Congrats on buying that 21...I thought about that one myself, but I'm a LONG way from NJ...
As for going offshore...don't just pick a day...look at trends...what is the sea doing over several days...pickin' one day in the middle of bad ones will get you in trouble...if there is a three day trend for good seas, fish on the second day if you can...isolate the good-day forecasts whenever you can...and NEVER shut your motor off out there...get accustomed to your range...how many hours of operation on a full tank and always use the 1/3 rule...1/3 of a tank out, 1/3 back and 1/3 reserve...so the question becomes, how far out at cruising speed will your boat run on 1/3 of a tank...if you haven't already, become real familiar w/this site...
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/rmd.shtml
Good luck and good fishin'...figure out how to post pictures here...go to photobucket.com...you will use them as a "host" for your pictures...some of the guys have found other host sites, but PB seems to be the old standby...