How inclement weather may affect your trip:

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A. We might cancel your trip, if the conditions are too bad. We can get an idea about the weather 24 hours in advance, but we normally wait until the last minute (departure time), to make our final decision. This gives us the most up to date weather info to work with. When we give you an inclement weather warning, you are free to cancel your trip at anytime, prior to departure, at no charge.

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You may also find that a company with a larger boat, or a company that runs a shorter, sheltered route, may still be operating in conditions that we won't. If you would like to call around and find someone who will take you out, you are welcome to cancel your trip with us, at no charge.

 

B. The weather may be uncomfortable. In which case, we tell you why, and you can decide if you want to brave the elements, or cancel at any time, prior to departure, at no charge. We have no shelter on the boat, and will be exposed to whatever mother nature throws at us. Again, we may wait to make our final decision until the last minute, and you are welcome to do the same.

 

C. Sometimes, we can modify our route, to avoid rough water. This allows us to still get a trip in, but we may need to bypass certain areas of our regular route. A common modification is to avoid the south end of Assateague when high winds are pushing through the inlet. Or avoid the north end of Assateague when we have W-NW winds over 15mph that make the Chincoteague Bay rough and wet.

 

D. Inclement weather can make it difficult to enjoy your trip. Communication can be tough in high wind.....if you are soaking wet from pouring rain, you may not be interested to hear about the life cycle of the eastern oyster. Our fee for the trip is the same, whether it rains on you or not. There is no charge to cancel a trip during inclement weather, but if you decide to go, it's the full fare.....rain or shine.

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If you decide to cancel, please text or call us directly at 757-894-0103 if your trip departs in less than 24hrs. We monitor that number 24/7. Please do not email or Facebook message us your cancellation, as we don’t monitor those regularly.

 

Below is a list of common inclement weather conditions, and their effects. Scroll down to the warning you received for an idea of what to expect.

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High wind, rain, thunderstorms, extreme cold, fog, extreme tides (either high or low), combination platter, gun-shy, rapid forecast change, hurricanes/nor'easters.

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High wind: can make the water very rough. Chances of splash and spray increase, and we could get anything from a little wet, to soaking wet. Depending on the direction of the wind, we may have to heavily modify our route. When the wind is high our canopies may be damaged, so we keep them closed. High wind is the cause of most of our cancellations. It is very difficult to communicate in high wind. With 50% of our trip being verbal, high wind may limit your experience. Winds approaching 20 mph are what we consider high. 15mph is where more significant splash and spray begins.

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Rain: We do not have any shelter on our boats. Our canopies will shield you from the sun, but they offer zero protection from the rain. If it starts to rain while we are on our trip, you will get wet. If we depart on a trip with a chance of rain, you are committing to the idea that you will get wet. We have had some trips that's it's rained so hard, all our guests were soaking wet, clear down to their underwear. Rushing back to the dock when it starts to rain does no good either. Our trips travel 25-40 miles, and we can be up to an hour away from the dock. There is no "heading back to the dock if it starts raining". You just have to suffer thru. I would recommend rain gear if you want to attempt a trip in the rain. Specifically rain pants. Ponchos will leave you with a wet butt (water pools in the seats). It can be very difficult to enjoy your trip if you are soaking wet, or in the middle of a downpour.

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Thunderstorms: Probably the most scary of our weather conditions. Thunderstorms can appear out of nowhere, and cause us to seek shelter immediately. We do not take unnecessary risks with lightning. We could be up to an hour away from shelter on our trip. We will sometimes cancel our trip or heavily modify our route for fear of thunderstorms. Sometimes we cancel a trip because a storm is approaching, and it never actually hits. It is our philosophy that we’d rather disappoint you by canceling with “maybe lightning”, than put you in a dangerous situation that could have been avoided.

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Cold: It always feels 15 to 20 degrees colder on the boat than the normal outside temperature. This is due mostly to the breeze we feel as we cruise 17 to 20 mph. In the heat of the summer, that temp drop is great. But once we get in the lower 60’, that really chills people down. A 60 degree day will feel like 45 degrees on the boat. We recommend "ski attire" on cold days. (ie. heavy coat with wind breaking layer, hat to cover ears and head, gloves, and a scarf would be good too). We try to keep wind breaking blankets on the boat, but it’s best to try to dress right from the get-go. Remember, we have no shelter on the boat, and our trips are 2 to 2.5 hours long. If you are cold on the dock waiting for the boat, it will get exponentially worse once we start cruising.

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Fog: Fog isn't typically a trip breaker, but heavy fog can greatly reduce our visibility. Since 2006, we have had 4 trips that we were not able to see the Assateague Lighthouse from 300 yards away, because the fog was so thick. This can also make it difficult to spot and see ponies from a distance. We have had trips that we had to scour the coastline searching for ponies, because we couldn't tell where they were on the shoreline from more than 100 feet away.

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Tide: Extreme tides rarely cause cancellation. The occasions that they do, it's associated with a high wind that's caused a route modification, and makes the trip difficult to enjoy. Extremely high tides make us more nervous than extremely low tides. Low tides just limit our access to shallow waters.

Combo Platter: A combination platter is when a series of small weather conditions conspire to ruin a trip. Rain and Cold are a good example. If it's 90 degrees out and we have an 80% chance of rain, I'll take you if you want to go. But if it's 55 degrees out with an 80% chance of rain, I don't want to take that chance. High wind and thunderstorms are another. The high wind can box us into a modified route, which keeps us too far from shelter for too long.

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Gun-shy: We make every effort to take our trips when we can. Sometimes we will "try"a  trip in high wind/rain. If that trip was miserable, we may cancel the rest of our trips for the day. Thunderstorms can also make me gun-shy. If I came racing in to beat a thunderstorm on one trip, that anxiety may cause me to cancel the next trip if the sky or forecast looks like a repeat of that event.

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Rapid forecast change: We may opt to cancel a trip due to a forecasted rapid change of weather. Sometimes this decision is made during great weather, because the weather is expected to fall apart while we are out on our trip. The front line on rapid approaching weather systems can have dangerously high winds and thunderstorms.

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Hurricanes/Nor'easters: If wind speeds are expected to exceed 50mph, not only do we not cruise, but we typically like to pull our boats out of the water, and secure our entire infrastructure. This sometimes means we have to cancel trips in the last day of pretty weather pre-storm, so we can safeguard our gear. We may also need the first day of pretty weather post-storm to get all of our equipment back into the water and in working condition.

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Again you can opt to cancel a trip for inclement weather at anytime, AT NO CHARGE. BUT YOU MUST CALL TO CANCEL 757-894-0103 if less than 24 hours prior to trip.