekend retreat. Combining my love of the water and of the beauty of surrounding landscapes make this time of year, the 'Indian Summer' of Fall, my most favored. Fishing is active for many of the coastal species, with my favorite, striped bass, being the fish-of-choice for me.

I had planned on spending the next several weekends taking Vintage Viking out fishing for striped bass. Since we had both Barnegat Bay as well as Barnegat Inlet at our immediate vicinity, we could be in prime bass waters in short order. But I was accustomed to fishing from Pipedreams, my 21-foot walk around, set up for wire-line and downrigger fishing. I hadn't spent much time rigging Vintage Viking for fishing. But I did register her for the Annual Striper Tournament run from Sun Harbor Bay Club, scheduled for the following weekend (November 16th). This would give me a weekend to take Vintage Viking out for a trial fishing assault.

Jesse and I traveled down to the boat about mid-day Friday. School was closed for Teachers Convention, and I had two appointments scheduled this day, and one was actually on the way to the boat! After the meeting, we stopped at the local boat-a-holics watering hole, BoatersWorld. Aisle after aisle of all the must-haves from their latest catalog. Lotsa stuff, some expensive. But I had to buy a tee shirt. Jesse got a Helly-Hanson coat. Amazing, a teenager that would actually like clothes for boaters.

We got to the marina just as the service technician from the local Crusader Engine shop arrived. I had arranged for them to come and look at the engines and give an estimate to replace them. I had developed a refurb plan based upon the surveyor's pre-purchase report, and the engines were the biggest part of the plan. While I dealt with the engines and the technician, Jesse looked thru the takeout menu from the local eatery for something for dinner. I travel down to the boat with a gourmet chef (Jesse was once on the Ellen Degeneres Show as a 10-year old chef. More on that later) and eat take-out! Quick selection, a phone call and dinner was ordered.

Having finished with the engine report, I drove Jesse to the eatery, picked up dinner and supplies at the supermarket next door, and it was back to the boat for some 'guy-time'. When he was young, Jesse would sleep overnight on Pipedreams, which made for a snug night. It has a cuddy cabin with a cozy v-berth with a porti-potty below it. Not much more than that. But we did have many a good night together. Breakfast was cooked in the cockpit on the Magna barbecue. The accommodations on Vintage Viking are definitely more spacious, and Jesse set about converting the dinette into a double bed after dinner was finished. We took a few minutes and went to the locker house to use the showers, since I hadn't been able to work on the boat's water system yet. But the hot water of the showers felt good. Even though the days are warm during Indian Summer, the nights are fall-like and cold. We returned back to the boat and got ready to chill out. We played cards for a while. After Jesse kept losing at cards, he decided to watch a movie. He had selected a few movies from the DVD collection I had onboard, and we watched movies until he fell asleep. When I called Alice later that night to say goodnite, I had told her how Jesse had fallen right asleep on the boat. Alice coined a new term; she called Vintage Viking the "man-cave". I think that will stick.

Next morning it was a little overcast and windy. The forecast had rain coming sometime later in the morning or early afternoon. Before long Jesse woke up and started cooking breakfast. About time; my gourmet chef returned! The chef is gourmet, but the meal was basic. Sausage, oatmeal, eggs, coffee and orange juice. But it was enjoyable to see him at work in the boat's galley. He gets so involved in his cooking, and then of course there is the mess he leaves behind. But to see his exuberance at what he does, even if its only breakfast. But the galley has an electric range, and Jesse isn't used to cooking on one. The sausage wasn't really cooked throughout and it kept returning to remind us later on.

As Jesse finished up from breakfast, I began to get Vintage Viking ready for a day out on the water. As we pulled out of the slip and past the end of the marina, we stopped at the gas dock to pick up some bait. The marina owner and his son Joey were more than happy to tell us what the local bait dujuer was and where the big ones would be. That's why I like this time of year. No crowds mean people have more time to devote to being....nice. I turned the boat up-channel as I pulled away from the dock and headed out into Barnegat Bay. Hot coffee by the ready, and crew a little queasy from the sausage.

Once we got out into the Bay, the wind started to kick up. That's the funny thing about Indian Summers. They can be fleeting. The more we got away from the mainland and closer to the Inlet, the more the wind whipped and the mist came. Once we got out beyond the Inlet jetties, the rollers started bobbing the boat. Jesse began to grow a little green around the gills (was this from the sausage?) and wasn't enjoying his father-son time anymore. He did give it the best that he could muster, but he kept getting greener and greener. By mid-day, the rain started falling, the fish weren't interested and Jesse was ready to heave. Captain's decision.....return to port.

The ride back in through the Inlet was short, and once we cleared the Sedge Islands at Oyster Creek Channel, the rain started falling heavier. i had to slow down so as to not pulverize my face from the rain. Lowering the front windows of the bridge enclosure rendered me near-blind, mostly due to the yellowing of the issenglass (new enclosure will have to get put on the bottom of the list) and the bimini top was leaking profusely from small dry rot cracks (new enclosure will need to move up to the top of the list).

As we neared midway home, I called Jesse up onto the flybridge. My thoughts were that if I could get his mind off his stomach he would feel better. I had him get behind the wheel and together we navigated the channel and headed back to home port. The rain continued, the wind increased, and the visibility diminished. But Jesse did a great job and after a while his color returned to something near-human.

We pulled into the slip, tied off Vintage Viking, dried off and heated up some soup. There's nothing like a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup, even if you're not sick, to make you feel good. The rain continued to lightly fall, and the marina was a calming quiet, and before long we were both taking naps. In a little while, I got the phone call from Alice. Jesse was due to work later that night and I had planned on driving him home. Via phone-texting with Alice earlier in the day, she offered to drive down to pick him up, so that I could stay on the 'man-cave' for another day. Great idea!! Unfortunately, I had given her wrong directions, and after a 45 minute drive in the wrong direction, she found herself in the middle of the Pine Barrens. Boy was she pissed, and rightly so. I told Jesse to get into the truck and I would drive him out to meet Mom at the Parkway exit. When she finally retraced her tracks and got back to the exit, she was hotter than wasabe. I must have apologized ten times, but it didn't matter. I screwed up the directions and she wouldn't let me forget it. But Jesse was off to his job, and I was on my way to the nearest hardware store to get parts and supplies to begin work on my list.

After stopping at Home Depot, Walmart and Lowes, I returned to the marina to begin my work. I had plenty to do and supplies to do it. I began with the water system. I fixed the hot water heater, fixed the leaks in the cold water piping, found that the water tanks hold water but the 12v water pump doesn't. After three hours, I was able to turn on faucets and have hot water. I was able to bypass the non-operating AC condenser pump with a hose run to the service hose bibb in the lazarette, and now the reverse-cycle heat/AC was working. And how nice it was to take a hot shower on the boat.

First Family Outing- October 27, 2008

After spending the weekend in Baltimore for my new grandson Tyler's christening, we stopped at the marina on the way home. OK, it 'really' wasn't on the way home exactly, but that didn't matter since I was driving. Coming home on Monday I made a slight detour eastward from the Turnpike and came across the Pine Barrens of NJ and arrived at the marina around lunch. My son Jesse had seen the boat & marina already, but Alice hadn't yet.

It was a beautifully sunny fall day, with only a slight breeze. Pulled into the marina and you couldn't help but notice that Vintage Viking is the LARGEST boat there. Plus with it being late October many of the smaller boats were already out and on land. Alice got the nickel tour, and her first response was how much larger the boat was from our other boat. Pictures she had seen are deceiving, because they generally have little other items for reference in them. But my 'crew' was hungry and wanted lunch.

While I stayed and puttered on the boat, Alice & Jesse ran to the nearest McDonalds and brought back lunch to the boat. We ate our lunch in the dinette, and Alice could see the look of sheer enjoyment on my face. After finishing my cheeseburger, I left the table and began to prepare Vintage Viking to depart the dock for a short run around the bay. Within minutes, we were out of the marina, passing the Barnegat Town pier/park and entering Barnegat Bay. Alice remained in the salon reading a book, while Jesse & I were on the Flybridge.

It didn't take long before Jesse went below and convinced Mom to come up onto the bridge to join us. Alice wasn't aware of how roomy the bridge is, with a large seat for five in front of the helm. She relaxed into the seat and continued to read her book and just enjoy the fresh air and view. After several minutes of relaxing and getting over any anxiety she had about Vintage VIking, Alice wanted to go below to get the camera. But she didn't want to go down the ladder with the boat moving, so I brought the boat down to an idle, and helped her down. I took the opportunity to visit the head while I was below. But when I went to flush the electric head, it wouldn't work. The head pump didn't come on. I checked the panel and the breaker was tripped, but each time I reset it and tried the head pump, it would trip again. But the holding tank level indicator said 1/4 tank. Looks like I have another thing to add to my check-out list. But later on this will return to be a problem.

Once Alice got the camera she started snapping away. Next thing I know she is walking around the superstructure and is up on the bow, clicking away. Note to self; put an extra pair of soft-soled boating shoes onboard. She still had street shoes on. But I didn't want to stop her since the objective was to get her on the boat and enjoying it. Better shoes can come later.

Soon we get in the middle of the bay, and I enter Oyster Creek Channel heading for Barnegat Inlet. We come around the Sedge Islands, and turn in front of the Coast Guard Station heading east. We come onto Barnegat Lighthouse, affectionately called Old Barney. Alice has seen this lighthouse countless times from land, and has even climbed its 217 steps to the top. But to see it from the vantage point of the water gives it a different perspective. You can imagine how seafarers of old would see it and rely on its Fresnel-powered beacon to guide them. Well, anyway, Alice must have clicked off two dozen shots of the lighthouse from every water-borne angle before she realized that Vintage Viking was actually headed out into the ocean. When she turned to me and asked “we aren’t going out into the ocean, are we?” I could see the anxiety in her face and replied “no Honey, I just wanted to help you get even more angles of shots for the camera. I’m turning back now!” Damn, and I was hoping to get outside the breakers. But the objective was to get Alice accustomed to Vintage Viking and enjoy her time on the water, not resent it. Do I get the Good-Husband Award for that?



After several more minutes we were back into Barnegat Bay. I came back across Oyster Creek Channel and wandered into several lagoons in Waretown and Forked River, showing Jesse and Alice some of the other marina’s that Jesse and I had visited weeks earlier when we were looking for a new home for Vintage Viking. Like anything else, it all takes on a different look from the water. Even something as mundane as the bulkhead of a marina and its entering channel look different from the water.

Heading back to Sun Harbor Marina, I decided to stop at the fuel dock again. Not for gas (thankfully), but for access to the holding tank pump-out. I emptied the tank but it didn’t appear to require a lot before the vacuum wasn’t pulling anything out. I tried to reset the breaker on the pump again, but it still tripped.. By now, Alice & Jesse were beginning to think this whole head thing was funny. The jokes and wisecracks started, and pretty soon Jesse was paraphrasing the movie “RV” with Robin Williams and called Vintage Viking ‘floating turd’ in lieu of the ‘rolling turd’ from the scene in the movie. Well, I couldn’t have Vintage Viking made fun of! So I brought the pump-out hose thru the porthole window and directly into the head, and started pumping away. It wasn’t long before I discovered the problem; someone had used a heavy paper towel and flushed it down the head, which got imbedded and jammed in the pump’s impeller. Once this got cleared out, resetting the breaker and running the head pump was good as new. I have to post instructions above the head If it didn’t go in your head (mouth) it doesn’t go in the boat’s head (toilet).

Having resolved the head issue, I felt pretty good about my abilities to ward off a mutiny. As we left the gas dock and returned to the slip, I saw a more-accepting Alice. She helped with the lines, took direction during mooring and was an equal crew-member. Out comes the camera and MORE PICTURES. I guess Vintage Viking got her seal of approval.

On the way home, I took my crew out for a nice dinner. Where else; Captain’s Inn in Forked River. Fine end to a finer day.

Shake Down Cruise 10-19-08 Day 2

After what turned out to be one of the most peaceful nights sleep, I awoke at 4:00 am Sunday to a slight breeze coming in the hatch of the dining settee, a 'clanging' from the rigging of a sailboat four slips down, and the bells of the Mantoloking Bridge immediately outside the marina gates. I got up and made breakfast; dinner rolls from the night before warmed in the galley oven, cold orange juice, hot tea and cereal. The only thing missing was the Sunday morning newspaper (note to self; more reading material). The small TV I had brought on board the day before worked fine, just no TV reception. DVD only. I am going to get VERY used to this lifestyle.

But I wasn't here to watch TV. After finishing breakfast, I made another large mug of hot tea, and began going over the systems of Vintage Viking that either the surveyor couldn't due to lack of shore power or only did cursory reporting. Up to now, all of the 'major' systems functioned on the boat (engines, trannys, propulsion) but the electronics were uncalibrated and unreliable. I had brought along a handheld GPS, which worked perfect. But ever since I entered the shallower Barnegat Bay, the depth sounders didn't keep accurate reportings. I believe it is just a sensitivity setting that I need to sort out.

Most of the interior systems of the boat were functional but ill-kept. I spent the next 3 hours cleaning the head, galley and salon. Checked out the AC, the heat, the water tanks and systems, cleaned the helm and inventoried the engine room. I have a solid boat under me; not too big and not too small. But even so, there were hundreds of things that I needed to review, familiarize myself with and develop a plan for refurbish/retrofit. But for now, I wanted to get Vintage Viking to the marina in Barnegat.

By 8:00 am, I had stowed the power cords and the water lines that had given Vintage Viking life the afternoon before. The wind, still coming from the north-west, had picked up again and was approaching the 25MPH from the day before. However, since the Bay was more protected from the wind by the barrier islands, the waves were a mild 2-3', but they did have white caps on them. I pulled out of Hinckleys, confident in the boat's ability to reach my destination, but cautious of the electronics aboard. This concern would prove to be well-founded, as the sensitivity of the depth reporting continued. But Barnegat Bay is well marked with daymarkers, and with chart in hand and eyes on the depth marking of the chart, it was a process of heading southbound from one daymarker to the next. Vintage Viking had no problems dealing with the wind and waves. The only casualty was I had lost my Life is Good Kayaker's hat when I stuck my head out of the flybridge to verify a number on a daymark. Fittingly, the hat was the one I had given my brother Tom, who when he was alive used to love the water and kayaking. I'm sure he is wearing the hat now.

Even with the wind, the waves and the anxiety over the depth recording, I was very comfortable and confident on the boat. She didn't prove to be too much boat for one person to operate, at least until docking procedures called for additional hands. Up till now I had the luxury of dock attendants, gas-pumpers, or anyone else around. I hoped that as I got used to the boat I could develop procedures and systems for 'self-docking' as I do with my 20-footer. But this is almost twice the boat, four times heavier, and only operated from up on the flybridge. By the time I could leave the helm to attend to a line, the boat could be 25 feet or more away. I guess I'll need a Second Mate. I think my grandson Dominic has his eyes set on that job.

By 10:00 am, I saw Barnegat Lighthouse to port, meaning that my new marina would be to starboard. At 10:30am, I pulled Vintage Viking up to the fuel dock at Sun Harbor Bay Club for the first (but surely not the last) time. Once again, I topped off her tanks, another $200. Gas was selling for $4.00 a gallon on the water in October '08, so I estimate that the boat was burning between 20 and 25 gph. Not unrealistic for the age and size of the boat. Refurbishing the engines over the next haul-out will help to improve this. With the help of the marina owner and his son, I moved Vintage Viking into her new slip at the marina. Crosswinds, tight turning space, and the fact that she is the LARGEST boat in the marina didn't keep me from placing her in the slip on the first try. Almost like I knew what I was doing (LOL). I was like the proud father, showing off his newborn in the nursery. A few more pictures to mark the occasion. If only I had cigars to pass out!

There will be much to do to bring Vintage Viking back to her glory. But she is a classic and solid vessel, well worth the time and effort. Not many boats have her lines and heritage. She has a rather unique layout for her breed, with a forward master stateroom, head with separate shower stall to starboard, a dinette/settee to port that drops to a double bed. This area could also be converted to a second stateroom with little effort. Up three steps into the salon has a galley to starboard, with plenty of natural light and ventilation from the salon slider windows and front windshield. To port is a couch/pull out bed.

Until next time...................

Shake Down Cruise 10-18-08

OK, so after almost a month of negotiations, sea trials, marine survey and finalizing insurance, etc, we finally took possesion of Vintage Viking on October 17, 2008. On Saturday, October 18th, we took her from her previous mooring at the Passaic River Boat Club on the Hackensack River in South Kearny/Jersey City. My friends Jim Rocklein and Jay Santiago came with me with supplies and equipment for her maiden voyage. Jay was going to come along with me on the first leg of our journey. After using gerry-cans to fuel her up with enough fuel to get her to Sandy Hook/Atlantic Highlands, we took her down the Hackensack River, past the ports of Newark and Bayonne, around the north shore of Staten Island and into New York Bay. Past the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, under the Verrazzano Bridge and into Lower New York Bay and then into Raritan Bay. The air temperature was a balmy 55*F, the winds were 20mph out of the north-west and the seas were 4-5'. There weren't the usual 1000's of small fishing boats dotting the bay. But Vintage Viking didn't seem to mind the sea conditions.

By lunchtime, Jay & I came into Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina just off Sandy Hook Bay. I had estimated that the amount of fuel that we gerry-canned the night before would surely get us to Atlantic Highlands, but not all the way down to Barnegat, NJ, Vintage Vikings new home port. We pulled up to the fuel dock, behind a classic sailling cruiser. The sailboat homeported from Nova Scotia, and was traveling down the East Coast on its way, eventually, to Bahamas. Boy, I was both excited and jealous! That is what I hope to do in a few years. It's much cheaper in a sailboat, however, as I soon discovered that Vintage Viking took another $300 of fuel to 'top-off' her tanks. This on top of the $300 of fuel I gerry-canned the night before. At least now, she had full tanks from which I could begin to calculate her fuel burn-rate. But today, it didn't matter; I was on the flybridge of a 'VIKING'!! I had never dreamed of owning such a classic yacht.

This is where Jay ended his journey. His wife and daughter picked him up in Atlantic Highlands. The next leg of our journey would be just me, alone, on what would be an off-shore run from Sandy Hook to Barnegat. Plan A was to run all the way to Barnegat Inlet, into Barnegat Bay and due west to Sun Harbor Marina. This would call for me to run offshore all the way down. Once I came around Sandy Hook, the north-west winds picked up to 25+MPH and the seas increased to 6-8'. Although Vintage Viking handles the seas and wind just fine, this route would keep me from the safety of inshore marinas, fuel and food.

I decided to go for Plan B. This route would bring me offshore as far as Manasquan Inlet, into the Manasquan River by Brielle and Pt Pleasant. Running south offshore with the wind behind me and the swells coming stern-quarter kept Vintage Viking busy on the run to Manasquan Inlet. She passed Sea Bright, Elberon, Long Branch, Asbury Park and other shore towns. By 2pm I came to Shark River Inlet, which leads into the Shark River basin, but continues nowhere from there. Continuing on south past Spring Lake, Sea Girt and Manasquan brought me to Manasquan Inlet. This can be a tough Inlet to navigate, and with the NW winds and large swells it would only make it worse. I hung around off the Inlet for a short time, and since it was now about 3pm, party fishing boats should be returning to port, if any were even out. Fortunately, the Gambler was on its way in, so followed behind him and watched how he maneuvered through the swells into the Inlet. Glad I did; it looked like I had been operating this boat for years. Calm waters ahead.

A short run up the Manasquan River brings me to the headwaters of the Inter Coastal Waterway (aka the ditch) which runs inland from here all the way down to Florida. It starts at the Manasquan Canal, a man-made waterway that connects the Manasquan River system with the Barnegat Bay. Once through the Canal, you are at the convergence of the Metedeconk River and Barnegat Bay.

As I came through the Inlet, I encountered the first of several bridges that presented height restrictions. First a railroad bridge across the Manasquan River (which was up fortunately) followed immediately by the Route 35 highway bridge. Vintage Viking requires 27' of clearance from water to top of her outriggers and antennae. This bridge showed a 28' clearance on the base of the bridge stanchion. Too close for me! Quick call to the bridge tender/operator on VHF Channel 13. He advised me that I would have sufficient clearance. I hope he's right; otherwise I'll be whacking the bottom of his bridge with the tops of my outriggers. I swear that I cleared that bridge by inches. Whew!!!

Now clear of the Rt 35 bridge, it was a short run east up the Manasquan River to the Manasquan Canal. Once I turned south into the Canal, the size and mass of Vintage Viking took hold of me. Up until now, she was in large bodies of water. The Canal is like a 'driveway' or service road leading from one highway to another. I now had shoreline on the port side and starboard side that were within 50 feet of the boat. Again, there didn't appear to be many boats out, and I had two more bridges to go under. Another call on the VHF to the bridge operator, but this time I requested raising of the bridge. Too cool!! Another 1000 yards, and I had to do it again. I could get used to this cruising-on-my-yacht-thing and having people and 'things' get out of my way.

Now approaching 4:00 pm, and the end of the Canal, I enter into the area know as Bay Head. Absolutely gorgeous!! And another bridge!! This is the Mantoloking Road bridge, connecting the Metedeconk section of mainland Brick Township with Mantoloking on the barrier island, just south of Bay Head. Once again, I had to have the bridge open up, but it also had to open for a sailboat that was traveling from the Metedeconk river into Barnegat Bay. Once I cleared the bridge, an immediate right turn brought me into Hinckleys Yacht Basin, where I had made reservations to tie up overnight. I had a feeling that Plan B would be used. Another trip to the fuel dock to top off the tanks, another $250.

Tied up for the night, all topped off with fuel, and safely protected from wind and wave, Vintage Viking was snug for the night. A quick phone call to a local pizzeria (recommended by the dock attendant) and by 7pm I was eating veal parmigiana dinner on my 'yacht'. This is what I call heaven.
Absolutely perfect way to end Day 1.