On Aug 23, 8:31 am, tom wrote:
....
I check the buoy data for Cape May area, there was no 30 knot winds,
max was 20 with 6 ft seas,
....

Weather, particularly weather associated squall lines, is very
localized and buoys can only report the weather right where they are.
NOAA may also tend to underestimate wind speeds in squally conditions
because of their averaging method. NOAA generally does do a fine job
IME, but they aren't omniscient. It seems perfectly reasonable that
Skip could have been operating in much worse conditions than those
reported by the buoy.

-- Tom.