I would like to relay a story to you and the amazing team behind Regulator.

Over the last weekend, August 27 and 28th I was scheduled to participate in the annual Nantucket Anglers Club shark tournament. Needless to say Hurricane Irene put the brakes on that event and I spent most of the weekend adjusting lines and watching the storm come and go at the Nantucket Boat Basin. On Monday morning the storm had passed but left behind residual swells and a 10-25 knot breeze but that was expected to die down rapidly to 8-12 knots. I needed to take my boat, a 2006 Regulator 32FS with 2010 twin Yamaha 300hps, back to Block Island and was hoping the weather would improve enough by midday for me to make the 90 mile crossing.

The forecast called for light chop and a lingering 7 foot swell with a ten knot breeze. The swells were predicted to have a nine second duration making for a roller coaster but doable. A friend of mine flew from Block Island to Nantucket that Monday morning in a Seneca. He confirmed that the seas were ok but yes there was a decent sized swell but did not see it as a problem. As a commercial charter pilot he has made that run literally hundreds if not a thousand times and as a resident of Block Island I trusted his judgement completely and still do. With the forecast and live report in hand I headed out of Nantucket harbor at 1:05 and planned on making it to Block Island a little after 4:00. I have done this run several times and have the route and timing down well.

As I headed out of the harbor I noticed that the wind was now a steady15-20 and not the 8-12 that had been forecasted. I chalked it up as a land breeze given the recent heat from the hurricane and pointed the boat boat towards Madeket letting the autopilot follow my plotted route on the GPS. Nantucket is a series of shifting shoals, channels and sand bars so I went slowly following my route to verify that the storm had not altered the shoals. So far so good so I kept moving and passing the buoys as expected. When I got to the mouth of the harbor where Nantucket meets the sea it was a different story. I had planned on leaving Madaket channel at slack tide and had it planned well. Because I had taken more time to get to Madeket, I was starting to get past slack and approaching an out going tide. The storm had indeed moved the shoals leading out of the harbor and now I needed to refind what was left of the channel. The current was stronger than expected and after two tries I finally found the new channel. In the process I had chewn up 15-20 minutes and now I was past slack and at the top of the outgoing tide.

Determined to make it out, I pressed on. In front of me was three hundred yards of mostly white water with a slight break where the channel is now. In the distance I could see what looked like a 2-3 foot surf. With the proper timing I knew I could easily punch through it. After several seasons in the canyons with 5-7s and the occasional larger seas, I new the boat could handle it and I could bring it out to sea. After several minutes of slowly getting through the white water and trying to stay in the channel with a crosscurrent, I began to approach the surf. What seemed like a 2-3 foot break from a distance was now a 6-8 foot break with a stand up straight face. My options now were limited. Bringing the boat around would expose my beam to the surf and I risked rolling the boat, either being thrown out, swamped or capsized. Also I didn't feel I could stay in the channel with such a maneuver given the cross current and breaking shoals. With a few seconds to process my position, I decided to push ahead and punch through the surf. At least I would be going straight into it and hopefully into deeper water.

As I approached the first wave it stood up straight right before me and began to crest. I gunned the engines to keep the wave from breaking on me. At this point all I could see is the the bow of the boat rising up in what seemed to be a ninety degree angle. As soon as I was on top of the wave I immediately backed off the throttles and slammed down into the abyss of the back side of the wave. Slamming down felt like hitting concrete and nearly knocked me off the helm. I knew I was in 15 feet of water so I was pretty sure I did not slam into a shoal. Two seconds later I reached down and gunned the boat towards the next fast approaching wave. I was now out 20-30 yards deeper so this monster was not quite so steep but still slammed me back down with a vengeance. After cresting and passing this second wave I was now in deeper water and saw an opening. Pushing ahead, I managed to get passed the surf and into open water. I had made it out. Or was it out of the" frying pan and into the fire"?

For the next four hours I slugged it out in 2-4 foot seas with a 5 foot short duration swell coming out of the south west punctuated by a 7 foot swell coming out of the south east with a much longer duration. The combination made for a bruising ride. Deeper water proved to be my salvation as the seas settled when I reached the 30 fathom curve. As I pulled into Great Salt Pond, Block Island,I was feeling a little weary but still coursing with adrenaline. As I tied up and thanked the boys (the twin yamahas) and gave a endless praise to my Regulator., I finally breathed a huge sigh of relief and headed straight to the bar.

The next day, after checking the boat over thoroughly, I headed out again for a 5 1/2 hour ride to Rye NY cruising at forty in the bathtub known as Long Island Sound. I can't thank you and the team of engineers, craftsmen, artisans and professionals for making an amazingly strong and phenomenal boat. You guys are the best. Nothing like going through seas like that and coming out on the other side especially when you are on your own.

I will only own, buy, and recommend Regulator.

Thanks again,

Erik Elwell
01/11/2010

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