matt_unique
New member
Yesterday I made my first cruise from Salem MA to the Isle of Shoals. We were specifically heading to the northern most island called Duck Island to dive with the seals there. Duck Island is in the territorial waters of Maine. I had 4 aboard, dive gear for three, provisions, just over half tanks of fuel, inflatable dingy on the roof, dingy engine, etc.
We got an early start as I anticipated about a 2 hour cruise and wanted plenty of time to relax. The land and marine forecast was good but the conditions turned out to be simply perfect. I will attach some photos in my but in open ocean it was flat calm. I was running at 22 (3200rpm) and it was so calm everyone (but the Captain) was napping. I cruised from Salem up to Gloucester, then up through the Annasquam River (30 minutes at headway speed), and then a straight shot over to the southern most island in the Isle of Shoals. From there I had plotted a course to stay well away from the shoals/rocks and over to the southwest side of Duck Island. I was able to get some excellent local knowledge from C-Brat "Rick from Maine" and a few others. I exchanged emails with someone who does research at the Shoals and offered some good tips as well. My C-Map chart was also outstanding. I was able to bring my boat right into what locals call the "amphitheater" at low tide without any problems. You DEFINITELY need some good local knowledge for approaching this part of the island. I had to follow a very defined lane to get to where I wanted to go. Once I was inside the amphitheater, it was of course calm and easy to throw the hook.
As soon as we arrived, we were surrounded by about a dozen seals! I had someone at the bow to make sure there were none below the hook before I set it down. The water was crystal clear and I anchored in about 10' of (low tide) water. Three of us were diving and we suited up and dropped in. The seals were immediately curious. They were swimming around us pretty fast. The name of the game was definitely to find a spot and sit still. We explored the dive site but my closest encounter was when sitting still in about 10' of water. One seal cautiously came over about 5' in front of me! That was definitely the closest I have ever been to a seal. The shallow site and clear water made for an easy, fun dive with seals just everywhere. My gfriend is slowly getting acclimated to NE diving so she snorkeled the site. The seal were definitely following her, but stay about 20' away on the surface. Below the surface they would swim under/near her.
We all had lunch and just enjoyed the incredible scenery on this perfect New England day. Coming back we more closely explored some of the other islands including Smuttynose, Star, Cedar, etc. Returning across the open water back to the northern entrance to the Annasquam the winds had picked up. The seas were not that high (1-2') but for some reason I was pounding pretty hard (running at 22knots/3200rpm). We would float over most of the chop but every 10 seconds or so we had a good slam. I slowed down to about 19 knots/3000 rpm and trimmed the bow down and that seemed to help a bit. I'm sure I was sitting lower in the water with the heavy dive gear and everything else aboard. I have cruised through larger chop with no pounding with just a few aboard. I will no doubt continue to learn how to trim and the limitations of the air cushion. (In a monohull we would have had a much rougher ride at that speed though).
Back to the Annasquam for a 30 minute reprieve from the chop. From Gloucester we cruised back down to Salem. We were abeam to the wind/chop so the ride was soft again. We had some rolling of course, ha ha, it gets your attention when one pontoon is on a crest and the other in a trough. It was a nice ride back after a full day. I did not keep time on the way back but it took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to get from Salem to Duck Island via the Annasquam. The total trip was 73nm, based on eyeballing my fuel gauges before and after, I burned about 30G of fuel, maybe a little more.
It was a great trip. Everyone had a great time and the seal dive was excellent. On the way up we had perfect flat conditions. Even on the way back with a little chop we had just great weather.
We got an early start as I anticipated about a 2 hour cruise and wanted plenty of time to relax. The land and marine forecast was good but the conditions turned out to be simply perfect. I will attach some photos in my but in open ocean it was flat calm. I was running at 22 (3200rpm) and it was so calm everyone (but the Captain) was napping. I cruised from Salem up to Gloucester, then up through the Annasquam River (30 minutes at headway speed), and then a straight shot over to the southern most island in the Isle of Shoals. From there I had plotted a course to stay well away from the shoals/rocks and over to the southwest side of Duck Island. I was able to get some excellent local knowledge from C-Brat "Rick from Maine" and a few others. I exchanged emails with someone who does research at the Shoals and offered some good tips as well. My C-Map chart was also outstanding. I was able to bring my boat right into what locals call the "amphitheater" at low tide without any problems. You DEFINITELY need some good local knowledge for approaching this part of the island. I had to follow a very defined lane to get to where I wanted to go. Once I was inside the amphitheater, it was of course calm and easy to throw the hook.
As soon as we arrived, we were surrounded by about a dozen seals! I had someone at the bow to make sure there were none below the hook before I set it down. The water was crystal clear and I anchored in about 10' of (low tide) water. Three of us were diving and we suited up and dropped in. The seals were immediately curious. They were swimming around us pretty fast. The name of the game was definitely to find a spot and sit still. We explored the dive site but my closest encounter was when sitting still in about 10' of water. One seal cautiously came over about 5' in front of me! That was definitely the closest I have ever been to a seal. The shallow site and clear water made for an easy, fun dive with seals just everywhere. My gfriend is slowly getting acclimated to NE diving so she snorkeled the site. The seal were definitely following her, but stay about 20' away on the surface. Below the surface they would swim under/near her.
We all had lunch and just enjoyed the incredible scenery on this perfect New England day. Coming back we more closely explored some of the other islands including Smuttynose, Star, Cedar, etc. Returning across the open water back to the northern entrance to the Annasquam the winds had picked up. The seas were not that high (1-2') but for some reason I was pounding pretty hard (running at 22knots/3200rpm). We would float over most of the chop but every 10 seconds or so we had a good slam. I slowed down to about 19 knots/3000 rpm and trimmed the bow down and that seemed to help a bit. I'm sure I was sitting lower in the water with the heavy dive gear and everything else aboard. I have cruised through larger chop with no pounding with just a few aboard. I will no doubt continue to learn how to trim and the limitations of the air cushion. (In a monohull we would have had a much rougher ride at that speed though).
Back to the Annasquam for a 30 minute reprieve from the chop. From Gloucester we cruised back down to Salem. We were abeam to the wind/chop so the ride was soft again. We had some rolling of course, ha ha, it gets your attention when one pontoon is on a crest and the other in a trough. It was a nice ride back after a full day. I did not keep time on the way back but it took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to get from Salem to Duck Island via the Annasquam. The total trip was 73nm, based on eyeballing my fuel gauges before and after, I burned about 30G of fuel, maybe a little more.
It was a great trip. Everyone had a great time and the seal dive was excellent. On the way up we had perfect flat conditions. Even on the way back with a little chop we had just great weather.
