Month: July 2019

Saturday morning, we toured Sandy Hook resort community with Ce Ce, our daughter-in-law’s mom’s step mom, who lives in Rumson, one of the Sandy Hook communities. She took us to the highest point on the East Coast, south of Maine. From here, you can see the skyline of New York City.

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Saturday afternoon, we were anxious to get out of the marina and equally excited about getting close to New York Harbor. The ride, about 18 miles across the huge channel, took us to the harbor. The worn out cliche, “country come to town” has never been more applicable. Here we were, trying to remember navigation signs, dodging mega yachts, cruise liners, barges, and ferries that run 30 knots, hoping I would not make a mistake. Interestingly, anything seems to go here. The ultimate in defensive driving, we saw jet skis circling cruise ships and barges like sand gnats at a Little League baseball game in Savannah. These people are crazy.

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As some of you may remember, when I introduced how this trip was conceived, a picture of the Statue of Liberty, taken from the boat by the author of the article inspired and terrified me at the same time. The idea of being in the middle of that harbor on MY boat, and having the opportunity to be in front of Lady Liberty, was overwhelming. This moment has certainly been the pinnacle of the trip thus far.

We anchored out tonight in front of the Liberty National Golf Club. I think some major tournament has been played here, but I could be wrong. A beautiful night, nice breeze, and a well protected anchorage provided safe .

Today was another pretty long day….for a slow boat, especially. Fifty four miles and almost 8 hours of cruise time. The ride from Barnegat Light, NJ to Sandy Hook was split, half “inside” on the intercoastal, and then outside, beginning at the Manasquan Inlet.

We passed under 3 road bridges, 1 railroad bridge, and through 1 very swift canal. We crossed the Toms River and enjoyed the pass through Bay Head, NJ. It was a beautiful setting with houses right on the intercoastal. The houses all were traditional beach homes and looked brand new because they were so well maintained. We learned later than many probably were brand new, because Hurricane Sandy hit this area 4-5 years ago and caused major damage to many of the homes.

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We traversed the intercoastal for approximately 4 hours before arriving at the Manasquan Inlet (which in this case for us was technically an outlet). I wish the pictures were videos so you could appreciate the wave height and action of an inlet. It’s like a roller coaster, except if something goes wrong, it’s my fault.

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The second half of our day was uneventful. No whale or porpoise sightings. Just a beautiful view of the Jersey coast as eased into Sandy Hook. The fishing must be great in the bay, as fishermen are everywhere, fishing for fluke, a fish that neither Amanda or I had ever heard of.

Our parking spot for the night was Atlantic Highlands Marina. By far, the worst customer service and lazy staff we have yet to encounter. We will not consider this an option if and when we pass this way again. The docks are fixed, so extra care must be taken when tying lines to the pilings and cleats. With an almost 5′ swing in the tide, our dock lines got way too tight before I realized what was going on. A little input from the marina hands would have been nice, but we were lucky to get them to tell us where our slip was located. Too bad because it could have been a nice experience.

Left Atlantic City with Barnegat Light as our destination. We chose to go “outside” again, as the seas and weather were promising. Also, the intercoastal is notoriously shallow in New Jersey. Apparently, dredging is not a priority for the legislators here. Our 5′ deep draft makes us nervous when the charts tell us the low tide water is the same depth.

The highlight of this leg was our whale sighting. It happened so quickly that we did not get a picture. Amanda spotted a water spray one second, thinking she was imagining things. Then within a minute, the humpback surfaced just off our port side. Up and down and then he was gone. What a thrill for us to get to witness this. Wish we had a picture, but we definitely have another memory added to our list.

Inlets along the coast can be treacherous. Getting caught with the wrong tide, wrong current, and wrong wind can have serious consequences. The Barnegat Light Inlet, so I am told, is one of the toughest to negotiate. Today would have been a great day to have a captain with a little more experience, if nothing else to confirm that my timing for the entrance into the inlet was good. But that captain wasn’t available. Winds on our stern and a mid tide going to high made sense it would be safe, so we went for it. The current has a tendency to turn our round bottomed boat from side to side, it can be scarier feeling than it really is. We bounced and twisted a good bit, but managed to keep it in the middle and we got through fine.

We twisted through all the nav-aids and found a great anchorage. Protected on 3 sides, we felt secure for the storm due tonight. It was perfect. The storm came and went and we never felt threatened. A good night’s sleep prepared us for the long trip to Sandy Hook.

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With buddy boats in tandem, the JAKL III, Camelot, and the Honey Queen pulled out of the Cape May Canal into the Atlantic Ocean. We turned NE with fair skies, 73 degrees, and favorable winds out of the West. The day, as forecasted, resulted in flat seas and a pleasant day on the flybridge. We arrived in Atlantic City at 12:45 pm, logging another 4.75 hours of experience to this rookie captain.

We had planned to anchor out this night. Our waterway guide showed a promising spot, so we navigated to the location, dropped the hook, and shut down the engine. I noticed a couple horseflies buzzing around (and biting) while I was setting the anchor. By the time I was finished, I was being attacked by hundreds of what are locally known as greenheads. When we are underway, we have the doors and windows open to keep the boat cool, since A/C is not a wise option. We didn’t realize we had been scooping them as we were traveling. We killed no less than 60 of these flying piranhas inside. Had to quickly close the doors and windows to keep from being carried away. We felt like Pharoah facing one of the 10 plagues. Not a great first impression of the area.

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After learning that “greenheads” don’t typically go beyond the bridge, I called a marina where our friends were staying. We checked in to Gardner’s Basin Marina and embarked on our exploration of Atlantic City. An hour and a half of walking the “world famous” boardwalk, mostly made of concrete, gave us all we needed. We did ride an escalator up to the 6th floor of a building and walked into a casino. We were provided immediate opportunities to give away money but declined. These places wreak with evil. We quickly departed, caught a Lyft back to the marina and called it a day. By far, Atlantic City was the least interesting and least appealing place of all our stops. Our future travels promise to skip this city.

We ended up staying at Summit North Marina an extra day (Day 43), as the weather once again, dictates all plans. Exciting things like washing the boat and a couple of little fix-its were the agenda, since we were not moving.

Tuesday morning, (Day 44) the alarm awoke us before 5 am, as we had to take advantage of the current in the C & D Canal, and especially the Delaware Bay. The right tide can make our boat feel like a high performance speed boat and a wrong tide feels exactly like we are still tied to the dock like when we tried to leave Elizabeth City, NC. Bear in mind, we cruise, on a good day just over 7 knots.

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The trip through the Delaware Bay could have been a little intimidating, because of how vast it is. Had the visibility not been so good today, we would not have been able to see land at the widest point. Having land in site is like having my mom’s chicken and spaghetti at Christmas time….very comforting.

We arrived early afternoon in Cape May. The little marina, Utsch’s, was pretty weathered, with mostly fishing boats, but they welcomed us with open arms…once they verified our credit card was good. The little town, a huge tourist spot, was packed with hundreds of people. We met a couple who had been at the previous marina and asked them to join us for a trip into the town. The marina manager told us the best restaurants to try, so we caught the free (tips only ) on the electric car and took off. We walked around town and then settled on Louisa’s, a little restaurant that holds about 20 people. The service was great, the staff friendly, and the food outstanding. We enjoyed the time with our new friends Steve and Debbie, who live in Baltimore. The good things we have heard about this area are true.

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We soon figured out that Steve and Debbie, as well as, friends we caught up with again, Joe and Sue, were all going to Atlantic City the next morning. We decided we would go “outside”, meaning out of the intercoastal waterway because the weather forecast was perfect. Fair winds from the West and following seas made our day delightful. I was quite impressed by the infamous Jersey shore. As a bonus, we learned why folks enjoy doing the buddy-boat thing. It’s nice having friends in site, just in case you need assistance.

We tried to get out of bed this beautiful Saturday morning at 5:30 for a 6:00 am departure this morning. Our goal was to reach our destination of Summit North Marina in Bear, Delaware to watch the Women’s World Cup Soccer championship. The good news was we made it in time…bad news, we were a day early. We learned as we sat in front of the TV in the restaurant that the USA plays Sunday, not today. Getting old is so hard, as best I can remember. I think I can fit it into my Sunday schedule, which at the moment is pretty open. 🙂

Today’s trip took us from the Sassafras River, back into the bay, then NE into the Elk River, then to the Back Creek and through Chesapeake City. Chesapeake City marks the beginning of the C & D (Chesapeake-Delaware) Canal. Pretty and peaceful, it provides some of the most relaxed cruising. Boat traffic is minimal, surprisingly, and the man-made canal is protected from the winds, so generally, the water is smooth as glass. As a bonus, we had a 3 knot current in our favor. That means our normal cruising speed of 7-7.5 knots bumped up to 9-9.5 knots, at lower RPM’s. For cheapskates like me, I get to save fuel by running at lower RPM’s and make better-than-expected times.

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I just love bridges. Crossed a few and burned a few in my life, but the perspective from the water is always a high for me along the way.

The Summit North Marina is far from the nicest of marinas where we have sought refuge. Most of the boats are permanent residents. Many, it appears, live aboard. As a result, not many dock hands available for transients like us. However, kind management, friendly neighbors, a pretty good restaurant, and no current (a nice feature for a rookie captain fitting into/out of a tight slip) makes for a nice stay. Looks like we will stay here until early Tuesday morning to get a good weather window. Our next leg of the journey into the Delaware Bay will be a long one, as there are few opportunities to “tuck-in” if the weather gets ugly.

Sunday: We are enjoying “attending” our home church of Compassion Christian by logging in on Sunday mornings to compassionchristian.com at 9:00 am. I encourage you to check us out. The services are streamed live at 9 and 11, and archived shortly thereafter, to be watched anytime. The music and teaching are always encouraging; watching always makes us feel connected to our home church.

As you already know, our women’s soccer team defeated the Netherlands by a score of 2-1. How fun to see them win, especially with our very close connection to the team. Our daughter is good friends with the sister of the goalie. We practically have one of our own children playing. It has been a nice quiet day.

Pulled out of the Baltimore Harbor and turned the Honey Queen North. Our destination, 42 miles away was the Sassafras River. With the wind in our nose most of the day, and current against us, 6 hours later we reached our anchorage. This far north in the Chesapeake, and in a river, too, we found the water was as fresh as the lakes back home in Louisiana and Arkansas. The landscape was similar folks enjoy the water skiing and tubing just like we do in the South.

In the July heat, the temps and humidity were sweltering, so when we got the anchor set, we bailed off the swim platform and enjoyed the cool water.

Amanda pulled together a fabulous pasta dinner in the middle of the basin and then we called it a night. By far the hottest night of our trip, we ran the generator and A/C for awhile, trying to get some relief. We are so spoiled by the air conditioning.

After getting Abigail on a Lyft early Monday morning, we decided to stay in Baltimore through the 4th of July, though not our original plan. We heard the fireworks show was not only one of the biggest, but it would be presented in the harbor in front of our marina. We enjoyed these “bonus” days wandering the city, touring the National Aquarium and Ft. McHenry, and making friends with the many other cruisers who were staying in the same marina.

The aquarium lived up to its “national” status and was an enjoyable reprieve from the heat that felt just like Savannah.

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The trip to Fort McHenry was especially meaningful. Purposely, we chose July 4 to tour the fort, which made it even more special. And in case you have forgotten your American history, the Baltimore Harbor is the site where Francis Scott Key penned our National Anthem. We arrived about 10:00 am, just in time for the flag changing ceremony. We were allowed the privilege of assisting in the raising of the 30′ x 42′ flag over the fort. As Old Glory began to elevate, one the park rangers, a young man approximately 25 years old broke into the National Anthem, accapela, in an operatic style. Goose bumps as big as pumpkins covered me and I was virtually moved to tears as this giant flag went up the pole.

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What a privilege to live in this country. The price paid for us is hard to comprehend, but this day’s history lesson reminded me again that the sacrifice was great. Oh that we could only remember so that we invest well for the future generations.

Through our friends, Ron and Carole Collins, we connected with his brother Dale, and wife, Sandy. They are doing the Great Loop. They caught up with us in Baltimore. They joined us for hot dogs and fireworks. We look forward to meeting up with them again along the way.

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With the winds picking up and the forecast to increase, we rose early Sunday morning in Rock Hall, to ensure a smooth crossing, with Baltimore as our destination. By 8:00 am, we worked our way off the face dock, with the winds pushing against us. With no incidents or close calls with other boats in the marina, we were underway, East/Northeast to Baltimore.

Baltimore is where we came last September to what is known as a Trawlerfest. Five days of seminars ranging from how to buy a boat, how to do The Loop, navigation, basic diesel engine troubleshooting, and boat docking lessons taught us so much. The in-water boat show gave us an opportunity to board many boats. This hands-on experience not only narrowed our search significantly, we were pretty convinced we knew the brand name of boat we would pursue. At the week’s end, we were dangerously informed about the trawler life.

Arriving in the harbor around 11:00 am, we docked at the Inner Harbor Marina. It is virtually brand new and located on the waterfront (I guess most marinas are on the water, now that I think about it) of downtown. The area is like a huge park with lots of activities for kids of all ages, paddle-boats that look like pirate ships, a huge aquarium, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the Hard Rock Cafe, and on and on it goes. Stores and restaurants are in abundance. Places like this are the reason we have to anchor. Anchoring out costs nothing and keeps the credit cards in our pocket. But for now, we are enjoying the hustle and bustle of the city.

Abigail and Amanda led me around town today like a little puppy in training. I enjoyed Areopostle, J. Crew, and MANY other delightful stores. I’ve been trained these 41 years to follow at a safe distance, never complain, and keep a keen eye open for a bench or chair in every store. I give myself an A for today’s effort as mother and daughter used the word “cute” 742 times. I finally suggested switching to “darling” late in the day as an equal substitute for what was being tried on. My comment was acknowledged, but “cute” continued to dominate for everything from tops to stationery.

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After a little RNR back at the boat, we dined at the Rusty Scupper, a restaurant located adjacent to the marina. Shrimp jambalaya for me and crab stuffed shrimp for the ladies ended a perfect day with my girls. We sat on the celebrity pad until about 11:00 pm, admiring the gorgeous skyline of Baltimore.

Monday morning, Abigail has to rise at 4:00 am to catch a plane back to Nashville. As much as we are enjoying this trip, nothing takes the place of friends and family who can come and visit. We will miss her. We miss so many who have been such a big part of our lives, leading to this point. We hope to share this experience with any who can join us along the way.

We rose early (boat time early), dropped the lines, and headed West to Rock Hill. Rock Hill is on the West side of the bay, but a short ride across. The bay narrows as we go North. Only a 2 hour ride (17 miles @ warp speed). Seas were calm and the wind at our back, so the beautiful day gave Abigail her first on board cruising experience. Her dream was to lie on the bow of the boat and sun bath like the celebrities do. The bow is now known as the celebrity pad.

Rock Hall is another little familiar looking town. Fishing and the marina life seem to be the main boosts in economy. Larger than Tangier Island, the town has made an effort to keep the downtown alive with a handful of eating establishments, shops, an ice cream stand, etc. Met a lady who lived in Savannah for 21 years who has a daughter the same age as one of kids. She knew our neighborhood, so we had a good visit with her playing “do you know”.

Abigail took many pictures with her photographic eye which not only made things a little more interesting, but also put me in a couple of shots. We chilled the day away and then had dinner at the Waterman’s Restaurant.

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