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News/Events > Hunt 52 Trip Log
Hunt 52 Voyage from Rhode Island to Florida
Hunt 52 Godspeed travels from Portsmouth, Rhode Island to Miami, Florida in under 8 days. 168 hours and 32 minutes, to be exact.
Nautical Chart
Trip log by Peter VanLancker, President, Hunt Yachts.
 Hunt 52 Trip Photos
Saturday, January 16
With me on board for the trip south is Bob Price, owner of Hunt 52 Godspeed, and Brad Beebe, Head of Hunt Yachts Sales.
After leaving Portsmouth we first docked in Cap May, New Jersey. There was a good North West breeze so we hugged the coast of Long Island past Atlantic City onto Cape May where we fueled up the boat and then ourselves at a packed Lucky Bones Backwater Grille.
Sunday, January 17
Left Sunday morning in the dark and ran up the canal connecting Cape May to Delaware Bay. Our plan was to pass through the C and D canal and arrive on the Wye River on the Eastern shore that night. About half way up the Bay we got a call on our vhf from a Baltimore Pilot who recognized the boat and advised us that he thought the C and D canal was closed due to sheet ice 4” thick. The Baltimore Pilots run their own Hunt-designed pilot boats, hence the identification of the Hunt-designed Godspeed. With the hope we might be able to get behind a larger steel vessel, we kept motoring up Delaware Bay. On the way we called the C and D authorities. They reported that the canal was closed to traffic other than vessels with 1000 hp and a steel hull. We had the horsepower, but no steel hull. So, we made the dreaded u-turn and headed back down the bay. We went south out of the Bay, ending up in Ocean City, New Jersey for fuel and food.
Ocean City was the end of the trip for Godspeed owner, Bob Price. Just two of us onboard now until we get to Charleston in a couple of days where we will pick up another crew member.
Monday, January 18
Monday we left Ocean City in the morning darkness on our way to Norfolk, Virginia, where we had a meeting scheduled with a customer to sea trial the 52. We arrived in Norfolk with plenty of time to fuel the boat and enjoy a sit down lunch. After lunch we ran sea trials with our customer, now friend, onboard the 52. Unfortunately, the seas were calm so we really could not do the 52 justice in our demonstration of the Hunt designed hull performance and capabilities in a seaway. We returned to Norfolk with another sea trial planned for Miami.
Tuesday, January 19
We made the run around Cape Hatteras arriving at the city docks in Beaufort, North Carolina around 3pm with plenty of day light to fuel and wash down the boat. We found a great pub, the Backstreet Pub, where we enjoyed a game of chess with a beer in hand.
Wednesday, January 20
From Beaufort we were headed for Charleston, South Carolina, another 220+ mile leg. We arrived around 4pm at the Charleston City Marina, which is known for its Mega Dock. They’re not kidding, it is Mega. We had much to do in Charleston - change crew, restock our food onboard, and pick up a chart book of Florida.
Brad Beebe left Godspeed in the pre-dawn hours to fly to Rhode Island and get back to work at Hunt, where it was getting busy with new boat inquiries. Frank Field, an old friend of mine, joined the crew.
Thursday, January 21
The weather didn’t cooperate, so we ended up staying an extra evening. Charleston is a jewel on the East coast, so it was not a hard place to be stuck for an extra night, even in the rain.
Friday, January 22
We left Charleston just before sunrise with the hope of making it to New Smyrna Beach, Florida. We knew we needed to make a call when we were east of Jacksonville. We skirted the Gulf stream and the sea was on the wash cycle for a hour or two. As it turned out, the weather was fine, we had enough fuel, and we went on to New Smyrna. I would have not attempted the inlet but I had lived in New Smyrna for several years and was familiar with it. Local knowledge is a good thing.
Met up with some good buddies I had known while living there. We all shared some rum onboard Godspeed and finished the evening off at the NSB yacht club for dinner.
Saturday, January 23
We waited till daylight on Saturday to shove off from New Smyrna Beach partly due to the shallow spots in the inlet and partly due to the good time we had the night before. We still made it to the Miami Beach Marina by 4pm. We arrived at government cut in a squall. We had turned the radar on as we saw the weather and visibility deteriorating on our approach to the inlet. It was the only time we needed the radar the entire trip. After fueling and getting docked for the night we headed to Miami’s famous South Beach and enjoyed the show.
Sunday, January 24
Early Sunday morning we made the short trip to Ocean Reef, the northern tip of Key Largo. An East wind had been blowing all night and the inlet was rollers coming in. We went out with the Miami Pilots’ Hunt-designed pilot boat. Navigating passages like this is always a combination of skill and luck.
During the trip we had a lot of good luck with the weather. Between Newport, RI and Miami we slowed only twice from our 25-26 knot cruise - first at the beginning of the trip between Block Island and Montauk, and then between Miami and Hawks Channel on our way to Ocean Reef.

Hunt 52 Godspeed executed the high speed trip to Miami with us in comfort and security the entire way. The 52 delivered a ride true to its Hunt reputation - smooth, steady and quiet. It wasn’t until you stepped outside that you could get the sense of what the boat with its power and Hunt hull had accomplished in delivering its passengers down the East coast in such comfort.