Rounding Hatteras

[skipmac]

Getting ready to head south in a week or so and have a question about Cape Hatteras. In my three coastal trips north and south have always managed to arrive in NC/VA area when there was really nasty weather outside, so not counting a couple of deliveries where I was far offshore, have not yet rounded Hatteras.

Since we will be coastal we will be able to watch the weather closely as we approach Hatteras but seems the decision point will be at the Chesapeake whether to go inside or around. Would prefer to go around and save a day or so but not at the risk of getting a walloping.

Of course if it's blowing like stink then the decision will be easy but what is the max comfortable and safe limit for N - NE winds when rounding? I'm guessing similar to the Gulf Stream crossing FL to the Bahamas where much more that 12-15 knots from NW-NE makes things more lumpy than is desirable?


Is the technique to follow the coast say 5-6 miles off, cut around Diamond Shoals and head W-SW to get away from the rough stuff?

[s/v Moondancer]

Skipmack,

There are red aids-to-navigation marking the shoals, that are on the 10 fathom line, all the way around and there is almost no current from the edge of the Stream. I stay in 60-100 ft and just outside the markers all the way. It requires a 36 hour weather window preferably with winds from the NW to W.

I have done the trip 6 times but have never done it in more than 15 knots.

[jkleins]

It seems the way the weather windows work this time of year you either get a lot of wind and waves or a window of almost calm. We wait for the calm and motor if needed. Hardly ever make it all the way around sailing as we usually leave following a front or something and the wind is decreasing as we go. We do the same as MoonDancer and stay close in and have not been too bothered by current although one year we had over 0.5 k against us. That doesn’t seem to be every time. Have not noticed wind against current problems but again it is almost always calm when we actually round Hatteras.
We have had our worse weather between Hatteras and Lookout point when we were a little late getting around but it is only about 12 hours of it if you tuck into Lookout. This week doesn’t look so good until late in the week or weekend. The models are a little out of sync. The GFS is better.

[skipmac]

OK so seems agreement that hugging the west side of the channel is the route.


Now to what winds make it unpleasant to go outside vs the ICW. Looking at forecasts for our very rough ETA to Hatteras the last few days has swiched from 5-10m kts N to calm to N 20 kts to W 10 kts. Obviously we'll get a more accurate forecast when we get closer.


So would all agree that winds N to NE or ENE over 15 kts or so would get very bumpy? What about 20 kts from the E or SE or SW?

[Argyle38]

The Hatters problem is one of the more interesting navigational challenges on the East Coast. It doesn't seem that complicated until you are in the hot seat making the decision.

I passed through that region probably 5 or 6 times, always going inside until this past spring when I finally rounded Hatteras on an northbound delivery.

The issue is that as you approach Cape Henry, you need 24+ hours of very calm winds or a rare westerly to make an outside rounding comfortable. Cape Henry to Cape Lookout (clear of the gulfstream) is 24-48 hours. Norfolk to Beaufort is around 3 days (maybe 4, don't remember) if you're in delivery mode and running long days, sunrise to sunset.

So as you approach from the north, if you don't have an ideal weather window, you can either punch through in adverse wind or rough seas, or wait it out either in the Chesapeake or heaving-to. Once you're waiting for more than about a day, you're risking waiting longer for an outside window than just motoring down the ditch.

So most of the time, heading south, if you don't have an ideal window for going outside as your approach the decision point (maybe 50 nm from Cape Charles), the best bet is just to go inside, catch up on sleep at night and have some good prime rib at Coinjock.

[phorvati]

Captain Bill posted this and I believe its very good advice which i will follow this fall.


Your biggest problem will be one of timing and where the low comes off the coast. That time year a cold front comes through every 3-5 days. Prior to the front passage you get a strong SW wind, followed by a quick change to the NW after the front passes. I sailed the Pamlico sound and Beaufort area for many years and found you can usually count on at least 12hours of NW before the wind goes north and eventually NE over the next 24 hours. After that it goes E to SE and dies for about another 24 hours. After that it slowly goes S to SW ahead of the next front. As long as you are N or the cape SW winds are coming off the beach and waves don't have a lot of fetch to build. The same thing applies to NW as long as you are relatively close to the beach. Ideally I would think that you want to round the cape with the wind out of the NW as at that point it's essentially blowing perpendicular to the stream. Once you round the Cape hug the beach until you clear the cape lookout shoals. This will keep the wind off the beach even as the wind goes north and usually will keep you inside the stream. Plan on clearing cape lookout near R4. I almost never saw the stream more than a mile inside R14. That's not to say it can't happen, but odds are against it. I also recommend crossing Frying Pan shoals at Frying Pan Shoal Slue as that will keep you out of the stream as well. I usually leave from Beaufort and make it to St. Mary's inlet in about 2.5 days. I usually time my leaving right after a cold front passage so I get a nice beam reach to start and generally following seas while the winds are still strong and out of the north. I often have to start an engine because of low winds late in the passage. After Frying Pan shoals I head for the sea buoy at Charleston which is a bailout point. Just make sure you clear Cape Romain. This keeps you well inside the stream and occasionally gets you a bit of counter current. In November the lows coming off the coast generally come off the coast N of Hatteras, but later in the fall and winter tend to form up just south of Hatteras and make rounding the cape a bit more difficult. You really don't want to try rounding the cape in a Noreaster.

[jkleins]

Yes this seems to be one of the dilemmas of the Cape rounding. If you wait for the strong north winds to subside and the seas to go down you risk facing head winds as the southwest winds start back up after you round the Cape.
Same thing is happening this week. Leaving Sunday night from the Bay puts you down the coast in light northwest or northeast winds moving to calm then going southwest about the time you get to the corner so a bit of headwinds approaching Cape Lookout. The two models are a bit different in the strength of the wind so hopefully they will agree in fairly light winds that will make the trip reasonable pleasant although a motor.

[billknny]

We do this every fall, and the weather routing advice MOST years is the same:

Head due east out of the Chesapeake, cross the Stream, and THEN turn south running east of the stream all the way to the Bahamas. 4 to 5 days later we are in Fort Lauderdale. With the right weather window, this can be a truly spectacular downwind run. One year we set our twin headsails out on their poles 8 hours out of Norfolk and didn't take them down until we were right at Port Everglades buoy.

We have an ocean going boat and the ICW really isn't an option because of our draft, both 6'7" on the keel and an air draft of over 67'. Not only that, we enjoy an ocean passage way, way, WAY more than motoring down a ditch, and we feel far safer 150 miles offshore than close to shore.

[CarlF]

Coming back North in the spring I prefer going outside Hatteras but in the fall I take the ICW. The chances of an early winter low forming into a gale as it crosses Hatteras -- and then exploding in your face -- are just too great.

Almost every year boats - and sometimes lives - are lost here.

If you can't do the ICW because of mast height, I'd cross the stream and get well offshore (as much as 100 miles) before turning south.

[CarlF]

If you are going to tackle Hatteras in the spring or fall get the 500mb weather chart and see where the 564' contour line lies. The lows tend to ride along the 564' line. You want to be well south of it.

As you can see, the 564' contour dips down to Hatteras in the middle of this week but then moves well north again by the weekend.

GFS Forecast of 500mb Heights and Vorticity

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by billknny

Head due east out of the Chesapeake, cross the Stream, and THEN turn south running east of the stream all the way to the Bahamas.

I've never gone straight east exiting the Bay to cross the stream; that would needlessly take you hundreds of miles east. I've always gone pretty much SE or even SSE, heading to intersect the stream as soon as possible and get through it as soon as possible within 48-72 hours. And that has been going to Bermuda or the eastern Caribbean where getting your easting in early is a key strategy. You still want to get across that stream as quickly as possible.

If I were headed to FL I would stay inside the stream the entire way to avoid adverse current, weather, etc. For most of the coast you can stay comfortably offshore, not far inside the rhumb line.